#can you picture her?? in bright pink?? gosh what a sight

[codename-adler]

foxes + onesies (4/9)

based off of that one post i saw and don’t remember, where people once caught Allison wandering around Fox Tower in a giraffe onesie, and i absolutely melted for her. here is the Foxes’ journey to getting a onesie each!

Dan

of course the next Fox to get their onesie is the Danielle Leigh Wilds

though Nicky almost beats her to it, but that’s a story for another time

now. Dan is fierce. Dan is sexy. Dan is strong. Dan is an inspiration to all.

Dan also wants a ridiculous pajama to match with her boyfriend and her best friends

Dan wants to go full-on girly mode, for once

Dan wants to feel like a kid again, wants to be free of responsibilities, wants to be included in the girl gang

Dan wants

she feels like that one time when she had been excluded from her classmate’s birthday party, because she hadn’t lots of money and the birthday girl knew she wouldn’t be able to bring her a present

because Ally’s is for therapy, Matt’s represent a piece of his childhood, and Renee’s is a lover’s gift

(yeah, she now has to deal with that. just like Neil and Andrew, she didn’t see #renison coming at all. the only difference is, she now has to live with them being a couple 24/7. at least Matt and her live separately, that gives the others a little bit of a break… Renee and Ally? Cuddle monsters. PDA champions. but only in their dorm. only in front of Dan. it’s exhausting. she thinks they might be doing it on purpose…)

anyways

Dan doesn’t have a reason, an excuse, a memory to fuel this childish desire to own one of those adult pajamas

and it’s not like Matt or the girls would get the hint to gift her one, seeing as her usual aesthetic is sporty, mature and overall just *powerbabe vibes*

and that’s how she comes to the conclusion that her Sisters are her only hope (she’s that desperate)

five of them have children… and one’s got a baby on the way for the first time… and the other five, well… let’s not get into that

so surely, surely, her girls are going to get it, right? they’ll have insight, they’ll be helpful, right?

yeah, they are, they do

they just laugh their asses off first

Dan calls for a video chat meeting on a Wednesday afternoon, when all of them are least likely to be busy

7 of them are able to make it

however, Dan keeps dancing around the subject, and her Sisters notice it right away

Georgia: Oh. My. God. Dan, are you pregnant??

Darla: Oh God, are you dying??

Flo: Did Matt finally propose??

Michelle: Don’t tell us you guys broke up!!

Courtney: Do you need a lawyer or something??

Camilla: Which bastard hurt you??

June: Do you need help hiding the body??

yeah, dramatic much

Dan ends up being forced to admit the truth before her girls get a heart attack

Dan: Jesus, guys, shut the hell up. I’m fine (*oh shut up Neil*). I just need guidance for… hum… a fashion matter?

that puts her girls in a much better mood

only for all hell to break loose when Dan admits to wanting a fucking onesie pajama

Dan has to mute her laptop

of course, they only tease her because they love her

but still

they have a good time making fun of her

once they calm down, though, they let Dan speak

so she explains what’s been happening in the last few weeks

how she wishes to use that stupid onesie to grow closer to her team, to belong

how she craves something so juvenile because she never had that kind of thing growing up

how she doesn’t know how to proceed without seeming like an attention seeker, a copycat

her Sisters all understand, each in their own way

they finally start asking Dan the right questions

Michelle: So what can we do?

June: I can make you one, if you want. You know I got magic hands *wink*

Flo: D’you need money? We got money, baby. Just say how much.

Darla: You wanna be, like, sexy devil mistress or cute baby angel??

Courtney: Ooh, ooh, a lace one!

Georgia: Courtney no.

Camilla: Courtney yes.

no indeed, Courtney

the main problem, she explained to them, was that she didn’t know what to get

see, Dan doesn’t really like animals; never had one, never obsessed over one, never felt a connection to one

Dan doesn’t particularly like children’s movies either

so, what to get?

Camilla: Okay, but remember when Georgia’s kid started calling us all Care Bears because she was obsessed with it? And she was like, weirdly accurate? What about that?

Michelle: Oh yeah, that was soooo nice. So nice.

Georgia: Oh shut up Michelle, you’re just mad ‘cause my child renamed you Grumpy Bear! She wasn’t wrong, you know.

Courtney: Pff you’re just jealous I got Funshine Bear!

Flo: Okay, enough, enough, now. Dan, which one were you again? Do you even like the idea?

Dan: I guess… I was uh, the pink one. With the hearts on the tummy? Do they even have those in onesies?

Camilla: Oh yeah, Always There Bear! See, Michelle? My daughter’s a psychic. She was right about every one of you.

Flo: Dan, babygirl, they have onesies of everything.

so all the girls pull up pictures of pink Care Bear onesies to show Dan

June is the one who ends up finding Dan’s favorite

it’s baggy, it’s hot pink, it’s cute and fluffy and so not Dan

she loves it

and in bonus, her 11 sisters contribute to pay for her onesie (being the youngest in the family has its perks)

they almost make Dan cry tears of joy

three weeks later (it came from Japan), Dan’s package arrives

it also happens to be Valentine’s Day soon…

(you know where this is going)

it’s Sunday night, the 14th

Dan and Matt have his dorm to themselves

they spend the day with each other, really taking it slow and doing nothing

around 8pm, Dan tells Matt she’s craving some chocolate desserts, so he takes his truck and drives to the closest bakery on campus

meanwhile, Dan puts her plan in action

she pulls out the pink heart-shaped Post-It notes Renee lent her and writes her little messages on them

Hey, pretty boy

Wanna play hide-and-seek…?

Come and find me, pretty boy

You know where I am…

I’m waiting for you XOXO

she sticks them on the front door, all along the hallway and the last one’s on Matt’s bedroom door

Matt is ecstatic when he returns with half a dozen of chocolate eclairs

he chucks the box of desserts in the fridge before he quickly tiptoes to his bedroom

he knocks

and from inside, a voice…

Dan: Come in, pretty boy… I’ve got a surprise for ya…

Matt kicks the door open

and oh. my. lord.

there she is, in all her glory

there’s rose petals all over his bed and the floor

there are lit vanilla-scented candles

there’s slow music playing

and in the middle of the bed, sprawled out like the queen she is, Dan

in her onesie

her neon pink Care Bear onesie

and do you know what the best part is?

Matt isn’t even close to being disappointed

he just thinks, God I love her

as soon as he sees her, he runs and jumps on the bed to join her and make out passionately

and then just as fast, he gets off the bed

Matt: WAIT FOR ME BABY LEMME PUT MINE ON OKAY DON’T YOU MOVE

once he’s back in Dan’s arms, they’re a flurry of pink and orange

they can’t stop giggling

and yeah, they do make love all night long, and eat chocolate eclairs butt-naked

but first they watch their favorite movie, Karate Kid (the one with young Jaden Smith and old Jackie Chan, okay)

so if they weren’t sure of their commitment to this relationship before, after that night, they both knew they would never spend another night with someone else as long as they were alive

they were in perfect harmony

God, I love him // God, I love her

[madasthesea]

“What is a Build-a-Bear?” Nebula's rasping voice framed the words like they were a foreign language, careful and slow.

Tony blinked at her. He was still in the Medbay, slowly recovering from starvation, oxygen deprivation, and the last of his stab wound. The time between getting off the ship and waking up here was blurry. Nebula, who had suffered from hunger much less than Tony, had come to visit him while Captain Danvers and the raccoon prepared their ship to go find Thanos.

“What?” he croaked.

“You called Rocket a Build-a-Bear.”

He didn't remember doing that, but it sounded like him.

“Oh. It's a stuffed animal,” Tony explained listlessly, picking at his blanket. “It's for kids.”

 Peter's room was a mishmash of Lego figurines, science apparatus, and second-hand furniture. Tony glanced around, taking it in. The last time he'd been here recruiting the kid, the space had been much more bare. He smirked as he saw the Star Wars spaceships, but it turned into a wicked grin when he caught sight of a red and gold stuffed animal.

“Kid, what is that?”

Peter looked around from where he'd been rummaging in his desk for his spare webshooter. He saw where Tony was looking and his cheeks immediately flushed.

“Um. A… birthday present.”

Tony reached out and picked it up. The little bear had gold Iron Man masks all over his crimson fur and was wearing a shirt and pants that looked like the Iron Man armor, complete with a tiny glowing arc reactor and a cloth mask.

“It looks new,” he remarked casually.

“It isn't!” Peter hurriedly assured him, rushing over and trying to snag it from Tony's hands. Tony pulled it closer to his chest, raising an eyebrow at Peter.

“Don't get grabby, Parker,” he chided. “Now, come here, we're taking a selfie.”

“You give these slain creatures to your children?” Nebula asked. Her voice and face were as emotionless as ever, but there was something like disgust in the tilt of her head.

Tony, jerked out of his thoughts, took a second to catch up.

“What? No! Geez, no. They're not real animals, they're made of cloth.”

“Cloth,” Nebula repeated, sounding dubious.

“Yeah.” He hesitated for a second. “Come here, I'll show you.”

He reached over to the bedside table, where he'd slammed his phone down half a second after Rhodey gave it to him. He'd taken a single glance at the lock screen photo—one of Peter with engine grease all over his face, the car he and Tony had restored together barely visible in the background—and promptly hyperventilated until he passed out. He hadn't touched the phone since, and his hands shook as he reached for it now.

He swallowed hard, unlocking his phone and carefully not looking at his background picture—this one of him, Peter, and Pepper all asleep on the couch. He opened his camera gallery and quickly scrolled through the file of photos of Peter, trying not to see any of them, any of the hundreds of memories that would forever more be nothing but agonizing reminders of his own failure.

He overshot the one he was looking for and had to go back, but finally he pulled up a picture of Peter's Iron Man Build-a-Bear, his own hand holding it up to the camera.

Nebula crowded around the head of the bed, peering down at the screen. She looked at it critically for a second, glancing between it and Tony.

“What is it's function?” She finally asked.

“Kids cuddle with them,” Tony replied. She looked confused. “You know, hug them?”

Nebula shook her head.

“Oh geez. Um. Like, like this.” Finger hesitating for a second, Tony swiped to the next picture. His breath stuttered in his lungs.

Beaming up at him from the screen was the ghost of Peter Parker, bright and young and perfect. The teddy bear was tucked under his chin and his cheeks still faintly pink with embarrassment. Tony had had to make a really stupid “dad joke" to even get Peter to smile. In the picture they'd taken together, Peter was mid eye-roll.

Tony's thumb hovered over the image as if about to caress the boy's face. He could feel Nebula looking at him, knew she recognized Peter as the kid that had died in Tony's arms. And even if she hadn’t, she still would have known—she was the one that had heard him screaming Peter’s name in his sleep, whispering apologies to the Peter he hallucinated once the infection took hold.

“Why do they… cuddle them?” Nebula made a face at the word and Tony snorted, still staring at his screen.

“Us humans do that. We, um, need physical contact.”

  Tony woke up to the hazy awareness that came with heavy medication. He remembered the entire fight, this time, and groaned quietly. His injuries would take forever to heal, his busted knee would probably ache for the rest of his life. Getting old sucked. But taking the brunt of the damage was worth it as long Peter got to grow old, too.

Speaking of Peter, Tony felt a suspiciously Peter-shaped weight against his side. He peeled an eye open and, sure enough, Peter was tucked up against him, his arm over Tony's stomach.

“Kid,” Tony groaned. Peter looked up at him, a nasty bruise on his temple.

“Mr. Stark.”

“What are you doing here?” Tony asked, fighting the pull of medication trying to make him fall asleep again.

“Human contact helps dull pain,” Peter told him. He pressed himself a little closer. “Is it working?”

“Better than morphine,” Tony said drily. Peter made an aggravated noise at his sarcasm.

“I'm trying to help,” Peter whispered.

Tony sighed, shifting a little so that Peter's head was nestled more comfortably against his shoulder.

“You know you don't have to feel guilty, buddy. You really don't.”

“And you know that I do anyway, so just let me…” Peter trailed off.

“Let you cuddle me?”

Peter nodded shyly.

“It's the only thing I can do for you right now.”

Tony closed his eyes. This kid.

“Eases pain, you say?”

“And helps you sleep,” Peter added, his own words getting thicker as he started to doze against Tony’s chest.

Tony ducked his head and lightly kissed Peter's bruised temple.

“Well, heaven knows I could use some of that.”

 Tony jerked himself out of his own thoughts this time. The picture of Peter was blurry now, and Tony blinked hurriedly to dispel the tears.

“Do you… don’t alien kids have something like that?” he asked.

Nebula's dark eyes stared at him for a long moment.

“I don't know.”

Right. Suckiest dad in the universe.

“Tell you what, when I'm up and moving again, and you're back from your space adventure, we'll go get you one.”

Nebula worked her jaw for a moment, like she was going to argue, but her eyes betrayed curiosity and a little bit of excitement in her gaze.

“Fine.”

  Marching up to a Build-a-Bear after the end of the world with an ex-homicidal blue alien was pretty high up on Tony's list of ‘weirdest things I’ve ever done,’ but he glared at the shop attendant that cowered behind the counter as if it was totally normal.

He'd been a little surprised the place was still open, actually. Plenty of stores had had to close their doors after the Snap, too short staffed or without managers and owners.

This was the same store he'd come to with Peter. It still smelled the same. The memory punched the air out of his lungs.

  “Keep your eyes closed, Pete.”

Peter scowled. “Mr. Stark, people are giving us weird looks. I can feel it.”

“Chill out. Just a couple more seconds.” With both hands on Peter's shoulders, Tony steered them through the brightly lit store, around little kids and stands with tiny clothes hanging on little cardboard hangers. When they reached the right spot, Tony reached out tipped Peter's chin down so that he'd see the surprise right when he opened his eyes. The kid didn’t even flinch at the unexpected touch and Tony’s lungs constricted at the trust Peter put in him.

“Alright, kiddo. Go ahead.”

Peter opened his eyes.

“No way…”

There, at the end of the line of Avengers themed teddy bears, was a red plush with spider web patterns all over it. It was wearing a replica of the Spider-Man suit and had a mask shoved up on it's head, smushing the ears.

“Congrats, kid, you've joined the ‘recognizable enough to make a profit’ league,” Tony laughed, both hands still on Peter's shoulders.

“Oh my gosh!” Peter picked up the stuffed animal, running his fingers over it. He tugged the mask over the bear’s face.

“Looks just like you, Pete,” Tony joked, grinning widely. Peter gave his arm a soft whack.

“This is amazing. I have to take a picture and show Ned. He’ll freak,” Peter rambled, fishing for his phone in his pocket.

“Or you could just show him in person.”

“It’s a bit far to come—” Peter started, looking around at the store with a furrow between his eyebrows.

“I’m obviously going to buy you one, kid,” Tony interrupted, rolling his eyes. “To add to your collection.”

Peter blushed. “Mr. Stark.”

“After all, you can’t have Iron Man without his loyal sidekick Spider-Man, can you?”

Peter pursed his lips, but there was something soft and awed in his face, like being Iron Man’s sidekick was a dream come true. “Not your sidekick, Mr. Stark.”

“I know, kiddo,” Tony assured him, ruffling his hair. “Now, come on, show me how this works.”

Twenty minutes later, they were leaving with a new teddy bear, the little pseudo-birth certificate that came with reading ‘Underroos.’

“Your face is leaking.” Nebula’s voice startled him so badly he flinched. His hands flew up to his face, wiping away the tears on his cheeks.

“Right. Sorry.” Nebula didn’t say anything. It was one of the best things about her.

“What do I do?” she asked, a little quieter as if embarrassed to not know.

“Just pick one you like,” Tony said shrugging, walking around the store and peering at each bin full of animals waiting to be stuffed. Nebula trailed along behind him, examining them as if wary they would come alive and bite her.

When they came to the Avengers ones, Tony paused. The Spider-Man bear was still there, the crate almost empty. The only ones that seemed more popular were Iron Man and Captain America. Tony smiled a bit. Peter would flip if he knew he’d beaten out Thor.

“That’s your son,” Nebula remarked, a touch surprised.

Tony swallowed, looking at the little plushie. He decided not to correct her. “Yeah. He, uh, he’s pretty popular, here on Earth.”

Nebula stooped and picked out a Spider-Man bear. “I like this one,” she proclaimed, with a confidence that surprised Tony. She’d never expressed real preference or dislike for anything before.

Tony cleared his throat. “You... you don’t have to get that one, just cause it’s—You don’t have to get that one for me.”

“I like this one,” she said again.

“Alright, Bluebell.” She glanced up at him at the nickname. “Let’s go get you your very first stuffed animal.”

After the bear had been stuffed, the little heart placed inside—Nebula had been very confused at that part—and closed up, the worker left them to pick out clothes and whatever else they wanted. Nebula looked at the bear in her hands for a long moment, and then raised it and tucked it under her chin, mimicking what she had seen Peter doing in the picture Tony had showed her. Tony watched, one eyebrow raised, as she stood like that for a long moment, eyes closed.

When she opened her eyes, she looked at Tony.

“I see,” she said simply. Tony smiled.

  Two weeks later, as she and Rocket boarded their ship to leave Earth, Nebula had her little Spider-Man bear—decked out in an Iron Man outfit, at her insistence—under her arm.

[sleekervae]

The Neighbour [1.3]

Masterlist

A/N: I’m in a really good mood today and found the motivation to write! Super fluff ahead!!

When Eva woke up, not having remembered falling asleep, she let the light seep in behind her eyelids, floating shapes dancing in her vision before she even thought about opening her eyes again.

She was surrounded by a cloud of warmth, a thick cologne which she had grown too attached to for her own good and his hand was in her hair, tangling and untangling the curls, brushing gently as if distracted by something else, but wanting her to know he was there nonetheless.

She slowly opened her eyes, readjusting to her own living room, the memory of being on the sofa with him before she'd drifted off slowly coming back to her. She glanced down at her lap, his lap, then followed the brightness of his phone in his hand as he typed, closed and opened another app with his free hand, "Rem?"

He flinched, unaware that she'd woken because she was so peaceful, so still. "Yeah?"

"Am I your lock screen?"

Eva stared down at the picture that glowed through the oncoming dark, half confused, half endeared by the silent gesture and the meaning it held.

"Oh, shit," Remington giggled nervously, his cheeks already a flushed pink as he pulled back slightly to look at her, "You weren't supposed to see that, Eva,"

"When did you take this?" she pushed. The girl she looked at seemed so different somehow, so unaware of what was coming, but the laughter and happiness radiated off the screen and it could've only been the company she was with, the ease, the delicate carefree comfort he brought her.

Remington swallowed, "The album party..."

Eva nodded, "This was before the patio?"

"Before the patio. Still only seems like yesterday, you know?"

She smiled with endearment, "Yeah. How long has it been, a month?"

"About that, I think," he smiled back at her, the light reaching his eyes. "I only changed it the other day... now that I know that we're... together... you just looked so pretty. I know you weren't feeling too good, but you were glowing to me," He stroked his fingers through her hair lovingly again. "It's just -- my favorite picture of my favorite girl,"

Eva felt her heart leap in her chest and leant to press her lips to his without second guessing it, the familiarity of kissing him, of being able to kiss him still yet to settle as reality.

He moved his lips with hers eagerly, tilting his head to deepen the kiss, drawing her breath from her lungs effortlessly. She tasted so sweet, so addictive that he knew he'd never have enough.

"You know that picture we took in the bathroom last week?" she whispered against his lips.

"Yeah,"

"We should take more like that. I don't take a lot of pictures of myself, but I'd like more of us,"

"I'd like that, Eva... I'd like that very much,"

The clicking of spokes echoed through the tunnel, the lights above flickering over the girls' heads as they whizzed towards the light at the opening. Eva and Shy were neck and neck as they pedalled on their bikes, giggling and urging the other to hurry so they could beat the guys as they closely followed one their skateboards. Of course, they were proudly repping the new skateboard that would soon be out on the merch market. 

"C'mon! C'mon! They're right behind us!"

Eva was unsure how a competition between the bike and skateboard arose, but she was too caught up in the thrill to care. She gripped the leather-worn handles of her yellow bike tightly, flying out of the street tunnel beside Shy. Pepper and Pluto sat in their baskets at the handlebars, too enthralled with the wind whipping over their faces to care about each other.

Remington had to wonder to himself why he didn't just take his car to the park; his own ego assuring him that he and Emerson could totally beat the girls there. Maybe if he was on a bike, then he may have had a chance. The skateboard was utterly useless in this situation as the girls became smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Hurry the fuck up, Emerson!"

"The boards aren't motorized!"

The girls came to the park quickly after, dismounting and coming to stop under a shady tree. Shy put Pepper down in the long grass and she immediately went bounding around, excited to explore and sniff all the new smells. Pluto took a look around the open park, glaring in dismay as to why he wasn't at home and decided to settle into the roots of the tree. Pepper then came trotting over to Pluto, in her excitement tumbling through the grass and rolling into Pluto. The tabby glared at the pomeranian and batted her away with his tail.

Though Eva was almost certain they were in the middle of nowhere, no other cars or people in sight for miles, she was more than happy to set up their picnic. She whipped a blanket over the grass and Shy began to pull food and drinks from her backpack. She looked out across the street, just able to get a glimpse of the guys coming their way.

"Maybe their next board should be electric," she grinned.

"And give them a fair chance?" Eva shook her head, "Where's the fun in that?"

Remington and Emerson finally made it to the open park, their legs sore and shoes scuffed from kicking at the ground over and over. They grabbed their board and jogged to meet the girls under the tree.

"Next time... we're taking the car," Remington huffed.

"It was your stupid idea to race, anyway," Emerson grumbled.

"But when I come up with a stupid idea, you can talk me out of it,"

The girls smiled coyly at the guys, "What took you so long?" Eva asked.

They sat down with the girls and took a moment to collect themselves.  Surrounded by tall green grass and inhaling crisp air which made them feel distinctively far from home in the city, they were heading up to a small bank. The heat was palpable already, but the linen material of Eva's white sundress which stopped just above her knees, the hems frilly and delicate, provided a welcome breeze. She shifted to her knees as she helped Shy set up the food they brought.

Remington laid back in the grass, admiring the way the light dazzled between the gaps in the branches, then angled his face again to admire Eva, how effortlessly pretty and ethereal she looked amongst the natural landscape, "Did I mention how beautiful you look in that dress?" he muttered.

Eva lifted her head, looking down at her outfit then blushing at him, "A few times, yeah,"

"Just had to drive the point home," he grinned.

Emerson couldn't help but roll his eyes at his brother's sweet talk, "You guys are gross," he chided playfully.

"Look who's calling the kettle black," Shy chuckled, tossing a grape at the drummer. Emerson tried to catch it in his mouth but it bounced across his cheek and fell into the grass. He was quick to grab it before Pepper or Pluto could.

Remington pulled some of the drinks from his own bag, canned spiked sodas and juices. He grabbed a Nude seltzer and popped it open, unprepared for the fizz and carbonated shower that sprayed over him and the blanket briefly. The others giggled at him and Eva took a napkin to wipe some of the soda from his cheek.

"Thanks," he muttered bashfully.

The four kids shared in vegetable chips and vegan BLTs, with some fruit and two-bite brownies for their dessert. Pluto and Pepper had the opportunity to snack on some pieces of apple and banana. Eva was surprised to see her tabby not trying to start a fight with Pepper.

"You can never go wrong with brownies," she said, popping the little bite of goodness into her mouth.

Shy hummed in agreement, "I wanted to bring the whipped cream too, but I couldn't find it," she said.

Remington and Eva glanced at each other warily, wondering if they knew where the whipped cream actually went. Remington quickly cleared his throat.

"Uh -- I used the rest last weekend," he said, "We made chocolate pudding,"

"Yeah," Eva nodded quickly, "Rem's a secret gourmet,"

Emerson cocked an eyebrow, "Since when?"

"Since Eva," Remington grinned with pride.

The boys had brought out a soccer ball and decided on a quick match in the grass, with Pepper running between their legs to join in the fun. The girls had a different idea, however. Eva needed a new photograph to post along side a piece for her blog, and she asked if Shy would be willing to model. Of course, Shy was more than happy to oblige her.

They picked a small bouquet of daffodils that were growing just a few feet from the tree. The young model kneeled next to the winding roots, tossing her head back and clutching the vibrant yellow bouquet to her chest, her dark brown almond eyes staring into Eva's soul through her phone lens. Shy was easily one of the most strikingly beautiful women Eva had come across, and what made it better was her heart was practically made of gold.

"Wow," Eva breathed as she stared at the photo, "Emerson! I think I'm love with your girlfriend!" Shy bursted into giggles.

Emerson scoffed, "It's okay, I don't blame you!" he called back.

"How'd the picture turn out?" Shy asked, coming to take a look for herself, "Nice! You into photography, too?"

"It's an amateur hobby. I get most of my stuff from Pinterest," she replied.

"You ever think of modelling yourself?" she asked the young writer.

Eva shook her head quickly, blushing, "Me? Oh -- gosh, no!"

"Why not? You're fucking gorgeous. Not to mention so many girls would kill to have your naturally full lips," Shy said.

"I appreciate that. But I think I'm just more comfortable behind the camera, you know?" Eva replied.

Shy smiled and nodded, "I get it. But... if you ever change your mind, I'm expanding my business to a clothing line and I could use some cute models in the future,"

Eva blushed at the idea. Her, a model? Sure, she was confident in her body and what she wore, but she hadn't done a lot in terms of putting her actual face out into the digital media world. It might be fun, though?

"... I'll think about it,"

Sharp grass sliced at Eva's shins as she jogged through the plain, her fingers intertwined with his, the warm palm of his hand so familiar that she would have followed him anywhere. Looking up at the high tree tops, the bright blue sky and the sun peeking through, flooding their picnic spot behind them in a golden glow. Remington wasn't all too sure where he was taking her, he just wanted a minute to have Eva to himself.

The colours were vibrant, rich green tree tops, his pastel pink hair losing its sharp spike and falling over his face, complimenting his pale skin so gorgeously as he turned around while pulling her along. The melodic tone of his voice only drew her in further, she could barely keep up, her sneakers dragging on the ground as she followed Remington, kicking up tiny stones and branches.

"Where are we going?" her voice carried with the wind.

"I don't know," Remington shrugged, smiling gleefully at her, "But that's part of the fun, isn't it?"

She chuckled, "So help me God you get us lost, Remington,"

"We won't get lost," he flashed her that heart-wrenching smile that had her falling head over heels for him all over again. The way her fingers were wound around his made his skin tingle, and his breath hitched in his throat when he decided to stop, spun around and twirled her into a nearby tree, pinning her against his chest. His wild eyes flashed with excitement before he closed the space between them and pressed a deep kiss to her lips.

Her own lips parting, she moaned into his mouth, instantly desperate for more. His hands moved instinctively to hold her hips and she inhaled sharply when she felt the bark indent her skin, her arm wrapping slowly around his neck, her other hand now letting go of his to move slowly into his hair, her nails scratching lightly at the back of his neck, tugging gently on his soft pinky/brown locks as her lips moved eagerly with his.

"You dragged me out here to fuck, then?" she drawled amusedly, her voice nothing but a hint, her tone needy, already eager for more as his calloused fingertips dug into the material of her dress clinging to her hips.

"Have you seen yourself in that dress, darling?" he rasped, his lips were red, his chest flushed, eyes half-open, yet fixated on her flawless features. The glint of mischief in her eyes, the clear determination, everything about her excited him to a new level he never knew he could have, "You're something out of my dream,"

"How original," she chided, squealing briefly when he lifted her by her thighs and kissed her again. Her legs came to wrap around his torso, humming softly, only his hands on the tree keeping her off the ground. She was weak for the way his fingers stroked her skin tenderly yet held her so possessively that she knew she wouldn't have been able to pull away and deny him even if she wanted.

And his lips were on her neck in an instant, driving her wild as he licked and bit, not abashed about leaving a mark. She tilted her head back until she bumped against the tree, her stormy blue eyes slipping shut. The only thing she could feel was a cool breeze ghosting over the bare skin of her legs, his warm hands squeezing her thighs, and his chapped lips ravaging over her neck and chest like she was his final meal.

Her eyes fell open for a minute, mesmerized by the sun peaking through the treetops above, reaching them even in their spot of seclusion. The branches danced and swayed in the wind, and Eva had a brief thought slip through her mind.

"Remington," Eva gasped, pushing at his chest lightly so he'd pull away.

"Mhmm?" he looked up at her with dark, lustful eyes.

"... Can you climb this tree?" the bottom branches were low enough for him to grab a hold of, and it had dawned on her that she'd never seen him climb anything, despite how much he bragged about it.

Remington took a wistful glance at the branches, smiling easily, "Is that a question or a request?"

"Well, I've never seen you climb," she shrugged back.

"Piece of cake," he set her back on her feet, but she leaned against the tree for a moment longer so she could collect herself.

Remington took a few steps, like he was gearing up to run a track race. With Eva standing well out of the way, he took three long steps before he leapt up and grabbed the first branch. The bark on that particular spot was weak and he stumbled to the ground, "Shit!"

"Jesus!" Eva gasped, "Okay, don't do it if it's gonna' cost a trip to the ER,"

"It's okay," he assured her, rubbing his palms on his jeans to take the sting out, "Just a fluke,"

He backed up and tried again, this time gripping the branch tightly and pulling himself up. Eva stood back in awe, his forearms clenched tightly and the veins in his biceps popped, but he showed little overall effort as he maneuvered his way to sit on the branch.

"See? Piece of cake," he simpered.

Eva crossed her arms over her chest, "How's the view?"

Remington smiled down at her, "Pretty fantastic, not gonna' lie. Care to join me?"

"I would love to, but I don't possess any upper body strength, whatsoever," she said.

"That's no problem," he jumped back down and stood behind her, gripping her hips tightly "Do you trust me?"

Eva glanced at the branch warily, standing over her head at a good eight feet. Her fingertips couldn't even brush the bark if she stood on her toes. But she looked to Remington, nodding slowly. He counted down from three before he hoisted her up and Eva quickly grabbed the branch, heaving herself to sit at the spot where the branch met the trunk. Remington hopped up right after, pausing briefly as the wood made a lowly creak, but he relaxed when they were still in the air.

"Piece of cake," Eva mocked.

"Yeah, 'cause I did all the heavy lifting," he nudged her gently, "Literally,"

"I didn't ask you to lift me up here" she pouted.

"But it's more fun with you up here," he lifted his head and caught her lips in a kiss before she retort in any way, holding her in his arms and deepening their kiss.

She hummed softly, parting her lips and cupping his face into her hands, unable to pay attention to anything beyond Remington's lips moving hungrily with hers, his body pressed up against her.

There was a brief moment when Eva forgot where she was as she went to plant her hand behind her, only instead of a solid ground her fingers brushed thin air and she jolted, breaking their kiss and staring down at the ground.

"Fuck," It didn't seem all the far down from the grass, but up here she felt like she was miles up.

Remington chuckled, "You okay?" and she nodded, pink tinting her cheeks. He pulled her tighter into his embrace, willfully ensuring that she wasn't going anywhere, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you,"

The sun eventually began to settle into the horizon, maybe it was four or five o'clock now? Eva was tired but happy as she sat against the tree trunk at their picnic spot, Remington's head in her lap and she threaded her fingers through his pink hair and they conversed amongst themselves. And then her attention was captured when she heard a sultry request.

"What poem are you gonna' use with the picture, Eva?" Emerson suddenly asked. Eva was taken aback for a moment, her tongue suddenly running dry.

"Erm -- j-just a new thing I wrote a while back," she said, "I kept meaning to put it up, but it always needed some tweaking,"

Remington glanced up at her, "... Can we hear it?"

"Yeah," Shy nodded, hope glimmering in her dark eyes.

Eva relented faster then she usually did, perhaps because she knew they would continue to bother her about it until she would just buck up and read it. And she knew Remington would never make her do anything she wasn't comfortable with. Besides, they had all read the proses she had posted already, what actual difference would it make for her to read aloud?

"Okay..."

She grabbed her bag and fished out her notebook, only having to flip to the first few pages. She settled back against the tree trunk. She inhaled to gather herself as her eyes scanned the words she had written only a few months back. Funny, how her writing looked so different compared to how she wrote now. The emotion was different...

"I thought you were so mature when I met you

because we were 18 and you liked pistachio ice cream

and you smoked weed.

And I thought, "what are the chances you'd like someone like me?"

And you never did."

Despite Eva's misgivings, she had a natural storytelling voice. Calm and soothing, Remington had quickly fallen in love with the sound. There was an eternal softness in her voice, a magic that transformed every word she spoke into something more, something special. It relaxed Remington more than he thought possible. His heart was full, content.

"And eight months ago, seven years later,

I met someone who spends his summers in Long Beach, NYC

and studies law as a hobby

and I thought, "he's so accomplished, why would he ever like me?"

And it turns out he never actually did either,

at least not enough to make it real."

Emerson hugged Shy tightly, resting his head on her shoulder as they were both hanging on every word. Her fingers splayed through the grass, twisting, tugging blade by blade surely the same way these characters had to Eva's subject.

"Then I got drunk one night and I texted him

and I asked him "why I wasn't good enough?"

and he said that I was.

He liked me all along, I just refused to see it.

I was the one who decided I wasn't enough.

Sometimes we actually can't see things that are so obviously right in front of us

because we feel we don't deserve them.

And all I could think about was how different my life would have been

if I realized that at the ice cream parlor seven years ago,"

[jjunberry]

| Boyfriend Q&A

| Johnny Suh x reader

You let out a frustrated sigh when the camera failed to focus again. You were of course recording the process for bloopers. Your subscribers loved the bloopers the most. You could say your following on youtube was big. 900k subscribers and they were all demanding to know your boyfriend.

Your boyfriend was none other than Johnny Suh of NCT. Your subscribers and Nctizens clicked instantly and they loved your relationship with Johnny. They wanted more content from you two.

" UGhhh it's not focusing i'm going to break it." Johnny let out a laugh at your struggling. You glared daggers at your giggling boyfriend. " Johnny Suh, stop laughing and help me." He kept laughing but still helped you.

Once the camera was focused you smiled at it. " Hello everyone! If you don't know me I'm y/n and this is my channel, todays video has been highly...and i mean highly requested." You smiled and did a drum roll. " Today I'm doing a Q&A with my boyfriend." You cheered.

Johnny laughed off camera at your excitement. " Johnny that was when you were supposed to enter the frame." Johnny laughed but took a seat next to you. He smiled and waved at the camera. " Go on introduce yourself." You nudged him with your shoulder. " I'm Johnny." You started giggling remembering that video of him and Mark. " Why are you laughing?" He asked. " I'm Johnny." You copied Mark from the video causing Johnny to roll his eyes.

" Okay anyways, y/n asked you to send in questions on twitter and there were tons of them." Johhny took control of the video seeing as you were too consumed in giggles to speak. Once you calmed down you pulled out your phone and the questions you saved.

" Okay, first question how did you guys meet?" You read the question and turned towards Johnny. " We met at Target when they were hiding from Doyoung, he was calling them and looked panicked so I offered to help find them." You explained. Johnny nodded.

" Yeah when that episode of Johnny's Communication Center came out we had to blur her face because we weren't to sure if we could film her, but when we weren't recording we exchanged phone numbers because at first she wanted to be Doyoung's friend. She had no idea who we were." Johnny explained.

" I still can't believe you hid from Doyoung, he looked so lost." You said. Johnny grabed your phone to find another question. " Who asked who out?" He read smirking at you. " Oh gosh, he asked me out and I thought he was joking, because I have a huge fear of rejection but I had a huge crush on him."

As you looked through the questions Johnny was telling a story about when you stole Mark's watermelon without knowing it was his. You jumped into the conversation. " I told him I was sorry so many times and I still feel bad and that was like a year ago." You frowned.

" Anyways this question is my favorite, y/n who is your bias in NCT?" Johnny smirked and looked at you. " that's simple, it's Jungwoo." You said. Johnny's face lost it's smirk and a look of fake hurt crossed his features. " really? I'm hurt." You shrugged your shoulders. " I'm so sorry." You laughed.

Johnny crossed his arms. " No nope I'm not talking to you." You rolled your eyes then went to the next question. " What's your favorite thing to do with each other?" You read the question.

Johnny was keeping up his moody act so you sighed and turned the the camera sporting a 'really' face. " Well I really enjoy our nights in, when we can do a nice face mask and catch up on some dramas." You answered smiling.

Johnny turned towards you. " I really enjoy everything we do together seeing as we don't always get time together, so any chance we get to do something I love it." Your face was a bright pink from blushing.

" That's really sweet, I couldn't agree more I love you." You whispered the last part. He smiled. " I love you." He whispered back.

" Okay we are gonna do a few more questions because Johnny wants coffee and is being impatient." You giggled. " I am not. They just close soon." He defended himself.

" Will y/n be on a Johnny's Communication Center?" Johhny read. He shrugged. " Maybe but i'm not sure." " I technically was in one but I was blurred out after I helped Doyoung." You laughed. Johnny nodded. " Yeah Doyoung is like y/n's baby now we can't tease him around her. Or he'll tell on us." Johnny laughed. " Sometimes I help but most of the time it's hilarious, but don't ever tease my baby Jungwoo or it's on sight." You laughed.

" I tought I was your baby?" Johnny asked. You laughed. " Your my number one." He smiled. " Next question." You said.

After you and Johnny answered more questions and told some stories it was time to wrap up the video. You clapped your hands together and smiled.

" Okay guys, that's all the questions we have for today, hopefully you got to understand our relationship a little better. We are going to hopefully make more videos for you guys soon, so subscribe and of course like the video and I just want to thank you guys for being so kind and supportive of Johnny and I's relationship." You smiled when Johnny laced his fingers with yours.

" Yeah it means a lot to us guys, so thank you and we'll see you soon in the next video." You smiled hearing Johnny do your outro. You and Johnny waved to the camera as you shouted goodbyes.

You added some cute couple clips into the video that you haven't shared before.

One was of you and Johnny on a coffee date and recording him ordering for you two. " You remembered my order?" You asked happily behind the camera. " I remeber everything you tell me."

Another one was of the time Johnny took you to meet his parents. This time he was filming you and his Mom cooking. " My own Mom ditched me to spend time with you. I'm hurt." You and his Mom laughed. " She's more than welcome to visit with or without you." You and his Mom laughed at his fake hurt expression and he turned the camera to his face and shook his head.

The last clip was you two just laying on the couch while a drama played in the background. You had the camera recording both of you. Johnny's head was rested on your chest and one of your hands played with his hair. " I love you." Johnny said. You smiled. " I love you too."

.....

When you posted the video the fans were more than excited to share and make edits of it. There was of course memes made. The over all response to the video was positive and loving.

You were scrolling through twitter laughing at the memes and replying to people when Johnny came out of the bathroom. " What are you up too?" He asked laying next to you on your bed.

" The fans, they loved our video." You showed him a few memes and responses getting him to laugh as well.

You turned off your phone and got settled in bed and Johnny followed after getting comfortable. His head was resting on your stomach while you played with his still damp hair. The new avengers movie was playing but Johnny couldn't pay attention. His mind was at peace during this relaxing moment with you.

" I love you." You said knowing he was about to fall alseep. " I love you." He said barely above a whisper before his breathing evened out. You took a picture and uploaded to twitter simply saying, " I love You." After that you turned your phone off and went to sleep as well.

i binged Johnny's Communication Center and then got this idea!

pic found on Pinterest!! Credit to owner!!

hope you enjoyed-Echo❤❤

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter twenty six: wet dreams and frisbees

“I can't believe your dad actually helped us with that,” Eric said aloud to her with a shake of his head. All she knew was she had to be there for real that time around: after their album dropped, her father had invited her back up to the Bay Area before anything else huge happened between them.

The day following the release of that new album in the first week of May and all the while the video for “The Ballad” had hit everyone's television there in the Bay Area and also down in Los Angeles. Sam was sure that Testament hadn't had such a stronghold like that of Metallica given they had started a year after Cliff was killed; but every time she turned around or went anywhere with a television screen, she saw Chuck's face there as he crooned out that song.

There was that plus the video for “Practice What You Preach” which never surfaced as much, but she swore that she saw them everywhere there in California. They always came on after Prince and Michael Jackson it seemed like, and it traded off between the two of them. There came a point in which after not even a week in which Sam began to associate Testament with either doves crying or pretty young things.

It was also around the time she headed back up to the Bay Area when she caught a glimpse of a rather darkly lit video which followed the one for “The Ballad” there in the bus station.

She frowned with the feeling of unfamiliar familiarity. She had no idea where they were from, but she knew them from somewhere. Within time, through the shades of rich royal blue, she recognized Kirk's black curls and Lars' sharp eyebrows. James' eyes pinched shut.

Jason there on the stool with a pair of wire framed glasses upon his nose.

Her mouth dropped open.

It was the first time she had ever seen Metallica in a music video. Even though she couldn't hear the music over the hustle and bustle in the bus station, she could feel it in her bones. The very sight of it almost brought a tear to her eye. Jason there on the stool in Cliff's shoes: there was no way he was echoing him, but rather he continued on from where Cliff had left off in the three years before. She adjusted the brim of her hat and sniffled a bit at the sight up there on the wall.

She thought about it all the way up through the outer rim of Los Angeles and into the Central Valley, such that she had plunked open her journal at one point and sprawled it across her lap. All she could think about was Jason and the pensive look on his face.

She yearned for something rich and dark like black ink for her new drawing, and yet all she had at her disposal at the moment was her kit of pencils. She got about as far as the sketch, albeit in cartoon form, but she had one with her regardless of anything she had with her.

Something to remember her dead love to, and something to exemplify his band's membrance of him as well. It was yet another secret drawing she had on hand, and one that she had no idea as to when she would finish up, either.

In the meantime, there on her second trip back up to San Francisco, Eric and Greg picked her up from the bus station in Hayward and as they drove back to the rehearsal spot together, she remembered the bet she had made with Alex as well. She had drawn him and thus she had to get alone with Greg whenever she found the chance.

She could only hope that Alex had told him about their bet, and if he didn't, there had to be a way in which she could explain it to him and in the best way possible as well. She sat there in the front seat next to Eric: at one point, she peered into the rear view mirror and through the dark lenses of her sunglasses, she noticed Greg tucking a lock of wavy dark hair right behind his ear.

That long hair and that soft scruff on his chin and on either side of his face.

It was hard for her to imagine it, even her having known Greg for a few years at that point. She strove to picture that scruff against her thighs; her holding onto that hair and giving it a pull; figuring each other out. All fuzzy and difficult for her to really think about.

She peered over at Eric and his little baby face from the side.

All five of them with long black hair and round faces, except they were all slightly different in some fashion: Alex with the obvious tuft of gray over the right side of his forehead, Chuck with the similar grave Native American look to his face like Joey, Greg with the scruff on his face, Louie looking serious, and Eric being the odd man out with the look that started it all.

“I just realized I've never really been to Catalina,” Eric said at one point.

“It's gorgeous,” she told him with a sparkling smile, “especially when it snows.”

He frowned at that where she giggled and held her journal close to her lap. They rolled up to a stop sign and he looked over at her, and she had no idea if she was looking at the journal or something else. He gave that smooth stripe of dark hair on the right side of his forehead a little toss back with a flick of his head and then they rolled forward along the block towards that low white brick building in question; right next door was a little bistro. Greg was quick to climb first, even before Eric pulled up the parking lever.

“My goodness,” Sam remarked.

“I know, right?” Eric showed her a little smile.

She took off her sunglasses and ran her fingers through her dark hair, and then he cleared his throat. She turned to him: it looked as though he wasn't ready to climb out of the car as of yet.

“I wanna ask you something,” he started in a soft voice.

“Go ahead.”

“Seeing as you're here and not back East anymore—you wanna do something some time?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Like what? Like a date?”

Eric shrugged his shoulders.

“I dunno if you could call it that,” he said, “I just think of when we took you over to Castro Valley to visit the place where James and Lars spread Cliff's ashes, and you and Alex got behind the building there... it was kinda hot, to be perfectly honest with you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I catch myself thinking about from time to time.”

“You know, my dad lives there now,” Sam pointed out.

“Oh, yeah, that's right! Have a little fun near your daddy's place.” Eric flashed her a wink at that. “Anyways, I mean it. I wanna do something with you. Like maybe have dinner at your dad's house or something of that nature. I gotta spend a bit with the little Sammich at some point.”

“You're just saying that because I'm a girl surrounded by a bunch of boys,” she scoffed at him, and albeit with a roll of her eyes. He shrugged at that.

“Not necessarily,” he clarified with a raise of his eyebrows. “It could be from the fact that you're a girl who likes to chill with a bunch of boys.”

“I chill with girls, too, you know, Eric,” she pointed out.

“Kinky.”

“Kinky?”

“Kinky.”

“You little fat rat,” she teased him with a shake of her head.

“Little fat rat, is that what you called me?” he chuckled.

“Yeah, 'cause you're little—you're fat—” She reached for a poke of his little belly and he flinched back in the seat, and his face turned bright pink from the feeling.

“I'm not fat,” he scoffed.

“You're chubby,” she corrected herself.

“I'm not chubby, either,” he said. “Chubby means you're cute and round—fat implies you've got too much on you. I'm neither of those things.”

“Really?”

“I dunno. I just think that's the assumption surrounding it and that's according to your dad, too.”

“My dad told you that?”

“Yeah. Your dad is quite the interesting man if I do say so myself. Maybe that's why you're so amazing.”

She gasped at that and then Eric climbed out of there and into the bright sunlight before she said anything further to him. She clutched her journal to her chest and slung the courier bag over her shoulder, and she followed him up to the front step. He held the door for her all the while: she dared not sashay her hips at him with each and every step.

Once she entered that first hallway followed by that cool, dark front room, she spotted Greg before the table on the side of the room with a glass of beer in hand. Alex was nowhere to be seen. She walked on over to him and he turned to her as he took a sip from the glass.

“What's up?” he greeted her; she peered over her shoulder and Eric ducked into the next room over.

“I have to tell you something,” she began in a low voice.

“Go ahead,” Greg encouraged her as he leaned in closer to her.

“Close the door, too—” He did just that with his free hand around her shoulder.

“I dunno if Alex told you this,” she said, “but I made a bet with him that if I draw him, I have to have sex with you.”

Greg hesitated for a second and then he burst out laughing.

“Did you really draw him?” he asked her as he took another sip of that fresh beer.

“I did, yes! And here's proof.”

She opened her journal to that drawing she had made for him back up at her dad's house. Greg took another sip from his glass and he raised his eyebrows at it.

“Oh, shit,” he sputtered. “I'm in trouble now.”

“He also told me to keep it between us—yeah, I don't get it, either.”

“He wants the three of us all to be hot shit,” Greg explained, “at least that's what I think he wants—I dunno, I can't read his mind. That's a gorgeous drawing, by the way.”

“So,” she stated as she closed the journal and gave her hair a toss, “what do you say?”

“Can I at least have my drink first?” he asked her with a sly little smirk on his face.

“Of course! Take your time with it.”

The door swung open right then and it caught the both of them off guard. Sam whirled around and she recognized that rich black curled hair and that little cleft in his chin.

“Hey, Charlie!” she greeted him, and his face lit up when he recognized her.

“Oh, hey!” He threw his arms around her. “Oh my gosh, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages—how are you?”

“I'm well—I've been living!”

“I should tell you—I got in touch with a woman who might help you out with promoting your art because you need it, Sam. You really do.”

“I'm not sure, though, Charlie,” she confessed. “I'm just trying to find my voice in the wake of being in school.”

“Take it anyways,” Greg told her as he took another sip of beer.

“She also offered to help Marla out, too,” he added, “because you ladies are damn well and good at it.” He handed her a little creamy white card with the words “Scarlett Valentine: art agent—New York, New York” inscribed on the front in rich red swirled letters.

“So should I call her whenever I can or whenever it's convenient for her?” she asked him.

“Whenever you can,” he replied, “mention my name, too—tell 'er you've been Benante'd as a result of this.” His expression then turned serious. “Also, I have good news and some bad news, and they kind of go hand in hand.”

“Go ahead,” she coaxed him as she tucked the card into the interior pocket of her purse.

“Good news is Anthrax is heading back into the studio, hopefully soon,” he said in a single breath. “Bad news is I'm not sure what Joey's doing right now, but I don't think he'll be joining us.”

Sam frowned at that. “What do you mean?” she asked him.

“I called him yesterday and we talked—for a long time, almost two hours. He's not really feeling good even though I told him he sounds good and we kind of need him.”

“What do you think he should do?” Greg chimed in from behind her.

“Well, I told him—take your time with it. When it happens, I'll call you and tell you about it. Your well being and your health comes first. I really want him on it, just to clear up any confusions that he might have about it. He thought we had fired him, for god's sake.”

“What if he says yes to it?” Sam added.

“If he says yes to it,” Charlie continued, “it'll be up to him as to how he does it. Vocals come last, you know.”

“Absolutely! I hope he can do it.”

“I hope he can, too,” he admitted. “Scott's written a bunch of new songs and I can't really imagine anyone else singing them. I mean—I can kind of, but I know they would fit Joey's voice like a glove. They were made with him in mind.”

“Who else can you imagine singing them?” Sam asked him.

“Mark from Death Angel, believe it or not. Just 'cause they have a similar range.”

“Yeah, they do!” Greg chuckled at that.

“That reminds me,” Charlie wagged a finger at him, “a word, Gregory.”

He opened the door and stepped out first; Greg followed right behind him, and the last thing he did for Sam was shrug his shoulders.

“Eventually,” he mouthed to her all the while, and then he followed Charlie out of there and back into the hallway. She spotted Alex by the door, and thus, once she tucked her journal into that courier bag, she headed over to him.

“Hey, you,” he greeted her as he took off his sunglasses and showed off those deep eyes to her.

“So that little bet you made with me,” she started with him and with her arms folded across her chest, “how if I drew you, that I had to do it with Greg—” She stopped and he slowly turned his attention to her with his eyes wide open like big marbles.

“Did you?” he blurted out, stunned.

“I almost did. He didn't seem to ready about it—not like you.”

“You'll have other chances,” he said with a wink, and she gave him a little smirk as a result of that and she knew she would have more chances to see sexy Alex at his best as well.

“By the way, what happens if I don't do it with him?” she asked him in a low voice. Alex shifted his weight right before her and then he walked around her back to that room. She followed him back inside, right as he took a seat before that table. He gestured for her to take a seat in front of him, and she did, albeit with her courier bag on the table top next to her. He shifted the chair around so he faced her straight on. He set his hands on her knees and he lingered right before her face as if about to kiss her. Instead his eyes closed part of the way as if he was seducing her right then and there.

“Come on tour with us?” he whispered to her.

“I'd have to pick up and leave more and more, though,” she pointed out.

“You'd be with us, though. You'd be with me.”

“But what about our secret, though? Our keeping ourselves a secret?”

“Greg can take secrets to his grave,” he said, “and I can, too.”

The palms of his hands pressed right into her knees. Her chest rose up a bit as he closed his eyes and took in the smell of her shampoo on the right side of her head. She brought her hands to his chest as if about to push him back. Instead, she stood to her feet and he followed suit.

They were alone in that room together.

She kissed him right on those soft lips and all the while, she kept her hands on his chest. His body was warm and soft even while being so thin. He was so sensual and tender towards her, such that she wondered where this side of Alex had been this whole entire time. He was like a diamond fresh out of a mine, or a rock straight off of the summit of Mount Whitney: all he needed was a bit of polishing and then she could have a better look at him.

She could still taste the ginger from the ginger snaps on his lips.

She could feel that right amount of softness staying perfectly intact all around his hips and his waist. She thought about his sentiments about getting so heavy by the time he reached middle age, and she smirked at the thought of Alex getting chubby while staying as lovely and sensual as ever.

He brought his hands up her back towards the hooks on her bra. She could feel the warmth from his chest and his stomach, that sweet sense of fever. She could feel how firm he was getting in between his legs. She moved her head back from him and she gazed right into those deep eyes.

“Careful,” she warned him in a near whisper. “We go a little bit far with it, I'll end up like Aurora.”

“We won't,” he whispered back to her. “I promise you, Samantha—I won't go that far with it.”

Sam brought her mouth to the side of his neck once again for another little love bite there, but instead she kept her nose there. She relished in his scent, there on his skin and on the underside of his hair. She kept her hands right over his hips: his skin resembled to silk. She imagined him even softer and more tender than ever at one point. The softer and the rounder he was, the more she could hold him and feel him.

“Mmm, baby—” she whispered to him.

“Baby, is that what you called me?” he retorted back to her.

“'Cause you're soft and sweet like a baby,” she told him and she ran her tongue along her top row of teeth. She ran her fingers through his soft black curls and he tilted his head back a bit and showed off more of his neck to her. For a fleeting moment, she thought about that encounter in the closet with Frank back in Charlie's old apartment. The way in which she caressed his soft lush hair, except Alex's hair was even more plush and even lighter. She brought her lips back to his, but she never kissed him.

Instead, she moved her right hand to the front of his jeans.

“What if I—” Her fingers caressed over the zipper and the button. She was about to slither down even further when he flinched back a bit.

“Easy now,” he warned her in a husky voice.

“What?” she teased him.

“You do that, I might not keep it together later tonight when I go to bed.”

“Oh, yeah, like you'd have a wet dream about me.”

He nibbled on his bottom lip and gazed on at her in the dim light: those deep eyes as deep and dark as they had ever been up to that point.

“I actually have had a couple of wet dreams about you,” he confessed.

“Oh, have you now?”

“Yeah. It's funny—I didn't think I'd have wet dreams about anyone before.”

“All dripping wet and hot,” she teased him.

“Not if I get you dripping wet and hot first—”

“You want me to bite you again?” she offered him.

“How 'bout down by my belt this time?” he suggested. “The last time—when you got me right here on my neck—I had hell of a time explaining it to my parents when they saw it. My mom was like 'oh mah gawd, Alex, what were ya doin'!”

She burst out laughing and then she clasped a hand to her mouth so as to not to draw attention to herself. Alex lowered his eyelids a bit as if seducing her himself, but she was the one who had done it in the first place. He lifted the hem of his shirt and showed her his slim stomach to her: the edge of his belt hung right underneath his belly button so she could do it with such ease.

The door hung ajar by about an inch but she knew no one else was around. Eric, Greg, and Charlie had gone somewhere else in there, but they were alone as far as she could tell.

Alex leaned back on the table so she could better reach his waist. With the tips of her fingers, she caressed his smooth white skin there over his belt first.

She brought her teeth onto his skin for a gentle nibble. She tried to imagine him with a bit of weight on his body at the same time, all from eating too many ginger snaps.

To think she was a few inches right above his genitals all the while.

“C'mon, Samantha, you can do it a little harder than that,” he encouraged her with his voice still husky and low. She nibbled a little harder on his skin and he gave her a soft groan from the inside of his throat in return.

“C'mon—you can do it,” he encouraged her again, that time through gritted teeth. A little harder and he started to breathe harder as a result. His chest heaved from the feeling there.

“Oh, god, that's hot—”

She closed his eyes as she nibbled on his skin, a sweet little love bite. Alex breathed harder and he gave her soft little whimpers all the while.

“I'm a bad boy,” he blurted out. “I'm a bad boy! Suck me—suck me—like you did last time—I'm a bad boy, Samantha.”

She put her lips there for a little sucking, and she traded in between the two. Her lips puckered and her teeth ground up against his skin, right there next to his belly button.

More silence ensued on the other side of the door so she traded in between the two for what felt like an eternity. All the while, Alex breathed harder as if he had just run a mile.

She bit extra hard on him and he gasped from the feeling.

“Tasty,” she whispered as she slithered her tongue along that little bit of bruised skin there. She had left a genuine bruise the size of a dime there on his skin, right next to his belly button. Alex let out a low whistle.

“Oh, man, that was hot,” he whispered to her as she finished up with a few little kisses there. “That was really hot.”

“Sam?”

She kept her lips there on Alex's skin as she glanced over to the door. Ruben's voice carried in from right there behind the door.

“Damn it,” he muttered. She gave him another kiss there and then she tickled him there. “Easy now.” He giggled at that and she moved up to his face; he kept his shirt pushed back so she leaned up right against his bare belly and gazed right into those deep eyes. His body was warm and soft, much warmer and softer than before that little vampire bite.

“So now what?” he asked her in a broken voice.

“I go hang out with my daddy now,” she told him, “I think he's gonna take me home, too.”

He pouted his lips to her a bit as if he beckoned another kiss from her. He closed his eyes so his face was extra soft. She moved in closer to him, right before his lips, but neither of them did anything further.

“Go to bed and dream of a beautiful gray stripe,” he breathed right into her mouth. He then looked right into her face, complete with the come hither look in his eyes and a softness about his face.

“You know I will, sweet boy,” she whispered to him.

“Sam?” Ruben called out from the next room.

“I have to go, baby,” she told Alex in a soft voice.

“I'll see you soon,” he vowed to her with a wink. She moved away from him and she ran her fingers through her hair before she picked up her bag and headed out of there, as warm as the sunny day outside. She smiled back at him as he shook his head and in turn his hair about: he showed her his slender neck and his beautiful pale skin all the while. The little tuft of gray over his forehead seemed to glimmer even under the dim light there.

“If you see Aurora again,” he said, still in a husky voice, “you should talk to her.”

“You think so?” she asked him, and he nodded at her.

“You really should.”

“Okay, baby.” She flashed him a wink before she ducked out of there. She spotted Ruben at the far end of the hallway there, and his face lit up at the sight of her.

“There you are!”

She greeted him with a hug and a little pat on the cheek. Ruben treated her to lunch at the bistro next door: they sat there on the porch which overlooked a small stretch of grass, still lush and green with the onset of springtime all around them. While he was inside there, she spotted Zetro and the guys from Exodus on the far side of the grass. She noticed something round and orange over their heads. She knew she had to see more of them as well.

Zetro lifted his right leg and chucked the Frisbee from underneath his thigh to a few kids on the far side. The Frisbee landed on the grass not even a foot away from him and they all burst laughing at that. Sam propped her chin up on the palm of her hand and watched them.

A woman stepped onto the porch right before her, and she recognized that head of black hair and those Korean features. She looked exhausted. It didn't help matters that her belly protruded out so massively at that point, such that her blouse struggled to stay over the roundest part.

“God, Aurora's huge already,” Sam remarked to herself. “She looks like she just ate a whole turkey.” She chuckled at that, but then she thought about what Alex had told her before. She knew what he meant by that: he had forgotten the whole thing between her and Aurora, which meant it was time for her. She took off her sunglasses and Aurora flashed a glimpse over at her before she stepped inside of there.

Her blouse was tight up top and Sam struggled to fathom how she could get any bigger.

“Aurora—” Sam started and she dropped her gaze down to her big belly. She looked as though she was ready to give birth any second there as she pressed a hand to the small of her back.

“Sam,” she greeted back to her.

“C'mere,” Sam coaxed her.

Aurora kept that one hand on top and her other hand on the small of her back. She was enormous and Sam tried to think about her pregnant with her daughters.

“When are you due?” Sam asked her, much to her surprise.

“You know, I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you asked,” she said.

“Really?” Sam glanced over her shoulder as if someone listened in on them.

“I'm due next month, actually,” Aurora continued, “although—” She ran her other hand over her belly. “—it feels like it could be way sooner than that. I'm having a son.”

“Aw, that's cool.”

“You're about to say hello to Theodore Samuel Young-St. Vitus,” she added, to which Sam gasped.

“Samuel!”

Aurora nodded her head and Sam lunged for her with her arms wide open: her breasts were snug and so tight, and her belly rose out before her, as hard as a rock, and yet it felt like hugging her mother. The first time she had hugged her in so long. Those old wounds, while still raw, could heal from the mere sound of his name.

“It's the least I can do,” Aurora explained. “I really feel terrible for having been such a bad friend to you after Emile and I got married. It's my way of apologizing to you as well as thanking you for being such a good friend to me. Being a mom has made me reconsider just about everything, Sam, especially when it comes to my friendships.”

They held one another once again and Sam was about to leak out even more tears.

“We both went to New York from here in California,” she recalled with a slight break in her voice; she moved back again for another look into Aurora's face, round and glowing with the life within her.

“You went with the boys where I settled down with a single boy,” she noted, and her face fell at the sound of that.

“Do you ever feel like you could continue with it?” Sam asked her with a sniffle.

“Somewhat,” she confessed, “although I can't imagine not being a mother, though. I love my daughters and I already love Teddy—”

The door swung open and Ruben stepped back out onto the porch with a root beer float in either hand. Zetro said something on the far side of the grass right then, something about Exodus' new album being about women and children first; Aurora backed up from him.

“Oh, my god, those look good,” she remarked as he took his seat across from Sam.

“Sam's mother always wanted ice cream when she was pregnant, too,” Ruben joked. Aurora kept one hand on her lower back as she headed inside for something. Sam picked up her glass and held it out as to give a toast.

“To our boys, Testament,” she said.

“To our boys,” Ruben echoed, and they clinked their glasses together. Sam sipped through the red and white striped straw right then.

“Aurora's a trooper,” he noted. “When your mom was about to have you, she had lots of energy. Even the day she gave birth to you, it was like nothing was about to slow her down.” He shook his head. “Not gonna lie to you, Sam. I miss your mom sometimes.”

“What's done is done, though,” she said.

“What's done is done, right. It's a new chapter of life.”

“She's having a little boy,” she told him, “and they're naming him Theodore Samuel Young-St. Vitus.”

Ruben raised his eyebrows at that.

“His middle name is gonna be Samuel!” he exclaimed, and Sam couldn't help but choke up at that.

“She's naming her kid after me,” she sputtered, and Ruben stood up and held her close to him. She sniffled and brushed a tear from her eye. “Teddy. He's gonna be named Teddy, too.”

“I just think of teddy bears,” Ruben confessed, “or better yet—graham crackers.”

Sam thought about Alex right then. She thought of running her hand down the small of his back and she pressed herself closer to his body. Still soft despite having reached his twenties and having lost enough weight to where he was so thin. Soft like a teddy bear himself.

Holding Aurora close to her body made her want to hold onto him even more as she gave her father a big hug.

[izzyphantomgamer]

Crush [Oikawa x Reader]

An attempt to write a fluff for the Grand King!  ♡ ( ◡‿◡ ) People seem to give him angst and angst alone so this one is for him!  ヾ(・ω・*)

He had to wonder where and when it all began. The start of the feelings he held hidden for a long period of time – the familiar sensation of his heart that skipped a beat, the heat that he felt on his cheeks, the butterflies in his stomach; He was in love, there was no question about it.

He had to wonder for how long he sat at his desk, staring at the blank piece of paper in front of him. He used his finger to make the mechanical pencil on it roll back and forth. He sighed. It was in the middle of the night, but instead of falling asleep, he was awake, several scrunched up papers that were littered around him. Never did he imagine that it was quite complicated pouring out his genuine emotions onto one single letter. A love letter that was – he received numerous of them, read them, and answered them, but he still had no idea how to write one. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he was certain that he will never have the courage to send it to her.

It was curious how the most popular student on their school ground, the one who had all the girls admire and fall for him, the one who carried a certain air of confidence and pride was reduced to a small ball of insecurities and fear because of one sole person.

Once again, he sighed when he failed to fill the blank sheet before him. He picked up his phone and unlocked it. A sudden but big smile appeared on his face, he sensed how his heartbeat became faster, he was almost unable to breathe, but nonetheless he felt like he was on cloud nine at the mere sight.

He was unable to recall all the times he found himself lost looking at the picture he used as his wallpaper: it was of him and his childhood friend, [First Name] [Last Name], it was a picture he took some time back. In an ice cream parlor, Oikawa had a small chocolate ice cream stain on the tip of his nose and on the side of his mouth, and [Last Name] also had a small stain of vanilla ice cream near her lips while she held the biggest smile at the camera. It was just a picture, but he was unable to control the overflowing feelings he felt for her, he felt like he was about to burst, but nonetheless he continued to smile while stared at the photo.

He brought his phone close to his lips and he kissed her image, but he was unable to restrain himself and gave the screen one more kiss, then again and again. He was head over heels for her, but he was more than content to embrace the feelings that led him to remain awake through his sleepless nights because of the thought of her, that led him to stumble upon his own words during their own conversation, that led him to lose his cool whenever she was near him. She was breathtaking – he thought of that each time he saw her.

However, no matter how strong he felt for her, he was never able to tell her how he felt and he was scared, scared that he might let himself out of control and do something she would dislike. He pouted and sighed again. He locked his phone and placed it on the desk, then he buried his head in his crossed arms that was on his desk.

I want to hold her. I want to kiss her. I want to be able to call her mine.

He repeated all of those words his mind again and again. Whenever he saw her, all of those thoughts ran in his head to the point that all of her words that was directed to him went amiss, but was he to do when the most beautiful person in his life was right before him, unable to become closer to her – he had no idea where he obtained the strength to keep himself in check.

An unanticipated sound broke the silence in his room, it made him jump the moment the noise reached his ears. He was too concentrated on the thought of her that he was caught off guard. A scowl was on his face due to the sudden scare, however, it was quick to disappear the moment he saw the person that was responsible behind it.

“A message from her.” He muttered to no one in particular. He felt a little anxious to read it, but his mind began to race thinking about the chance of her sending him sweet messages, the chance of a confession late at night, or a chance of her telling him that she was also losing sleep because of him. He was unable to contain himself at that point, he felt the urge to hide his face on his pillow to let out a small squeal of delight, the urge to just roll on the ground while he held his pillow tight in his arms thinking it was her.

Damn – he thought while he hid the lower part of his face using the back of his hand, he was bright red and he felt all nervous over a small message, but he was unable to refrain the huge smile that fought him from being concealed.

「 Are you still awake, Ru senpai? (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) 」

There it was: she called him using such honorifics and the adorable faces she put in their conversations. Gosh, she is too cute. He knew that he was quite close to losing his mind, but he needed to compose himself in order to send her a decent answer.

「 I am, is there something the matter? Why are you still awake? It’s late! (；⌣̀_⌣́) 」

He took a deep breath and reread his response over and over again. He was worried about how his message might sound to her, but he wanted to hide all the heart fluttering sensations from her. Although he was eager that he had the chance to talk to her. 

Just like a couple. Oikawa Tooru almost threw himself on the floor because of the statement he had in his head, he felt embarrassed due to the fact that he sounded like a hopeless romantic, but he knew that deep down, he loved the feeling despite the fact that it was all from his imaginations.

「 For some reason, I can’t fall asleep (｡•́︿•̀｡) 」 

And the one who she thought of messaging was me. He told himself while he, without noticing, dropped his phone on the floor to hide his burning face between his hands. He also thought that it might just be him that thought of it and that he overestimated the situation, but he was still satisfied that she chose to talk to him. He let out a small air of breath, he was able to hear how his heart was out of control, though at the same time there was a warm and welcoming feeling that filled him.

 「 I can give my cute kouhai some company until she falls asleep! ☆ ～('▽^人) 」

He hit the send button without a second thought, and waited for her response, a little anxious about how she will respond. While it was true that he wanted to hide his love for her, he also was unable to refrain himself from acting like an idiot in love when she was around. Although he was one, thus there was no helping it.

「 Can I call you? („• ֊ •„) I mean it’s not a problem if not. (´｡• ω •｡`) 」

Oikawa Tooru did not care if it was almost 2 am at night. He gave no care if he woke someone up that late. [Last Name] [First Name] wanted to call him and he wasted no time to think about a written answer, he went ahead and dialed her number. He wanted to hear her voice at each chance he found – it was like music to his ears and her voice made him feel a sensation that was so powerful that it was enough to make him feel alive.

It took her a few seconds to pick up the call, but when her soft voice came out of the speaker, he was there on the floor, prepared to melt at the slightest sound she made. He never thought that it was possible to be addicted to a voice, it mattered not of what she told him because no matter how little sense her sentences came out, he was there to listen to his angel.

A long time passed since the start of their call, talking about various topics to pass the time while giving each other company before sleep came to them. He was back on his bed, the sheet of paper and the pencil on his desk were long forgotten, all that mattered to him was that she was with him, just the two of them alone in their own world. He could never ask for more.

He began to feel the fatigue wash over him at last, from the previous sleepless night, from the school duties he had, from the club training he did, he was too tired. Nonetheless, he continued to answer her with small laughter full of genuine happiness. He had no more strength left, he wanted to remain in call with her and spend more time with her, but she sounded so gentle that he was being lulled to sleep. His phone that was held tight in his hand was no more, instead it fell on the pillow in front of his face. He was asleep at last.

 “Ru senpai?”

“…”

“Are you sleeping?”

“…”

 On the other side of the line, the girl chuckled at his quiet sleeping sounds, she held the phone close to her chest in an embrace. She had her cheeks dusted in pink while she tightened her hold, careful to not end the call. Even if it was just for the night, she wanted to remain as much as possible in call with him. It made her feel that he was right beside her.

 “Good night, Ru senpai.”

“…”

“I love you.”

@trashcanweeb @artsamber @emsvegetables @hatsukei @justachillgirl @kodzuken-pie @tiredgr3mlin @kageshoud

Don’t know who to tag so this is it for now!

[molachaka]

hail - muichirou (fluff)

"Don't apologize."

The storm has yet to calm. The pitched howl of the wind nibbled at your expose skin and biting at them with sharp pinpricks with each howl of a gust - raising your distaste for the weather as you closed the sliding door of the dining room with a grimace reserved to the storm.

Out of all days it could snow, why does it have to be when you're feeling helpless and weak? You never loved the hail - always have grown a dislike of it as a kid. Before, it was annoying, but it then morphed into something deep: the weather became a shadow of your loss. 

It was a day like this when you lost everything, and more. Any other day you would have ignored the scratching air outside by sleeping, but it has been like this for three days and you're already feeling the stuffiness suffocating your lungs - grating your nerves in quick irritation. 

"You shouldn't keep doing that." 

You squeaked at the voice that filled the silence, hugging yourself in quick submission as your eyes found tired, minty ones.

The dullness in them made you ease, at the same time, concerned - the sun isn't up yet - why is he awake?

You put a hand on your beating heart, calming the organ before giving the mist pillar a small smile that’s admittedly more forced than you liked. "How long were you here Muichirou?" You asked, voice softening as the frustration that once bubbled inside you turned into one of dismayed solemnity. 

The hashira stared at you for a second - face lacking any sort of emotion as he holds the warm tea in his hand. The toundai that shines just a meter away covers him in a warm color, heightening his soft features: black, well-kept hair framed his cherubic face in gradient accent, his sharp nose accenting his thin pale lips and his doe-like eyes -gosh, those clear pool of calm mint never failed to captivate you. 

You could stare at him for a whole day: him just sitting like this; him just minding his business.

The fingers above your heart twitched at the sight of him, the spark of warmth slowly burns your tips up to your cheeks. You wouldn't openly admit it to anyone - but you find Muichirou captivating, cute, an air head maybe - but that only made him more charming in your eyes.

You sigh out the fluffiness that gathered in your lungs as your closed smile grew longer. You couldn't have contained it – not when you’re too busy ogling at him like a lovesick fool that you are.

Muichiro's nose twitched - perhaps because of the cold - and you can't help but think of him like a rabbit when you did, coaxing your heart to warmed up at the cute display despite the cold air around you. 

"I was here..." The raven-haired cut his stare with you as his attention fell on the steaming cup in his hands - expression dull as his voice. "Before you."

Wait… does that mean…

Your fond smile cracked. "A-ano!" Your face is now heating up in a different reason as your hands flew around you as if they’ll help you explain the mistake you just committed.

Swear, you didn't mean to ignore him when you busted in the room! You were so focused on checking the weather with your frustration blinding you that… you kind of… forget why the light is still on in this room. You swear you did not know he was here!

You laughed nervously, coaxing your abash composure into normal. "G-gomen." You bowed repeatedly to the man before you, feeling your face numbed from the growing shame you felt for literally forgetting his existence just a moment ago. "I didn't mean to neglect your presence, Muichirou!"

"You tend to do such feat."

Your confidence shattered in pieces at his nonchalant reply. You were about to shoot him another apology when his cold voice stopped you, gripping you immobile at the remorse he splays for you to roll on. "You always seem to blank out often," The mist pillar sips on his tea, not uttering a noise nor movement but his thoughts. "More so right at my direction."

You can literally feel the guilt-tripping laced in his voice poisoning your diminishing confidence. You don't know what to say.

"I don't know if I should feel offended," He chose his words carefully, your eyes landing on the way he nibbled his lips in thought. Gosh, you know he's guilt tripping you but why, why be a tease Muichirou--

"-Or should I be flattered." 

Your eyes narrowed for a sec before widening into a ceremonial tea bowl.

...Because hold up. What.

You gawked at Muichirou with your jaw hanging - face heightening its temperature in heated captivity. Did you hear him right?

"Tell me, (Name)." Muichirou doesn't seem to realize the affect he has on you and still asked for inquiry. "Am I wrong with one of the conclusion I've made?"

You inhaled your answer, and sharply replied. "Yes!" 

He was taken aback at your emotion as you calmed yourself down, looking at him with a serious expression that he could relate to. "I-I mean… yes, you're right."

He blinked. For a second you think you came out strong but you're glad he understa--

"Oh." His deflected posture quickly made you deflate. Which of the conclusion did he thought was right? It’s obvious. His reaction screamed the former, and you were quick to correct it. 

"But in a good way!" You concluded to him, and he took your words in his mulling form brighter compared before. You took his silence and the glint of interest in his eyes as cue to go on. 

"I just really, really find you captivating, Muichirou." You explained with a solemn, but sure voice - your attention fell on the floor out of embarrassment, as the tip of your fingers met each other bashfully. 

"I know that was straightforward of me, I know!" You defended strongly - still not meeting his stare in fear of what his reaction might be. "I just, I can't help it every time I look at you - you're just really charming on your own way that it made me stop thinking…” You rubbed your arm awkwardly. “And I suddenly want to observe you, you know?" 

You gave him a close-eyed smile, one that shows how much care and adoration you bottled up for him. You did not hear any reply, nor did you want to.

Because you slowly realized that you now basically confessed to him!

You quickly rambled on with this distracting heat covering your face.  "Augh! I'm sorry, that's so weird of me..."

"Don't apologize…" He mumbled the next few words - unreachable to your ears, and cryptic with the howl of the wind deafening you.

But you dare opened your eyes in curiosity, only to sharply inhale at his reaction. He's staring at the wall before him, and you couldn't help, but marvel at the angelic sight before you. 

There's a small smile on his usual dull expression - it looked foreign on him, but it was one of a good different among other. The suffocating fluff that once gone came back in full force - egging you to picture this sight of his, frame them at the very crevices in your mind.

Because who knows if you're dreaming such a scenery. Your eyes couldn’t look away. If ever, you don't want to wake up.

The color of sakura prepping pale cheeks gave luster to his facial feature soothed your blood in velvet heat and the way his eyes lit up… you felt your own brightly smiled at his. And the satisfying throb inside your chest deepened when his stare founds yours.

"Would you like to have tea with me?"

You nodded quickly - looking like that love sick fool that you are as you crawled towards him like a dog meeting her master. His eyes widened at your giddy reaction, before chuckling at your act.

The solemn, tinkling sound of his distinct voice gripped your breathing as the air inside of you slowly being replaced with the sensation of fluffy admiration.

You need to hear him chuckle more often.

___

"You… only have one tea, Muichirou."

The man merely gave your reply no attention as he shoved his cup on your hands.  You have to get used to the sight of his cheeks being pink, or else you would keep staring at him.

The mist pillar raised his hand to his face, the sleeve of his yukata hiding his lips as he whispered amidst the howling wind. 

"The sight of your smile is enough to warm me up." 

This smooth beast.

You couldn't handle it.

"Muichi-Kun~" The way your voice coo at him made the poor pillar's heart palpitate in haste. You threw the teacup aside, forgotten and not minding the damage it cost as you all but pulled him into a tight hug - your cheeks nuzzling his, defenseless against your loving embrace.

Muichirou did not know how to react, but rather awkwardly put his hands on your waist as the distinct smell of your particular scent invaded his nose in warm abundant - filling his insides with a foreign warmth that made him feel suffocated.

Still, he wanted more.

"How can you be so soft~" You praised him with voice velvet with charming childishness, earning you a bright red hashira in your arms. You raised one hand and started petting his head, as the other locked him tighter on your frame.

You kept humming, and he could the vibration from your throat – and it made him speak up shyly.

"Y-you're soft too." Muichirou replied quietly - mostly to himself, but his compliment reached your ears, heightening your act of affection on him.

When the tip of your nose grounded themselves on his neck, your breathe fanning and tickling his skin - Muichirou couldn't handle it.

His mind blank out, and he felt not the bit of the loneliness the hail provided – but the furnace of your affection coddling him secure. Safe, protected and wanted.

And in that hail, you finally gained something.

  Someone precious.

"I feel the same way."

[solediem]

reality re-written; a collection of thoughts and happenings ( @solivaganted​ )

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   20 years in the future, reaper estate

“holly,  he’s  like forty  years  old. stan  someone  your own  age.  “

holly  sighs  heavily as  she  clips a  photocard  of the  ‘like  forty-year old’  to  her display  board.  her friend’s  opinion  was not  asked  for, and  yet  any mention  or  visual reminder  of  holly’s affinity  for  d:fi acts  as  some sort  of  invitation for  ridicule.

“  yeah,  but i’ve  been  looking for  this  photocard for  months.  it’s rare  and  i’m a  collector.  so fuck  off.”

holly  is  very organized  with  her collection  of  photocards and  albums.  albums are  displayed  on shelves  in  chronological order,  with  the packaged  photocards  pinned nearby  to  indicate the  era.  she does  her  best to  get  two copies  of  each album  –  one to  keep  intact an  one  to display  for  her own  pleasure.  sadly, each  album  only has  so  many photocards.  much  of her  collecting  is online  interactions  with sellers  willing  to part  with  pieces of  their  own collection  so  that holly  may  complete her’s.  

the  friend  sucks her  teeth  in annoyance,  mumbling  something about  knocking  her collection  over  if she  keeps  up such  a  rude demeanor.    holly  ignores her  friend  and stares  at  the photocard  that’s  completed her  most  recent collection  venture  –  clé:  levanter.

“  there  you go,  oppa  … home  with  the rest  of  your members…”

hanuel  lee  is making  a  peace sign  at  her from  his  new place  among  the other  cards.  her heart  swells  a little  with  pride.

don’t  be  so difficult  to  find next  time,  okay??

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   20 years in the future, reaper estate

“hey,  you  finished levanter!”

holly  looks  up  from  her  book  with  a  smile  and  beams  over  at  her  collection. her  father  is  standing  in  front  of  it,  arms  crossed  over  his  chest  as  his  gaze  is  caught  on  the  latest addition,

“  yup!  it  came  today.”

“this  is  really incredible,  bean.  your  dedication  is  amazing.”

“call  it  what  it  is,  dad,  obsession.”

jayce    turns  on  his  heel  to  look  at  his  daughter.  the  bright,  beaming smile  she  had  faltering  to  one  a  bit  more  sad.  shame. there’s  nothing  to  feel  shame  over.  but  one  can  only  handle so  much  mocking before  the  words  start  to  hit.  she  can  say  ‘fuck  off’  to  her  friends  a  dozen  times, put  on  a  mask  of  how  proud  and  happy  she  is  when  they’re around.  but  the  moment  she’s  behind  her  doors,  the  pain  each  comment  made  opens  new  wounds  in  her  that  have  turned this  collecting  hobby  of  hers  from  the  joyful  affair it  was  to  something  much  more  bittersweet.

“  bean…”

holly’s  smile  is  gone,  “  it’s  like  …  “  she’s  quiet  a  moment, “  jia  collects cards  and  albums too.  but  everyone she  likes  is  her  age  and  having comebacks  every  month. but  because  i…because i  like  the  groups  and  the  singers that  i  associate with  you  and  mom  and  uncle  i…somehow i’m  the  strange one.  i’m  wrong— i  have  reaper cards  too.  and  x-gene.  you  guys  did  so  much  for  music, but  i’m  not  allowed  to  look  at  that  and  admire  that  …??  why  am  i  the  strange one  ??  is  it  because we’re  related  ??  do  i  have  to  be  some  obsessive  fifteen year  old  in  her  bedroom  two  cities  away  writing  fanfiction for  this  to  be  acceptable ??"

jayce  finds  a  spot  on  holly’s  bed,  and  within seconds,  she’s  up  from  her  armchair  and  crawling  into  her  father’s lap  like  she’s  a  child  again.  he  wraps  his  arms  around her  all  the  same.

“  reese  was  here  the  other  day  while  you  were  out  with  your  friends.  “  as  if  holly  needed to  be  reminded of  who  reese  kim  was,  her  father pointed  to  the  picture  of  d:fi’s  maknae hanging  a  couple spaces  to  the  left  of  hanuel,  “  i  was  showing  him  the  studio, and  when  we  passed  your  room,  he  asked  if  he  could  see  how  your  collection was  coming.  he  stood  there  staring  at  it,  and  he  was  so  quiet. i  thought  something was  wrong,  but  then  i  saw  his  eyes.  i  think  if  he’d  been  in  there  by  himself he  might’ve  cried  a  little bit,  because  he  looked  the  way  i  did  on  reaper’s  final  tour  –  touched,  honored, amazed.  like  he  couldn’t  fathom so  much  love.  he  pulled himself  together  and  smiled  at  me.  and  he  asked  me  to  thank  you  for  remembering him  and  d:fi  like  this.

holly  presses  her  lips  together tightly  and  sniffs loudly,  desperately  trying to  not  cry.  to  know  he  understood her  and  her  intentions  brought a  sense  of  relief.  she’s  not  obsessing. she’s  not  going  overboard.  she’s  immortalizing.  remembering. letting  the  people she  grew  up  with  that  influenced  her  so  much  know  that  if  no  one  else  in  the  world  loves  them,  she  will.  if  the  world  decides  they  aren’t  worth  remembering,  she  will  remember in  spite  of  it.

they  deserve  as  much.  her  family  deserves to  be  loved  beyond  their  music  and  influence.

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   20 years in the future, reaper estate

“happy  birthday!!”

holly’s  not  to  fond  of  surprise  parties. especially  not  when  they  consist of  some  thirty people  all  gathered in  the  main  house  with  party  poppers and  horns.  she’s  practically  on  the  floor  cowering  when  her  brain  registers  that  a  mix  of  friends and  family  had  gathered  to  celebrate  her  20th  birthday.

“  oh  my  god  …  “  she  can’t  even  register  happiness. her  heart  is  to  busy  trying  escape her  chest.

“  sorry,  sweetheart. “  her  mother puts  an  arm  around  her  and  guides her  into  the  crowd,  “  are  you  okay  ??”

holly  nods,  “  you  guys  scared  me,  my  gosh  …  there’s to  many  of  us  for  it  to  be  a  surprise.  this  is  a  heart  attack party,  fucking  hell…”

jaehwa  sighs  a  bit,  “  do  me  the  favor  of  keeping your  mouth  clean  at  least  when  you’re around  me,  hm?”

“  sorry.  “

their  conversation  ends  at  the  kitchen  island where  the  family has  gathered  to  watch  her  blow  out  the  candles of  a  very  tall  cake.  holly  tucks  a  few  strands  of  hair  behind her  ears  and,  with  a  deep  breath, manages  most  of  the  candles on  her  first  go.  when  she’s  taking her  second  attempt, the  estate’s  intercom system  sounds  to  let  the  house  know  someone’s  waiting to  be  let  in.  jaehwa takes  it  upon  herself  to  let  them  and  waits  a  little bit  by  the  door  until  the  guests arrive.

holly’s  made  it  through  the  candles  and  the  cake  is  being  cut  when  she  glances up  to  see  who  her  mom  is  greeting  at  the  door.  two  towering figures  stand  over  her  with  gift  bags  in  hand  and  toothy grins  on  their  face.  they’re bowing  politely  and  holding  out  the  bags  to  holly’s beaming  mother.

“  oh  she’ll be  so  excited!! these  are  from  all  of  d:fi?  that’s so  thoughtful.  “  holly  just  barely  hears.

she’s  straining  a  bit  to  identify  the  individuals,  but  when  they  turn  to  look  at  the  commotion that  is  her  party,  her  heart  drops  into  her  stomach,  and  she’s  caught between  a  happy  smile  and  an  embarrassed one.  reese  gives  her  a  small  wave  and  a  heart  with  two  fingers while  mouthing  what  she  assumes is  ‘happy  birthday’. from  where  she  stands,  she  gives  a  small  bow.

jaehwa  is  motioning for  them  to  come  in,  but  the  other  visitor is  shaking  his  head.  holly’s half  tempted  to  break  away  from  the  party  to  go  speak  to  them  directly,  but  cake  is  being  shoved in  front  of  her,  and  friends  are  pulling  at  her  for  pictures.  before she  gives  in  to  their  pestering,  she  catches  sight  of  the  other  visitor peering  around  reese  to  catch  his  own  glimpse  of  the  party.

gaze  meets,  and  holly  feels  her  heart  (that  finally made  it’s  way  back  to  her  chest) thud  against  her  ribcage.  hanuel smiles  and  holds  up  a  peace  sign  to  her  before  giving jaehwa  another  small  bow  and  directing  reese  out  the  door.  the  next  few  minutes  are  a  bit  of  a  blur,  as  all  her  brain  can  really  focus  on  is  hanuel  greeting her.

it  shouldn’t  be  so  odd  to  her.  this  isn’t  the  first  time  she’s  met  him,  and  it  surely  won’t  be  the  last.  but  something  about  that  moment felt  so  off. like  she  was  seeing  a  hanuel  she’d  never  met  before.  a  hanuel  that’s tugged  at  her  heartstrings  with  just  a  smile  and  she  can’t  seem  to  gather  her  senses  back  up.  the  world  had  shifted  beneath her  and  she  might’ve  fallen if  she  wasn’t being  gripped  onto  by  her  friends  still  pestering  her  for  pictures.

get  it  together, holls

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   2 years ago, ‘my pace’ video set

music  video  sets  aren’t  a  new  thing  for  holly, but  that  doesn’t squash  the  rush  of  excitement that  comes  from  being  on  one.  especially considering  the  set  she’s  found  herself  on.  the  man  that  would  be  her  father  is  near  the  tech  set  up  behind the  camera,  talking to  staff  about  this  and  that,  and  holly  doesn’t care.  she’s  scanning the  tunnel  and  her  mind  is  filling in  the  blanks. in  her  mind’s eyes  she  sees  d:fi  running forward  followed  by  a  crowd  of  extras on  skates  and  scooters.  tickets are  on  the  ground  and  cameras  are  panning  around to  catch  different angles.  

it  goes  dark  suddenly,  then  a  single very  bright  spotlight is  turned  on  and  nearly blinds  her.  scaffolding are  being  moved  into  place  and  holly  realizes that the  next  part  of  filming is  a  dance  sequence.  and  judging  by  the  pink  and  purple lights  that  have  joined  the  spotlight  –  she  knows  exactly  which. and  she’s  a  little  more  giddy  than  she’d  like  to  be  showing,  but  how  else  is  she  expected  to  react  to  seeing  the  foundation  of  d:fi’s  career coming  to  life  in  front  of  her?

“  hey  –  “

holly  whips  around to  see  her  father  in  front  of  her,  looking a  bit  uneased by  the  affair that  is  a  breach  of  time  and  space.  understandable.

“hi.  hey.  sorry. i’m…”  she  stops, realizing  she  has  nothing  to  apologize  for.  jayce  just  smiles  a  bit,  his  expression  reading something  she  doesn’t quite  understand.

“you’re  in  the  middle  of  the  shot.  come  over  here.”

he  leads  her  away from the  spotlight  and  back  to  where  he’d  just  been  sitting.  from  this  perspective, holly  can  see  the  set  coming  together to  shape  the  image  she  has  in  her  mind  of  this  music  video. the  only  thing  missing  are  the  boys  –  and  as  she  waits  with  jayce  behind the  camera,  they  eventually  find  their  way  to  the  center  of  the  spotlight, stretching  and  chatting.

they  look  so  young.

even  knowing  that  age  never  really  catches up  with  these  boys,  they  look  and  feel  much  younger  than  the  polished and  perfected  senior group  she  knows  them  to  be  from  home.  they  haven’t  moved  to  their  starting  positions yet,  and  so  the  members that  would  start  in  the  back  of  the  formation are  standing  upfront and  center.  

gazes  meet.  for  him,  it’s  the  first  time.  for  her,  it’s  one  of  many.  but  just  as  on  her  birthday,  the  small  smile  and  wave  that  hanuel gives  her  sets  her  entire world  off  kilter and  she  stumbles a  bit.  her  father’s  behind her  and  catches her.  

“i’m  fine.”  she  says.  just  confused.  very  confused.

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   2 years ago, ‘my pace’ video set  

“  …  hello, there.  i  was  told  to  bring  you  this…”

the  fact  that  holly  hasn’t fallen  over  with  the  way  everything  around her  seems  to  be  shifting is  a  miracle. hanuel  is  settled in  a  seat  near  the  back  when  she  approaches him  with  a  small  tub  of  water  bottles  on  ice.  the  dancer  beams  and  takes  one,  thanking her  profusely  and  starting  up  a  conversation.

it  literally  feels  as  though the  ground  is  shifting  underneath her,  and  to  avoid  looking like  she’s  going  to  collapse, she  sets  the  water  bottles down  and  takes  her  own  seat  while  they  talk.  she’s  a  theatre  major, and  he  thinks that’s  incredible.  and  ‘jayce-hyung’  is  really  nice  to  have  let  his  ‘niece’  stop  by  the  set.

he’s  talking  so  casually.  so  sweetly.  he  seems  fully  invested,  and  every  attempt she  makes  to  break  eye  contact  with  him  fails. the  longer  the  conversation  goes  on,  the  more  holly  leans  in,  not  even  realizing  that  she’s  inching closer  and  closer to  him.  he  doesn’t  seem  to  mind  it.  in  fact,  he’s  smiling  so  much  it  seems  his  face  might  get  stuck  that  way.  his  eyes  are  lit  up  and  he’s  reaching for  conversation  topics. he  wishes  he  could  see  her  perform, because  he  bets  she’s  really good.  because  someone related  to  jayce  must  be  talented,  right?

“  hyung  !!”

reality  crashes  back  down  on  them.  the  set  comes  back  into  view  and  they  acknowledge that  there’s  more  to  existence than  just  each  other.  reese  kim  –  a  lankier, more  akward  looking version  of  him  –  is  bounding  over  and  motioning for  hanuel  to  return  to  set.

he  asks  her  to  wait  around  so  they  can  talk.  she  agrees.  the  world  is still shifting.

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   one and a half years ago, practice room  

she  can’t  stop laughing.  and  maybe it’s  because  she’s prone  to  giggle fits,  but  every word  out  of hanuel’s  mouth  makes her  laugh  harder. she’s  convinced  he’s doing  it  on purpose  now  because he’s  got  a mischievous  grin  on his  lips.

“  stop  it!! “  

he’s  not  doing anything.  it’s  not his  fault  she can’t  stop  laughing. holly  grabs  at his  arm  and takes  a  series of  deep  breaths, trying  to  calm herself  out  of her  own  hysterics. when  she  meets his  gaze  again, the  wicked  smile is  gone,  replaced with  gentle  eyes. eyes  of  admiration.

holly  wants  to  smack  him.

don’t  look  at me  like  that. don’t  give  me those  eyes.

because  he  doesn’t know  who  he’s looking  at.  he doesn’t  know  that their  time  is limited.  he  doesn’t know  the  truth. but  he’s  still leaning  into  her, and  she’s  leaning in  as  well. he  doesn’t  know that  the  next time  he  sees her  like  this, it  will  be awkward  at  best, mortifying  at  worst. but  their  foreheads are  together,  and he’s  holding  her like  she’s  suddenly the  most  precious thing  in  the world.  she  feels tears  in  her eyes,  but  keeps them  back.

she  wants  to not  kiss  him. she  wants  his lips  to  not feel  as  soft as  they  do. she  doesn’t  want her  heart  to be  soaring,  and she  doesn’t  want to  be  pulling him  closer.  the world  is  shifting beneath  her  again, but  she  feels less  shaky  in his  arms.

i  want  to stay…

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   22 years in the future, backstage

you’re impossible. my impossible girl. but you have to live your dreams, yeah? don’t…get caught here by some stupid boy. you’ve got important things to do.

“positions !!”

the audience is filing in and holly’s mind is everywhere other than it needs to be.

you’re to talented to stay here. i love you. i’ll always love you.

“holls? why are you crying?”

two years! one would think that after two years she’d be alright again, but she’s not. the anguish has eaten at her since the day she left him behind and not a damn thing she does can assuage it.

all her photocards and albums are gone. her entire collection boxed and shoved into the corner of the garage, never to be seen again. every indication of her admiration wiped away as though it never happened. and she hasn’t seen d:fi either. not a single member, since the day she came home. it’s like they don’t exist. and she supposed rightfully so. she’d stay away too if she realized. the awful position she forced hanuel into, she can’t forgive herself. she had so much time while she was there to dissuade him, to not lead him on and yet

and yet

in her selfishness she let it happen. and now that time has put itself right again, surely he’s stuck with the realization of who he’d fallen for. surely he’s avoided every event and party she’d be at for that reason.

“ i’m okay. are we ready?”

she remembers the moments fondly. when she lets herself sink into them, it’s the most right she’s ever felt. but reality always brings her back and every part of her aches. she feels weak. heavy. like she’s wrong.

but the show must go on, as they say. holly’s dedication to her ‘dream’ is the only thing that’s kept her going. without something to focus on, the sadness is too much.  the stage is waiting for her. she’s come this far. she has to do it. she has to keep going now.

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   22 years in the future, holly song’s memorial service

there  are  some  horrors  you  can’t  unsee.

there  are  some  tragedies  that  can’t  be  reframed.

there  is  nothing  that  sits  worse  on  the  hearts  of  parents  than  to  put  their  child  into  the  ground.

jayce  and  jaehwa don’t  see  anything but  her  that  day.  as  many  people surround  them,  they  perceive  no  one.  kind  words  mean  nothing.  holly  song  is  in  a  casket at  the  front  of  the  room  and  the  building is  packed  to  capacity  with  those  come  to  mourn  her.

she  was  to  young.  and  this  is  all  wrong.

her  parents  are doing  everything  in  their  power  to  hold  themselves  together as  person  after  person  comes  into  the  room  to  pay  respects. but  after  nearly an  hour  of  this,  jaehwa is  on  the  floor  letting out  cries  of  anguish  that  only  a  mother  could  make.

hanuel  is  in  the  next  room.  arms  over  his  stomach  and  head  bowed. the  sound  of  jaehwa’s  wails, however,  bring  him  to  the  ground.  he  sits  on  his  knees, doing  everything  in  his  power  to  not  be  loud  as  his  own  sobs  take  over  his  body.  he  doesn’t have  the  right  to  grieve in  such  a  way.  not  when  he  could’ve  prevented this  entirely.  but  that  truth  makes  the  pain  worse. better  to  have  loved  and  lost  than  to  have  never  loved  at  all.  such  a  sham  of  a  statement. he’s  loved  and  lost.  twice.

I  should’ve  stopped her.

[  🙤 · ┈┈┈┈┈┈ ·  ] ⠀━━   2 month ago, two star lobby

as  wobbly  as  she  feels, it’s  the  most  stable  she’s  felt  in  her  life.  her  mind  is  a  mess.  A  mix  of  memories  and  shifting  realities that  come  together to  form  a  jumbled  mess  of  a  new  existence. council  this,  fate  that,  reality this,  aries  that.  

she  needs  hanuel.

the  only  thing  in  her  jumbled  mind  that’s  certain is  the  necessity that  is  hanuel lee  in  her  life  again. he’s  moved  on,  she  knows  that.  she  can’t  expect him  to  be  what  he  was  before, but  for  the  love  of  everything,  he’s  the  only thing  that  makes  sense  and  the  only one  that  can  hold  her  up  while  she  gets  used  to  this  new  reality.    holly leans  against  a  column  in  the  two  star  lobby  and  slides to  the  ground, finally  giving  in  to  the  fact  that  her  body  is  not  yet  ready  for  movement.

he  says  her  name.  he  can’t  believe what  he’s  seeing, and  he’s  in  tears  as  he  falls  next  to  her  and  wraps  her  in  his  arms.  he’s  sorry,  he’s  so  so  sorry.  he  should’ve  never  told  her  to  leave. he  should’ve  held  onto  her  and  made  her  stay  and  saved  her.  he’d  been  broken since  she  left,  the  wolf  in  him  was  dying. everything  in  him  was  dying.

holly  lets  herself fall  into  him.

“  nothing  was  right…”

he  agrees.  he’s  never  letting her  go  again. he’s  her’s  forever.   there’s  much  to  talk  about  and  understand. but  hanuel  can  see  the  state  she’s  in.  he  doesn’t  say  anything  but  kind  and  loving  words  to  her.  a  hand  gently  strokes her  head.  everything is  right.  he  knows  exactly who  he’s  looking at,  and  he  knows  that  time  isn’t  limited  for  them.  

the  world  isn’t  shifting  anymore.

[noctisfishing]

A Night at the Summer Festival

Day 2 - First Date

#noct writes taiora week 2020 [ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 ]

@taioraweek for more Taiora love! @noctisfishing for Taiora/Digimon writings and more. :)

Setting: Digimon Adventure tri. timeframe / AU

Tags: Fluff, Romance

Minor pairings: Takari, Joumi, minor Kenyako

Notes: Their first date is at a summer festival because I was inspired by this beautiful fanart. There will be no goldfish or candy apple, but I promise it’ll be equally as sweet.

This may not show up in the tags because of the links but I’d like to add them for context. Here is more on the yukata (even the drawing in the link could be of Sora, lol!) and info on some of the mini-games and food stalls at a Japanese summer festival. More references at the end of the fic!

Also... Koushiro couldn’t make it to this event... (My deepest apologies to my Koushiro fans. I hope we can still be friends)

~*~*~*~*~

"So, you've finally asked her out, huh?"

“Let’s not talk about this, Hikari.”

Hikari grinned upon entering her and Taichi’s bedroom, catching sight of Taichi who was draped in blue. His brows were furrowed as he lifted his arms, looking down at the yukata he had focused on putting on properly.

“I think we should, given the occasion,” Hikari said, stopping in front of Taichi to help wrap the robe and obi around his waist. She had already put on her own lavender-colored yukata with the help of her mother, including the flower clips in her hair to match.

Taichi lowered his arms, entrusting his younger sister to help him look like less of a fool in his yukata. “You’d think that a first date would be small and simple, like catching a movie, or a walk in the park.”

“A summer festival is just as fun, Taichi. An amazing event with an amazing girl like her. Right?”

“R-right…” Taichi stared to the side, feeling the burn on his cheeks from Hikari’s widened grin. He knew that she was highly amused by his reaction. “I guess I’m lucky that Dad had his old yukata for me to borrow.”

“I’m sure Sora appreciates it! Wait until she sees you in this - Taichi, stop fidgeting.”

“Sorry,” he muttered. 

He had only turned his head to try to look down at what the yukata looked like on him, but he lifted his head up and faced forward to let Hikari continue her magic.

“Okay! All done.” Hikari patted either of his shoulders. “It’ll be fine.”

“I hope so. Thanks, Hikari.”

After what seemed like forever while their mom convinced them to pose for pictures, Taichi walked with Hikari to the front of the shrine where they planned to meet Sora and Takeru. The two were already waiting in their own yukatas, with Takeru donned in green and staring in amazement as Sora did a casual turn with the geta on her feet to show off hers.

At the turn of her head, her eyes lit up when she realized that Taichi and Hikari had arrived.

Taichi was suddenly speechless. 

“Hikari! Taichi!” Takeru called with a wave. He joined Sora walking over to them.

Hikari kept walking, but Taichi stopped, at a loss for words. Sora’s red hair was styled in a bun with a lock of her hair coiling down the frame of her face. Her yukata was patterned with florals in different shades of ruby, with a crimson obi tied in a tachiya-style knot at the back . 

“Come on, you slowpoke!” Hikari yelled. 

The other three laughed, but hearing that brought Taichi back down to Earth. As he caught up to them, he remembered that he didn’t want to embarrass himself or mess this up. He had even agreed with Sora beforehand that they didn’t have to treat this like a date to keep the pressure off between them.

“You look amazing, Sora,” Taichi blurted.

“Well, thank you,” Sora said, taking her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. Her face began to match the color of her yukata. “You look nice, too.”

Taichi wondered if that was too cheesy to say. So much for embarrassing himself.

“Tell me I look amazing, too, Taichi,” added Takeru with a grin. Hikari giggled as she attached herself linking her arm through the hook of his elbow.

Taichi grinned. “You clean up nicely, Takeru,” he said, suddenly recognizing how close Takeru and Hikari were to each other.

“We’ll be heading off,” Hikari said with a wink. “We don’t want to intrude. Maybe we can meet up around here when the night is over?”

“Sounds good,” said Sora. “You two have fun!”

“Don’t worry,” Takeru added as he looked to Taichi. “I’ll keep an eye on Hikari.”

Takeru stole a kiss from Hikari before putting his arm around her waist as they walked away. Taichi couldn’t help but watch, and he wondered if it was actually Takeru that he needed to keep an eye on.

“Taichi.” Sora gently took hold of his forearm. “They’ll be fine. Don’t worry about them. We’re here to enjoy ourselves, right?”

Realizing this, Taichi let out a sigh and relaxed his shoulders. “You’re right.” he said, and his worries seemed to disappear when his eyes met hers and they exchanged a smile.

The two then entered the festival side-by-side observing the rows of stands on either side that sold food and various items, and some that hosted mini-games. 

“Let’s get some takoyaki at the first stand we see,” Sora said as they walked through.

“Heck yeah!” Taichi replied just as his eyes landed on a mini-game stand a few yards in front of them. “...I have an idea.”

Sora stopped and looked at the stand he was looking toward, reading the sign, “Kingyo!” She looked to Taichi with a knowing stare. “Loser pays for the takoyaki?”

Taichi grinned. “Let’s do it.”

However, both of them ended up being the loser. They each made two attempts at scooping for a goldfish, all attempts which ended with broken pois and fish squiggling back into the mini pool. Taichi noticed a few other people playing, however, and noticed how easily the paper poi ripped no matter how delicate they tried to be.

“Hey-!” Taichi began with annoyance, but Sora immediately grabbed him and walked him away from the stand.

“It’s not worth it, Taichi,” she said with her expression just as irritated. “Either way, that was a waste of yen, wasn’t it?” 

Taichi knew he didn’t want this to sour the rest of their night, so he figured he would try to lighten the mood.

“Yeah… and here I was thinking that you were a master of fishing, Sora.”

She smacked his shoulder as he laughed. “Meanie.”

“Anyway, where to next?”

Suddenly, a loud gasp was heard nearby, followed by a familiar voice.

“Hey! It’s Taichi!”

As both Taichi and Sora turned their heads, they saw Daisuke quickly approaching, with Miyako, Iori, and Ken following behind. Miyako gasped as well, and both Daisuke and Miyako walked around them, staring at their yukatas in adoration.

Taichi should’ve expected an interruption like this given the popularity of end-of-summer festivals like this one.

“Wow, Taichi!” Daisuke exclaimed. “You look really cool in that-”

“Sora!” Miyako chimed in. “You look like a goddess! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe-”

“Calm down, you two!” Sora said, laughing nervously and waving her hands in front of her. “There are other people wearing these, too!”

Miyako pouted. “I should’ve worn one! I would’ve looked way nicer on this date with Ken.”

“Speaking of,” Iori added with a tempered reaction. “I think we should leave these two alone. Pardon the intrusion, Sora, Taichi.”

“Wha-?”

Daisuke was cut off by Ken pushing him in the other direction as his cheeks flushed, most likely from hearing Miyako’s comment. His other hand grabbed hold of Miyako’s elbow, pulling her away with a look on her face that was as confused as Daisuke’s. Iori was the last to follow behind them, but not before bowing politely at Sora and Taichi.

“I’ve always liked Iori,” Taichi said with relief. 

“It was nice to see them, though,” Sora replied. “Come on - let’s find another game I can beat you in.”

“You’re on, Takenouchi.”

They found a stand with a ring toss game which both of them were eager to play. Tossing a ring at the same time, Sora and Taichi watched their own rings land around its own toy, making their game a tie.

“I got you a present,” Sora said with a smile and holding up a mini cartoon-ish dinosaur, orange in color.

“No way. I got this for you!” Taichi raised his palm to show the toy of a bright pink bird sitting on top of it.

The two of them laughed as they swapped their presents to oogle at for a few moments; then, Sora put them in her small bag. Taichi was happy to see Sora smile. He knew that she was having a good time, and he hoped that it would continue as the night went on.

As they continued to walk, Taichi noticed more people walking alongside them. The festival was getting busier, and he sensed that even Sora knew it when he felt her hand touch his forearm once again.

“Don’t worry!” Taichi said with a smile. “I’ll make sure we don’t lose each other!”

“Maybe I’m more worried about you losing me,” she teased.

He laughed to himself, not mentioning his heart beating as she held onto him.

However, he nearly jumped in fright as he felt a hand touch his other forearm.

“Hey there, handsome!” Mimi said with a wink and a grin.

“Ah! Hey Mimi!” Sora said cheerfully. 

“I wanted to see what you guys were up to, and I figured that Jou and I would join you!”

Oh no, Taichi thought.

“Well, Mimi…” Sora began. Taichi could tell that she didn’t have the heart to tell Mimi otherwise.

“It’ll only be for a little bit!” added Jou who peered over from Mimi’s side with a sheepish smile. “Right, Meems?”

Taichi’s eyes darted over to Jou who mouthed a ‘Sorry!’ to him.

“Well, we were thinking about getting takoyaki,” said Sora. “Why don’t we all get some together?”

“Let’s do that!” Jou chimed in “My treat?”

“Oh, isn’t Jou such a sweetheart?” Mimi said cheerfully.

“He’s quite the charmer!” said Taichi, knowing that Jou was doing this out of pity, especially after being on the receiving end of Taichi’s death stare.

But Mimi had already let go of Taichi’s arm and stopped walking, making the rest of them stop with her.

“I see cotton candy! I totally want some!”

“Then, I’ll go buy some for you,” Jou said, gently pulling Mimi towards the stall and away from Taichi and Sora.

Mimi cupped her hand on Jou’s cheek. “You’re such a sweetheart…”

“Wouldn’t you know it,” Sora said just as Jou and Mimi left. “A takoyaki stall.”

“Ah…” Taichi turned to look and saw that there was no line in front of it. He realized at that point that the competition between him and Sora was at a draw, so he decided to change the rule of the game. “How about some takoyaki on me?”

“But, Taichi, neither of us are winning,” Sora said, which Taichi knew that she would point out.

“Then, we’ll just say that you’re the winner here.”

“Aww…” Sora began in a playful tone, mimicking Mimi as she held her palm to Taichi’s cheek. “...you’re such a sweetheart…”

The amusement and laughter only lasted a few moments, as Sora’s face turned into a shade of pink; and she must have removed her hand when she felt Taichi’s face warming up in turn.

“I’ll- be right back!” Taichi said, knowing that him being flustered was obvious. 

There had already been one person ahead of Taichi when he approached the food stall. Taichi stood behind him and noticed he was wearing a green yukata, although it might have fit loosely for someone his size. The guy’s hair was short, spiky and blond under the straw hat that he wore, and Taichi wondered why he looked so familiar. 

“One takoyaki, please,” the guy said in an apparently hushed voice, but Taichi was able to recognize that voice from anywhere.

“Yamato?!” Taichi said, making the guy jump in his spot.

He turned to Taichi, staring daggers and holding a finger to his lips. “Not so loud!” he hissed.

“What’s the-?!” Taichi caught himself nearly yelling, then he lowered his voice. “What’s the deal?!”

“Next, please!” yelled the stall attendant, and Yamato stood to the side with Sora while Taichi put in two orders. When he met with the two of them, Yamato hunched over as though he was hiding himself with Taichi and Sora.

“I just wanted to check out the festival on my own without getting noticed, you know?” Yamato explained. “Some people have already been staring at me longer than they should but I don’t think they recognize me.”

“People are going to stare at you if you’re wearing that hat after the sun goes down, anyway,” Taichi said, feeling the need to point that out.

“Right now, I’d rather be the weird kid with the hat than be Yamato of ‘Knife of Day’.”

The takoyaki orders were called, and Yamato and Taichi got theirs, with Taichi handing one to Sora. But just as that happened, a loud scream nearby reached their ears.

“Aahh!! You were right! That is Yamato! The lead singer of ‘Knife of Day’!”

As more heads turned and the squeals of excitement grew louder, Taichi’s eyes widened and he turned his head to Yamato.

“You probably should not have said that so loud…” Sora added.

“Gotta run,” Yamato said, just as he darted in the direction in which the majority of the crowd was travelling.

It amazed Taichi how many people recognized Yamato. Many of the girls in yukatas began to run in Yamato’s direction, some of them running in their geta and tripping over themselves.

Sora gasped as a few girls ran past. As she turned to dodge out of their way, she had slipped on her own geta and started to tumble backward.

“Sora, look out-!”

Taichi caught Sora just before she toppled to the ground, his back against the crowd while he felt more people whiz by. The moment he felt it was safe, he helped Sora stand.

“You alright?” he asked, searching her face for any sign of trouble.

“Well, our friends didn’t make it…” Sora frowned at the dinosaur and bird toys that she took out of her bag; they were now in pieces of pink and orange. She also looked down at the ground where her takoyaki had fallen. “I really wanted that.”

Taichi held his up and smiled. “Here, we can share mine-”

Startled by the sudden push at his back as one more crazed fan zoomed past, his hand was forced open, letting his takoyaki drop right next to Sora’s.

“Oy.”

Turning to the stall, Taichi saw the attendant hold up a pair of takoyaki orders and gestured to him to take them.

“Oh, no, sir- that’s okay! You don’t have to do that-”

The attendant pointed into the crowd, where Taichi and Sora found Mimi happily strolling with her cotton candy, and Jou giving them a thumbs up, quickly followed by the gesture to zip their mouths shut.

“Good ol’ reliable Jou,” said Sora, who grabbed the orders and handed one to Taichi.

He couldn’t help but laugh along with her. 

As the night went on, they continued their walk down the festival rows. But Taichi noticed that Sora declined to do anything else. She didn’t want to get any more food, nor did she want to play any game, or even to try their hand at another fish scooping game. He was wondering if she was no longer having fun, if she even had any from the start.

“Can we get out of this crowd?” she asked.

“Okay.” Taichi looked around, realizing that they were both in the middle of a sea of people going in every direction. Looking ahead, he found a clearing where they could make their escape. “Hold onto me.”

Taichi led the way, holding her hand tightly as they weaved through the crowd together. They passed by people cheering as a young boy caught three goldfish at one stall; a couple winning a ticket for two free bowls of ramen from pulling a string from a senbonhiki stall; and a group of friends decided to pop confetti into the crowd, showering bits of colorful paper all over.

Soon, the lively noises were far away, and Taichi and Sora found themselves on a grassy hillside where the moon slowly rose over a large lake. Right behind them was a bridge where people were already lining up against the guardrails.

“I guess we found a great spot,” Sora said. “Let’s find a place to sit.”

She chose the spot to lay her blanket for the two of them to sit, and she set her geta off to the side. 

“Sorry about that back there. I just couldn’t hear myself think.”

“Oh, was that what it was?” Taichi asked. “I was wondering if you were getting bored.”

Sora giggled. “I’m having a lot of fun with you, Taichi. Despite all the mishaps.”

Taichi turned to her, watching her laugh as her eyes glistened under the glow of the festival lights. There was a pause in her laughter, which confused him, even as she took her hand to his hair.

“Looks like confetti is your consolation prize for the night, Yagami” she said, gently picking out the colorful pieces. “At least you got something.”

Taichi caught sight of a brightly colored piece in a lock of her hair.

“Hey, looks like you win, too,” he said, reaching for it.

Just then, the sky lit up with a flash and a pop. The fireworks show had begun, but neither of them took their eyes from one another.

“What did I win?” she asked.

“If I said it was a kiss from me… would you call that a consolation?”

It was a bold question that even he didn’t think he had the courage to say.

But in response, she brought his palm against her cheek. The flashes of light above them only made her eyes sparkle as she smiled with radiance.

“I’d say that it’s the best prize of all.”

With his heart pounding in his ears, Taichi leaned forward until his lips met hers. His emotions were as bright and colorful as the skies above when she kissed him back. 

Taichi almost felt silly to worry about their first date, but even after things didn’t go as expected, he couldn’t think of anything better than experiencing it all with her.

.

.

.

.

~*~*~*~*~

Terms mentioned:

yukata (summer kimono); obi - sash that wraps around the yukata and can be tied in a knot, including tachiya-style; geta - traditional sandals worn with yukata... Poor Sora’s feet.

takoyaki - appetizer made with octopus. I really want some right now..

Kingyo [sukui] - fish-scooping game, using poi (a tool with thin washi paper) to catch the fish. There are other sukui-type games at festivals, too!

Senbonhiki - a lottery type game where you pull a string that guarantees you a prize (and the prizes vary)

[fanfictionaries]

Little Lamb - Star’s Follower Celebration Writing Challenge

Prompt: “If you need anything, just call me, okay?” 

Pairing: Steve Rogers X female reader

Summary: Being the newest member of the Star Spangled Singers hadn't been the easiest thing. After becoming the victim of a cruel joke by the rest of the dancers, you remember the kind offer a certain Captain America had given you earlier that day. 

Words: 4.3k

Warnings: Fluff, smut, heavy petting, NSFW/18+ only

Author’s Note: Thank you to @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​ for this lovely challenge! 

***

You stared into the mirror, breathing deeply as you the applied lipstick. Careful strokes of vermillion paired well with your complexion, brightening your face. Black lined your upper lids to symmetric perfection. Your scalp ached from the numerous pins that held your curls into place. The blue velvet halter of your costume fit you like a glove. You were the picture of perfection, but only on the outside. On the inside, a shaky, apprehensive girl screamed at the top of her lungs. The atmosphere of the room around you seemed to match perfectly with your inner turmoil. Margret couldn’t find her skirt. Frances couldn’t find her shoes. Evelyn’s hair wouldn’t cooperate. Doris needed new makeup. Alice felt fat. Irene couldn’t get her steady back home to write her. Gossip, chit-chat, and laughter filled the air as the women of the Star Spangled Singers readied themselves for their first west coast performance. However, despite the buzz of chaos around you, the only distinct sound in your ears was the thumping of your own heartbeat.

Today was the big day. You’d finally gotten your big break and you weren’t going to mess this up. You hoped. Having been a dancer since birth, you were ecstatic to be the new member of the traveling USO show. It was unfortunate that the previous girl had to break her ankle in order for you to be there, but details were so trivial. No. You were just tickled pink to be there. To stand on stage in hundreds of cities, raising money for the war with your fellow dancers and Captain America.

Speaking of the star-spangled man himself; you briefly spied on the golden-haired Hercules through your mirror as he sat in the corner writing in his little book. He seemed to be the only semblance of peace and serenity in the room. The worn leather binding of his notebook looked butter-soft as it molded perfectly in one of his large hands; the other gripped a small nub of a pencil as he furiously scribbled. For such a fine specimen, he was surprisingly shy. Throughout the last week of rehearsals, he’d stuck to himself, only speaking when spoken to. Any time the more mugbug girls of the group attempted to lay it on thick for him, fluttering their eyelashes and pouting seductively, he’d merely blushed and found an excuse to extricate himself from the situation. Captain America seemed to have no time for pick me ups. You wondered if he had a girl back home. If he did, she was the luckiest gal in the world, what with a man who barely batted an eye at the daily encounter of half-naked women around him.

“Ready for the big day, honey?” Ruth asked as she stood over your shoulder, her words kind, but her tone taunting. That had seemed to be the only downside to your life-long dream. The other girls weren’t as nice as you thought they’d be. For all the kind and bright smiles, they wore on the stage, the façade of niceties quickly faded the moment they disappeared behind the curtain. Most of them were decent to each other, aside from Ruth, but none had seemed to take to you yet.

Still, you weren’t ready to accept defeat. You wanted to fit in, and you wanted them to like you. So, when you answered, it was wholly sincere, “Yea, I’m really excited. It’s gonna’ be killer diller!”

“Well, aren’t you an eager beaver,” said Ruth, rolling her eyes with a sarcastic smile.

“Oh, lay off Ruth. She’s just a lamb,” said Doris, walking past in a hurry as she clipped on an earring. “Isn’t that right Little Lamb?”

Little Lamb. A nickname they had given you your first day of rehearsals when you’d walked in wide-eyed and full of nerves. You weren’t sure if it was meant to be endearing or mocking and at this point you were afraid to ask. Smiling at Doris, who returned it tight lipped, you placed your hat just right over your curls and pinned it into place. With another deep breath, you stared confidently into the mirror, you had this.

An hour later, it was evidently clear that you had not had it. While the performance overall had not been a total disaster, you were acutely aware of all your slip ups. A paddle turn, in place of a step turn.  A step ball change, in place of a toe ball change. You’d been half a beat off for the last four measures and you’d missed your mark by a good six inches. Needless to say, you were a failure. Sitting heavily into the chair of your vanity, you let your head rest in your folded arms as the rest of the girls swirled around the room, removing costumes and once again talking up a storm.

“Hey.” The deep resounding tone of a male voice made you turn your head, to see Captain America himself, braced against the edge of the vanity top next to you. The mask portion of his costume had been removed, leaving his hair a bit sweaty and mussed. “Y/N, right?”

“You’d be correct. Captain America, right?” you joked, smiling up at him in tired defeat, never even bothering to lift your head up. He laughed, a deep, full sound that caused your heart to flutter.

“I don’t think I’ve introduced myself properly. Steve Rogers,” Steve held his hand out to you. You sat up, taking his hand in yours briefly as you tried to fight the heat creeping onto your face. Your throat became dry, tightening up on you as you shook his hand. You were far from a khaki wacky gal, but there was no denying the effect Steve’s bashful charm had on you.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Rogers,” you responded.

“Please, uh, call me Steve. Just Steve.”

The sentiment made you smile wide. Steve. You liked it.  

At the sight of your pearly whites, Steve shifted uncomfortably. Clearing his throat, he got onto whatever he had come over to say, “I, um, well the other dames, uh dancers I mean. They all know that—I mean I’m not as bad as I was at first but—what I’m trying to say is—gosh, I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I?” Steve let out a small exasperated laugh and it became very apparent why he never spoke. He was adorably rotten at it.

You laughed with him, light and airy. “You’re doing much better than you think,” you said. It was hard not to look at the man endearingly. Everything about him screamed genuine and sweet. “And don’t worry—” you consoled him “—you did swell tonight. Much better than I did. No matter what you were like when you first started out, it seems you’re quite the natural performer now.”

“You think so?” Steve asked, surprised.

You nodded enthusiastically, “Absolutely. Hey, I think everyone was going to get some food after this. Do you want to come with?”

Steve seemed caught off guard by your invitation, “Oh, well that’s very kind, but I’m gonna’ have to rain check.”

“Oh, okay.” You were a little disappointed at his answer, but you didn’t push him.  

“I guess I just wanted to say that I know how hard it can be, being the odd man out I mean. So, if you need help with anything or just a friend, I’m at the end of the hall on our floor. Room 326. Just give me a call.”

“Thanks Steve, that’s so kind,” you answered, touched and surprised at his offer. You watched as he pushed off from your vanity and began to head towards the door, before spinning around to face you.

“Remember. If you need anything, just call me, okay?”

“Okay.”

You didn’t expect to ever take Steve up on his offer. Especially so soon. You were a big girl. You could take care of yourself. You didn’t need Captain America fixing your problems for you. But, a few hours later when you finally managed to make it back to your hotel, feet bloody and blistered, calves aching and sore, you realized you might be in need of a friend after all.

You had gone out with the rest of the girls. At first, things had been fine as you all settled into a plethora of booths at the small late-night diner. But then, Ruth had started in on you. Really busting your chops. A few girls weakly tried to calm her down, but they didn’t seem all that committed to defending you. Snidely, she picked apart every flaw of your performance. After a bit you excused yourself to go powder your nose before you snapped your cap. Once you’d cooled down and decided to not let Ruth’s cruel words get to you, you’d walked out of the powder room with as much moxie as you could muster. However, the rest of the Star Spangle Singers were nowhere to be found. They had left you.

It would have just been a cruel joke and nothing more, had it not been for the fact that you had all shared taxis there. You were in a strange city. You had no idea where you were. You had no idea how to hail a taxi. And you most definitely had no idea how to get back to your hotel. You walked for hours, up hills and down streets until finally, you found your hotel. But by that time, the heels you had originally deemed sensible, were anything but. Limping, feet and pride incontrovertibly in pain, you made the even worse realization that you were out of bandages. Sighing deeply in defeat, you staggered down the hall to Steve’s door.

You knocked, short and firm, conflicting emotions coursing through you. On the one hand, you didn’t want him to answer – the night was embarrassing enough. On the other hand, the pool of blood in your shoes said to hell with dignity. At first you heard nothing on the other side of the door. Maybe he was asleep. It was pretty late. Just as you were about to turn around and head towards your room, the door swung open to reveal a disheveled and sleepy looking Steve Rogers.

“Y/N, hi,” Steve greeted you, a light pink blush coming across his face as he looked down at his attire. A thin white undershirt hugged his impressive torso and a pair of khaki’s hung low on his hips, undone, revealing light blue shorts underneath.

“I hope I didn’t wake you,” you said, looking up at him sheepishly.

“No, no. I was just—I was up. What can I do for you (Y/N)?”

“I was, um, wondering if you happened to have any bandages,” you told him, looking pointedly down at your feet.

Steve’s eyes followed yours, growing twice their size when he took in the sight of your bloodied feet.

“Geez! Yea, come on in. I think I have something.” Steve moved aside, opening the door to his room wider, allowing you to enter.

Tentatively, you stepped inside, sitting at the small desk in the corner as Steve disappeared into the bathroom. Your feet screamed relief as you finally took the pressure off of them. When he returned, bandages in hand, Steve knelt on the floor by your feet. Placing a hand on the bottom of one of your shoes, he looked up at you, silently asking for permission to remove it. You nodded, wincing slightly at the friction of the patent leather against the freshly opened wounds. First the left and then the right was removed, hitting the hard wood with a dull thud. Cradling your feet in his hands, he inspected the battered flesh reverently.

“Um,” another deep blush spread across his face as he stared at your feet, “I can’t patch them up with—I mean you might have to—do you want me to or do you—”

He stuttered as his thumbs stroked lightly at the stockings covering your ankles.

“Oh!” you exclaimed, understanding what he was trying to say. “Yea, I can do it.”

Steve averted his eyes, looking up towards the ceiling, as you rucked up the bottom of your skirt to unclip the top of your stockings and roll the thin material down your legs. You hissed when the fabric peeled off of your raw feet. Placing the bloodied stockings on the ground, you gingerly placed your feet back in Steve’s hands. He took the action as an okay to return back to his ministrations, reaching for the wet washcloth beside him first. His hands were gentle as he dabbed away the dried blood from your skin. It was quiet in the room. Only the sounds of your breathing and occasional sharp inhale of pain could be heard. Although your skirts had been pressed back down, you couldn’t help but notice the way Steve’s eyes lingered for a second on the expanse of leg that was slightly more exposed than before.  

“You’re quite good at that,” you remarked, watching as his fingers moved lightly, but with a practiced ease over the delicate flesh.

“My mother was a nurse and I’ve, uh, had a lot of practice.”

“Really?”

“Yea, I’ve had the tar beat out of me more times than I’d care to count,” said Steve, grinning slightly, as if thinking back on it fondly.

“Well, see, that I can’t imagine.” At your comment, Steve’s demeanor seemed to change.

“Why’s that? ‘Cause of the way I look?” he asked, a bitter edge to his voice as he focused entirely on applying ointment to your opened blisters.

Sure, Steve was tall, muscular, strong. You’d personally seen him lift a motorcycle over his head – however he managed to do that. But that wasn’t why you couldn’t imagine him getting beaten up.

“No. I just can’t picture anyone wanting to hurt someone so sweet,” you answered honestly. Steve’s hands stilled, the gauze slackening a bit as he paused in the middle of wrapping it around the arch of your foot. You had clearly caught him off guard with your compliment.

“I was the little guy back in Brooklyn,” began Steve, ignoring your statement. It didn’t bother you however, instead you listened whole-heartedly as he opened up to you. “People always like to pick on the little guy; makes them feel bigger, I guess. And, I was never smart enough to walk away. Bucky was always—”

“Bucky?” you asked, wanting to know every detail.

“My pal from back in Brooklyn. We practically grew up together. Bucky was always looking out for me. He used to accuse me of liking to get beat up. But I just never had patience for bullies.” Steve finished his story as he finished wrapping your last foot, “There you are. All patched up.”

“Thank you, Steve. Really.”

Stretching your legs out in front of you, you carefully pointed your toes, surprised to find that, with the application of ointment and bandages, they already felt infinitely better. Steve stood, grabbing the bloodied stockings and washcloth before disappearing once again into the bathroom to discard of them. He came back just as you were attempting to stand. At first you were fine, but two steps in and the muscles of your calves twisted and clenched, and you were going down. Steve caught you easily, allowing you to brace yourself against his arms. You held onto him tightly, afraid that your legs would give out from under you at any moment.

“Whoa, are you alright?”

“Yea, yea,” you laughed shakily, “Just my calves cramping up. Don’t worry, these pegs have seen worse days.”

“Why don’t you stay for a little while longer? Just until you feel like you can walk again,” Steve suggested, concern evident across his face. You nodded, this time sitting down at the edge of the bed with a sigh. Reaching down, you took your right leg in hand and began to massage the muscle. You felt the bed dip beside you and glanced up to see Steve staring at your hands as you worked the muscle between your fingers.

“What? You want do the other Captain?” you teased him. However, your impish smile faded to a look of surprise when Steve answered.

“Sure.”

Shifting your body to face his, you placed your left leg into his lap. The sensation was painful, but oh so good as he firmly rubbed your calves. The tense, knotted muscle easily gave under his grip. You sighed, leaning on your hands and letting your head loll back.

“I think you’re sweet too,” Steve spoke up in the silence. Lifting your head, you found him staring intently at your legs.

“Really?” you asked dumbly, unable to think of a better response.

“Yea. You’re so nice to everyone, even when they’re real jerks to you. They’re just jealous of you,” said Steve resolutely, looking up at you with a genuine smile. The moment your eyes met you were unable to look away. The azure depth of them pulling you in like some magnetic force. You studied his face, the high cheekbones, strong jaw, kind eyes, plush lips. He was the kindest, handsomest man you’d ever met, and he thought you were sweet. Steve thought you were sweet. Your heart could just burst.

“Y/N?” Steve’s voice was barely above a whisper. Deep and hesitant.

“Yes?” Your voice was breathy. High and anticipatory.

“Would you be insulted if I tried to kiss you right now?”

“I’d be insulted if you didn’t Steve.”

Delicately lifting your leg and placing it back down on the bed, he shifted closer to you, leaning in towards you. His lips were soft, tentative. He approached you in a manner so gentle, it could have brought tears to your eyes. Large hands cupped your face feather light and you sighed into the kiss running your tongue along his top lip. Steve’s grip tightened at the warm, wet sensation and he opened his mouth to yours. In turn, his own tongue swept past your lips, exploring eagerly. It was when the tip swept across the ridged roof of your mouth that you moaned lowly, leaning into him and wrapping your arms around his neck. Boldly, you used his heavy body as leverage to sit up on your knees and straddle his lap. Careful not to fully seat yourself, you kissed him feverishly.

You whined lightly when Steve pulled away from you, the heavy mix of your grasping breaths filling the space between you.

“Y/N…I’ve—I’ve never—”

Oh.

“Have you never touched a woman, Steve?” you asked, brushing the strands of blond from his forehead.

Steve swallowed thickly, his gaze flickering from your eyes to your body, poised on his lap like a present all his own. He shook his head.

“Would you like to?”

You watched a fire ignited behind Steve’s eyes, his answering coming in the form of a heated kiss. His touch was still gentle, but there was a firm bite to it that had not been there before. His hands still remained on your face – one cupping the back of your head and the other on your cheek. But you could tell from the way his thumbs twitched and fingers clenched that he wanted to move them. He wanted to touch you. Reaching up, you circled his wrists and pulled them down to your waist.

“You can touch me Stevie—” the pet name slipped past your lips as his hands flexed around your curved hips “—Touch all you like. I’ll let you know if you’re doing something wrong.”

As if all he had been waiting for was your permission, Steve became a man possessed. Gripping you harshly, he pulled you down until you were fully seated on his lap, causing a small gasp to leave your throat. His lips traveled from your mouth down to your jaw and then your neck—kissing, licking, sucking. Those hands, the same hands that had delicately patched your aching feet, reached up, deftly working the buttons at the front of your dress. Once unbuttoned, he pulled back, taking a moment to stare at you. His eyes worshipped you, looking at you with such reverence and awe that for a moment you questioned if you hadn’t been replaced by some divine figure. His fingertips brushed up and down the soft silk of your brassiere. Gooseflesh appeared across your body, your nipples pebbling before his very eyes at the teasing touch. Pupils blown wide, he focused on the hardened nub in front of him, glancing up at you.

“May I?”

“Yes. Please Stevie.”

Slowly, he wrapped his lips around your left nipple, his tongue swiping across it through the thin fabric. You mewled, back arching and hips bucking. He moved to the other nipple, hand coming up to cup your forgotten breast. Your breathing picked up speed, the pleasure coursing through you. Pulling harshly at the top of the silk material, a resounding rip rang through the room. The remaining scraps of your brassiere hung from the metal wire and Steve’s hands. You should have been embarrassed. He should have been regretful. But neither of you felt any emotion aside from pure lust. At the site of your bare breasts, Steve’s eyes lit up, and he dived forward once again. While he placed lavish kisses to your breasts, his hands traveled south, rucking up your skirt to touch the naked skin of your thighs. Higher and higher they traveled until one hand was placed on the swell of your bum and the other teased your covered center.

“Stevie!” you gasped, your head bent forward and arms wrapping around his neck.

Your head was spinning at the mixture of gentle exploration and rough eagerness that came from Steve as he took from you with enthusiasm. Another rip of silk and the delicious sting of fabric tight against skin and your panties were gone, leaving yourself open and vulnerable to Steve’s touch. His fingers stilled once again, stopping just short of your heat. Catching your breath, you extricated yourself from Steve’s body and pushed on his chest. Taking the hint, he scooted back, pulling you easily with him, until his back was against the headboard.

“Prop your knees up for me Stevie,” you said, patting his legs lightly. He obeyed, bending his knees and bracing his bare feet on the mattress behind you. You leaned back against his legs, unwrapping yours from underneath you. You splayed yourself across his lap, stretching each leg out fully on either side of him. Pulling at your already high-risen skirt, you pulled it higher until it was around your waist and you were completely bare to him. Steve inhaled sharply, unable to pull his gaze away from your glistening folds. Reaching forward, you grabbed his right hand and brought it to you. Guiding him, you showed him all your favorite ways to be touched. Steve listened with rapt attention, and when you released his hand, you were far from displeased at his ministrations. His fingers stroked and circled in all the right ways.

“Like that? Is this good?” asked Steve, his brow furrowed in concentration and jaw slack.

“Yes, Stevie. Just like that. So good,” you whimpered, reaching forward to the impressively large bulge in his already unbuttoned khakis. Dipping your hand into his shorts, you pulled him from his confines. Steve stuttered and paused as you wrapped your hand around the base of his erection.

“Y/N, oh doll.”

“Don’t stop Stevie. It felt so nice. I just wanna’ make you feel good too.”

Steve began again, breathing heavy as you stroked him up and down. He slid a single finger past your entrance, aided by the sheer amount of arousal dripping from you. The both of you keened, hips rolling and lifting as you worked each other towards your release.

“Y/N, I’m—I’m gonna,” Steve moaned, his hips moving more erratically as you gripped him firmly, twisting your wrist at the head of his length with each pass.

“Me too Stevie. Me too.” And you were. You could feel the sweet release building as his hands massaged you inside and out.

Steve’s lips found yours, bridging the gap between your bodies as you desperately worked towards each other’s finish. It wasn’t until you felt the hot, sticky release of Steve splash across your hand, that you found your own release. You moaned into each other’s mouth, tongues and lips and teeth clashing together as ecstasy took hold of you both.

It was shortly after Steve grabbed a washrag to clean the both of you, that you found comfortable sleep in each other’s arms. Wrapped in his warm embrace, head on his firm chest, you awoke in the early morning. Rays of first sunlight shone through the window, casting light on Steve’s handsome face. He looked so darling when he slept, his long lashes laying delicately on his cheeks, plush pink lips parted slightly as he breathed deeply. Silently, you slipped from his grasp, noting the sweet way he reached for you in his sleep before turning over and hugging the empty space you once occupied. You tiptoed to the door, pleased to find your feet barely hurt and your legs felt more like jelly than stiff dead weight.

“Well, well, well,” a feminine voice rang out as you slid into the hallway.

“Christopher Columbus!” you exclaimed, holding your shoes tighter to your chest as you turned to find Ruth, leant against the doorway to her room. Arms crossed, she appraised your debauched appearance and then the door you had just left from.

“Not such a little lamb after all.”

Squaring your shoulders, you looked her dead in the eyes before giving her a haughty smirk, “No. Not at all.”

Taglist:

@caffiend-queen​

@hidden-behind-the-fourth-wall​

[sp00kworm]

April Rain (Chapter 5)

ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN LINK

Ch 1    Ch 2    Ch 3     Ch 4  

Pairing: All Might/Yagi Toshinori x Female Reader

---

The familiarity which Yagi approached the front desk gave you piece of mind. He gave his bright, sunshine smile as he approached and waved a large tanned hand as he stood over the desk, laughing as the owner spat out his tea and proceeded to choke. The girl behind the register cheered.

“ALL MIGHT ALL MIGHT ALL MIGHT!” She danced on the stool before jumping on top of the desk, grabbing for Yagi as he pumped his fist and laughed.

“Hina! Hina, please! Get down before your mother comes in here!” The man pushed his tea aside in favour of grappling his daughter from the counter, holding her under the arms as she continued to cheer wildly.

“Hina?! You better not be letting her on that counter again Reo! I just polished it this morning!”

“No, Akasuki! She’s just excited about our visitor is all!” Reo laughed awkwardly as he held his squirming daughter, scrubbing a hand through his dark hair as his wife opened the screen behind him with a scowl. Her eyes went wide at the sight before her.

“All…Might…” She stuttered before rushing to her feet, red in the face as she wrangled her daughter from her husband’s grip, “I apologise, Mister All Might. She simply adores you and oh gosh…” Hina squirmed again with a cheer.

“Mama! Let me see!” She tugged at her mother’s hair to twist around and get another look at All Might, her eyes bright and wide with glee, “All Might!” She cheered again as Yagi laughed and let her grip his fingers.

 “It’s been a while, Toshinori.” Reo observed with a laugh, “If you’d let me know I could have ordered in things for you in advance! I don’t know if we have many of what you usually buy left in stock.” Reo stood and wiped his hands on the bottom of his apron, tucking his net into the pocket as he pulled up the counter and stepped through before latching it closed behind him.

“Don’t trouble yourself, friend. I’ve brought…some company to help me choose something this time.” Yagi’s face went a little pink as he looked over to you by the door. You’d occupied yourself by looking at terrapin food, not really reading the packet in your hand, you’d just been pretending to look at it while listening in on their conversation. The sudden mention of you made you awkwardly put down the feed and turn to face the family with a smile.

Reo blinked, “You brought your girlfriend?” He asked with a sly smile. His fist met All Might’s shoulder, “I didn’t think you had it in you!” He cheered before laughing at his friend’s bright face.

Yagi brushed off Reo’s jeering before ushering him back behind the counter, reaching into his pocket to tug a photo free. He handed it to Reo’s child with a smile, “Here, Hina, was it? You can put this up in your room.” He offered the signed picture with a smile before moving to take your hand, “Don’t worry about us, Reo. Just…maybe don’t let anyone in?” Yagi asked politely.

“Sure thing, so long as you buy something.” Reo joked before locking the door behind the two of you.

 Yagi sighed when you made it into the shop, the warmth of the tanks making you sigh, blowing air up your face at the heat. It was humid and the tanks were extremely loud, the water bubbling loudly in the stacks upon stacks of rows of tanks, housing tropical fish waiting to be rehomed. The ones in tanks closest swam closer to the glass as you entered, large eyes following you as most shoaled and curved together. Yagi hummed, pulling at his sweater because of the heat as you looked around at the fish in the room. There was all sorts of breeds and different species.

“Which sort did you want for the tank again?” You asked hopelessly as you looked up the walls at the gallons of water and thousands of fish. You stepped over a puddle of water as you gazed at some great cichlids, their bodies a few inches across. They came in all colours and some variants had aggressive labels to allow for those with good natured tanks to avoid them.

Yagi chuckled, “Nothing like those. They are the sort you can only keep with their own species.” He took your hand in his own, the warmth radiating up your arm as the man pulled you past the various sizes of Cichlids, and towards the other species. Tetras in all shapes and colours shoaled as you glanced up at the wall, some thick, some fat some streamlined. Barbs sat in tanks on the next stretch of wall and Yagi smiled as you looked at the pink tinged, gold, Rosy Barbs with adoration. The barbs fluttered, pink gold scales glittering as they swam from end to end and back.

 “Did you see something you like?” The deep timbre of Yagi’s voice next to your ear made you jump, his breath hitting your skin as the giant hero extended back to his full height, stroking his chin as he glanced at the barbs, “Perhaps these?” He pointed at the pairs of electric blue striped Golden Rams. The stripe down the males’ bodies were striking, but they seemed to only enjoy the sluggish current of the small tank, living in pairs and gently bobbing around.

“They’re a little bit boring.” You lamented before looking back at the barbs. Green Tiger Barbs. Their upwards turned mouths plucked naughtily at the plants in their tank, “I still think the barbs are best.”

Yagi laughed, “They have spunk…But maybe the tetras would be best? They’re much easier to socialise depending on what we buy.” He hummed as he turned his bulk in the small corridor and looked at the tetras before pointing to a pretty set with long black fins, “These are pretty.” He commented, a large finger following one of the flowing males. You ignored his comment in favour of walking closer to a group of purple tinged fish. You looked at the tag. Yagi walked behind you with a hum and grinned over your head.

“Bleeding Heart Tetras?” He asked gently, “Are you sure?”

With a grin you nodded, “Look it says they get a little red blotch like a heart, come on that is adorable. You have to get them!” You persisted.

Yagi laughed and gently led you away with a hand at the base of your back, “Let’s get Reo to catch us some.”

 Reo was surprisingly efficient with a net. He caught fifteen of the small tetras quickly and rung up the price on the register as Yagi snatched a new granule feed and flake for the baby fish.

“That’ll be…” Reo clicked in the prices of the food and smiled, “Nine thousand five hundred yen.” He offered, watching Yagi roll his eyes and pull the cash from his wallet. Reo put the money in the register before smiling, “I put some oxygen in the bag to keep ‘em alive for the journey.” He moved back through the counter and unlocked the door, chewing a small wooden toothpick as he moved out of the way of you both.

“Thank you, Reo. I’ll take good care of them.” Yagi promised with a chuckle.

“You ought to with that tank. I set most of it up with the plants for you myself!” Reo scolded him before waving at you, “Make sure you don’t bore her to death with all your fish talk, Yagi. A girl needs a proper date you know!”

Yagi flushed pink as he shut the door to the shop, “I’ll keep it in mind. Bye, Reo!” He shut the door before he could be tackled by Hina again and sighed.

With a smile you linked your hands together again and tapped his chin, making bright blue eyes look down at you once more, “You won’t bore me with fish talk I promise, Yagi.” You teased as he turned his face away and chuckled awkwardly.

 This time he called a private taxi to get the two of you to travel in. Back to his home. The idea made your heart pound. He trusted you enough to allow for you to go to his home. His private home. The place he spent most of his time in outside of his jam-packed schedule. You wondered what it looked like only after being dazzled by the sleek, leather interior of the private hero taxi. Yagi looked out of place in his sweater and jeans against the fancy interior, more suited to the glamour of his hero costume and persona. Still, he made conversation until you reached his home. It was on the outskirts of the city, into the countryside and set back from many neighbours to avoid the press arriving on his door. He probably had a court order for most to remain away in exchange for regular interviews. You wondered how hard it was for him to have true privacy as the car came to a halt. Yagi clambered out first, paying the driver on his phone before offering you a hand to help you out as well. Placing your hand in his, you let him ease you forwards and out of the taxi before you gazed at the gated home before you.

 The place was modest in size, the heavy gates controlled remotely. The hero drew out his keys from his jean’s pocket and clicked a button on one of the keyrings. The gates beeped before trundling open slowly, revealing the home behind them. It was brick and western in design on the outside, but you wondered if the inside would have the screen doors many Japanese people still used.

Yagi smiled and gestured towards his house, “After you.” He ushered you inside before clicking the button again to close to gates, turning to observe them close before he caught up with you. The garden wasn’t large, yet it was looked after with obvious rookie hands. The lawn was mowed, and the flowerbeds recently, roughly weeded. Bright colours of flowers waved in the beds, and Yagi even had a section of bamboo screening a sitting area, shading it from the Spring sun. It wasn’t hot enough yet to sit in the shade, but you thought on how enjoyable it would be when the summer weather did come back around. You smiled at Yagi as he jogged to you by the door.

 “A ‘Plus Ultra’ doormat?” You asked with a laugh as you gently cleaned your feet off on the mat as Yagi took his door key in his hand.

“I get a lot of the merchandise for free in shipments.” He admitted before ushering you inside. The interior was pretty, but standard, decorated not too long ago, but without much of an idea about making it a home in mind. Cream walls and dark wood. Still, it was expensive, real wooden flooring. You admired the décor as you pulled off your shoes and put them by the rack.

“Here, I’ll hang your jacket.” Yagi eased the material off your shoulders, the fish still in his hand as he hung the jacket and pushed on his large slippers. He offered you the guest slippers before stepping up the step and into his house, gently holding the large bag of fish in both his hands, one hand under the bag and the other holding the top.

“Come on in. We need to float these quickly.” He smiled and gestured for you to follow. You followed closely as he walked you into the open plan living space. The fish tank was large, stationed in the back room with floating live plants waving in the current. Yagi smiled as you looked at the tank with a great smile.

“This is amazing, Yagi. Reo did an amazing job setting it up for you.” The hero sighed at you teasing before carefully positioning the bag in the top of the tank, held in place by the lid as you both glanced at the discoloured fish.

 “Will they be okay?” You asked gently as you pressed a finger to the tank, observing the discoloured little tetras. The other fish in the tank gently moved over to poke at the bag curiously before Yagi turned off the lights.

“They will be fine in a little while. I’ll let them into the tank in fifteen minutes and turn the lamps back on tomorrow. Stressed out, maybe, but fine by tomorrow.”  He stood by the tank for a moment, scuffing a slipper over the floor before coming up with an idea, “Well, would you like to stay for a while?” He asked gently.

“Really?”

Yagi choked on his own spit, “Do you not want to stay? If s-so that is fine! I can arrange you a private taxi home!”

“No no no!” You grabbed his fumbling fingers from his phone and shook your head, “I want to stay!” You clutched his hand and pushed his phone back into the front pocket of his sweater before pinching his chin, “What do you want to do?”

Blushing, Yagi gently wrapped his hand around your own before playing with your fingers, “How about we cook dinner together? I have stuff in.” He let your hands go before gesturing, with his thumb over his shoulder, towards his kitchen, the islands open towards the dining room. With a grin you took his hand and tugged him back towards the kitchen, “Lets do it!” You cheered as you rushed to the sink, leaving Yagi by the islands to think on what the both of you could make.

 As you washed your hands, Yagi hummed and tapped his chin, thinking on what you both could make, “What about Gyudon? Beef bowls aren’t too difficult.” He offered with a smile as he walked over to also wash his hands. You moved to the side as Yagi leaned over the tall counter to wash his hands as well.

“Beef bowls sound great!” You offered before walking back to the middle island and pulling Yagi’s chopping board free from its holder among the others. You pulled a knife out as Yagi dried his hands and moved to the large double door fridge. With a heave he plonked a great bundle of fatty beef steaks on the counter and smiled.

“Are we really going to eat all of that?!” You asked in disbelief as you pulled a knife free from the block.

Yagi laughed brightly, “I eat a lot, but you can take some home and I can keep some. Maybe you can take it to work tomorrow for lunch?” He suggested with a soft look in his blue eyes.

You blushed as you sharpened the knife, “Sure. Give me the beef, you big lug.”

“Sure thing, peaches.” He teased gently as he rolled up his sleeves and cut open the packaging.

 Later, Yagi released the fish into the tank with a coo as the beef sizzled in the pan.

 Rice never tasted so good. You pushed a piece of sticky, soy sauce covered beef into your mouth as Yagi laughed at your eating. His own portion was twice the size of your own, yet he ate a little more reservedly as you chowed down on the fruits of your labour.

“I had no idea you could cook so well, Yagi.” You grumbled after your mouthful of rice, onion and sticky sauce. The sake was starting to get to you. Yagi sipped his own cup of the alcohol as he reached the bottom of his bowl and sighed with satisfaction. It didn’t take you long to finish as well.

“Did you enjoy it?” He asked with a chuckle as he finished the last of his drink and took your plates in hand with a satisfied murmur.

“Mhmm.” Your eyelids fluttered as you downed the rest of your alcohol and yawned, “I’m exhausted though.” Smiling sleepily, you opened your eyes when Yagi came back into the room. The yawn was infectious, and Yagi yawned as he returned to the table.

“I think your sleepiness is contagious. How about some television, peach?” Yagi asked as he leaned next to your chair.

“Mhmm.” You whispered again, making grabby hands at him, “I can’t walk there.”

“Come on, peach.” Yagi uttered as he wrapped an arm around you back and hefted your legs with his other, easily pressing you against the strong muscles of his chest as he took you weight and walked you over to his large, cream couch.

 For a moment you shifted, expecting Yagi to plonk you on the large quirk couch in the corner. No such thing happened. With a heave, he held you tighter and sat himself in the corner before kicking his slippers off and pulling his body up on the entire length of the couch. It groaned under his mass of muscle and Yagi smiled down at you, the horns of hair flopping over to tickle your cheeks as he settled into the cushions with another large yawn. You settled against his chest and laughed softly as you crossed your arms and settled your chin against them, humming at the warm arms wrapped around your back, hands pressed to the bottom of your back.

“This is nice.” You cooed up at him before leaning up to kiss the end of his nose, smiling at the blush burning bright on the large hero’s cheeks. You closed your eyes and wrapped yourself tight around Yagi as he reached to turn on the television. An old black and white movie dramatically played quietly in the background.

“Are you comfortable, peach?” He asked, playing with your hair as his hand rubbed at the base of your back, not paying attention to the movie in the slightest. Nodding, you turned your head and rested against his chest, listening to his strong heart thump hard in his chest.

 “Are you nervous, big guy?” You asked with a sleepy smile, humming pleasantly as Yagi continued the soothing motions of his hands over your back. His fingers dipped under your shirt to rub gently, never moving upwards, but just sitting, continuing their calming motion as he yawned again.

“I was…But you’re not as scary as I thought.” He joked as you reached to play with the long strands of his hair, other hand pressed against his pec as you tugged and kissed him. Yagi’s eyes opened before he floundered, fingers clenching before he pushed back gently, eyes closing as he breathed out a long sigh from his nose. You pulled away with a smile as he coughed in embarrassment.

“Thank you for inviting me out Yagi.” You confessed with another soft kiss to his cheek before settling back against his chest.

“You’re welcome, peaches.” He returned your gesture by pulling you up his body, tucking your face close to his neck as he kissed the top of your head and hummed in comfort.

 Neither of you remembered falling asleep as the stars of the movie kissed beneath the Eiffel Tower.

[askullinajar]

Fifty Shades Dicked

The time has come for the third instalment of Fifty Shades of Ectoplasm

This is entirely the fault of the heathens over on the discord, namely @ironsilversaltandtea for posting the photo that led to it all, @achillesangst for making some interesting art of it, and @stormwalkers and @wolfjawswriter for just general shenanigans and egging on.

Warning: Any accuracies, historically, scientifically, or to canon, are completely accidental. This is pure crack. No actual hanky-panky - as I am but a totally innocent asexual - but a whole lot of inappropriate jokes. You have been warned.

Fic info: Post teg. Rating: Mature, clearly. Pairings: Implied locklyle. Word count: 1626

Summary: The gang stumble across a certain something previously owned by Mr and Mrs Lockwood. Shenanigans ensue.

It was a mild spring morning the day we managed to scar Lockwood for life.

The company was going through a lull in cases - something about warmer weather and extended daylight made ghosts not want to show themselves - and we were using that time to do a spot of spring cleaning. The fact that Holly had threatened to quit if she found another of George’s rotting ‘experiments’ stuffed in a random cupboard had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Holly was out with her flatmate on what she insisted was ‘definitely not a date, stop being nosy’ and had appointed Quill to keep an eye on us. His only purpose seemed to be nabbing whatever alcohol we found buried in cupboards from the days when Lockwood’s parents were still around and lounging in a chair complaining about this and that. I wasn’t really paying attention, to be honest; I was too busy trying to get Skully to stop dripping ectoplasm all over the newly-cleaned surfaces as he hovered above us making increasingly rude comments. 

“You could help you know!” I snapped at him, interrupting Quill’s ranting about the extortionate prices of laundry detergent.

“Moi?” said Skully, swooning dramatically in midair. “I am but a simple street urchin, I know nothing about this so-called ‘cleaning’ thing.” He waved a hand and sent half the kitchen appliances skidding across the counter and crashing to the floor. “Whoopsie!” he said, though his sadistic grin was far from apologetic. 

I picked up the salt shaker and threw it at him. It passed right through, of course, and collided with the wall, but a few grains of salt came loose and hissed as they came into contact with his ectoplasm. 

“Ow!”

I ignored his complaints and went to put the appliances back with Lockwood and George’s help. When the boys hefted up the microwave, I noticed the floorboard beneath it had come loose. I knelt by it and dug my fingers in to prise it up.

“There’s a box under here,” I informed them, brushing dust away from the wilted cardboard.

George kneeled next to me and adjusted his glasses to peer at it. “Interesting. Reckon it contains anything of paranormal significance?”

“Or anything valuable?” said Quill, kneeling on my other side.

“It’s probably just stuff my parents hid when authorities came to call,” shrugged Lockwood, turning away with his bright pink feather duster to clean the higher shelves. “They weren’t exactly supposed to bring possible Sources into the country.”

Whatever it was, investigating it seemed more fun than cleaning, so I prised up the floorboards either side of the gap and wiggled the box free. 

The box was filled to the brim with packing foam, but when I dug it out and managed a first glimpse at what it was hiding, I nearly choked.

“What is it?” said Lockwood, whirling back around at the noise. “Are you alright, Lucy?”

My face pulled taut in a gallant effort not to laugh, I dug my hands into the box and pulled out its contents: a finely crafted china teapot, in the shape of a dick and balls.

Immediately, my hearing filled with spectral laughter as Skully burst into loud cackling above me, gripping his stomach and gasping for nonexistent breath. Quill and George weren’t far from joining in.

“Oh my god,” Quill gasped, wheezing as tears of mirth filled his eyes. “Tony, what exactly were your parents into?”

Lockwood’s face had gone a brilliant shade of red as he stammered for words. “It- It can’t be theirs- they- it must have belonged to the last people who owned the house…”

George took the teapot off me, which I was very grateful for as I was dangerously close to dropping it with my hands shaking from laughter. He cleaned his glasses on his shirt, placed them back on his head, then took the lid of the phallic pot and peered inside.

“Oh,” he said, the laughter immediately wiped from his face. “Oh, this definitely belonged to your parents, Lockwood.”

“What?” said Lockwood, eying the teapot from a distance as though weary it would blow up any minute. “What is it?”

George silently handed the teapot over to Quill before standing, going over to the sink, and dunking his head in the basin of what was now very cold water. 

Quill reached into the teapot and pulled out a stack of old photographs. I leaned over his shoulder curiously as he flicked through them and immediately started choking for real. I recognised Celia and Donald Lockwood from the few photos Lockwood had scattered around the house. I was not prepared for the positions they were in.

“What is it?” Lockwood insisted. “What’s on them?” He moved to reach for them but Quill jerked them out of his reach. Unfortunately, this put them right into Skully’s line of sight and the ghost started cackling even harder than before.

“Holy shit, those are some saucy parents he has. Come on, Luce, show the boy how he was probably conceived!”

“Nope!” I blurted, snatching the photos from Quill’s hand and lurching to my feet to make a beeline for the living room and - more importantly - the fireplace. “Lockwood, trust me, you do not want to see these.”

“If they’re photos of my parents, I want to see!” cried Lockwood, chasing after me.

It was then that the umbrella stand in the hallway fell into my path - entirely on its own, Skully would insist later - and my feet collided with it causing me to crash down to the floor, my grip coming loose from the photo stack and resulting in a whirlwind of erotic snapshots to fall down around me.

“Oh no.” Lockwood’s voice seemed very cracked and distant, and when I pushed myself up and turned to him, the poor boy had his hands clamped tight over his eyes, his face and ears tomato red. “George, please tear out my eyes!”

“Only if you tear out mine too,” George said, coming into the hallway with his hair dripping wet. “God, this is almost as bad as when I walked in on my mum-”

“Do not finish that sentence!”

“At least you don’t have to look your parents in the eyes after this,” George muttered, folding his arms over his chest. “Took me three months to get over that.”

“I’m going to have nightmares,” moaned Lockwood. “Lucy, please tell me you’ve picked them all up by now.”

Quill and I were systematically gathering them up and tossing them in the fireplace. Only when Quill had lit the fire did we give Lockwood the all-clear.

“I am never cleaning the house again!” Lockwood declared, collapsing against me with his face buried into my shoulder. I patted his back sympathetically.

“At least we got a new teapot out of it,” said George. “Tea, anyone?”

“There is no way I am drinking tea out of that thing,” said Lockwood. “Can we please get rid of it?”

“Or...” I said, spying the blackened skull perched on a shelf in the kitchen. “I have another idea.”

*

Holly returned to find us all - minus George, who was making sure there were no loose photos lying around - sheepishly sitting around the kitchen table sipping tea. The kitchen was clean, at least, but Holly didn’t even seem to notice, her eyes going straight to the teapot on the table.

“What. On earth. Is that?”

“Our new teapot,” I said matter-of-factly. “Like it?”

“That is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen,” said Holly, her nose wrinkling. “I have never understood the appeal of these things.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” said Quill, sipping his tea casually.

“I’m throwing it out,” said Holly, picking it up with the tips of her fingers like it was contaminated, which it probably was.

It was then that Skully decided to make his presence known by forming directly out of the ‘spout’, his ectoplasm contorted grotesquely into the happy farmhand.

Holly, to no one’s surprise, shrieked and hurled the teapot all the way down the hall where a loud thump and yelp ensued.

“Oh my gosh, George, I’m so sorry!” Holly cried, rushing down the hall with the rest of us at her heels to find George curled up on the floor, the shattered remains of the teapot as well as the skull surrounding him. “Are you alright?!”

George groaned and pushed himself upright to reveal his glasses askew and a bright red mark on his face in the perfect silhouette of a dick and balls. I tried to stop myself laughing and only half managed.

“I think I have a concussion,” George slurred.

“Hospital,” said Holly, helping George up and bustling him to the door. “Hospital, now.”

*

The nurse looked from the penis permanently etched onto George’s face, to the haunted look in Lockwood’s eyes, to me and Quill who were still snickering, before finally turning to Holly who she seemed to deem as the most sensible one of the group. She wasn’t exactly wrong. Perhaps she remembered us from the time George got a condom stuck over his head and nearly suffocated.

“How?”

“Dick teapot,” I blurted, trying not to look at Goerge’s face because if I did I would most certainly die of laughter. Unfortunately, this made me picture it again and I snorted anyway.

The nurse heaved a great sigh as if this was just the same old bullshit she had to deal with every day.

“Just once,” she said, “why can’t it just be ghost-touch.”

George rubbed at the imprint on his face, then seemed to realise it looked like he was wanking the dick off and stopped. “You know,” he said, ignoring me and Quill wheezing next to him, “I’m actually with you on that one, ma’am.”

[writingkeepsmewhole]

Promise

This is part 16 of Betrayal. It’s kinda all over the place but I had fun writing this part. This is fic 17 of my 365 fic challange. I know its very late but family crap kept me from posting. I’ll catch up before the end of the year.

Fic Summary: Scarlet and Dean go visit Rebecca.

Dean Winchester x OC Scarlet

Warnings: Mentions of previous smut, cheating, langue, Rehab I think that’s it.

Taglist Would love to add you:  @thewinchesterchronicles @amandamaesweetheart @scarlettreneem @deans-baby-momma

Part 1  Part 15

I wake up to an alarm going off the blaring beeping filling my brain. I sit up straight my eyes flying open as I try to pinpoint the sound of the noise.

I realize that it's coming from Dean’s phone on the nightstand. I was in his bed alone. I roll over on my stomach and grab his phone turning it off and then dropping my face in the pillow as I realize it’s 6AM I've only been sleep for about five hours.

“I’m sorry I forgot to turn it off.” Dean says coming threw the bedroom door a tray of food in his hand.

“S’okay.” I say sitting up and yawning.

“I brought you some breakfast.” He says placing the tray on the bed in front of me.

It pancakes, bacon and orange juice.

“You made these?” I ask pulling the tray closer to me to steal a piece of bacon.

“Yeah I figured it's the least I could do after last night.” He says his ears turning pink.

“You didn’t do anything I didn’t like.” I say smiling at him.

“You haven’t seen yourself.” He says sitting next to me.

I shrug not caring about how I look.

“So how long did you sleep?”

“I got my four hours.”

“But I gotta head out Bobby will be pissed if I’m late.”

“I thought you were the boss?”

“You should tell him that.” He says kissing my head and standing up.

“Stay as long as you want to baby I’ll be back home at five.”

“Remember we gotta go see Becca at six.”

“I know.” He says throwing on his jacket.

“Have fun at work, don’t come back to dirty.”

“No promises.” He says winking at me then heading down stairs.

I blush my stomach fluttering with emotions.

“Your so screwed.” I say to myself knowing I was in way too deep with Dean to want to get out.

After breakfast I got dressed settling for a sweater and high waisted jeans. Seeing I was out of clean socks I stole a pair of Deans then pulled on my boots. 

Dean was right. I haven’t seen myself. I had hickeys all over my neck, shoulders and chest. That wasn’t the worst part there was a hand shaped bruise on my tight from Dean holding on to me.

But I didn’t mind it. It was in the moment and he didn’t hurt me. Sometimes we all had to blow off some steam.

After getting ready for the day I cleaned up my breakfast it leading to me cleaning up the kitchen and the living room.

I was almost finished with the bathroom when my phone rang.

“Hello hello?” I ask putting to my ear.

“Hey, where are you?” Ruby’s voice asks from the other end.

“Dean’s house.” I say honestly.

“Oh okay I was wondering why you never came home last night was getting worried.”

“Oh no need I’m safe. You know me fat and happy.”

“Your not fat.”

“Yeah I know.” 

“So what are you doing?”

“I’m cleaning, what about you?”

“Job hunting.”

“Job hunting?” I ask that reminding me that I needed to do that as well.

“Yeah the dinner closed today so I guess you're not the only jobless one.”

“Well that’s great what are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know any suggestions?” She asks as I walk into the kitchen to get something to drink.

“Become hookers.” I say to lighten the mood.

“Been there done that?”

“Wait really?”

“No! Oh my gosh Scarlet I’m not that bad.”

“I’m not judging.” I say laughing her joining me.

“So really what do we do?”

“Look for work and pray really hard we get something.”

“Okay I’ve been looking Sam said he would help us out if we needed it.”

“Yeah Dean’s offered that too.”

“And you didn’t take it?”

“I don’t want to make him take care of me he has enough going on.”

“Like what?”

“He’s wife is in rehab and the person he is sleeping with happens to be his wife’s sister.”

“Oh yeah I guess that can be a bit complicated.”

“Just a tad.”

“Sorry seeing you two at the party made me kinda forget about Rebcca being in the picture.”

“Oh she’s in it. I’m going to go see her today.”

“Is Dean going?”

“Yeah.” I say hearing a beeping in my ear.

I look at my phone to see it’s batter is low.

“Hey I’ll call you later I gotta charge my phone.”

“Okay hun love ya.”

“You too.” I say hanging up the phone.

I walk up stairs and plug my phone up in Dean’s room. I start to go back to cleaning but get distracted by the TV. Then I got sleepy so I decided to take a short nap. That’s where I was when Dean got home.

He woke me up by gently shaking me him stroking my face

“Your home.” I say smiling at him.

“I am.” He says join me in bed him wrapping his arm around me.

I turn over to face him the smell of oil filling my nose.

“What time do we need to be at the rehab center?” He asks looking down at me.

“Six.” I say yawning.

“We got an hour till we have to leave if you want to go back to sleep.”

I shake my head and lay it on his shoulder.

“Just let me wake up and I’ll make you some food then we can leave.”

“You don’t have to make me anything I’ll get something on the road.”

“But I want.”

“I know but we don’t have time.”

“Okay.” I say pulling away from him and sitting up.

Lifting my arms over my head I stretch. I jump when I feel his calloused fingers touch my neck.

“I did a number on you huh.”

“Stop thinking about it. I’m fine. You sound like one of those guys from some mushy teen rom com.” I say looking back at him.

He smiles his hand moving to my face. Sitting up he kisses me softly. It short and sweet.

“Sorry no more chick flick moments.”

“Thank you.” I say kissing his nose.

“Should we get ready to go?”

“Yeah” I say moving to get out of the bed. 

Once in the car we drive straight to where Rebecca is not wanting to be late. We get there just in time. We checked in then wait for the doctor to come out and get us.

I’m surprised when it’s someone who looks around the same age as Dean. He was young, dark hair bright blue eyes. Attractive.

“Hello, my name is Castiel I believe we spoke yesterday.” He says shaking our hands.

I expected someone older by how deep his voice was. 

“Yes, I’m Scarlet and this is Dean.”

“Your Rebecca’s husband?” He asks looking at Dean.

“Yeah.”

“Good, I’m sure she will be happy to see you both. This way please.” He says turning to walk down the hall not checking to see if we were following him.

Both me and Dean look at each other Dean raising an eyebrow as if to say is this for real. I shrug and follow behind the man in the lab coat.

We walk to the end of the hall it a door needing clearance. A guard sitting next to it at a desk.

“Please give over all cell phones, pocket knives, concealed weapons or anything else that could be dangerous to our patients.”

“You want me to take my shoe laces off too?” Dean asks earning an elbow to the ribs from me.

“Be nice.”

“What, he acts like we're the crazy ones.”

“Sir, none of our patients here are crazy. They are weak minded and in need of help if you do not believe in helping your wife then you can wait out in the lobby.” Castiel says his face set in stone.

“No, I’ll play nice I promise.”

“Thank you.”

After we remove our hazardous items, it being our phones and Dean’s pocket knife, they let us on the other side of the door.

“We will be talking in my office if that is alright for you two?”

“Fine by me.” Dean says his hand brushing mine.

I watch and feel him clench it them him crossing his arms. I feel a knot start to form in my stomach as I realize what he was trying to do. He wanted to take my hand but stopped himself from doing it.

I hated that. Hated that I did that to him. Made it so he had to hide his emotions. He wasn’t good at showing them. He only did it by actions never by words. He most likely felt nervous or angry being here and wanted support and he couldn’t even ask for it in the only way he knew how.

“Please wait here while I go and retrieve Rebecca.” Castiel says stopping in front of an open office door.

“Sure.” I say going inside and sitting down on the couch, Dean joining me.

I don’t pay attention to the doctor closing the door. When he dose I watch Dean take a breath.

“Hey.” I say poking his arm getting his attention.

He looks at me his deep green eyes meeting mine.

“Kiss me.” I say my stomaching flipping.

“What?” He asks taken back by the demand.

“Kiss me, I want you relaxed.”

He smirks his eyes jumping to the door then back to me. I blush realizing that we had an unknown amount of time before Rebecca got here. Maybe that's what had me feeling so warm.

Dean pulls me close to him his mouth meeting mine. I kiss him back placing my hand on his stubbled covered cheek.

His tongue traces my lip just for him to pull away from me.

“Finish this later?”

“Yes.” I agree with him, the thrill of the chance of being caught hotter than what I expected.

That feeling goes out the window when the door is opened Rebecca walking in.

“Your here!” She says grinning at us.

“Yeah.” I say standing up quickly, hoping she doesn't wonder why me and Dean were sitting so close our knees were touching. Or why my face was red, or why I glanced at Dean’s mouth to see if I left a lipstick stained just to remember that I forgot to put some on before I left.

“You both came.” She says pulling me into a hug.

I hug her back taking note that she seemed to feel fuller like she gained weight.

“How ya feeling Becca?” Dean asks behind me.

“Better.” She says looking at him.

“Yes Rebecca has been doing better.” Castiel says sitting in the chair across from the couch.

“Please sit down so we can begin.”

“Oh right.” She says moving to sit on the other side of Dean.

I sit down after him it butting him in the middle of us. I couldn’t help but think how fitting that was. He was split between us. As if to prove my point he placed his arm behind me his other hand falling to Rebecca’s knee.

I feel a wave of jealousy fill me at the sight.

‘He’s her husband!’ I yell at myself.

‘Yeah but she ain’t the one covered in his love bites or sleeping in his bed is she?’ The darker side of my brain says.

“So how can we help?” I ask before I can start arguing with myself.

“Regular visits.” Castiel says looking surprised by my question making me realize I most likely interrupted him. 

“Rebecca is- She needs her family’s support.”

“We’ve tried this already. Not to pop your bubble Doc but couples therapy doesn't work for us.” Dean says surprising me.

He didn’t sound angry more tired. I look at him realizing his hand was now back in his lap but his arm was still placed behind me.

“I’m not talking about couples therapy.”

“You tried therapy?” I ask this being news to me.

“When we first got married.” Rebecca answers.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t think it concerned you.”

“You told me you told her.” Dean says looking at her.

“Why does that matter now?”

“Because you lie all the time.”

“No I don’t.”

“Excuse me can we focus.” Castiel says pulling them away from starting a fight.

“We are here to talk about the problems at hand, not something that happened five years ago.”

“Three.” Dean says looking at Castiel.

He wrinkles up his brow and looks at the folder in his hand.

“Rebecca told me you got married five years ago.”

“We’ve only been together three.”

“No we haven’t it’s been five.”

“No, we've been married three years.” He says moving to place his forearms on his knees. 

“Scarlet tell him.” She says looking at me.

“He’s right.” I say biting my lip.

“Whatever.” She says sighing.

“Either way we are here to help her get better and stay better.”

“Good luck with that.” Dean says standing up.

“Sir, your wife needs your support.”

“She doesn't need shit from me. I’ll be in the car.” He says walking to leave the room.

“Dean.” I say making him stop.

“Stay it’s the least we could do.” I say hoping he gets my meaning.

Sighing he turns to face us.

“Fine, but I ain’t sitting back down.” He says moving to stand next to me.

“Very well. Shall we begin?”

“I thought we already have.”

“Rebecca would like to say a few things.” Castiel says holding his hand out as if to tell her go ahead.

She nods and turns to face us.

“I’m sorry.” She says looking between me and Dean.

“I’m sorry for being a bad wife and a bad sister. I want to tell you that I forgive you for not helping me when I needed it. Your my family and I love you. I hope that you can both stay here this time…. That’s all.” She says smiling.

“Are you serious?” I ask her her looking at me.

“Yes, I’m going to do better.”

“Well that’s great but you really think we put you in this mess?”

“We are not here to place blame.” The doctor says.

“I didn’t plan on it until she just told me she forgives me for not helping her. If I remember she's here because she attacked Dean.”

“No I’m here because you tricked me into signing my life away.” She says glaring at me.

“Because you were dangerous to everyone and yourself.”

“You weren't there that night.”

“I was, I got called to the police station because he lied and said Dean hit you.”

She clenched her jaw and looks at the floor.

“I don’t remember that.”

“Yeah I’m sure you don’t.” I say softly not fully believing her.

“I know Dean wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Damn straight.” He says next to me.

“I know you two are better off without me.” She says making my stomach knot up. That hitting a little close to home.

“But I’m gonna do better I promise this time.”

“You gotta prove that Becca.” Dean says.

“I know. I’m doing better just asks the doctors here.”

“We have seen improvements with her behavior.”

“See I’ll prove it. I don’t have to talk about me all the time. How have you two been?” She says hope filling her eyes as if that one question proved she was a whole new person.

“We’re fine.” Dean answers coldly.

“Okay umm tell me about your boyfriend.” She says looking at me.

“What?” I ask wondering where that came from.

“You are covered in hickys I’m not stupid.”

“Right.” I say blushing.

“So tell me about him is he nice.”

“Yeah, he’s amazing.” I say honestly. Feeling guilt starts to build up inside me.

“Is he cute?”

I nod my face red since she is asking me about her husband.

“How is he in bed?”

“Like I said amazing.” I say practically feeling Dean’s smirk behind me.

“Rebecca.” Casteil says after he clears his throat.

“Right, sorry. Will you let me meet him when I get out?”

“Yeah.” I say having no idea how to answer this question.

“Have you meet him?” She asks looking up at Dean.

“Yeah he’s awesome.” He says.

I bite my lip and looked up at him, seeing a huge grin on his face.

This was the most awkward moment I have ever had to experience it and I wanted it to be over.

My prayer was answered when a knock came threw the door.

It opened to show a read head nurse on the other side.

“Sorry to interrupt but it’s time for medication and dinner.” She says smiling at us.

“Very well we will  do this again soon.” Castiel says standing up.

“Can you excourt these two out I’ll get Rebecca back to her room.”

“Of course.” She says smiling and waving for us to follow her.

“Come with me.”

“Right behind you.” I say turning to face Rebecca.

“I love you.” I say hugging her.

“Yeah, see you later.” She says hugging me back.

I pull away from her and stand up walking over to the door.

She jumps up and hugs Dean him returning it but quickly pulling away from her. A feeling of sadness hit me since he hugged Sam longer than that. Was that because of what she has done to him or what me and him were doing?

“See ya Becca. Be good.” He says smiling at her then moving to join me.

I smile and wave at her as I walk out of the room.

Me and Dean don’t speak while we collect our things and head to the car.

I felt a whole mess or emotions but I didn’t know what Dean was feeling. I knew I could take a guess and after talking to him for a few days I could figure it out but I didn’t want to do that today.

Getting in the car I close the door Dean doing the same thing almost at the same time.

“So you think I’m amazing?” He asks looking over at me a smirk on his face.

“Really that’s what you got outta that?” I ask a smiling coming to my face.

“Duh my baby girl just called me amazing.” He says making both our faces heat up.

“Baby girl?” I ask before I can stop myself.

“Yeah, is that alright?” He asks trying to sound smooth but his eyes showed doubt in them.

“It’s perfect.”

“Good, now come here.” He says pulling me so I slid over to seat him.

I let out a giggle when he does, him kissing me. I kiss him back it not lasting long before his fingers find my sides him tickling me.

I jump away from him giggling as he easily traps me under him his fingers digging into me.

“Dean stop!” I say around my laughter.

“What’s in it for me?” He asks bending down to cover my face with kisses as he keeps tickling me.

I wiggle under him my face starting to hurt from smiling.

“Anything you want just stop…. I can’t breathe.” I say laughing.

“Anything?” He asks pausing over me.

“Yes anything.” I say panting hard.

“Promise me something.”

“Okay?” I say not expecting that answer.

“Promise me you’ll never get like that. Promise me you’ll come to me with whatever problem you have, that you won’t disappear on me.” He says softly. Him peeling back a layer of his armor letting me see the inside of him for just a second.

“I promise.” I say it being a promise I would never dream of braking.

[leseulmot]

for @maimishou I hope you enjoy!

•••

“You’re my best friend, you know.”

Jo’s voice cut through Kelsey’s nonsensical ramblings—about their upcoming APUSH debate in which Kelsey was set to be a muckraker of the 1920s and Jo was playing Henry Ford and the argument she was planning to tear her friend’s capitalist character down with. Grey’s Anatomy was playing on the TV in front of them, something dramatic happening that Jo hadn’t been paying attention to for a while. She wasn’t a big fan of the show, anyways.

Kelsey’s face was obscured by the face mask that she had brought over for the two of them to share—Jo had a matching one lathered across her skin, as well—but it wasn’t too hard to picture the questioning quirk of her eyebrows, the almost suspicious scrunch of her nose that she wouldn’t dare do with the mask on. Jo had known the girl for too long. She knew Kelsey’s quirks like the back of her hand.

“You’re my best friend, too?” Kelsey’s voice was almost a question, but the smile in her eyes—still not stretching her skin because Jo taught her well—more than genuine. She kicked out at the other girl with her foot. Jo had painted Kelsey’s toes just a few minutes ago and she had complained about the purple separator she had forced on the other girl the entire time. Jo grinned as she dodged Kelsey’s kick, letting a snort of laughter out. “Why are we getting sentimental right now? We haven’t even broken out the wine.”

Jo rolled her eyes, her low, sarcastic groan loud in her small living room. She tossed herself back onto the couch as dramatically as possible, throwing her head back and rubbing the back of her head into the colorful throw that lay across the back of her family’s couch. She liked to tease that her mother treasured this old textile more than she loved her own daughter. Her hair came back static-y and angry, pops of noise picking about the air as she pulled away and grinned over at her closest friend.

“I just wanted to let you know.”

“I already know, silly,” Kelsey’s laugh was bright. It was electric. Her eyes wrinkled up, not-yet-permanent crows feet dashing out like strikes of lightening. Jo was sure, if not for the mask she had on her face, there would be a happy, pink coloring high in her cheeks. Kelsey quickly relaxed her face when she realized that she was likely wrinkling the mask, but her cheeks were tight around her lips as if she were attempting to swallow her laughter down but couldn’t in full.

It painted a funny picture. Or maybe it was just the pure charm that was Kelsey. Laughter spilled from Jo’s lips in response and soon the two were laughing together, ignoring the wrinkles spreading across their masks. Even though she had been the one to suggest this self-care day Jo didn’t care. She didn’t care that her hair was messy and tangled. She didn’t care that the paint on her nails was likely getting smudged and rubbed into that throw that her mother loved so much. She didn’t care. Because that laugh, that piercing, ringing, beautiful thing made her heart stop. It made her brain short circuit. It made her limbs freeze up and her mouth go numb.

Jo would do anything to keep that laugh in her life.

“Gosh, we’re both messes now!” Kelsey broke through Jo’s haze of admiration, the girl peeling the mask from her face and tossing it towards the trash bin they had pulled from Jo’s room. It landed atop the cotton balls and makeup wipes that had been using earlier with something that could hint at a wet flop. She reached for the other girl’s mask before Jo could react, pulling it from her face, as well. The cool air on her newly exposed face made her cringe back. “I’m serious, Jo! My pores are probably still all clogged up!”

“It’s okay, Kels,” Jo laughed at her friend’s distress. “You’re still beautiful.”

“Jo!” Kelsey squealed in response, her hands flying up to cover her face as she leaned into Jo’s shoulder. Jo couldn’t help but laugh again, wrapping her arms about her friend and falling back into the couch. Kelsey’s own laughter was warm against Jo’s neck as she peeked up at her friend. Her eyes were bright with mirth and Jo knew without seeing all of the other’s face that there was a smile on her lips. “You can’t just say stuff like that.”

“Yes I can!” Jo protested. “You’re my best friend! We’ve just determined that!”

Kelsey fell silent, leaving Jo’s laugh ringing by itself before she realized her friend had quieted down. She tilted her head down to look at the other, a question in her eyes. Kelsey’s face was a touch pink, her gaze off to the right as if she were attempting to avoid Jo’s sight—and she wasn’t just looking at something off to the side, Jo had checked to be sure.

“Kelsey?”

“Just,” Kelsey started, clearing a lump that had seemingly gotten stuck in her throat. Jo tugged at a strand of Kelsey’s hair as if to prompt her. “Just friends?”

Jo felt her breath catch in her throat, her lungs seizing up as she considered what Kelsey had just said. Her words bounced relentlessly through her head. She felt slightly put out as well, of course, but that was mostly due to the fact that Jo had always expected to be the one who confessed first. She had toyed with the possibility that Kelsey would return her feelings, usually on sleepless nights where not even Instagram could keep up with her million-mile-an-hour mind, but she had never found herself being confessed to by the girl of her affection in even her wildest dreams.

Jo’s mouth was dry as she gaped at her friend. Kelsey seemed to be getting progressively more embarrassed, the pink of her cheeks plunging into a red and the girl squirming almost uncomfortably in Jo’s hold as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. Jo tightened her hold on the other, watching as she calmed her movements, glancing up at her once again.

“I mean,” Jo managed to say. She was sure that her face was just as red as Kelsey’s by now. “We can be more if you want?”

“Was that a question?”

“I guess?”

Kelsey giggled into Jo’s shoulder once again, burying her face into the crook of her neck for a moment before extracting herself once again. Jo was both disappointed and relieved. Relived because this was a conversation that they needed to have as well as the fact that she was ticklish. Disappointed in the fact that Kelsey had pulled away. So sue her. Jo had always been in love with the idea of simply being surrounded by her best friend—even if that was the only form the affection came in.

“Well. My answer is yes. I would like to be more.”

“Oh!” Jo croaked out excitedly, a smile breaking across her face. She grinned down at Kelsey, who grinned just as brightly back up at her. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”

“Can I…?” Kelsey trailed off. It took Jo a moment to realize what the other girl was asking, her mind still reeling with what had just transpired.

“Definitely!” She finally managed, letting Kelsey squirm her way out of her arms. Jo settled her hands atop Kelsey’s. Were her palms always this sweaty?

Where Jo was sitting cross legged on the couch, Kelsey had somehow found her way to kneeling atop it, her whole body turning to face Jo as opposed to the girl in question, who had just angled her torso towards the other.

“Awesome.” Kelsey breathed as she pressed closer to Jo.

Jo watched as her friend’s eyes flickered from her own gaze to her lips and back again. She took that as a prompt for her to do so as well, and was once again mesmerized by the idea of Kelsey’s lips. By the idea of kissing them, of kissing Kelsey, of Kelsey kissing her.

Kelsey surged forward only a moment later. It wasn’t anything like fireworks or bursts of light. It was the awkward press of lips against lips, a chaste thing that hinted at clacking teeth if their mouths had been open.

The two pulled back with laughter spilling out of them. And then, after a moment, they pressed back in.

Jo was pretty sure there were fireworks this second time.

[you-get-to-exhale-now-cyrus]

Secret Admirer

Summary: For the first 14 days of February, Cyrus receives a small gift from his secret admirer. With the Valentine’s Day Dance coming up, will his secret admirer reveal himself and have the night of his dreams?

This is my Valentine’s Day Exchange Gift for @tyrus-endgayme-confirmed ! I hope you like it!

Word Count: 6851

Ships: Tyrus, Minor Ambi, Minor Muffy

Wednesday February 1st

TJ grabbed the towel from out of his bag, wiping off the sweat that had accumulated during practice. A few of his teammates clapped him on the back on their way out, and soon it was just him and Marty in the locker room.

“You played great today, man,” Marty said, taking a seat on the bench and unscrewing his water bottle, “we’re gonna crush the Raptors when we play them,”

“I hope so,” he mumbled, digging into his bag for a piece of paper; not just any piece of paper, but the piece of paper. “Can you do me a favor?” he asked, folding up the paper neatly.

“Hm, depends, what am I getting out of it?” Marty challenged, capping his bottle and stuffing it into his duffel bag.

“The satisfaction that you’re helping a friend of yours with a love related issue?”

Marty perked right up, hopping over and slapping TJ’s arm repeatedly. “Oooh, TJ’s got the hots for someone,” he crooned, smiling mischievously.

“Shut up,” he muttered, pushing him aside and handing him the piece of paper, “just tape this up on locker 143,”

“Wait, that’s Cyrus’ locker,” he sputtered, earning an unenthusiastic glare from TJ.

“Good catch, dude. Glad to know you’re not totally clueless,” he said, patting him on the shoulder, “just go pin it up. I’m picking him up from school today and I want him to see it before we leave,”

“TJ and Cyrus, sittin’ in a tree, K-I-”

“Finish that rhyme and I’ll bench you for the season!” he called, heading towards his locker. Marty pulled his lips into a small smile, sneaking out the back door of the locker room and  jogging down the hallway. It was mostly empty, save for a teacher or two, and the cleaning crew that came every night. He peered around, not wanting to be caught, and haphazardly stuck the note on Cyrus’ locker, ducking out of sight as quick as he could.

“I’m telling you, my answer was right,” Cyrus huffed, clutching his biology textbook to his chest, “she just didn’t want to go back and check because she didn’t want to admit that I was right,”

TJ chuckled, shaking his head. “I can’t imagine Ms. Wingood being that petty,” he replied, as the two of them stopped by Cyrus’ locker for him to drop off his stuff. Sure enough, there was a small scrap of notebook paper, folded in the shape of a heart on his locker.

“Must be the wrong locker,” Cyrus mumbled, ripping it off and opening it up to read it.

I think you’re one of the most beautiful people in the world, Cyrus.

Cyrus stared, dumbfounded. That was his name on the note. His name. This wasn’t a mistake. “What the. . .?” he trailed softly, running his fingers delicately along the writing.

“Someone’s clearly smitten with you,” TJ teased, trying to contain his amusement.

“Or it’s just some dumbass prank,” Cyrus corrected, exchanging his biology book for his english ones, and dropping them into his bag, “you’re driving me home, right?”

TJ nodded, starting towards the parking lot. “Just like I said I would, Underdog,” he commented, unlocking his car with the click of a button.

“I’ve got to tell Buffy about this,” he started, snapping a picture and quickly texting it to her.

And if TJ nearly hit a bush on the way out because he was too busy staring at Cyrus, nobody made a comment.

Thursday February 2

TJ had never been at school this early; the birds were hardly chirping, and most of the lights inside were off, or were just starting to warm up. He pushed through the entrance, dropping off his books at his own locker, when someone came up behind him.

“So what do you need me to do again?” the boy asked, looking up to TJ with tired eyes. Darren, one of the members of the basketball team, agreed to help TJ out with his ‘challenge’, but he didn’t imagine getting up this early.

“When you see Cyrus, give him these and tell him that his secret admirer made them for him,” TJ insisted, shoving a box of cookies towards the other boy, his eyes darting around the hallway for a certain boy.

“Here he comes,” he whispered, pushing Darren out of the way and dashing into the nearest classroom. Tentatively, he peered out of the window, trying to see what was going on without giving away his location.

“Cyrus, right?” Darren greeted, approaching the other boy, “these are for you. Your, uh, secret admirer told me to give them to you,”

Cyrus’ face scrunched up, carefully taking the box. He looked around at the other students; a few of them were watching him with a concentration that could only be described as endearingly creepy. “Who’s behind this? Are they recording this? Is this a prank?”

Dareen shrugged, tapping the box lightly. “Don’t shoot the messenger, dude. I was just told to give this to you this morning,” he mumbled, turning on his heel and pivoting away. Cyrus opened his locker, setting the box down lightly.

“Hey, Underdog!”

Cyrus whipped around, smiling tentatively when he saw TJ. “You will not believe what happened to me this morning,” he gushed, pulling out the box of cookies from inside his locker.

I have some idea. “What’s inside?” TJ asked, trying his best to conceal his smile.

“I’m not sure let me just,” he started, peeling back the sticker and opening up the box. Inside were around two dozen heart-shaped cookies, decorated with pink and red royal icing, “oh my gosh,”

TJ peered over his shoulder, biting back a smile. “Secret admirer?” he asked.

Cyrus nodded. “That’s what Darren said. It’s nice, I just-I really hope this isn’t some stupid prank,” he muttered, taking a cookie and handing one to TJ, “want one?”

TJ took it gratefully. “Thanks. I’ll see you after practice,”

As if on cue, Buffy ran up to Cyrus, poking his shoulder. “Did I just see TJ giving you a box of cookies that were heart shaped?”

Cyrus scowled, already halfway through a cookie; they were so good. “And now you don’t get one for being nosy,” he insisted, “no Darren gave me these. From my secret admirer,”

Buffy raised her brows, snatching the box and taking one for herself and one for Andi. “They went through all this work for you? That’s pretty sweet,”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Don’t make this a big deal,” he mumbled, walking off to class, cookies in hand.

Friday February 3

He was almost there; he could see Cyrus’ locker. Unfortunately, he could also see a certain pixie-haired girl standing near it. This couldn’t possibly go well. He tried to act casual as if he was walking in this direction for a good reason.

“Your locker is on the other side of the hallway,” she pointed out, “this is Cyrus’,”

Crap. “I know, I was just. . .getting help from a teacher,” he lied, walking into the nearest classroom and shutting the door. So much for that plan, he supposed. Luckily the room was empty, and he didn’t have to explain his actions.

“Hey, Cyrus!” Andi called, “ready for French?”

“Oui, oui, mon amie,” he puffed out, drawing out his French accent tremendously, “on y va,”

As soon as TJ saw that Cyrus and Andi were gone, he popped out of the classroom. Pulling out his phone, he pretended to look at it and stretch up, slapping another note on the boy’s locker. He breathed a sigh of relief; at least his anonymity was still in tact.

While he was doing homework later that day, TJ got a call from Cyrus. Putting it on speaker, he continued to try and do his work.

“Hey, Cy, what’s-”

“A poem, TJ!” he squealed, and TJ could practically hear his grin on the other side of the line.

“What are you talking about?”

“On my locker, there was a poem! Let me grab it so I can read it,” he said, and TJ heard the sound of papers shuffling on the other side of the line. He smiled to himself, and could feel a blush rising within him.

“Okay, here we go,” he started, clearing his throat, “Cyrus, you are the moon and the stars, the sun and every brilliant ray of light. With a smile so warm and inviting that it’s hard to picture any other expression on your face. You are the wildflower in a field of grass, the warm patch of grass on a cloudy day, and the gentle breeze on a summer’s day,”

TJ cringed internally; he didn’t like having his poetry read aloud, but he couldn’t really tell Cyrus this. He just listened to him, paying close attention to his inflection.

“Can you believe? That’s, like, the sweetest thing anyone has ever said about me!” he gushed, folding it back up, “do you have any idea who this person might be?”

TJ swallowed; he hated lying to Cyrus. “Not a clue,”

“Alright, well, I’ll leave you to your work. See you tomorrow!” he hung up, and TJ shut his phone off. He couldn’t concentrate on his homework for the rest of the night.

Saturday February 4

TJ’s chest ached from running, his feet stinging. He could see the small, blue house close ahead, so he kept going, paper in hand. He knew Cyrus wouldn’t be home right now; he had dance rehearsal, which he hadn’t failed to point out in the daily. How dare they deprive him of his Saturday, he’d whined.

Hopping up the stairs, he taped the small piece of paper on the door, and scurried away. He felt a certain lightness to his step, smiling when he thought of the smile on Cyrus’ face.

Cyrus wobbled out of his dance class, feeling different. Luckily, Buffy was there to help him walk home. “How was class?”

He groaned, shooting her a look as he grabbed onto her arm. “I have a newfound respect for ballerinas,” he muttered, wincing with each step.

“Well, look on the bright side,” she offered, “at least when you go to the dance, you’ll be the best one on the floor,”

He snorted, rounding the corner. “Yeah, you say that as if I’m going to actually go to the dance,” he pointed out, shaking his head, “I’d just end up going alone,”

“Not alone,” she said softly, “you can go with me and Andi, like we always do,”

“You mean I tag along with you guys until Amber and Marty show up,” he corrected, sighing in relief when he saw his house in the distance.

Buffy hesitated, gnawing at her lip. “Well. . .what about your secret admirer?”

Cyrus shook his head. “That’s probably just a joke,” he shrugged it off, “and even if it wasn’t, I doubt they’d reveal themselves,”

Buffy offered a sympathetic smile, turning into his driveway. “I think the mail came,” she pointed to a small piece of paper, fluttering on the door. As they got closer, Cyrus realized that it wasn’t a piece of mail; no stamps, no address, no envelope, nothing. Peeling it off the door, he unfolded it and read it.

Valentine’s Day Dance. You and me?

It took everything in Buffy to not say ‘I told you so’, so instead she shook her friend lightly. “See? Look!”

Cyrus fought a smile off of his face, folding it back up and placing it into his pocket. “Whatever,” he mumbled, trying to keep his cool, but missing the mark by a long shot, “I’ll see you later,”

That night, while he was trying to finish some math problems, TJ got a text from Cyrus. It was a picture of the note on his door, followed by a text of random letters mashed together.

[scary captain: oooh? someone’s smitten for youuuu]

[underdog <33: i can’t even it’s so cute !! someone actually wants to go to the dance with me??]

[scary captain: what can i say, you’re quite the catch]

[underdog <33: someone sure seems to think so]

Sunday February 5

TJ sat around most of the day, not sure of what to do. He didn’t really feel like running to Cyrus’ house and placing another note on his door. Plus, he knew Cyrus was going to be home for probably the entire day, so that plan went out the window. He peeks outside through the curtains, and smiles upon seeing the flowers. It may be February, but at least some wildlife was alive. Suddenly, he has an idea, so he texts in the groupchat.

to: operation muffin

[scary captain: find as many flower petals as you can. meet me tmrw in front of my locker]

Monday February 6

“C’mon, I don’t want him to see us,” TJ groaned, brisk walking towards his locker. His friends came up to him and the box that he held, and they dumped all their petals in there. Pink, red, white, yellow, and every color in between spilled into the box. It looked like a rainbow threw up; how befitting.

They scattered, and feeling a bit more confident, he hurried towards Cyrus’ locker. All that confidence evaporated when he saw the lock. Crap. He didn’t know the code.

Luckily, Andi seemed to be passing by; maybe she would know? “Hey, Andi,” he called out, holding the box tight to his chest. Because if he dropped it, it would all be over.

“TJ, hi,” she greeted, a small smile on her face.

“Do you, uh, know Cyrus’ lock combination?” he asked, tapping his feet in his shoe. Andi’s happy expression morphed into one of confusion, knitting her brows together.

“Why?” she asked, crossing her arms, almost as a means of defense.

“Oh, uh. . .he, um, he stole one of my hoodies,” he lied, forcing a small smile, “yeah, and I. . .need it back,”

She looked him over once, twice. She was probably sure that he was lying, but she didn’t press it. She merely shrugged, tugging on her backpack straps. “Okay, um, it’s 2, then, 28, then 19,” she supplied, giving him one more look of confusion before walking off.

Sighing in relief, he turned the lock, using the numbers that Andi gave him, and sure enough, it opened. He peered around; not too many people were in the vicinity, and the ones that were around didn’t look like they were paying attention. Hurriedly, he dumped the petals in and slammed the locker shut, locking it.

“Okay, done,” he mumbled under his breath. He wanted to wait around for Cyrus and see his reaction, but he needed to meet up with his math teacher and touch base about the upcoming quiz. Oh well, Cyrus would probably tell him about it later.

Cyrus walked out of his biology class, tears glossing over his eyes. That was the worst test he’d ever taken; it might as well have been written in Chinese, he would have understood it all the same.

“Hey, Cyrus!”

A familiar figure came up behind him, slinging his arm around Cyrus’ shoulders. “How was class?”

Cyrus shook his head, looking up a little. He felt a little guilty for making TJ’s smile go away, but it was like he couldn’t help himself. “That was the hardest test I’ve ever taken. Failed it for sure,” he groaned, crossing his arms.

TJ frowned, pulling him in a little closer. “I’m sure you didn’t fail. You always say that, and then you do fine,” he noted.

Cyrus sighed. “Whatever, it’s over, I guess. History is next, can this day get any worse?” he grumbled, heading towards his locker. TJ wondered if Cyrus had seen what was inside.

He watched as Cyrus carefully turned his lock, like it was clockwork. The moment he tugged the locker open, all the petals spilled out, like a waterfall. A few of them spent considerable time in the air, before floating down and settling on the floor.

“What the-” Cyrus started, reaching into his locker and pulling out a large handful of petals, “do you think it’s from. . .?”

“Your secret admirer?” TJ supplied, a bit too quickly, “probably. I can’t imagine it being anyone else,” he added, squatting down to help Cyrus pick up the petals.

“I’m taking these home to press them in books,” Cyrus decided, a soft smile returning to his face.

“Feeling a little better?” TJ asked, handing him the rest of the petals.

Cyrus nodded, scooping all of the loose petals into a stray bag that he had floating around in his locker. “Yeah, thanks,” he smiled, “for, helping me pick these up, I mean,”

“Don’t mention it,”

Tuesday February 7

“And I keep getting all these little things, like in my locker and I just, I’m going to burst from happiness!”

Jonah smiled. “I’m really happy for you,” he noted, patting his shoulder, “whoever this is, they’re really cool for doing all these things,”

“Yeah, they are,” he mumbled, dreamily, leaning against the locker. Curse him for thinking of a certain blonde haired boy.

“Do you have any idea of who it might be?” Jonah asked, opening his locker and exchanging the books for his next class.

Cyrus shook his head. “I have an idea of who I want it to be,” he admitted, “but it would be stupid,”

Jonah smirked, shutting his locker with a gentle click. “TJ, right?”

Cyrus nearly fell, the ground feeling like it was crumbling underneath him. “What?” he squeaked, looking around.

Jonah chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, man. You think I can’t hear all the things you’re constantly mumbling under your breath about him? Or the way you look at him?”

Cyrus smacked his forehead. “Ah, silly,” he grumbled.

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” he smiled, and Cyrus felt infinitely better.

Unfortunately, TJ did not. He saw a part of their exchange from afar, and all their laughter made him want to turn around and run the other direction. But that would be childish and silly. Two things TJ Kippen was most definitely not.

“Hey guys,” he says, with all the enthusiasm that he can muster. It’s lame, but it’s an attempt.

“Oh, hey TJ,” Jonah greets with a nod, “we were just talking about you,”

Cyrus elbows his side, feeling his cheeks heat up. He shot Jonah a look that read ‘I’ll kill you’, but before he could cause too much damage, there was more speaking.

“Really?” TJ questioned, and it almost looked like he was about to smile.

Jonah rubbed his arm, getting the message. “We, uh. . yeah, we were. . .talking about the upcoming basketball game,” he lied, with a bright grin on his face.

“Oh, okay,” he replied, glancing at Cyrus, “I’ll catch you later,” he says with a wave, walking off. Once he’s out of earshot, Cyrus gives Jonah a swift slap on his arm.

“Are you kidding me? Could you be any worse at this,” he groans, putting his head in his hands.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he didn’t notice,” Jonah supplied, walking off to his next class.

“Aaron, hey!” TJ whispers, kicking the desk beside him to get his attention, “can you give this to Cyrus when you see him?” He handed him a piece of paper, that had been folded up, and on the outside there was a small heart.

Aaron nodded, slipping it into his pocket for later.

It hardly felt like a Tuesday, according to Cyrus. The week had just started, and he was already looking forward to the weekend. Each class seemed to drag on and on. What was worse, in Cyrus’ opinion, was that whoever was this secret admirer of his didn’t give him anything today. He tried not to feel bad about it. Besides, it was probably just some joke anyways. Why was he so hung up on it?

“Uh, Cyrus, right?” someone called out, stumbling forward to try and get his attention.

“Yeah that’s me. . .Aaron, right?”

The boy nodded, fumbling with a piece of paper. “This is from T-” he bit his lip, shaking his head, “from, uh, from your secret admirer,” he corrected, handing him the piece of paper. Cyrus took it carefully, trying to suppress the building excitement that was blooming in his chest. Unfolding it, he found that it was a carefully sketched picture of him, concentrating on something. It was done in pencil, probably something done in a class, but it was beautiful.

“This is incredible,” he gawked, not even bothering to look up, “thanks for giving me this,”

“Oh, uh, I’m not. . .I’m not your secret admirer,” he flushed, rocking back on his heels.

Finally Cyrus looked up, folding the drawing again. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean to imply that,” he laughed dryly, “I mean thanks for being the messenger,” he corrected, “I’ll see you around,”

Wednesday February 8

There’s less than a week until Valentine’s Day, and TJ feels like he’s going to explode. He’s kept this secret for so long and he doesn’t know how he’s going to make it for another week. Six days, actually.

He walked into school with flowers in his hand; forget-me-nots, along with a small note. Cyrus’ favorite. He always liked the name, because he talked about how he didn’t like being forgotten. And TJ never forgot that.

Unfortunately, neither did Buffy. When she spotted him, she made a beeline towards him, a determined look on her face.

“Flowers? You shouldn’t have,” she cooed, batting her lashes.

He scoffed, crossing his arms. “As if, Driscoll,”

She shook her head. “Who are those actually for?”

TJ tried to brush it off; he wasn’t going to let Buffy Driscoll of all people get under his skin. “No one. They’re mine. Someone got them for me,”

She hummed, unconvinced, but surprisingly, she didn’t press any further. She gave him another look before walking away. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he started towards Cyrus’ locker, only to see him starting to walk in that same direction. Fortunately, he hadn’t seen TJ. In a moment of panic, he chucked the flowers towards the base of Cyrus’ locker and ducked into the nearest classroom.

“Breathe, TJ,” he told himself, placing a hand over his heart. He waited a few beats before peeking his head out of the room. And sure enough, Cyrus had the flowers in his hand. Casually, TJ waltzed out of the classroom and towards him.

“Wow, more gifts,” he chuckled, leaning against the lockers.

“And they’re my favorite flowers!” he beamed, opening his locker and neatly placing them in there, “they must have a spy on the inside to get this information,” he laughed, shaking his head, “I’ll see you later,”

“Later,”

Thursday February 9

“But you don’t get it, they’re my favorite flowers!” Cyrus cooed, walking side by side with Andi.

“I know that. You tell me all the time,” she pointed out, shaking her head.

He sighed, tugging on the straps of his backpack. With each day, he was getting more and more impatient with this secret admirer of his. He figured he’d find out who he was eventually, but he also knew he couldn’t wait much longer.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Andi muttered under her breath, plucking a note off of Cyrus’ locker and opening it up, “it says ‘I fall harder for you each day. Each day it gets a little harder to keep this a secret. But I promise you’ll know who I am by Valentine’s Day’”

Cyrus grabbed the note out of her hand, feeling mildly violated. “I did not approve you to read this,” he noted, but he was smiling, “and oh my gosh, that’s quite possibly the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” he murmured, “hey, you have history with TJ, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just,” he paused, “wondering if-”

“You wanted me to analyze his handwriting and compare it to the one on the note,” she deadpanned, offering a sympathetic smile.

He opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. She hit the nail on the head.

“You want it to be TJ,” she said softer, placing her hand on his arm.

Cyrus nodded, almost sadly. He wanted it to be TJ so badly, and a small flutter of hope existed, but he knew that deep down, it wouldn’t happen. Because he was Cyrus Goodman, and TJ was. . .TJ.

Friday February 10

Cyrus hadn’t seen TJ all morning, which usually he wasn’t too bummed about, but he hadn’t gotten the chance to show him the drawing he’d received. He’d pinned it up in his locker, holding it up with a few magnets to support it. It was beautiful.

“Cyrus, c’mon, we’re going to be late for class,” Buffy drawled, physically having to drag him away from where he was standing.

“But I didn’t get anything this morning, and I didn’t see TJ,” he whined, trudging along down the hallway.

Buffy shook her head, trying to piece two and two together. It made sense in retrospect; the flowers, the handwriting seemed pretty similar, and TJ wasn’t a bad artist. She smiled to herself. “I’m sure things will all fit into place,” she said, pushing him into the classroom.

By the end of the day, TJ had finally found himself a spare moment to rush by Cyrus’ locker. It was a bit of a messy job, but it was done. He didn’t want Cyrus to think that he’d forgotten about him.

“. . .and I’m telling you, it wasn’t the right answer,” Cyrus’ voice floated down the hallway, so TJ pretended to check his phone casually, staring at a black screen.

“TJ, hey! I haven’t seen you all day,” Cyrus beamed, bouncing right up to him.

He pocketed his phone immediately, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I had a doctor’s appointment this morning, so I missed the first two periods,”

Cyrus nodded, turning to face his locker. He swore he turned a shade of red one could only describe as unnatural. There on his locker was a cut out kiss, with a little thing of lip balm, with a small note that read “Pucker Up”.

“Oh my god,” he mumbled under his breath, quickly taking it down, “this is the flirtiest by far,”

“Something wrong with that?” he asked. He tried to make it sound casual, but it sounded worried and almost strained.

Cyrus giggles, placing the note in his locker and the lip balm in his pocket. “No, I just. . .wasn’t expecting that,” he admitted, “I mean, I didn’t think anyone would want to kiss me of all people,”

“Are you insane? Who wouldn’t want to kiss you?” TJ blurted out, freezing up a little. He really just said whatever came to mind, didn’t he? “I mean, uh, you shouldn’t. . .shouldn’t say things like that about yourself,”

“Right,” Cyrus mumbled, the deep shade of red never fading from his face, “. . .any fun plans for the weekend?” he tried, filling the silence as they walked towards the exit.

“Nothing much, just. . .waiting for this Valentine’s Day dance,” he muttered.

“Oh, are you asking someone?” he asked nervously, toying with the hem of his shirt.

“. . .maybe,” he said with a smirk, carding a hand through his hair, “maybe, maybe not,”

“I hate when you say that, you know,” Cyrus chuckled, rounding the corner towards his house.

“I know,”

Saturday February 11

TJ wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t have plans. If Cyrus hadn’t have texted him asking if it was alright if he came over, he would be in his room staring at the wall.

“So,” TJ started, pausing the game of Mario Kart that they were currently on, “you ready for the dance?”

Cyrus shook his head like his life depended on it. “God, no,” he chuckled, leaning back against the couch cushions, “I’m just. . .nervous,” he admitted, “I mean, what if my secret admirer is a girl?”

TJ breathed out a laugh. “No offense, Cy, but it’s not exactly a secret to the school that you’re gay,” he pointed out.

“I know, I know,” he hesitated, fumbling with the controller, “but still, I just. . .I don’t know, I can’t help but feel like it’s some joke. Like someone has been doing this just to get a kick out of me,”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” TJ assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder, “plus, whoever he is, he’s really lucky,”

Cyrus tried to respond, but nothing came out. Because dammit, TJ Kippen was really beautiful up closer; the way his green eyes shined, all his little freckles that splayed across his face, the gentle smile that made all his worries melt away.

“I, uh, yeah. . .yeah,” he stammered out. It was a lame excuse of a response, but it was a string of words.

Sunday February 12

TJ tugged on his hoodie, pulling down the hood as far as it would go. It was a chilly Sunday, and he wished it wasn’t him doing this. He’d tried to ask one of his basketball teammates if they could, but apparently they all had other things to do. Either that or they were tired of being TJ’s messengers and listening to him gush about Cyrus.

Either way, that’s how TJ found himself walking to Cyrus’ house that day, note in hand and everything. It was basically deserted that morning, considering people were probably still at church, which he was grateful for. He really didn’t need someone catching him this late in the game.

“TJ?”

He froze, taking a step away from the door and swiftly turning around, making sure to keep his head low. Sure enough, he saw a familiar pair of sneakers and if he was being careless, he could see a head of curls.

“Buffy? What are you doing here?” he asked, scowling.

“Cyrus and I are supposed to hang out today, what are you doing here?” she challenged, a small smirk on her face, “taping a note to his door,” she tacked on.

He grumbled, the wind pushing back his hood a little. “Nothing,” he lied, “I’m, uh, I’m doing this for. . .someone,”

“Mhm,” she hummed, “I can read you like a book, TJ. You can’t lie to me. Well, you can but I’ll know,”

He groaned, crossing his arms. “What do you want?”

“I just wanna know,” she said simply, waiting a beat.

“. . .fine. It’s me, okay?” he gave in, defeated, “you can’t. . .you can’t tell him, okay?”

She clapped her hands together, walking up and plucking the note off of the door. “I won’t,” she promised, opening the door and stepping inside of the house. TJ shook his head. So much for secrecy.

“Cyrus!” Buffy called, pounding up the stairs with manic energy, “I have something for you!”

Cyrus was lying on his bed on his stomach, staring at the TV in front of him and watching whatever show was on the Food Network. “Unless it’s Alton Brown’s pie, I don’t want it,” he mumbled, holding onto the pillow.

“Oh,” she shrugged, “so I guess you don’t want this note from your secret admirer,” she sighed dramatically, holding it out.

He snapped out of his haze, sitting upright and snatching the note from her hand. He unfolded it, and it was a small doodle of a heart, with a small message inside that read ‘I hope you’re not disappointed when it’s me’.

Cyrus smiled, clutching it to his chest and flopping back down. “Do you know who it is?”

Buffy hesitated; she did promise TJ that she wouldn’t say anything about him. “I don’t not know who it is?”

He groaned, frowning. “Buffy, please, I’m dying here!”

“Alright, alright, calm down there, Shakespeare. You’ll find out in two days. You can wait till then,”

“I suppose,”

Monday February 13

How was it was it was already the day before Valentine’s Day? TJ felt like just yesterday it was the end of January, and now he was walking in with one of the last gifts. He handed it off to Blake, the alternate shooting guard for the team. TJ saw Cyrus at his locker, and instantly his day was better. Unfortunately, Buffy and Andi were off to the side making goo-goo eyes at him.

“What is the matter with you two?” he grumbled, approaching them.

“Aw, Kippen’s so smitten for Cyrus,” Buffy cooed, and Andi tried to swallow her laughter, “oh yeah, also I told Andi,”

He pinched the bridge of his nose; pick your battles, TJ. “Can’t keep a lid on it can you,” he muttered, shaking his head, “look just, keep it under wraps for one more day. Please,”

They both mimed zipping their lips and hurried along, bursting out in laughter as soon as they were out of sight of the captain. It didn’t take too long for a certain voice to travel down the hallway.

“TJ, you have to see this!” Cyrus squeaked, pushing the present into his hand, “this is the best one yet, look!” He started pulling out strips of paper, with some of his favorite quotes written down on them.

The things that make you strange are the things that make you powerful -- Ben Platt

You matter to me, simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody -- Waitress

Nothing is a beautiful as you, but these quotes can try -- Your Secret Admirer

“Oh my god,” Cyrus cooed, feeling his cheeks heat up, “this is the best gift ever,” he decided.

“Oh, uh, actually,” TJ mumbled, pulling something out of your bag, “your, uh, secret admirer told me to give you this,” he said, pushing a small trinket into Cyrus’ hand. It was a ceramic dinosaur that TJ had made in pottery class, with the help of the teacher and a photo reference. It was far from perfect, but it was an attempt.

Cyrus swore he was going to cry. “I-I love this,” he whispered, willing himself not to cry, “it’s. . .it’s so beautiful,”

TJ smiled, feeling a little prouder of his work. “Someone really cares about you,”

Cyrus nodded, smiling up at him. “Yeah. . .they do,”

Tuesday February 14

The dreaded, or long awaited, day had arrived. Depends how you look at it. TJ had changed into seven different outfits within the span of ten minutes, and he ended up going with the first one anyways; a pink polo and nice jeans. He got up so early that morning, for fear of being late, that it was still dark outside when he was ready. Trying not to focus on that, he took the opportunity walking to school to try and rehearse what he was going to say, because he knew that he was going to fumble over his words.

On the way, he stopped by a flower shot to pick out a small bouquet of daffodils before continuing on his way. It was a relatively warm day for February, and TJ was grateful for that, considering he hadn’t worn a jacket.

When he arrived at school, he waited around his locker for a while, pacing back and forth so many times a teacher approached him to ask if he was alright. The hallways were littered with Valentine’s Day decorations and posters for the dance. He sighed; how was he supposed to tell him? No, this was going to be okay.

“TJ, hey!”

The moment he saw Cyrus, everything he’d rehearsed this morning went out the window. He barely even remembered where he was or what his name was. It was like he was transported to an alternate universe.

“Oh, uh, hi,” he mumbled, looking down at his hands. Daffodils. Cyrus. Daffodils for Cyrus. Right. “These, uh, these are for you,” he added, pushing them into his hands, “from your secret admirer,”

Cyrus’ heart skipped a beat, he swore, and he all but stopped breathing. Was it. . .could it be? Was this actually happening?

“I’m on delivery duty,” he lied quickly, trying to cover his tracks for a little while longer. Yeah, this was going to be a lot harder than he previously thought.

Cyrus deflated; of course it wasn’t TJ. He was just making it out to be like that. “Oh,” he mumbled, dejected, fumbling with the flowers. At least they looked nice. “Thanks,”

TJ felt a pang of guilt rush through him. He couldn’t keep lying to himself and to Cyrus, it wasn’t fair. “Actually wait,” he hurried, “I. . .need to tell you something,”

Cyrus nodded, looking at him sincerely. “Go on,”

And of all the ways he thought he would feel at this moment, numb was not one of those options. All the anxiety and the fear and the excitement and adrenaline had all melted into nothingness, and left him feeling completely numb.

“It’s me,” he said quietly, shutting his eyes and bracing himself for rejection, “I’m your. . .secret admirer,”

Cyrus was speechless for a moment, before he broke out into a huge grin and started giggling. “Are you serious?” he breathed out, putting a hand on his forehead, “oh my god, I never would have thought,”

TJ opened his eyes slowly; even if he was facing rejection, it was nice to hear Cyrus laughing. “Are you. . .disappointed it’s me?”

Cyrus literally jaw-dropped at that. “Are you kidding? I’ve never been so happy in my life to hear something!”

Now it was TJ’s turn to be speechless. Did he hear that right? “Y-You are?”

Cyrus nodded, placing the flowers in his locker. “You’re seriously asking me that? I’ve had a crush on you since, like, the seventh grade,” he admitted, smiling sheepishly.

TJ smiled so wide his face hurt, but he didn’t care. “So. . .does this mean you’ll go to the Valentine’s Day dance with me?”

“Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes,” Cyrus squealed, wrapping his arms around TJ.

Arriving at the dance was pure chaos. Kids were running down the ramp towards the gym, letting out squeals of delight. Cyrus had arrived with Andi and Buffy, but they had already made their way down the gym after they took pictures. Amber and Marty were waiting down there, so they said a quick goodbye to him and left him alone.

He walked around a little bit, taking note of the posters on the walls for this dance. Andi and the rest of the art club had really gone all out to make sure they were perfect. All the glitter really stood out, and the different styles of hearts and-

“Cyrus?”

A voice cut through the general silence that surrounded him. When he turned around, he thought he could melt right then and there. TJ wore a maroon blazer with a light pink shirt, and a black bowtie. In short, he looked stunning.

“Oh my god,” he breathed, taking a few steps forward and placing a hand on his arm, “you look. . .incredible,”

TJ swallowed, biting his lip. “Right back at you,” he murmured, slipping his hand into Cyrus’, “this okay?”

Cyrus nods, dragging him down the ramp, his feet hammering into the ground with each step. The music was blaring, and the gym was nearly packed with kids, all moving around and waving their hands in the air. And if Buffy and Andi came up to TJ and barraged him with questions while Cyrus grabbed them drinks, he didn’t mention it to Cyrus.

Most of the night was spent bouncing around groups of people, but TJ and Cyrus were basically inseparable. They really liked having each other for company.

“Alright, ladies and gents, it’s time to take it real slow,” the DJ drawled, switching over to a softer song with a gentle beat, “so find that special someone,”

TJ looked almost nervous when he asked Cyrus to dance. It was silly, really, since he already said yes to going to the dance with him. As if Cyrus could sense his nerves, he took TJ by the hand and led him towards the center of the dance floor.

“Hey,” he said softly, reaching up and wrapping his arms around TJ’s neck.

“Hi,” he replied, a small smile making its way on his smile as he gingerly placed his hands on Cyrus’ waist, “is this okay?”

Cyrus nodded, inching forward a little and resting his head on TJ’s chest. He could almost hear Andi shrieking from the other side of the gym, but he assumed it was Amber who kept her in check.

“What are you thinking about?” TJ asked quietly, swaying gently from side to side.

Cyrus chuckled, picking his head up. “How much I want to kiss you,” he admitted, feeling his cheeks flush at that.

“Oh, really?” TJ replied cheekily, smirking down at him, “what’s stopping you?”

Cyrus shrugged, smiling softly. “I mean. . .do you want to kiss me?”

“So badly,” TJ murmured, smiling.

Without much thinking, Cyrus leaned up and planted a short kiss on his lips. They burned at the sudden sensation, and he worried that it wasn’t good. “Sorry,” he murmured, “that was. . .awful,”

TJ gave him a sympathetic smile, hooking a finger under his chin. “It’ll get better,”

Cyrus smiled, placing his hand on TJ’s. “Yeah. . .yeah, it will,”

[nevrgoinoutastyle2876]

Hey so I don’t normally posy other fandom stuff on here but this is my most followed account and I need some advice on a fic. It’s destiel, please tell me if it’s any good and if you like it I’ll post the link to the rest of the story

——————

"Very well. Have it your way," Crowley turned to Azazel and Alistair, "boys, shall we?" I saw a smirk cross all their features, and before I knew it, Crowley and the others were shoving me and my friends into the water.

My name is Castiel Novak, and I'm a mess.

One big giant mess. Let me tell you about my day, how it went from good to bad, and how I ended up getting pushed into a lake.

Today, it was summer. Well... months into summer. School would be starting in just about six days. I woke up to quickly find out that it was one of the hottest days of the year. The sun was beating down like thick blanket and never left the clear sky. If I had to guess I'd say the kids in my neighborhood were all playing in sprinklers and having fun, trying to make the most out of what little they had left of summer. Since school was starting very soon, I thought that I should possibly do the same thing, and make the most of what I had left of the season.

I woke up early in the morning. I traveled down the stairs to see an all to familiar view. My Dad was no where in sight, probably in his room writing. My mom was sitting at the kitchen counter reading a magazine, completely ignoring the chaos in the living room.

To tell the truth, what was happening in the living room wasn't all that bad, but, still disturbing. Even though I've seen a lot worse go down in that room. The tv was on and Gabriel, my little brother was sitting on the floor in front of it, constantly changing channels. Anna, my sister, sat on the couch. She was pressed all the way to the end of the couch, trying to still sit there while being as far away from the other end of the couch as she could.

Why was she trying to stay away from the other end of the couch you might ask? Well... Luci, my oldest brother, was there, and so was his boyfriend, Michael. Michael and Luci have been dating for about a year or so. I was shocked they'd made it this long, seeing at they were polor opposites. Michael graduated highschool with a perfect GPA and taking a all advanced courses, while being a star football player as well. Now, he's going to college and spends his free time either with Luci or shadowing the doctors at the hospital so that it'll be easier for him to get a job there. Probably as a heart surgeon or something. Also he had a spotless criminal record.

Meanwhile, Luci had probably all E's in his classes before he dropped out. Never once touched a football and spent most of his time smoking weed with the other bleacher-creatures during the games. He was not attending any colleges and was job-less. His free time was spent either with Michael or at the police station, and it sure as hell wasn't for volunteering. I remember a couple times mom and dad refused to bail him out, so Michael had to go do it.

So yeah, I'm shocked they made it a year. But anyways, right now Michael was over and sitting on the couch with Luci. Well, it was more like Michael was sitting on the couch and Luci was sitting on top of him. They were making out. It was disgusting.

They were making weird moaning noises as Michael's hands practically groped Lucifers torso and chest. I wanted to gag.

I soon decided very quickly that I didn't want to be here, so slipped out the front door before anyone would stop me. Mom and Dad never cared if we went anywhere so I figured they'd be fine if I just left for a little while.

I opened the door and quickly went outside. I closed the door behind me and took a step out into the morning air. If I had to guess I'd say it was about 9:00am, the sun was blazing across the sky as I sat down. I let the warm air and occasional cool breeze wash over me. It was one of those, buy ice cream, go to the beach, summer days. I wasn't much of an outside person, but I enjoyed them none-the-less.

I stood up in my short sleeve, buttoned, baby blue shirt, and jeans before I began to walk down the street. My friend Charlie lived a few blocks down from me, and a few blocks down from there lived Dorothy. See, I had friends, but, there was only two of them. I have known Charlie forever, so we were always close. We met when we were probably five. I remember being at the park with Luci when I saw a small red-headed girl fall from the jungle gym. She looked hurt so I ran from Luci to see if she was alright. She was bleeding, but shockingly, not crying. I went to the bench where Mom was. I rummaged in her purse for the Band-Aids I always made her keep in there for reasons such as this.

I helped the girl bandage her arm to stop the small amount of blood. When I finished she turned to me with an incredibly bright grin and said, "are we best friends now?" And ever since then, we've never left each other's side.

Then Charlie met this girl named Dorothy when we first started middle School in sixth grade. She was pretty badass for a twelve year old and she shockingly decided to sit with us. So she became part of our group too. Now sixteen and we were all inseparable.

Charlie was the fun nerd in our group, she always had the best and craziest ideas out of all of us. Her bright and spunky personality made her instantly loveable. Dorothy was a bit more grounded but was always up for adventure, so when Charlie got an idea, Dorothy was the one to make it happen.

I was the downer of the group I assumed, mainly because I always tried to talk them out of their crazy ideas. But they were both stubborn and I bet if they had the chance to go to Oz they would take it in a heartbeat. They never listened to me, and of course, dragged me along with them every time they were up to some shenanigan. Like the day Charlie said we should go downtown and take edgy pictures of the train tracks, so we could be douchy hipster wannabes. The next day Dorothy grabbed her camera and yanked us downtown to the train tracks. That day we almost got hit by said train on the tracks.

See what I mean? Bad Ideas. But I will admit, there has been some good ones. Like two summers ago we were all sitting at Dorothy's house, bored with nothing to do, so Charlie randomly said we should go into town and take some weird class. We spent the whole afternoon learning pottery and making clay. That was fun.

So, in conclusion, I love my friends and their idiotic selves. That's why I was on my way down there now, to go do something interesting. I approached Charlie's house very quickly. Her house was small, probably the smallest out of all our houses. She was an only child and therefore really didn't need that much space. Her house was painted a red-ish orange color, it was like a burnt faded orange kind of. I don't know how to describe it, but it was pretty. Her grass was bright green lined with pink flowers around the house. Cute little white shutters to match with the windows.

The door was a plain brown and I smiled at it before I knocked. I always liked her house. I waited only mer seconds before the door burst open. Charlie looked like she had just been running. She grinned at me when she saw me standing in the doorway.

"I saw you coming from my room and came running." So I was right. She waited a bit before turning to stick her head into the house, "MOM IM GOING OUT WITH CAS!" She called, slamming the door shut immediately after.

I smiled at her again as she linked her arm with mine and started off down the porch steps. Today Charlie was wearing baggy jean shorts that went down to her knees, as well as a Star Wars t-shirt. Her head phones were wrapped around her neck and the cord trailed down her back into her pocket, where her phone probably was.

"Anyways, hi best friend!" She finally greeted once we made it to the sidewalk. I couldn't help but smile, even if it was faint.

"Hello Charlie." I greeted back, watching her long red hair bounce with each step.

"I was hoping you would come by today." She told me, seeming determined. I tilted my head a bit.

"Oh? Why's that?" I asked curiously, taking notice we were on our way to Dorothy's.

"Cant I just wannna see my friend!?... Alsooo when you were sick last week, me and Dorothy went out and discovered something really cool. We gotta show it to you." She sounded excited and picked up her walking pace subconsciously.

We made it to Dorothy's shortly after leaving Charlie's. Dorothy come out almost as fast as Charlie had, giving us her signature smirk before heading out. She was wearing skinny jeans and a brown shirt with her brown hair in a side bun. She was gorgeous I always thought, but not that I was into that kinda stuff.

We started walking down the road together, I started to sweat.

"Man it's hot out." Dorothy complained, sighing and wiping her forehead. Charlie smirked,

"Well duh, that's cuz I'm out here bitches," she grinned as Dorothy gave her a playful shove. I smiled shyly.

"Shut up," she told Charlie, still grinning, then laughing.

"So can anyone tell me where we are going." I asked curiously, changing the topic. I noticed Dorothy smirking.

"You'll have to wait." She told me, causing Charlie to suppress a smirk. I frowned.

"Guys, we are getting far away from town and-" I was quickly cut off by Charlie.

"Oh my gosh Cas, don't be such a stick in the mud. We'll be fineee." She urged, but I wasn't convinced.

"It's just that, you guys don't always have the best ideas..." I mumbled. Charlie looked fakely offended.

"How?!" She questioned while I just looked down sheepishly.

"Well, like... The train incident... that time you almost got us stuck on a flight to India, or when you and Dorothy got me to join your prank fight and we got covered in quick drying paint. Or when we went to the movies and that guy-"

"Okay, okay! You've made your point!" She informed quickly, a flustered blush forming on her face. I couldn't help my grin just a little bit.

After walking for what felt like forever, we were at what I thought was the edge if town. We lived in Michigan, smack dab in the center of the glove, in a town that, if you walked far enough, it turned into all wilderness. I think that's where we were now because on our very long walk we passed a bunch of trees and ponds. Now we were at the end of the dirt road, the very end before it faded into trees.

I would say I was scared, I would say being in the woods made me uncomfortable, I would say we should head back, but, I love nature. Nature is calming and beautiful, how could I say to turn back when we are in the best part of our town?

Charlie turned to me and grinned, Dorothy walked ahead of her. While Dorothy cleared the path, Charlie grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the opening Dorothy made by moving tree branches.

"Close your eyes." Charlie told me, and started guiding me through the forest.

"Please don't run me into anything." I pleaded, not fully trusting my red-headed friend. I could practically feel her eye roll.

"I won't," she grumbled, even thought she probably had been planning too before I stopped her.

"We're here!" Dorothy said, excitement filling her voice. Charlie smiled brightly and let go of my hand.

"Open!" She commanded cheerfully. I let my eyes flutter open and widen at the sight in front of me.

It was an absolutely beautiful lake.  It seemed almost deserted. No one was here and it appeared to be a place where no one ever went. The sun was shining bright and created a sparkling reflection in the crystal water. Trees surrounded the entire lake, lillypads and cat tails laid where the water meets the grass. Flowers, exotic ones that were bright orange and neon pink were also by the trees. I was shocked.

I took a step forward and grinned wide. I turned my head back to my two friends who stood behind me.

"How did you-" I started to ask how they found it, but Dorothy was already answering.

"Find it? Easy. We were going for a walk in the woods when, poof! Here it was! No one was here, and we knew we had to show you." She told me, smirking proudly as her and Charlie came closer to stand next to me.

"Well... I love it..." I stutter, speechless. I heard Charlie laugh next to me but I couldn't drag my eyes away from the beautiful sight to look at her.

I wasn't sure how long we had been there. It was a while that's for sure. We sat on the edge of the grass, our feet hanging in the water. We were just chatting about school and such when we heard something. It was yelling and laughing in the distance. The noises we're coming closer and I tensed. I recognized the noises all to well.

It sounded like Crowley and his friends. Fergus Crowley MacLeoud was his full name, but he had everyone call him Crowley. He was basically the head jock at school, despite him not being particularly that athletic. He somehow still made the football team and managed to be the most popular boy in school. He hung out with Azazel, Alistair, Lilith, Abbadon, and a few other of the popular kids. He didn't even like Abbadon, hated her to be exact, but still hung out with her because she was popular and head cheerleader. Lilith was another cheerleader, and incredibly beautiful at that, but very rude, she also had a little sister four years younger in Gabriel's grade. Her name was Ruby. Azazel and Alistair were just super creepy and rude. I hated them both, they always wanted to pick on someone. That someone usually being me.

They all seemed to follow Crowley blindly, except Abbadon, but she cooperated. I could hear their annoying screams and laughs getting closer, so I decided to stand. Charlie saw and stood too. Dorothy looked up at us both.

"Guys, it's okay, nothing's is gonna-" I knew Dorothy was gonna say nothing was gonna happen, and that we'd be fine, but she couldn't. That was because guess who came through the trees.

Crowley and his friends. I'm not typically one for swearing, but I really wanted then to f-off. Dorothy saw them and finally stood as well, glaring a bit as she watched the tree branches move, revealing them all.

"Well, well, well..." Crowley announced in a British accent. Today he was wearing black jeans and a black v-neck t-shirt. Lilith wore a white sun dress and Abbadon wore a t-shirt saying, "the devil made me do it," and jeans. Everyone else wore very similar clothes to Crowley.

"Why are you here?" Dorothy asked bravely. Crowley grimaced.

"This is our spot so I'll have to ask you the same question." He growled, clearly very annoyed. Charlie jumped next to me.

"Anyone can come here, it's not just your spot." Dorothy spat, taking a step closer. No no Dorothy stop. Why do you have to be so brave?

"I suggest you leave before someone gets hurt." Abbadon threatened, pointing a pale, flawless, slender finger at Dorothy. Her nail was long and painted a bright shade of red that matched her lips perfectly.

But obviously, Dorothy wasn't going to back down. "Excuse you, but who the hell do you think you are. You don't own us." She snarled in return. Abbadon looked offended at her words, almost recoiling. A scowl formed on her sharp features. Then before I knew it, Crowley, Azazel, and Alistair were walking over.

I gulped, wishing that Dorothy just kept her mouth shut. Crowley stood right by us with his minions behind him.

"Leave." His one word filled the whole forest with venom and left a sting right in my throat because suddenly I couldn't speak. And even though Crowley was shorter then me, chubbier then me, and probably less strong, the way he carried himself made him so much more intimidating then I ever could be.

"We aren't leaving." Dorothy stated harshly. Crowleys stern facial features quickly changed and he back away from me and grinned.

"Very well. Have it your way," Crowley turned to Azazel and Alistair, "boys, shall we?" I saw a smirk cross all their faces, and before I knew it, Crowley and the others were shoving me and my friends into the water.

If someone reads this and likes it, please let me know and I'll post more chapters