#cece ( insta live )

[marigoldthoughts]

Rent Free ch.9

peanut butter

You were laying atop your messy comforter, scrolling through tiktok and spamming Kiyoko's messages with each one that made you chuckle. Your for you page seemed to be full of It’s Okay Not to be Okay videos, a Korean Drama  the two of have been obsessed with recently. The app freezes for a second, and suddenly Kuroo's face is covering your screen and the familiar marimba fills your ears. He must’ve gotten home already. You quickly push yourself off the bed and try to fix your hair as quickly as possible. Once you felt that you looked presentable you answered his call before the tune got the chance to end.

You took a seat and your vanity which doubled as a desk, “Helloooo” you spoke sweetly. “Hey babe, ready to learn from your senpai?” He sat at his kitchen table ,you could see his fridge from where he set up his phone. He must've been home alone or was way too confident. You scoff at his question, “Kuroo, I am NOT calling you senpai!” Jokingly rolling his eyes he continues “You're so difficult sometimes y/n. Alright then, you can call me sensei senpai!” God, every word that came out of him had to pass through that smug ass grin. “What if I just call someone else to help me?” You flash him your cutest smile and stretch your arm towards the phone pretending to hang up. “No no no, fine you don't have to call me senpai, but you could at least call me Tetsuro.” Tetsuro? That must be his first name, you've been meaning to ask him, but it must've slipped your mind “Tetsuro hmm…” You wander for a second while you continue to look at him through the screen. “Tetsu it is!” His shit eating grin widens at your words. “Alright then babe, let's pick up on chapter 12”

…

You and Tetsu have been “studying” for the past hour and a half, but you keep goofing around, is it because you enjoy talking to him or because you hate chemistry with every fiber of your being? Yes. “I like your smile, how come you never send me pictures of it, huh cutie?” you roll your eyes “Uh maybe if you asked I would send you one” You answer him smugly. “ Well I'm askin right now” The power he had over the butterflies in your stomach was ridiculous. “hmm... i'll think about it”  You look back down at  your textbook, pretending to continue your studies. “Come onnn y/n, what do i gotta do to see a picture of that smile” he rested his chin in his palm, disregarding his own work.“Tetsu if you want to see photos of my smile you could just follow my insta” You've been trying to search up his instagram, but his surname was more common than you thought. “What's your username then?” He had picked up his phone now. “yn.yln” you spoke, breaking contact with your textbook. “basic much” his screen was now paused, you can only assume that he's looking you up right now.  “PLEASE, I'm basic? Then what's your username mr original?” you question him with an offended tone, “....thekurootetsuro” Tetsu spoke shyly. “HA, it takes one to know one huh, BABE” you tease him the same  way he does  you. “Yeah yeah, whatever miss I'm so pretty I make kuroo simp” he responded in a tone you can only assume was a poor attempt to mock your voice.“Oh? So you're simping?” He was back on facetime, you saw a faint rosy color invade his face. “No who said that? Must've been a spirit cause you're droolin’ all over me” Even when he was blushing he was still teasing you. “Please a dog wouldn't drool over you, even if you covered yourself in peanut butter!” You laughed out. “Oh? Is that your hypothesis? Cause we can test it right now, I think i've got enough peanut butter” Why was it so infuriatingly attractive how that smirk never left his face?

About two hours later you finally wrapped up your study sesh, that ended up being 50% chit-chat. You couldn't complain though, you were the one that would initiate off topic conversations.

(let’s pretend there pics of you smiling bc i don’t wanna steal art & i’m not an artist so)

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A/N: Hello!!! sorry for being so inactive!! As i mentioned in the last chapter, im going through a breakup right now and i took some time to myself. Unfortunately my posts wont be as often as they were before due to that and i just started college today!! ‘m super excited, i will try to post at least twice a week though!! but there is no set schedule! i hope you enjoyed this chapter even though i’m not the best at writing lol! Thank you to those that have kept up with the fic, it really does mean a lot to me (,: 💓💓💓

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taglist: @harajukukitsune @90s-belladonna @celestialclouds @yeehawslap @anejuuuuoy @booya–18​ @krxstynnn​ @mx-minxx​ @himurayuumi6​ @apremyst @akirudo @redflannel @strawb3rry-babe @haikyuufairy @vanilla-beanzz @dekumiya @coconut-dreamz @handsoffmyfriends @valory-funkzie @cece-lives-here @not-today-19 @minimalisticzee @samanthaa-leanne @janilovecookies @rachelexe @berriesii @sweetnoodleboi @denkiwenki @supahumbreon @starcasmx @nerdynstoned @drabblily @fandomtrashpandasposts @dabilove27 @daninaninani @darkangeldesignstudio @cactuski6 @disaster-rose @tetsuswhore @katariinasworld @simpletype @yqshirov @kristalhi @solemnmoongirl @uwu-kouhai @misluck @yeahhemmings- @sakusaswhore @aristatrois @charliefredb @baby-jichu @tendous-choco-ice-cream

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[saoirsetm]

hey y’all ! i’m kat and we’re FINALLY opening ?!? i’m so hyped, you don’t even know. i’m a double leo Trying to survive video lectures in a noisy house who loves dark chocolate and 80% of the kpop releases so far this year ( stream feel good by fromis_9, it’s such a cute bop ! ) i’m also a cat mom to my almost fourteen year old babies who are still like energetic kittens, so ask for pics and you shall receive DSLKGJ but without further ado, here’s my girl who’s gonna prove that hindsight is INDEED 20/20, so this is gonna be fun:

✧ ˖ * ° ><> ╱  abigail cowen,  cis female,  she/her  —  look  who’s  fresh  from  the  ferry,  aren’t  you  SAOIRSE LEARY  ?  your  eroda  brochure  says  you’re  TWENTY-THREE  and  that  you’re  currently  residing  in  MARMOTON  .  your  favourite  tourist  attraction  to  hang  around  is  ERODIAN BEACH  ,  and  the  locals  around  these  ports  would  describe  you  as  INQUISITIVE  &  INTREPID,  STUBBORN  &  IMPULSIVE  .  your  resting  fish  face  really  gives  off  LONG HAIR BLOWN BACK BY THE OCEAN BREEZE, LATE NIGHTS SPENT PLOTTING THE NEXT GREAT VOYAGE, RED LIPSTICK IMPRINTED ON A MUG OF TEA  ,  and  i’m  a  big  fan  of  the  VINTAGE CELTIC KNOT NECKLACE  you  seem  to  always  be  attached  to.  well,  if  you  see  the  minister  this  morning;  make  sure  you  head  on  home  as  quick  as  possible,  you  never  know  what  bad  luck  he  could  bring.  ╱  ooc;  kat,  23,  she/her,  ast.

tw: needles ( tattoo mention ), cancer mention, death mention

miss saoirse...... oof

GDFLSJL where do i begin with her honestly ??

full name is saoirse eve leary, affectionately called cece by her family since she was young and runs with it as her nickname !

born and raised in cork, ireland with two siblings, a working class father and Slightly upper middle class mother

her childhood wasn’t like, Majorly eventful; she was considered a bit of a tomboy which isn’t a surprise bc she’s always been a bit of a spirited, adventurous girl, has the odd nomadic moment strike her and loves to travel

had a SUPER close relationship with her maternal grandmother before she passed a few years back, still has a close one with her grandfather and paternal grandmother as they’re still living

is a big family girl overall, so much so that she’s eagerly awaiting the day she gets to be the cool aunt

had a decent cluster of pals over the years that’s likely dwindled due to everyone going their separate ways after high school

saoirse Did go to uni between her travels — and graduated — and has aspirations of becoming an anthropologist to explore other cultures and meet new people/understand them

which.. obviously ain’t happening now LFSGJGF rip

came to eroda partially bc it seems like such a pretty and quaint place, partially to explore its “ myth ” that you can never leave; her naturally curious ass questions the whole thing, at least in the sense that there’s no way to challenge your supposed fate on the island and won’t deny entertaining some conspiracy theories around the mystery

she still doesn’t understand that.. yeah, she Literally is stuck here for the rest of her life now, probably because she hasn’t made a Real attempt to put that to the test, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it FDSLKJDS

anyways she came here solo ( more than likely ) and has enjoyed her time getting to know the locals and other visitors, taking in the scenery, etc

probably took up a part-time job at sally’s tavern to cover her expenses since she lives in marmoton and it ought to be close enough for her to get to gfjlsdg

personality and everything else

a sociable, ( relatively ) fearless ginger with an eclectic taste in music and a profound appreciation for pastries.. 

despite being all about cleaner eating habits and lowering her sugar intake, she takes a cheat day or week wherever she can LSDGFJK

parties, game nights, etc, you name it ?? she’s there !

kinda competitive while we’re bringing up games and such, but she’s not about the whole sore winner/loser thing — rather she’ll groan and sulk a little before moving on

like i said before, loves to travel, loves pretty places in general so prepare yourself for an abundance of pictures on her insta feed of where she’s been or where she wants to go

loyal as hell, but she has her limit if you misuse the trust that comes with it

she’s just v wholesome and has a mix of small town city/endlessly curious energy with a sprinkle of being the life of the party……. kinda

however, she’s the most ?? hard to place person all the same

that feeling of freedom that comes with her exploring and all makes her a little hard to tie down; she doesn’t plan on staying in eroda ( which is unfortunate for her considering.... fglsdk ) as she has more to accomplish and see

very much does her own thing and doesn’t wanna hear any criticism for it

as if she’s that out of line DLJGDSLK but still

always wants to try new things, no matter how dumb they might be; except for anything that’s a Legitimate death sentence or is.. a GENUINELY dumb idea, she has enough common sense to know what Not to do KSGFDJDS

has little tattoos on her wrist and behind her left ear for her Favourite trips/symbols/whatever and her family, will let y’all know what they’d be whenever i figure them out since i’m so damn picky with these things

a Big supporter for buying/investing locally, has little trinkets and such to prove it

in fact, she has a collection of thrifted or vintage clothes from her travels and back home, and a chest full of cute jewelry she switches between daily

one piece she wears all the time — only parts with it when she sleeps — is the celtic knot pendant mentioned in her app that’s become something of an heirloom on her mom’s side of the family !

she has the cutest irish lilt in my mind, kinda the same as miss ronan’s and aisling bea’s

really loves her freckles, partially bc i love her freckles and my own :(

tea > coffee, but she loves coffee-flavoured things; bring her a peppermint or camomile tea as her shift winds down or.. idk, just because, and she’ll be forever indebted to you fldjgs

loves to hang out by the water in her free time — she loves the scent and sounds that comes with it, it’s one of the few places where she can put her mind to rest for a bit

the sound of rain hitting a rooftop is her perfect sleep soundtrack

kinda wants to adopt a pet, but doesn’t wanna leave them if she goes on an excursion where they can’t come with her :(

baths with epsom salts, candles that smell like lavender or something just as pleasant and calming, etc during a night in soothes the hell out of her soul

top three products she has in her bag at all times, besides personal info and her phone ? lip balm, a powder spf and mints FGLGKSD

btw.. miss ginger hair and freckles will probably gasp at anyone going out with no spf on them and scold tf out of them bc ‘ hello, melanoma ?? sunburn ?!? ’

wanted connections

childhood pal(s) she’s bumped into: reunited by chance, cece’s glad she has a couple of people she knows to keep her grounded when her mind runs wild at what Might happen when she decides to try her hand at leaving

cousin(s), other relatives: idk, figured it’d be fun for her to have a family member or two running around and not realizing the other relative is the Only one they’ll see in person from here on out

best pal(s) in eroda: someone she’s taken to since arriving, likely spending their free-time eating pastries on the beach, talking shit over tea, little market dates, going to the rainzone half-drunk and trying to rope each other into new things

opposites attract.. of sorts sfdlgkj: basically just a traveler meeting a local who’s never been off eroda, telling all about their ( quite limited ) excursions and bonding in other areas over time !

hook-ups, fwbs.... ENEMIES with benefits?? idk, point is the girl’s probably gotten laid since arriving, it’s all a matter of the situation that fits your muse(s) best FHGSDKJ

roommate: she lives in marmoton, likely in a rental of sorts, and i can’t see her living alone given the situation on the island ( though i’ve viewed her as the type to live alone in a space for one and a half people any other time tbh ). so she has just One and they make the arrangement work ! depending on their personalities and such, we’ll figure out how well they get along Exactly, if at all

ex ??: the girl’s bi so y’all can toss anyone at her for this one as well ! question marks bc i was thinking it’d be an on-and-off thing but maybe not come the time i post this intro LSGKD. basically they were seeing each other for a few months, she fell hard Quick/they moved kinda fast bc they were vibing and they would distance themselves upon realizing this — though i see cece giving them distance bc she knows they need it rather than needing it herself. if it IS on-and-off, they’re definitely off rn and treading lightly ( though she finds it hard to stray and hates things not being fully resolved no matter what happens ?? ), so all it’s a bit angsty regardless of how it goes dfgkljsdg

fellow mystery fiend: someone please fuel her curiosity to the max and try to crack the impossible case of eroda’s captive capabilities with her.. and proceed to watch true crime shows with her when that clearly goes to shit SDFKLJ

older sibling or mentor dynamic: someone to look out for her/teach her some things to help fully support herself/give her advice when she probably needs it most.. idk, i just like the idea of someone becoming a stand-in relative type of friend to her 

just give her someone to confide in, to swim at night with, stargaze and all that cute shit, be it platonically or otherwise !

she’s not gonna click with everyone and that’s fine, BUT maybe they run in the same social circles and cece thinks they seem nice enough, but they never really talk amongst themselves ?? just a case of awkwardly starting from scratch and seeing where it takes us !

[heyyyharry]

My Girl Series: Chapter 5 - Somebody Else

…in which, once upon a time, there was a girl and a boy, and no one else.

Series description: Y/N falls in love with the older boy next door who doesn’t feel the same, years later they meet again at a funeral.

AU: actor!harry, older!harry, younger!y/n; (4-year age gap)

Chapter 4: Thumper The Rabbit - Harry tries to mend the past, but Y/N wants to let it go.

wattpad link

‘Somebody Else’ bathroom version, you’re welcome

.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl, and no one else..."

Those hot summer days had turned the little town called Holmes Chapel into a heated up oven. Everyone would rather stay indoors where there were fans and air-conditioners, yet the two kids Harry and Y/N refused to abandon their treehouse even for a day.

It was a blazing Wednesday afternoon. In the crooked treehouse, the little girl's voice was a lullaby, with the help of soft summer breezes through the branches, sending the 14-year-old into dreamland. With his eyelids fluttering, Harry heard her say, "don't fall asleep."

"I'm not." He tried to open his eyes and look at her.

"Liar." She scoffed. "Is my story boring to you?"

The little girl closed the pink notebook, looking a bit offended as she crossed her arms.

"No," Harry told her as he folded his arms behind his head. "But I want to hear the good stuff, like sword fights or gun battles or something."

"It's only chapter one. I haven't introduced all characters yet."

The boy thought for two seconds before he asked, "I thought there were just the two of them and no one else?"

"Well, it's just a way of saying. They are best friends, so in their eyes they are the only two people in the world." She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head at him in disappointment. 

"Is the girl you?"

She nodded.

"Is the boy me?"

"No, it's a very handsome guy."

"Fine." Harry huffed as he turned his eyes back to the ceiling and told her to carry on. He couldn't see that smile on her face when she resumed reading the story she'd worked so hard on. Even if she'd lied and said it wasn't true, the boy was Harry of course.

.

.

.

Y/N quickly closed the pink notebook on her lap when her phone started to ring. The call was from her best friend Celine, the one Y/N had been expecting to hear from in almost two weeks. Both Celine and Amala had been so busy with their part-time jobs and final exams so Y/N couldn't describe how elated she was to finally receive that phone call.

"Cece, I miss you! How's Boston?"

"Boring as usual. I'm at work right now but I missed you so much. How are you, baby?"

Y/N scanned her eyes around her messy bedroom, at all the papers and clothes lying everywhere on the chair, table, and floor. She was kind of hopeless if she was honest.

"I'm struggling with my work in process. I'm rereading my old stories to find inspiration." She looked at the time and realized she'd been sitting in front of her laptop for an hour now without actually writing anything. Sighing, she went on, "I miss my imagination back then. I used to be so creative."

"Adulthood kills creativity."

"True." She agreed, rolling her eyes. "How's Amala?"

"She's doing great. Maybe we'll video call you tomorrow night. We both missed you lots and lots!" The next thing Celine said was what Y/N had been expecting."Hey, how's it going with the hot photographer?"

"You know." The girl clicked her tongue. "We're just...flirting back and forth."

"Good! Take things slow, but please let yourself have some fun like a normal 20-year-old."

Celine’s advice put a smile on her best friend's face as the girl nodded her head, and soon remembered they were talking on the phone and she couldn't be seen.

"Got it," she said, biting her bottom lip.

"When are you seeing him again?"

"Tonight. He invited me to his exhibition."

"I thought you said he was taking photos for fun."

"That's what I thought! But it turned out he was actually famous, like he shoots for magazine covers and shit. That's so intimidating."

"That's hot! If I weren't gay and taken and your friend, I would eat him up already."

Both girls guffawed at Celine’s remark.

"Shit, I've got to go now! Any more update?"

The first thing that came to Y/N's mind when she heard the word 'update' was actually Harry. She hadn't told her two best friends about them being friends again yet, because those girls had known too much about her history with Harry.

Though a lot had changed in the last two years, she didn't think they wouldn't just believe her friendship with Harry had improved so much just from hearing the words from her mouth. So she decided to keep him as a secret and wait until she saw them in person to break the news. It'd be more convincing if they could see for themselves how much Harry had changed.

"Nope," Y/N lied. "I think I've told you everything, Isaac, my father's engagement..."

As the silence sank in, she heard her best friend exhale. Celine had basically grown up with her and known her father for almost eleven years now, so that news had also shocked the girl a lot. She didn't know the man well to despise him, yet the pain he'd caused to Y/N made it impossible for her to even respect him like she used to.

"I'll call you tomorrow okay?" Celine said, sounding cheerful again all of a sudden, probably to distract her friend from thinking about her father. "Have fun tonight! I'll be refreshing your insta feed!"

"Oh, God!" Y/N tossed her head back, laughing hard. "Bye! Love you!"

"Love you, too!" And just like that, Celine ended the call.

.

.

.

"So I just ran into Daniel Bullard from Vogue Italy. He was obsessed with your works and he told me—"

As his manager kept on rambling about another magazine cover deal, Isaac failed to focus on what this man thought was important. He couldn't stop the words from going into one ear and out from another while scanning his eyes around the crowded room.

He knew this had been his biggest photography exhibition by far, and he was supposed to be excited that there were many big names here tonight. However, he felt so incomplete that the one person he hoped to see most wasn't there.

Harry wasn't there.

He'd told Harry about this exhibition before anyone else, and Harry had never missed a single special event in his life ever since they became friends. So if Harry decided not to show up, Isaac knew it wasn't because he'd forgotten, it was because of Y/N.

"Isey!" The nickname got the photographer to turn his head, and spotted the cheerful Irish man waving at him from across the room.

"Hey, Lee," he interrupted his manager, who was still talking. "I'm gonna go say hi to Niall, if that's alright."

The Asian man sighed as he realized Isaac hadn't heard a single word he'd said. So he just gave up and told his client to do whatever he wanted. "Meanwhile, I'll be over there, praising you to Daniel Bullard."

"Thanks, Lee." Isaac patted the man on the shoulder and headed towards his friend.

They pulled each other into a tight hug because it'd been nearly four months since the last time they saw one another in person.

"You bastard, why didn't you tell me you were back in London?" Isaac asked, one hand on the other guy's shoulder, smiling widely.

"I wanted to surprise you. This exhibition is amazing by the way! You should shoot my next album cover!"

Niall's suggestion made the blond chuckle. "Only if I got half the profit of every single album you sell."

"Hey, I'm your friend!"

"You made Harry and I buy tickets to your concert, you dick," Isaac exclaimed, hands on his hips as both of them cracked up at the good memories with all three of them together.

Harry, Niall and Isaac had been close friends since they shared a dorm room back in university. Now at twenty-four, they had all become famous and got the lives they'd always wanted, living their dreams. The only thing that hadn't changed was their friendship, so Isaac hoped it would just remain this way.

"Speaking of Harold, where's he?" Niall looked around, squinting his blue eyes to search for that familiar curly head. "Where's the other musketeer?"

Isaac shrugged, not knowing what to say but the truth, "maybe he won't even come."

"Why? Did something happen between you two while I was gone?"

"No."

"Fucking liar. I'll ask Harry then." Niall raised an eyebrow, staring at Isaac and waiting for him to say something, but the guy simply gave him a shrug, lips pressed into a faint smile as he let the awkward silence continue. Niall couldn't take it anymore. He lowered his volume to make sure only his friend could hear what he was about to say.

"Don't tell me he's still upset about the Ruby thing."

"Actually, he handled it better than I thought," said Isaac. "But dude, I almost flew to L.A to punch you for sending us that article about Ruby's engagement. He blocked her on social media for a fucking reason."

"Sorry, sorry, I was just really shocked!" Niall held up his hands like a criminal surrendering to a cop. "I just wanted him to know she's a terrible person."

"I think he knows, but whether he believes it or not depends on himself, not you and I." Isaac shook his head.

Niall opened his mouth to say something else, yet got cut off immediately by his friend's notification. Isaac excused himself and took out his phone to read the text, which instantly got him beaming.

⌲ Smiley: I'm outside. Should I just walk in?

He quickly typed back:

⌲ Yes, just tell them your name. You'll see me as soon as you enter. :)

"Niall," said the blond, beaming as he sent that text. "I cannot wait to introduce you to someone."

"Ooh, lemme guess, it's..." Niall paused a bit to think and then shouted out, "Harold!"

Isaac was very confused, at first he thought his friend was joking, but then he heard that all-too-familiar voice from right behind him saying hello. He turned around, and there he found Harry, dressed in a nice suit with his hair pushed back, making his way to them.

The green-eyed man put on a grin as he gave Niall a hug, then Isaac too. He apologized for being late and congratulated his best friend on this exhibition, like their argument the other night about Y/N had never happened. Isaac didn't know how long it would last, but at the moment he couldn't be any happier.

"I'm glad you're here, H," said the blond, who now started to look more like the host of his own event with that elation on his face. Now that the three of them were together again, they could—

"Hey, guys!"

That female voice caused both Isaac and Harry to turn to the main entrance. Two big smiles appeared on both handsome faces as they called out, at the same time,

"Bambi!" / "Smiley!"

Harry looked at Isaac, who looked at Harry, and the men heard Niall mumble "awkward..." under his breath but he wasn't wrong. It was truly awkward for both of them, and maybe for Y/N too.

"Smiley?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows, mouth agape, staring at the girl who shrugged and flashed him a smile. He was hoping the nickname his friend had just shouted out wasn't meant for his Bambi, but as she hugged Isaac and couldn't stop smiling at him, Harry knew it couldn't be anyone else.

Pulling away from Isaac, Y/N turned to Harry and hugged him as well. He didn't know if she noticed, but he held her a bit tighter than he normally would, and when they broke apart, he told her she looked beautiful in the dark blue dress she was wearing.

"Thanks. This thing is two years old already." She looked down and giggled, and for a short second there Harry almost forgot Niall and Isaac were with them.

"Niall, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is—"

"Niall Horan!" Y/N interrupted Isaac, shaking Niall's hand enthusiastically. "I love your music!"

"I like her already." Niall chuckled, eyes on his two best friends. "Which one of you assholes is her boyfriend?"

Both men were left dumbfounded by that one question, but the person who answered it wasn't one of them.

"Neither. We're just friends," Y/N said, red lips curved into a smile, and the satisfaction on Harry's face could not be more obvious.

"So every random person has a nickname for you then?" Niall raised an eyebrow though his attempt to lighten up the mood had his two friends sighing in frustration. "Maybe I should give you a nickname as well."

"Niall, don't even."

"Shut up, Harold, lemme think." Niall held up his hand as he shushed the other brunette.

"In the meantime..." Isaac trailed off, shaking his head at Niall, who was still trying to come up with another nickname for the girl he'd just met. But the photographer never got his chance to finish as his manager Lee appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him by the arm.

"Where's the girl?" Asked the manager, leaving all four people confused.

It took Isaac a second to remember and realize what that meant. So he quickly pointed to Y/N and said that she was the girl.

"Good, good." Lee nodded quickly, holding both Isaac's and Y/N's hand as he laughed. "Blair and Cyrus Archer wanted to see you both."

"The Archers? The twins who shoot for Vanity Fair?" Y/N asked and everyone looked at her in shock, all wondering why she had that knowledge. Shyly, she told them she'd done a bit of research about the industry before she came, so she wouldn't end up looking like a fool.

"Oh, she's smart too! How great!" Lee squealed in excitement as he squeezed her hand. "They are literally obsessed with that shot of you, darling."

"Wait, what shot?" Harry finally spoke up as it seemed like he was the only one there who hadn't seen whatever Lee was talking about. Confused, he quickly followed everyone to another room.

And as soon as he entered, one particular exhibition immediately caught his eyes. It was a portrait of his Bambi. Though the shot was black and white, that beautiful smile on her lovely face was all the colors it needed to radiate joy all across the room.

Harry stood transfixed in shock and disbelief as he heard Y/N whisper to Isaac, "I can't believe you picked that one."

He then replied, "your smile is the brightest in that one."

"Harold?" Niall nudged Harry to pull his friend back down to Earth, but the green-eyed brunette never got his chance to comment on the artwork. Lee jumped right into his mouth, saying he needed to borrow Y/N and Isaac for a moment.

"Sorry boys, networking is key!" said the man as he grabbed the startled pair, pulling them with him towards the twin sisters waiting by the portrait.

Harry couldn't be there much longer. Even though he blamed the overcrowding room for his annoyance, he knew all those people didn't bother him half as much as the happy two standing over there.

"So that's what you two have been hiding from me?" Niall held back Harry's arm as he intended to walk out.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The girl. Smiley?"

"Bambi." Harry knew Niall made that mistake on purpose to test his reaction, yet he still got irritated, probably because of the nickname alone. "I'll go get a drink, you coming?"

"Then you'll tell me what happened?"

The actor gave his friend a smile, but then brutally killed off Niall's hope with his answer. "In your dreams."

.

.

.

The love song blasting from the loud speaker really got on Harry's nerves, as he looked around at those happy couples dancing and making out with each other. It wasn't even Valentine's Day yet and he'd already felt like the loneliest person in a room.

The after party at Lee's house was massive, and many of the guests were important people in the entertainment industry. Harry swore he knew most of them and they knew him. Still there he was, standing in the corner with a drink in his hand and himself as his own company, like a geek at senior prom.

Across the room, Niall was flirting with a girl Harry had never met before. Isaac and Y/N were nowhere to be seen, and Harry didn't want to guess what they could be doing right now. As if seeing them together wasn't awful enough.

The actor quickly emptied the glass in his hand and laid it down on the table by his side. Fuck, he thought, I really need another drink.

"Well, isn't this the famous Harry Styles?!"

Harry could've broken his neck from turning his head so fast to the sound of that voice.

There she was, his Bambi, walking towards him with a cheeky smile and asked him why he wasn't dancing like everyone else. He told her half the truth, that he wasn't in the mood to party at the moment without telling her why.

Surprisingly, she didn't ask, and just tugged on his arm as she said, "come dance with me."

It wasn't a question, more like a request, one he couldn't deny. So he let her pull him along to the center of the room to join the dancing crowd, thinking about how they used to dance with each other when they were kids; but of course, with them being adults a lot would have changed already.

Under the flashing red and blue lights, Harry couldn't take his eyes of the young woman in front of him. She was swaying to the rhythm of the upbeat song without caring who might be watching her. Her energy fueled him to also let himself loose.

She grabbed his shoulders, pulling him in, their foreheads resting against each other as he finally found the courage to place his hands on her lower back. If anyone was watching them now, they might think they were in love.

"You dance like a grandpa," she teased, raising her voice so he could hear her over the loud music. Harry couldn't help but laugh at her comment.

"Thanks, that's why I act and not dance."

She rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head as she cracked up.

"Where's Isaac?" He finally asked.

"Oh, he's talking to some people Lee introduced him to."

"Why did he call you Smiley?" The second question had no relation to the previous one, yet Harry couldn't keep second guessing anymore. He assumed the nickname had something to do with the shot of her smiling, but the answer Y/N gave him was beyond his prediction.

"He called me that to remind me to always smile."

Harry nearly lost his balance on his own two feet when he heard those words. Sure Y/N had never been his to begin with, but at that moment, he realized he was losing her.

"Let's be honest, Bambi is a better name." He scoffed and received another smile from the girl.

"Don't you worry," she told him. "I'll always be Bambi."

Though that seemed far from the truth, it was what Harry chose to believe.

"I can't believe the last time we danced together you still had pigtails," he said, beaming at her as he ran his hands through her hair.

"The last time we danced together I still had a crush on you." That response was beyond his prediction but the next thing coming from her mouth put him up short.

"Don't worry, I'm over it."

Harry stopped dancing and so did she, not because she could read his mind, but because she spotted Isaac heading towards them. Harry turned his head just in time his best friend arrived and asked to steal Y/N for a moment.

"Sure. She's all yours," Harry said. Those words had been the hardest to say by far. "I'll see you later, Bambi."

Without waiting for her to reply, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek to say goodbye. And not until he was walking away from them did Harry realize, he had never kissed her on the cheek before.

It was rather embarrassing to even try to guess her reaction as he headed straight to the bathroom, and he didn't even need to go. He just wanted a place to get away from all those background noises and human interactions, even though those things kept him free from the crazy thoughts inside his head.

The muffled music from outside had changed to Somebody Else by The 1975. And as he washed his hands in the sink, Harry cursed the one who'd made that playlist. Were they trying to narrate his situation at the moment?

I don't want your body But I hate to think about you with somebody else

He needed to get out of there.

"Lee, have you seen Isaac and Y/N?"

The manager excused himself to the guests as he turned to Harry. "They just left together, he told me he was gonna take her home."

Harry thanked Lee, ignoring what the man had to say next and just walked away, pushing his way through the packed room to find the exit. Now that they were both gone he had no reason to be there anymore.

He was just a few steps away from the door when a familiar figure caught his eyes, and for a second there he thought that girl he saw was his Bambi. From behind she surely looked like Y/N, but she was wearing a different outfit.

The girl turned around, sending Harry a smile as soon as she caught him staring. What happened next was very hazy in his memory probably because the alcohol had finally kicked in.

He vaguely remembered approaching the girl and asking her to dance. He remembered them drinking until his head was spinning in circles. He remembered kissing her on the mouth as they called a taxi to go to his place. He remembered taking off her clothes as well as his own. He remembered having sex. But most importantly, he remembered thinking of Y/N the entire time.

And when he crashed down on the bed, sweaty, all out of breath, Harry remembered the feeling of disappointment. The girl said a lot of things to him, yet his ears automatically canceled out all the other sounds apart from his own heartbeats.

As he drifted off, the face of Y/N from earlier as she pulled him close continued to haunt him still.

.

.

.

Y/N giggled as she ran up the stairs with Isaac following right behind her. The lift in the building broke again, so they had to walk five floors to get to her flat, and Y/N would've been so embarrassed if Isaac hadn't already known she was too broke to afford better accommodation.

"Don't be too shocked when you see my room."

"I've been in your room before, love," he said, catching his breath as he took the last step to reach her and gave her a tired smile.

The last time he'd been there was actually on the day they first met. After hanging out together from morning till night, he dropped her off at her place and she invited him in for a cup of tea. That was how they woke up the next morning with him spooning her in her bed, fully clothed of course.

"You were lucky the last time because I'd just cleaned it. I haven't done it again since." She chuckled, pulling out her keys as she opened the door. Then the girl was completely frozen in her spot.

Isaac looked around the tiny living room, it wasn't that bad so he didn't get the shocked expression on her face. It was only when she bent down to pick up a white envelope someone had probably slid through her door gap that he realized the real reason she'd reacted that way.

"Is that a wedding invita—Hey!" He shouted out, reaching for her hands but it was already too late. She'd already torn the envelope to pieces and marched across the room to toss them all in the trash bin. She looked at him, he looked at her, neither said another word, both second-guessing each other's next move.

She knew he wanted to ask her why, but he wasn't sure if what he was wondering would be invasive, so he stayed quiet. Anyway, she was glad he had chosen not to question what she'd done.

"Tea?" She asked with a smile.

.

.

.

"Y/N!"

The way Isaac shouted out her name caused the girl to bat her eyelashes and she finally made it out of her maze of thoughts. The cup of tea she’d made for him had been emptied whereas the one in her hand was still full and had gotten cold.

"What's wrong?" He asked in concern. "You kind of spaced out."

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

Isaac checked the time on his watch and furrowed his eyebrows as he realized how late it'd been.

"I should leave so you can rest."

"Wait!" She stopped him. "We can...We can talk some more...I'm not that tired."

Her reaction made the man laugh as he nodded and shifted a bit to get back to his previous comfortable posture. He looked around the room, at the books and many crumpled up pieces of paper lying all over the floor and on the table between them. It looked like the aftermath of a tornado inside her living room but he didn't have to raise questions for her to give him the answer.

"I'm struggling with my writing."

"Yeah, I figured." He chuckled. "You told me about the book you'd been working on."

"I haven't even edited the first chapter." She rolled her eyes. "But it sucks anyway, so..."

"Can I read it?"

"What?"

"Your first chapter."

"Oh...that...well..." The girl straightened her back, flipping her hair over her shoulders in a nervous manner as she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry but I've never shared my unfinished work with anyone besides my mum and..."

"Harry," Isaac finished the sentence for her, leaving her surprised for a second.

"Yeah." She nodded. "But when it's ready...if it's ready, I'll let you read it."

"I can't wait."

The gentle smile he was giving her had her sitting there with her heart in her mouth. Her anticipation told her he was gonna say something else, so she quickly stole his chance to speak by blurting out, "do you wanna stay tonight?"

"S-Sure." He chuckled, slightly taken aback yet also amused. "If you want me to."

"I want you to," she asserted.

"Okay. Then I'll stay."

.

.

.

Harry woke up in the middle of the night and found himself in his bed with a naked stranger lying by his side. She had her back turned to him so for a split second he imagined it was Y/N though he knew for sure it was not. Y/N's hair smelt like freshly picked apples, not lavender, and she had a little scar on her left shoulder from crashing her bike into a tree when she was eleven. Harry didn't know why he remembered that, but he did. And now he couldn't go back to sleep anymore.

He propped up on his elbows, reaching for his phone on the nightstand to check what time it was. It was almost half past two in the morning. The worst time of the day to be awake. Usually, at this hour, his thoughts would go out of control and he would always end up doing things that he would regret in the morning, like what he was going to do next.

He searched for Y/N's number despite knowing to call her up this late would be cruel, if she had class early in the morning and needed her full eight-hour sleep. However, he missed her too much and desperately wanted to hear her voice. He had no idea what had gotten into him and why he was so needy for her attention. She was his little Bambi. But he seemed to have forgotten that already ever since he got jealous over her relationship, or whatever it was between her and his best friend.

He quietly left the bedroom and made that impulsive move to dial Y/N's number, biting his nails as the beeping on the line continued for what seemed like forever.

But it wasn't Y/N who picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"I-Isaac?" Harry nearly choked when he heard the voice, still he prayed she'd left her phone in Isaac's car or something. Something. Anything. Let it not be what he had in mind. "Is Y/N there?"

"Yeah, she's sleeping. She told me to pick up the phone."

Harry heard noises in the background like someone shifting between the sheets. And he had the squeezed his eyes shut to fight the thought that his worst fear had come true.

"Who's that?" Her sleepy voice was faint but he could tell it was her talking to Isaac.

"It's Harry."

"Great...You talk to Harry, I'm gonna sleep..."

"Mate, she just...dozed off again." Isaac's chuckle drove Harry insane. "Is it urgent?"

"No...uhm...Her dad just asked me to check on her. It's fine." That awful lie was followed by the worst laugh Harry had ever faked, but Isaac couldn't recognize that over the phone so he sounded so indifferent when saying goodnight and goodbye to his best friend.

Harry's heart died down as soon as the call ended. He dropped his arms down to his sides and leaned against the wall behind him, looking defeated. He stood there, pondering for about five minutes before deciding to head back to bed and trying to get some sleep before sunrise.

The girl who looked like Y/N was still sleeping. He kind of envied her now because he couldn't fall back to sleep, so he just closed his eyes and tried to think about anything but the previous phone call.

As he dug through the memory box in the small dusty corner of his mind, Harry found himself going back to that hot summer afternoon in the treehouse and he could hear her voice reading aloud the story in her pink notebook.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl, and no one else..."

Harry didn't know how that story ended because Y/N had never finished it, or at least never revealed the ending to him. But how wonderful could it have been, if that was the last sentence of the story instead of the first? Now, he could no longer return to the world where there was no one else besides them two.

[sophiagrimes]

some of my ocs

“rolo” montalvo- 18, bisexual. firepowers that developed with puberty.

- pizza delivery guy and soundcloud rapper

- this bitch has dyslexia

- has 3 little siblings, two sisters and a brother

- has cried every single time hes watched the help

jazmin lee- 17, lesbian. she can repurpose energy from light.

- so fucking clueless

- loves cropping shirts that she thrifts

- wants to be a sociologist

- writes notes on her mirror

selena flores- 17, lesbian. can alter how others percieve and interact with reality.

- real smart! like honor roll shit

- plays baseball

- has a rottweiler named tarantino

- obsessed with dungeons and dragons and game of thrones and that kinda midieval fantasy stuff

talia monroe- 16, bisexual. shape shifter powers.

- big into the neon lights aesthetic

- only wears sweatpants

- no organs only dr pepper and panda express

- doesnt have a phone or laptop because The Government Is Watching

mateo coopers- 19, gay. no powers but is really smart.

- real quiet and seems scary but gives great advice

- dark and baggy clothing bc body is a no

- would try coke but hasnt bc the squad would get mad at him

- his smile looks like the stars

cece valentine- 14, lesbian. can fly.

- loves the beach

- huuuuge family. like she lives with her grandparents, parents, a gay aunt, a cousin, two twin older brothers, and another younger brother

- working on makeup skills so she can get insta famous

- really into lofi music

elara prince- (1)19, bisexual. no powers but shes.. a pirate from another timeline (long story).

- excellent thief!

- horny on main 24/7

- sad but only on the inside

- very knowledged on the stars

[hyuckles-chuckles]

ABC Tag

i was tagged by @yup-indecisive-girl-cece to give y’all some info on me, so here we go❣️❣️❣️

age: 19

birthplace: south africa

current time: 13:22

drink you had last: the chocolate milk i had when i was eating my cereal

easiest person to talk to: probably my guy bff because he’s nosy and only wants good stuff for me

favorite songs: 벌써 12시 (gotta go) by chungha i just got into her music yesterday because of this song!!!

grossest memory: on my 13th bday a worm came out of the cake that we bought from a store and some people had ate of it. good news though because we took it back and got lots of stuff in return

horror yes or horror no: yes please i enjoy watching scary/thriller movies especially with a big crowd

in love: with the sun. and by the sun i mean haechan

jealous of people: not really

kids of your own someday: i would like to but in the very far future

love at first sight or should i walk by again: walk by again

middle name: adriana

number of siblings: one younger sister

one wish: for good things to happen to me and those in my life

person you last called: technically it was my dad from my own phone, but i called myself on my second number from my old phone so i could know the number in case i want to make a new insta account

question you’re always asked: where are you from? because of my accent people think i’m from america. one guy in my 8th grade class asked me about three times where i lived in america and the answer was always i’ve never lived there but visited at least once a year

random fact about you: i have a plant in my room named henry

song you sang last: 벌써 12시 (gotta go) by chungha, it’s a bop i highly recommend 

time you woke up: i woke with my alarm at 9:00 and then re-woke up at about 10:30 because I had fallen asleep

underwear color: baby pink!!

vacation destination: it’s a dream of mine to go to greece but honestly i’ll go anywhere

worst habit: definitely the sitch regarding my fingernails. i don’t really want to go into it.......

x-rays: when i was 5 and i jumped off this wall thing at the beach and thought i was going to land on the sand (i had done it a number of times before that same day) but i landed on this rock and got x-rays to check if it was broken but it wasn’t just a tiny piece was misplaced

your favorite food: right now it’s lemon poppy seed muffins (if that counts as a food lol)

zodiac sign: cancer ♋

i shall be tagging people to spill some details about themselves (only if they want to of course): @high-on-food @snugglebughyuck @baekwell--tart @junglebooks-thighs ❣️❣️❣️

[islareeveswriting]

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INSTAS

Christmas is the most wonderful time of year.

Molly had always believed that, always. As a child the thrill, like with all children, had come from what might be waiting under the tree on Christmas morning, leaving a mince pie and a carrot on the doorstep Christmas Eve, stuffing herself silly with chocolate and sweets without stern words from her parents. Of course by the age of twenty, Molly had discovered the joy of selecting the perfect gift, perfectly hung fairy lights and a glass of eggnog by the fire with her family.

This year was no different, and Molly was relieved. There had been a small, and seemingly insignificant part of her that had worried Christmas at home would have been ruined. Home was her’s and Ryan’s place, it was the place they existed together, started together. At home they were Molly and Ryan, Molly hadn’t been just Molly at home for four years and there’d been a sickening anticipation in the bottom of her stomach at how home might feel now that wasn’t the case.

As so often seemed to be the case though, the worst case scenario in Molly’s head wasn’t anywhere near the reality. Within seconds of stepping inside her parents house she felt the familiar warmth and cosiness that she associated with Christmas time in her family home. The garland hung from the bannister the way it always did, glittering with golden fairy lights, the large tree, fetched from the small local garden centre, was in the corner of the room, decorated perfectly, and mistletoe hung over her head as she lugged her bags back over the threshold. Nothing had really changed.

Something inside Molly had shifted, and maybe she was a different person for having ended a long term relationship, but she was struggling to see that as a bad thing when she felt so normal, so easily. The build up in her head had been far worse than the reality, and whatever small part of her had been feeding on the doubts she was having about being in her hometown without Ryan, was brushed away with the scent of homemade mince pies. The conversation about what had happened with Ryan was over and done with her parents within ten minutes. Strengthening words of having to do what was best for her, and following her heart, made her feel warmer. The slight look of disappointment on her mother’s face ignored.

Of course her sister needed all the details. Jeanie had crawled in beside Molly in her double bed, the pink bedspread smothering them both as Love Actually played in the background. If it hadn’t come up, Molly hadn’t been planning on telling her sister that Harry had driven to Bath to take her home, but Jeanie could see straight through Molly, and there was no way she was buying that Ryan had taken it well. Jeanie had clutched at her heart, and softened like a puppy when Molly had told her about what Harry had done for her. Molly couldn’t really believe it either when she heard it explained out loud for the first time, if the roles had been reversed she’d have probably been welling up to. Because her sister would have found someone willing to do all that for her at the drop of a hat.

In fact Molly could remember having the exact same reaction when Jeanie had told her how Matt had decided to move all the way from New Zealand to be with her. Of course there was no comparison. Apart from anything, Matt and Jeanie were head over heels in love with one another and couldn’t be more made for one another if they tried. Harry was a friend, and even though driving to Bath was more than Molly could have asked, moving across the world held a slightly different gravity.

It felt nice to tell someone about Harry though, and Molly was so glad her and Jeanie were so close, and more like best friends. Especially when Jeanie so easily understood that Molly and Harry really were just very good friends. There was the tickle of acknowledgement that if Molly had dared to tell Jeanie how Harry gave her butterflies, and made her skin tingle when he touched her, and how she went soft at the knees when their eyes caught one another, she wouldn’t have been quite so easily convinced. Molly was struggling herself.

It played on her mind how she hard she was finding it to stop thinking about him, which in turn only made the not thinking about him thing more difficult. Even as she sat in her chair, near the fire, with a nearly empty glass of Baileys on ice in her hand and the sound of her mother’s favourite Christmas Carols CD playing, Molly was thinking about Harry. Wondering what he was doing, wondering if he’d like it where she was, by the fire, with a glass of whiskey to match her father’s, Mosby curled up by his feet, because she was sure their pet Retriever would love Harry. Wondering if she could skip the pub trip and give him a call.

Wondering when was it not too soon to admit how she couldn’t stop herself from feeling for him when she’d just called it a day on a four year relationship. Even if just to herself.

“Well Thomsons, are we all ready for the pub?” Molly was pulled from her daydream as her dad clapped loudly, jumping from his chair, and rubbing his hands together with excitement. There was a bottle of premium brand whiskey waiting for him at the local pub, along with at least three good friends to share it with. It was possibly Terry Thomson’s favourite Christmas tradition, and his girls just rolled their eyes and followed suit, the way they’d done since they were old enough to be able to walk to the pub.

“Yes let me just grab my coat.” Molly said, placing her now empty glass on the table beside her and hopping up too.

“Oh Cece, can you get my red one out the wardrobe?” Jeanie asked as Molly passed her seat, tapping away on her phone, presumably to Matt currently stuck in traffic coming from London. Obviously. Molly couldn’t quite believe that they had decided travelling on Christmas Eve was a good idea. Now the rest of the family were suffering for their poor planning. Jeanie was yet to say more than two sharp words to anyone, or manage to lift a smile.

“Why, so all the kids think you’re Mrs Claus?” Molly jested sarcastically taking the first step up the stairs, but looking back to catch Jeanie’s response. There hardly was one, her sister’s face still deadpan as she tapped away. Molly’s face fell, before the remark shot out of Jeanie’s mouth.

“Well you can be rudolph with that spot on your nose.” Jeanie snarked. Molly gasped covering her nose quickly with her hand. She knew it was there. It didn’t take long for her mother to let her know that morning when Molly had come down for breakfast, and ever since Molly had been doing her utmost to get rid of it. Clearly nothing had worked.

“Girls.” Their mother snapped. The look on Penny Thomsons face was displeased to say the least as she flicked her eyes from daughter to daughter, the age difference more and more indistinguishable as they got older. “It’s Christmas Eve, Cecelia, go and get your sisters coat please.” Molly grumbled something incomprehensible as she stomped up the stairs. The name didn’t grate on her when it was her family using it, she’d never convince them to call her Molly and besides, she thought it might be weird if they did now. The look her mother fired at her, one of ‘stop winding your sister up or else’ did grate though.

Once Molly was coated, and concealed, lest anyone else notice the growth on the end of her nose, she hotfooted back down the stairs to join her family. Much to Molly’s annoyance her sister was now dressed in Molly’s dark, long line coat, the one she’d saved long and hard for. Molly went to say something, refuse to let her out of the house in it, but before a single sound could pass by her hanging mouth her mother just raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly. Molly knew to pick her battles, and Christmas Eve, against her mother, was not a safe enough bet to chance it. Instead Molly just flared her nostrils, smiled sarcastically at her sister as she viciously placed the red coat over the bannister, and made sure she was first out of the house with her father.

It often happened that it was Molly and Terry and Penny and Jeanie paired up. It kept bickering sisters at bay easier, and Molly always found her father much easier to stomach when her mother was in a ‘Jeanie can do no wrong’ sort of mood. It switched, there wasn’t a clear favourite like there often is, and Molly could be on top at any minute. But to save Christmas Eve ending in snide words across a glass of wine, Molly decided to just walk beside her father.

They travelled in virtual silence. The pub was only a two minute walk, if that, and the sound of Christmas Eve mass was ringing from the church. Home never felt so much like home as it did at Christmas. Molly loved growing up in her village, but it came to life at Christmas, it felt like it was there to be lived in at Christmas. It was made for huge decorated trees, chestnuts roasting in the village square, and Christmas markets.

As with every Christmas Eve, the pub was incredibly busy. It was like everyone was out, and they probably were. It was toasty inside, warm from bodies and the fires lit at either end of the large room. Molly was glad all she had on under her thick wool coat was a silky cami and a pair of jeans. The roll neck jumper she’d ummed and ahhed about would have definitely been too hot to stomach. Through the crowds Molly could see friends she hadn’t seen since the last break from university. She had to admit though that her stomach lifted, along with the apprehensive look on her face, when she realised neither Ryan nor any of his school friends were in sight.

“Molly.” The voice was recognisable as ever. It seemed no matter how long Molly and Suki Langford went without talking, they fell straight back into childhood best friends like it was the only thing they knew how to do. With her glass of white wine in hand, Molly turned to Suki with a smile on her face.

“Hey Sooks, how are you? Merry Christmas? How’s uni?” Molly rambled off the list of usual suspects, questions that were common place now they didn’t practically live in one anothers bedrooms. They give each other a quick hug before moving away from the bar to let others into the spaces they left behind as Suki began to talk.

“Oh you know, law, stressful, never ending, same old, same old, you?” Suki smiled, waving her hand through the air as if shewing the conversation away. Suki had always been bright and intelligent, with her bright blonde hair, and even brighter blue eyes it was almost like she’d walked straight off the set of Legally Blonde when she announced she was going to go to Oxford to study law. If Molly hadn’t known Suki as well as she did she’d have fallen of her chair, but it made so much sense. What Molly lacked in academic intuition Suki more than made up for, and vice versa with artistic license. They were a double act that fitted together like Laurel and Hardy, and no one could deny it. Even when they were running on a phone call a month if they could fit it in and only seeing each other in the holidays, nothing changed.

“Yeah not bad.” Molly shrugged, looking as light as she felt as she took another sip of her wine.

“I heard you and Ry split up?” Suki almost asked, wincing a little as she did so. Suki had been there through it all, Ryan’s incessant texting to try and get Molly to go to prom with him, the internal battle Molly had faced over saying yes or no, and virtually every up, and even every down of the four year rigmarole that had followed after she finally said yes. Much against Suki’s advice that had consisted mostly of ‘do people ever change?’ Turns out the answer is mostly no.

“Heard?” Molly sort of laughed, one eyebrow cocking as Suki shrugged and took a sip of the bubbly pink liquid from the crystal champagne flute wrapped up in her perfectly manicured fingers. “From who?” Molly asked.

“Ryan.” Molly rolled her eyes, because of course he’d told her best friend before she’d had a chance to get to her. It didn’t seem like Suki was too bothered, and she wasn’t looking for any sort of explanation. It didn’t stop Molly feeling guilty though, and she wished she’d been brave enough to at least send a text even if she couldn’t manage a call. No one at home had been told though, apart from her family. None of her friends from school knew, or at least she thought they didn’t, but as she glanced around the pub Molly wondered how many of the people she’d shared school corridors and classrooms with knew about the end of her relationship. Perhaps telling people as and when she wanted was a right she’d given up by being the one to call it a day. Just another thing she didn’t know, no one had told her, no one had prepared her for.

“Oh right, yeah, few weeks ago now.” Molly shrugged.

“How you doing?” Suki asked, mouth down turning at the corners and her head tipping to one shoulder a little.

“Yeah I’m fine, it was my decision.” Molly explained with a weak smile. Apparently that was all Suki needed, the light in her eyes flicking on and a playfulness making itself known that Molly knew well. At the age of six it had come to light as they stole plumbs from the tree in Mrs Wilson’s front garden, at sixteen it was topping up an empty bottle with her dads vodka and skipping through the fields no idea what hell laid ahead of them.

“Cause of that cutie on insta.” At twenty it was toying with Molly that bought out that sparkle. Clearly. Molly just frowned at Suki like she had no idea what the blonde girl was talking about.  “The one that tagged you in that photo on your birthday.” Molly shook her head and lifted her glass, hiding the things that gave her away.  “Come on Mol, the fit one, opposites attract.”

“Oh, Harry, no he’s just a friend.” Molly smiled like it had only just clicked who Molly was talking about  and what photo. As if the photo hadn’t been sent to her at her request so she could print it with all the others from the night.

“Ryan said-”

“Ryan’s talking shit, I ended it because I was fed up and wasn’t feeling it anymore, distance and not seeing each other, and being bailed on everytime you make arrangements with your boyfriend can do that.” Molly practically spat. Suki nodded but Molly could see on her face how taken back she was by Molly’s tone. It still grated on her how nasty Ryan had been since she’d ended things, when all she’d been was nice and understanding. It ran against how much she wanted to salvage some sort of friendship with him. Though the more time that passed, the more she heard about him, the more he ignored her replies, the more she thought there was nothing to salvage apart from civility. “There’s no one else.” Molly sighed looking down at her booted feet.

“Always was a prick.” Suki hissed with a sneer reaching out and rubbing Molly’s arm gently.

“Stupid me to think he’d change.” Molly shrugged wondering how she’d managed to convince herself he was so different when they were together when he clearly hadn’t changed at all.

“To be fair, it looked like he had for a bit.” Suki pointed out, and Molly nodded supposing that was semi true at least. Ryan did do a very good job of convincing everyone that he wasn’t the spoiled, vindictive, nasty boy he could be during his school years. “Oh well, things that don’t end the way you want you give you an experience.” Molly had to laugh, Suki completely serious in yet another attempt at some sort of idiom.

“Who on earth gave you that one?” Molly laughed and Suki shrugged.

“Read it somewhere once.” Suki told Molly who was still giggling at the turn of phrase. It did make some sort of sense somehow, and Molly guessed if there was a positive to have she’d learned a lot from her time with Ryan. How to be completely and honestly herself without compromise for anyone. How not to lower her frequency to meet someone on their level. How no one ever really changes, how they just get good at wearing disguises.

With just over half a glass of wine, Molly took up Suki's invitation to join her with the group of their school friends Suki had been talking to before Molly walked in. Most of them Molly hadn’t really seen since going off to university, but they all exchanged polite hugs and fell into routine conversations about how things had been going. At some point Suki slunk off into conversation with Jed Brooks, leaving Molly with Sophie and Hayden, two people she’d sort of known at school, but not enough to feel really included in the conversation about Sophie’s sisters recent accidental pregnancy.

Out of the corner of her eye, Molly caught a glimpse of Jeanie sitting at the bar, alone, still glued to her phone. She didn’t really need an excuse to walk away from the conversation she wasn’t really in anyway, but the empty glass in her hand served as a good one. The pub was crowded, it had only got busier through as the evening rolled into night, and Molly had to fight her way through to get to Jeanie. There was an empty bar stool next to her though and Molly hopped up onto it and asked Tim for another glass of wine before turning to her sister.

“You ok?” Molly asked, and Jeanie nodded, though didn’t look at Molly as she did so. “What’s going on Jean?”

“Nothing, just hoped Matt would have been here by now.” Jeanie lamented, mouth downturned finally locking her phone and looking at Molly. “Doesn’t look like he’ll be here much before midnight now.” Molly just sighed and gave Jeanie a sympathetic look reaching out to rub her back gently. Jeanie just shrugged, but Molly didn’t really notice it as eyes wandered off to the door opening yet again. Her heart sunk instantly at the sight of Ryan, followed by a small group of his friends. At first she’d hoped Ryan would never turn up, and as the hours rolled on, she thought her wishes had been answered. Of course they hadn’t, and of course Ryan bowled into the pub laughing loudly and boisterously enough for nearly every head to turn his way. Just another reminder that Molly had been completely fooled into think Ryan had actually changed from the arrogant school boy she’d been sat next to in GCSE History.

“What’s up?” Jeanie asked as Molly’s eyes followed Ryan through the pub, though he never so much as glanced her way, he didn’t even seem to realise Molly was there, though he must have known she would be. It was a family tradition to drink in The Barn on Christmas Eve, Ryan knew that, he’d joined them for the last three Christmases.

“He’s been telling people I ended it because there was someone else.” Molly grumbled, slowly drawing her eyes off Ryan back to the bar and the refreshed glass of wine that had been placed down in front of her, the cost added to the tab her father undoubtedly would have set up at the beginning of the night.

“He is such a jerk.” Jeanie sneered, looking past Molly to where Ryan and his friends were stood at the bar. Each one Molly knew and had learned to tolerate, though now their RP accents, and deep chuckles wound her up as much as they had in classrooms.

“Try telling mum that.” Molly huffed.

“She’s really not as upset as you seem to think.” Jeanie assured. Though Molly couldn’t find it in her to believe that. It had always seemed like Ryan could do no wrong when it came to Penny. If they’d argued, she took Ryan’s side, if Molly was making an unfavourable decision she’d want to know Ryan’s view, and Molly didn’t miss the slightest glimmer of disappointment in her mother’s voice when she told them she’d ended things with Ryan. She’d ignored it, because it didn’t matter. Her father told her it was her choice, and she had to do what was best for her and her happiness. Her mother tried, Molly could give her that, to be as supportive, but Molly just didn’t buy into it as much. “She’s not, she was just always looking on the bright side, trust me she used to bitch about him behind your back something rotten.” Jeanie went on at the despondent look on Molly’s face.

“Really?” Molly quizzed in disbelief, because if that was true where did the disappointment come from.

“Yeah we all did.” Jeanie announced like it was obvious, like she couldn’t believe Molly didn’t know. “Cece the boy is obnoxious and big headed.” Jeanie pointed out, to which Molly shook her head, looking away from her sister and taking a sip of her wine.

“Yet you let me carry on with him for four years.” Molly pointed out dully.

“You loved him, we’d get over most issues if you love someone.” Jeanie tutted, shaking her head a little and taking a small sip from what Molly was assuming was a spirit and coke based on the colour. Out of character for Jeanie who’s normal poison was an expensive red wine, but perhaps the stress she was feeling needed a little more than fermented grapes to ease it.

“I just can’t believe he’d tell people there was someone else, he’s making me look like a complete dick.” Molly fumed quietly, glancing over her shoulder. Ryan was still at the bar but they all had pint glasses in their hands now, and didn’t show signs of moving for other people waiting in line to get served.

“Nah, just himself.” Jeanie promised. “People who know you won’t believe that for a second.”

“Guarantee every single one of them does.” Molly grumbled nodding at the gaggle of boys Ryan was encircled with.

“You really care what Miles, and Josh and whatever that prize with blonde hair is called, think?” Jeanie sneered, looking straight at them and clearly not caring if they saw the almost disgusted-esque look on her face as she did so. “They’re not worth your energy, and neither is Ryan if he’s going to be like that.” Jeanie finished reaching for Molly’s chin and turning her face away from her ex-boyfriend and the other boys.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Molly sighed.

“Of course I am, I’m the big sister.” Jeanie shrugged making Molly giggle. Molly took one last glance Ryan’s way, catching the back of his head as he wandered over to the table she’d been at earlier, the one surrounded by their school friends. She couldn’t help the sad feeling that rose in her, the one that made her fold her lips into one another as she turned back to Jeanie and picked up her glass again.

It got to her that he hadn’t thought to look for her when he walked in, or had seen her and ignored her. Neither was favourable, and neither leant themselves to Molly’s belief that he’d want to move forward as friends as much as she did. Yes that made her sad, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit that. She wasn’t ashamed she wanted more than just civility with someone she’d shared so much with over four years of her life, four important years of her life. Through that time, for all his flaws that maybe she’d ignored, or that maybe he’d concealed, it didn’t matter, Ryan was there. When she got her place at university, when she moved, when she had a breakdown on the third day of freshers when she thought she couldn’t do it. He meant a lot, and that didn’t go away because the romantic side of their relationship stopped working. They’d shared too much to throw it all in the bin, Molly couldn’t see how Ryan would be thinking any different. But perhaps he was, and she supposed she’d just have to learn to be ok with that, even if it wasn’t what she wanted, or what she had in her head and was struggling to let go of.

Jeanie and Molly sat in silence, both of them too absorbed by their minds to spark conversation that didn’t lead back to what they were thinking about anyway. The noise around them carried on as they sipped at their drinks and stared into space like two people who had been placed next to one another and had nothing in common. It didn’t stop Molly clocking Ryan getting closer though, hands dug deep into the pockets of the dark wash jeans he was wearing, ones she hadn’t seen before, and ones she knew were as new as the black t-shirt with embroidered rose on the chest he was also wearing.

“Hey Mol,” Ryan started once he was close enough. Molly just offered a kind smile, seemingly lost for words, even a simple Hello eluded her. “Can we talk?” He asked, admittedly seeming a little nervous.

“Sure.” Molly nodded, looking to Jeanie who slunk off the stool, giving it up for Ryan and slipped off towards the bathroom. Ryan took her place and turned to face the bar, Molly following suit and pulling her stool in closer.

“I just figured, considering it’s Christmas and all, maybe we should just try and put everything behind us.” Ryan explained quietly, though Molly didn’t know why. The pub was loud enough that no one could decipher any conversations apart from the one they were in. Words jumbled together in the air so the room was just a mess of sounds.

“Yeah that would be nice.” Molly smiled with a nod.

“I’m really sorry for how I spoke to you, that was unfair.” Ryan admitted, which Molly appreciated, especially when she knew, and could see on his face, how hard it was for him to admit he was in the wrong.  “You were right, I knew things weren’t right between us, I just was sto stuck on it being me and you that I was refusing to admit it.”

“I was the same.” Molly told him, suddenly realising Ryan’s quiet tone wasn’t out of choice. It felt like her voice faded out for the conversations, playing into the sensitivity of it, like if they said the words too loudly they might just hurt one another all over again, before old wounds had even properly healed. “I’m sorry I kissed someone else.” Molly whispered, letting her eyes close for a second longer that was necessary for a blink, but still not quite believing she’d done it.

“Was it really not Harry?” Ryan asked, clearly not convinced by her insistence that it wasn’t him. Molly couldn’t help but wonder if it would be better if it had been. At least it wouldn’t have been a random, meaningless kiss that only seemed to serve the purpose of proving to her that she didn’t love Ryan anymore. At least not in the way she should have done. As if she’d needed to kiss Niall to prove that. As if the way she’d been more worried about what Harry thought than Ryan didn’t prove it. As if the butterflies she didn’t get for Ryan ever, that made themselves known at the sight of Harry’s name on her screen didn’t prove it. As if the fact she knew she was falling for Harry, head over heels, harder and faster everyday, but was too scared to own up to it, didn’t prove it.

“No, it was his mate, I was very, very drunk.” Molly insisted a little emphatically.

“His mate?” Ryan gawped. Molly didn’t say anything to answer it, she didn’t need to.  “Molly that’s savage.”

“Alright, thanks.” Molly groaned regretfully. “How have you been though?” She asked, changing the subject quickly.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Ryan nodded with half a smile, and Molly smiled back waiting for him to ask about her, though he never did. “I’m erm, you should know, I’m seeing someone else.” Ryan blurted quickly, swallowing hard on nothing as Molly’s eyes went wide.

“Sorry?” Molly spluttered. “Are you joking?” She laughed sarcastically not quite believing what she was hearing, and visibly taken back by it. “Is that why you’ve been telling everyone I ended it with you for someone else, makes you feel better?” She interrogated without apology. “Were you with her before we ended?” She asked finally, trying not to fume before she had an answer.

“No, no, no, definitely not, god no.” Ryan promised quickly and forcefully, reaching out but stopping himself as Molly recoiled from his hands.  “We knew each other, mutual friends-”

“Wow.” Molly cut in, huffing and shaking her head, not sure how to take it in, but feeling a little duped. “So you went off at me about Harry, who is literally just a friend, who I am not even nearly seeing, and you’re now dating a girl you have ‘mutual friends’ with, after everything you put me through over Harry.” Yes there were feelings brewing, but Molly had no intentions of acting on them. She’d been so adamant they were just friends to everyone including Harry, that it seemed unfair to change her mind. If Harry had ever liked her in that way, he surely didn’t anymore after she’d insisted so vehemently they were good friends. If Harry had liked her in that way, he’d learned to put those feelings into being good friends, Molly would learn to do the same.

“Molly, it’s not like that.” Ryan sighed.  “We were just passing acquaintances, I was cut up after you ended things so the footie lads suggested a big night, and she was there and we got to talking and it just sort of happened.” He explained calmly. “This was going to happen at some point Mol, we’re both going to move on.” Ryan told her.

“Yeah I thought it might take longer than a month is all.” Molly told him honestly. It played into everything for her. Even a couple of glasses of wine in Harry’s flat couldn’t bring her barriers down enough to allow her to do anything other than play with the idea of flirting. It was too soon, it could look like a rebound, it could look like she’d played Ryan, it could look like she was leading someone on.  “I knew you’d fallen out of love with me, but I thought you still cared for my feelings and had some respect for me.”

“Molly don’t, of course I still care for you, I always will.” Ryan promised, not caring for how she pulled away anymore and reaching for her hand, holding it tight. “I have every right to find someone who makes me happy.”

“I know, of course you do.” Molly admitted, looking down at their hands and remembering how it had felt when he’d taken her hand as they’d walked up the red carpet to prom and she’d admitted she was nervous. How it had felt like all the support she needed. They weren’t even together properly then. They weren’t together now, but it didn’t feel like support. She didn’t know what it felt like, apart from that it didn’t feel right.

“You do too, and you will.” Molly ignored how condescending it sounded, deciding it wasn’t worth the hassle of pulling him up on it. Instead she just pulled her hand from out of his and lifted her eyes to look at him again, ready for the conversation to be over. “I just wanted to be the person to tell you.” Ryan sighed.

“Thank you.” Molly half smiled as something began to switch. It wasn’t that she suddenly didn’t want to find common ground for a friendship with Ryan, it was just that she’d lost the fight to find it. If it happened it happened, but she wasn’t sure she was willing to continue pushing so hard for it. Jumping to his texts, asking questions she never got answers to, trying to remember all the things they had in common. She’d spent the last year forcing herself to find the good in a failed romantic relationship, she didn’t have the energy to carry on forcing a friendship that might not even have the ground to take off.

“I mean it’s been like two dates, it might be nothing.” Ryan shrugged, appearing to try and backtrack.

“No, I hope it works for you, it was just a bit of a shock.” Molly told him honestly, because it was a shock, especially after how he’d reacted when she ended things. “Well have a good Christmas.” Molly finished with a sigh and a falsely bright smile, that if Ryan really knew her as well as he’d once professed to, he’d have seen straight through. Instead he just smiled back.

“Yeah you too, maybe see you before we go back to uni.” Ryan suggested standing from his stool.

“Yeah maybe.” Molly nodded knowing she wouldn’t. If she didn’t see him again until the same time the following year, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d mind. Ryan just turned away and stalked back off to where he’d come from. Molly deflated, not realising she’d pushed herself taller until she fell down a little, and scanned the room for Jeanie. She spotted her sat in a window seat with a girl Molly half recognised from school, a few years above, presumably Jeanie’s year. Molly got up off her own stool, finished the wine and headed for Jeanie and her friend.

“Jeanie, I’m gonna head home, feeling pretty tired.” Molly told her, not entirely lying.

“Ok, see you later.” Jeanie smiled, seeming cheerier than she had earlier. Perhaps talking with someone else had taken her mind off Matt’s absence. It gave Molly an idea.

Outside it was even colder than it had been a few hours earlier. There was frost in the air that could be promising snow, though Molly doubted. The light sea breeze that was whipping at her hair and biting the end of her nose, suggested it wouldn’t let flakes actually settle even if they fell. The large winter coat Molly had chosen from her cupboard kept her arms and body warm, though as she tapped away at the screen of her phone, her fingers felt like ice and they began to get numb. As soon as the phone was tucked under her hair, against her ear, ringing, she shoved her free hand into her pocket to get warm.

“Hello you.” Four rings and Harry’s voice rustled down the phone, sleepy and slow, rough around the edges. The line was slightly crackly and Molly didn’t doubt it was due to poor village signal on her end.

“Hey, where are you?” Molly asked lightly, quietly, just in case there was anyone in the village actually asleep.

“Nans.” Harry answered simply but with a little drag in his voice, almost a struggle, the sound of movement vibrating down the line.

“Oh say hi.”

“She’s gone to bed love, it’s nearly midnight.” Harry chuckled, and Molly quickly checked her watch in complete disbelief it was that late. But it was, eleven thirty seven to be exact. The seconds seemed to tick past quicker as they crept closer to Christmas Day. It always seemed to go so slowly as a child, the twenty four hours of Christmas Eve, but as Molly got older, the day only slipped by quicker in another blur of laughter and food and alcohol.

“Oh sorry, I’ll let you sleep.” Molly whispered as if that made a difference.

“No, it’s fine, I’m not going to sleep yet.” Harry told her, another shuffle echoing his voice.

“What you doing?” Molly asked dipping her head and watching her feet scuff along the pavement, as if trying to hide the smile gracing her face.

“Just watching a movie, you?”

“Just walking home from the pub.” Molly told him, glancing up, the gates of her family’s house in sight.

“Lolly.” There was a tinge of disappointment in Harry’s voice and the gruffness only intensified with it.

“Harry.” Molly replied, with the same tone, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Even with the sweet nickname that she’d begun to adore when it rolled of his tongue in that relaxed way it so often did, the almost warning in his voice hadn’t been missed, and it wasn’t exactly appreciated.

“You gotta stop doing this to me, you’re gonna send me into cardiac arrest, you on your own again?” Harry clucked, just like he had when she’d called on her way home from Alesandros nearly two months ago, as Molly crunched across the gravel driveway. The outlook to the lane behind her was dark, street lights had long since been extinguished for the night. The only glow was the porch light that had been left of before leaving the house that night. Even the moon and the stars were hiding behind a thick coat of clouds.

“Yes, but I am letting myself into the house now aaannnddd, I’m in, door closed, I’m safe.” Molly assured as she locked the front door behind her again and flicked on the hallway light. She scanned the parts of the house she could see. Somehow Harry’s fretting had put nerves in her that she wasn’t familiar with when she was safe inside the walls of that house. Moseby trotted out of the kitchen and she felt fine just as quickly as she hadn’t, her fingers finding the dogs long hair over it’s head and ruffling it gently as she headed for the kitchen.

“How long have you been walking?” Harry asked, and Molly could almost see that small crease between his eyebrows that he wore when something didn’t make sense.

“Like two minutes.” Molly shrugged at a guess, quickly filling a glass of water and taking it upstairs, Moseby following at her heels, and leaving her coat on. The house had a chill, the heating had clocked off for the night, she flicked it back on, but it would take a minute for the old pipes to shudder back to life and begin warming the house again.

“Oh, you live near the pub, then.”

“Harry everyone lives near the pub, it’s a village, it’s tiny.” Molly told him, not quite able to emphasise just how tiny it was with words alone. The thought of Harry visiting came to her yet again, and just like it had everytime it sent of a few little butterflies from the bottom of her tummy. The image in her head made sense. Harry looked at home in her home, as she’d felt in his.  “So how was your Christmas Eve?” Molly asked quickly, before the image in her mind could convince her to ask anything more ludicrous.

“It’s been good.” Harry told her, the smile in his voice traceable through his words. “I went and saw L-my Nan, well obviously that’s why I’m here, stupid me.” Harry laughed, seemingly nervously. Molly chuckled along but more out of confusion than anything else, her brow furrowing as she did so and patted her bed for Moseby to hop up and warm the covers while she got changed into something more comfortable. Her parents were out so no one would have to know apart from her and the dog that wasn’t allowed on the beds.

“You been drinking?” Molly asked with a laugh in attempt to not offend Harry.

“Only a couple with the family.” Harry mused, Molly’s mind spinning through images of him sat in the large leather armchair she’d seen in Nancy’s living room, one of the crystal tumblers in his hand, sipping and laughing with his family through Christmas Eve as carols played in the background.  “Why?”

“You’re being weird.” Molly told him with a slight smirk as she did so, sure Harry would see the funny side.

“Am I? Sorry.” Harry bleeted and Molly felt immediately guilty for pointing out how strangely he seemed to be acting over the phone.

“It’s ok, as long as everything’s ok?” Molly assured quickly, turning to sit on the edge of her bed in one swift movement.

“Yeah, yeah everything’s fine.” Harry promised just as quickly. It felt a little like they were both afraid of upsetting one another. It wasn’t quite eggshells, it didn’t feel that tense or stunted, but they were both definitely treading with caution as they maneuvered into new territory with bitten breath. “So you’re home now, wanna facetime?” Harry suggested, almost from nowhere, Molly freezing mid coat removal.

“Erm, sure ok, if you want.” Molly buzzed, her voice lifting a semi-tone with each word. There was no denying the idea thrilled her a little, there was something a little more intimate, and a little easier, about seeing Harry’s face as they spoke. It just threw her off track a little, but only because she’d assumed the conversation would be coming to an end soon. “Can I just get changed first then and I’ll call you back from my laptop?” Molly told him, her coat half shrugged off and her waist dying for something more elasticated than denim jeans.

“Ok sure, speak in a sec.” Harry finished, the smile in his voice again, the one Molly now couldn’t wait to see, before they ended the phone call.

It took Molly less than two minutes to shed her clothes and pull on some clean black joggers and a hoodie to match. It felt cosy, and even more so as she slipped her feet into a pair of red fluffy socks, patterned with snowflakes, perfect for the time of year. There wasn’t a lot of makeup left on her face, but she removed it with a cotton pad and some lotion nonetheless, rubbing a light layer of night cream over her skin and calling it a job done, her normal, five step routine forgotten as she grabbed her laptop from the dressing table and crawled onto her bed with it, pulling a blanket with her and calling Moseby closer.

Thanks to the wonders of ‘the cloud’ Harry’s number was stored on her laptop. Within moments, after checking her makeup free face, and unbrushed hair were adequate, her laptop was ringing out to Harry.

“Hey.” Molly’s heart fluttered as he grinned through the screen back to her. It was ridiculous how she was letting him affect her now. It was as if because she’d been pushing it down so hard, it was now coming up stronger. Like telling a child not to touch the biscuits, only to discover they’d eaten the whole jar half an hour later.

“Hey.” Molly smiled back. “Sorry I wanted to take my makeup off, I look a bit rough.” She excused motioning to her bare face.

“I was gonna say you look pretty actually.” Harry offered with a slightly dipped brow and straight mouth.

“Oh, thank you.” Molly blushed, dropping her eyes for a second. Harry just smiled at her coyness, whatever light he had on where he was flattering every one of his features. Even through the low quality webcam his eyes seemed to sparkle with the grin that dimpled his cheeks, one more heavily than the other. His hair was tied back away from his face, but Molly could see a few ringlets curling down his neck, probably tickling the soft skin she could see for the neckline of his hoodie that had been cut slightly to save his throat being rubbed by the fabric. There was no one Molly had felt so attracted to. Ryan looked good, she’d always thought he was attractive, but with Harry it was something other than just his glittery eyes, or pretty smile, or the way his hair fell or any of those things. There was something else about him that toppled her over an edge.

“So did you see Ryan?” Harry asked, drawing Molly’s eyes away from the tight, firm line, of his jaw.

“I did.” Molly told him quickly, clearing her throat and finding his eyes again. It was clear he was waiting for more, his plump bottom lip sticking forward a little. Molly cleared her throat again, though she didn’t need to, but her voice felt stuck, words lodged together in a mess of noise in her throat. “It was fine,” She started, her voice light as a summer breeze. It didn’t match anything, but it especially didn’t match the heavy look in her eyes. “It was civil, we spoke, just to clear the air kind of thing.” Molly shrugged with an attempt at a smile.

“That’s good.” Harry smiled back, tilting his head to one side and narrowing his eyes just a touch, for only half a second. “Do you feel better?” He asked, straightening his head again. Molly nodded quickly, the smile rising up her face, until her eyes creased and Harry could see her teeth. It was too big for what they were discussing, so falsely bright, it gave her away instantly. “Why are you lying to me?” Harry asked softly.

“I’m not lying.” Molly insisted with wide doey eyes.

“Lolly.” Harry sighed, shrinking into the velvet headboard behind him. “What’s up?” He asked.

“Nothing I’m fine, it was just a little sad, but I’m good now, I feel better now, you’re right, you were right, it’s for the best.” Molly insisted, this time only lifting one side of her mouth. It was sad, Molly had felt sad. It felt like a real ending, and she’d never liked those, but who really did? Eventually she was sure she’d feel the wound closing up and healing, eventually the conversation would feel like closure, Molly was sure. But it still felt a little bruising and a little sore, and at the back of her mind was the nagging point of what Ryan moving on so quickly said about the back end of their relationship. She supposed it didn’t matter when she was so unabashedly entranced by the way Harry’s bottom lip bounced as he talked.

“You sure?” Harry checked sitting up again.

“I’m sure.” Molly nodded with a tiny, but definitely genuine, smile.

“You’d tell me if something was up wouldn’t you?” Harry asked and Molly nodded with a small giggle. “Promise.”

“I promise, you big goof.” Molly chuckled, rolling her eyes.

“Big goof? That’s mean.” Harry mocked offence, sticking his bottom lip out like a petulant child and creasing his brow just a touch. Molly only giggled more at the sight of it, forcing Harry to smile and his lip to roll back up to meet the top one again, his dimple dipping into his right cheek. Molly had never known someone's smile to take over, and change a face the way Harry’s did. Every intricate detail of his face responded to his smile, the joy oozed out of him like liquid gold and it was hard not to be infected by it.

“Well stop being so soft.” Molly giggled, pulling the blanket over her legs and tucking Moseby in as she did so.

“You love it.”

“You’re right I do.” Molly agreed with a nod of her head, pressing her lips together. The smile on Harry’s face was different then. It made Molly stop and think, which was always dangerous, but especially when she already had thoughts she wished she didn’t swimming somewhere in her head. “I don’t want people to think I’m stringing you along or something.” Molly admitted a little quieter, but hardly a whisper.

“Why would they think that? And wait I thought we weren’t worrying what other people thought.” Harry backtracked, shaking his head side to side and frowning back at Molly.

“I know, but, it looks like I’m saying jump and you’re saying how high.” Molly admitted.

“That’s not how it is though is it?” Harry told her even though it sounded like a question.

“Isn’t it? You do a lot for me, for no reason, just because, and what do you get out of it, you see how it looks.” Molly was ranting, words spilling out of her with ease, only proving how sure she was of the point she was making.

“I don’t get it, why do you do this to yourself?” Harry questioned rhetorically. Molly just lowered her eyes, her cheeks sucking in a little. She didn’t really know either, why she continued to hit the self destruct button, why she continued to worry about things that didn’t need an ounce of her concern, let alone the kilos she was giving them. It was just a part of her design, the way she was made. “We’re good Lol, we’re good, I’m happy, I don’t feel like I’m being shortchanged, I do what I do for you because I want to and because I can.”

“Why though?” Molly asked quietly, her lips barely moving as she began to scratch away skin at the edge of her thumb nail.

“Why not?” Harry shrugged, cocking one eyebrow. “Look, you’re more often than not the first one to text about doing something, you call me more than I call you, we’re pretty even.” Harry reminded her, but that didn’t feel like enough after everything he’d already done for her.

“I don’t drive halfway across the country for you.” Molly pointed out, looking at Harry again. One hand lifted to scrape through the hair he’d tied back, his fingers left lines through it as the tips dragged along his scalp.

“You don’t have a car, and I didn’t end a four year relationship.” Harry told her, his words a little sharp. Molly nodded, her shoulders rising with the sigh she let out quietly through her nose. “Can we please just be without you worrying about what other people may or may not be thinking.” Again Molly nodded, promising herself silently that she’d stop getting wrapped up in the potential thoughts of anyone other than herself. All that mattered, all she had to worry about, or concern herself with what she was feeling and thinking, and when she let go of the needless fretting, what she was feeling and thinking was that she was beginning to really feel something for Harry and she thought she quite liked that. Especially when he looked at her like the same was happening for him.

“Sorry.” Molly whispered.

“Stop saying sorry.” Harry chuckled darkly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Seriously Lolly.” Harry chuckled louder, a deep rumble of thunder that came from his tummy and made his shoulders shake a little.

“Oh shit, I’m…” Molly hesitated for a second as she shook her head in disbelief at herself, trying to decide what she was most of all. What am I? “I’m happy.” Molly settle on finally, opening her eyes to look at Harry as she told him how she was truly feeling.

“Yeah?” Harry checked and Molly nodded, a tiny, glimmer of a smile on her face, the corners only just upturned. “Good, that makes me happy.” Harry told her, just one corner of his own mouth lifting in response to Molly’s quietly content smile. For a second Harry’s eyes flicked off to the near distance, but they quickly came back. “Hey, Lolly, it’s midnight.” Harry announced. Molly frowned, not believing that much time had passed, but the clock on her laptop told her it was in fact one minute past midnight. Christmas Day.

“So it is.” Molly grinned brightly, the childlike excitement instant, and readable from the gleam in her eyes.

“Merry Christmas Cecelia Molly Thomson.” Harry almost whispered.

“Merry Christmas Harry Edward Styles.” Molly replied in the same soft tone, her voice sleek like silk over Harry.

“We could do presents.” Harry suggested, cocking one eyebrow a little.

“I suppose we could.” Molly agreed, though admittedly she was nervous about the idea. Generally speaking Molly thought she was quite good at buying presents, she liked to step outside the box a little and they always seemed to go down well, and she enjoyed buying gifts for others. However, Harry was a bit of a enigma to her, although she felt like she knew him well, finding him the right gift was surprisingly tricky. He had the air of a person who didn’t want for lot, but bought the things he wanted for himself. Molly knew she really needed to step out of the box to find a gift he’d love. Or she thought she did. But then she got a burst of inspiration and his crowded book shelves came back to her. “Shall we?” Molly asked, excited nerves tickling her tummy and making her voice higher than normal.

“Yeah, I think so.” Harry smiled with a nod.

“Ok give me a sec.” Molly pulled her legs from under the blanket, so as not to disturb the sleeping Moseby curled up beside her, and got up from the bed, heading for her wardrobe and the large tote bag she’d travelled home with, sat on the train seat behind her. The gift from Harry, the one he’d given her before driving her home from his apartment, was tucked inside neatly and safely. It was wrapped tidily in red paper, tied with a red and white ribbon that Molly planned on putting around Moseby’s neck once the present was opened. It looked too good to open, and Molly wondered if he’d wrapped it himself. Somehow she just couldn’t imagine his long, strong fingers, being delicate enough to crease the paper so perfectly.

“You first.” Molly groaned as she crawled back onto the bed and sat cross legged before her laptop, matching Harry.

“Oh there’s a dog.” Harry beamed, “The famous Moseby.” Harry’s eyes were glued on the golden retriever, sleeping peacefully still despite the commotion around him. Molly just giggled and nodded, stroking Moseby’s head gently. “Anyway, I insist you go first.” Harry pushed, the tone in his voice ensuring Molly knew there was no room for argument.

“Fine.” Molly sighed, picking the present up and beginning to peel the tape from the paper gently. People laughed at her for how careful she was about unwrapping presents, but she didn’t feel the need to tear away at paper to find what was underneath in seconds. It built up the tension more her way. Molly took the paper away from the rectangular gift and flipped over to look at the front. ‘Coyote Ugly’ on DVD. “Ah, yes, thank you.” Molly grinned and nodded.

“Now you have no excuse.” Harry smiled.

“No I do not, thank you.” Molly giggled placing the DVD case beside her laptop. “Your turn.” Molly gleamed looking to Harry again. Molly knew what was underneath the brown paper dotted with silver stars, but as Harry pulled the red and white striped string to untie the bow she’d tied it in, she felt nervous like she didn’t know a copy of Disturbing the Peace laid beneath it.

“The only book you’ve ever liked.” Harry beamed, eyes flicking over the back cover as he read the blurb, a quick summary of the story of a salesman turned alcoholic and adulterer, designed to make someone buy and read the book. “Thank you, I’m gonna start it tomorrow.” Harry grinned, looking back up at Molly.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Molly told him blushing a little.

“Of course I want to, if this is the only book you’ve ever liked it must be good.” Harry told her, looking down at the book again for a second before reaching across and placing it on the bedside table that Molly could just see in frame. As he stretched his hoodie rose up over his hip a little, revealing the smooth skin and plump flesh underneath. “Thank you.” Harry grinned one more time.

“Do you wanna watch this with me?” Molly asked without really thinking about the question before doing so.

“You gonna wait that long?” Harry asked, seeming a little put out.

“Or I could put it on now and we could watch it together now.” Molly mulled, detailing how she’d seen it in her head. Turning her laptop a little the TV hung on the wall so Harry could watch the screen with her, like they were there together watching the movie he couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen already, but not really. Harry laughed, really laughed, like she’d told the funniest joke. Molly felt her cheeks redden, realising how ridiculous the idea was and how mad it sounded. How much of a joke it sounded.

“Oh wait you’re being serious.” Harry realised a little too late, the laugh falling away as he winced, noticing how put out Molly seemed.

“No it’s ok, it was a stupid idea.” Molly brushed it off, waving her hand through the air and offering a reassuring smile.

“No, no it’s not that, I just..” Harry hesitated for a second, looking over Molly visibly as she waited for him to finish what he was saying. “Thought you’d want to get to sleep, but yeah, put it on.” Harry told her nodding as he did so.

“Sure?” Molly asked with wide eyes.

“Sure.” Harry confirmed nodding again. Molly smiled and once again got up from the bed to put the DVD on.

The movie started and Molly got comfortable, angling the laptop a little so Harry could see too. The logistics didn’t work out quite as perfectly as they had in her head, and she was sure Harry could hardly see, but he never complained, just got comfortable himself, relaxing back against the headboard. As the movie carried on, Molly glanced to Harry every now and again, his bottom lip between his fingers as he pulled at it. It couldn’t be helped how sleepy Molly felt. It was gone midnight, she was warm and comfortable, curled up with Moseby and her blanket in the softest clothes she owned. Of course her eyes were heavy, and of course she gave into that easily. It couldn’t be helped.

She woke up the next morning, dazed and alarmed at the sound of her sisters voice and her bedroom door opening. By the time Molly realised it was Christmas morning Jeanie had disappeared again, leaving the door open behind her. Molly had no memory of falling asleep, or where she’d gotten to in the movie that was now just a black screen with the words DVD across it. In fact the last thing she could remember was pressing ‘play movie’ and settling back with Harry.

Harry.

Molly jumped at the memory and grabbed her laptop that had gone into sleep mode. Molly wondered when. As the screen came back to life, the facetime call screen that remained showed her the call had ended at 1.15am. Harry must have ended the call after she fell asleep. Molly reached for her phone, plugged in on her bedside table. A message was waiting for her.

Goodnight Lolly, sweet dreams, Merry Christmas x

Eeeee hope you like this one. Are they heading in the right direction? What are we all thinking?

Thank you SO SO much for all the love on this so far. We’ve got a long way to go but I’m so glad so many of you seem to be loving it so far. Would love it if you send over your thoughts and theories and always and if you wanna give it a like or reblog feel free!

All the love, I x

[theodore-quinn]

insta crushin’ ⛧彡 cece & theo

Theo felt as if he was going on some kind of first date the way his heart was racing, it's not even like he was meeting a guy. He was walking to meet his insta crush, @ceciliakings with her good art, to die for tattoos and the prettiest face. Was he going to collapse at the sight of her? Possibly. Was he going to cry on the inside like some crazed fangirl? Certainly. Was he going to embarrass himself in front of her? He already had over his DMs to her. Theo cringed about every atom in his body at this rate but, did he care? No. Not one bit. The more he thought about it, the creepier he felt. It was totally normal though because everyone has done it- like every single post from some complete stranger- it's just they didn't actually get the opportunity to meet them. It just so happened that Theo managed to move into the city, she also lived in. He was probably walking faster than he should be and could not help but let his heart race, he was too excited. He felt like he was meeting some internet friend or long distance buddy except the other person did not they existed. Insta crushes, the weirdest type of admiration.

Quicker than Theo had anticipated, he was there, at the Spring Festival. So, he knew what to look for, pink hair and lots of tall tattooed men as she said in one of her DMs to him. Theo scanned around, walking deeper into the festival, taking in all the nice smells of food as he went. Hot dog stand, catching his nose's attention, he looked over with a smile that soon dropped when he saw her. The mental checklist criteria had been met. Pink hair and tattoed men. It was definitely @ceciliakings . She looked different in motion and outside of a screen, it was funny to see her but also made her still recognisable. Standing for a moment, he moved foot to foot. What should I do? What should I do? Okay Theo just walk over all cool like hey- No, I can't do that. Er, walk over being like, are you Cecilia? No- call her? Crap, do something before she turns around and sees you gawking you fruit cake- crap. ''Cecilia!'' He called, slightly panicked as his legs carried him straight toward her in autopilot.

[thecharlesdilaurentis-blog]

Maya and her part!

**WARNING SUPER LONG IM SORRY**

Recently a fan tweeted Marlene asking if mayas storyline was over and she replied saying their may be a bit more to it. So I went back and tried to see what I could make out of the maya clues and how she fits into everything. 

I always love maya and emaya but her character always seemed a bit sketchy at times kinda like alison. (remember this)

when her and emily first meet she seems REALLY interested in getting to know emily, she was asking tons of personal questions about ali and herself, answering questions with a question, and she was being super friendly and almost choosy with her words, almost as if she had other intentions when she met her. What if she was told to get close to her? (Kind of like ezra & cece already knowing who all the girls were and jenna already knowing alison) 

In S1: “The jenna thing”, maya meets spencer and when her and emily go back to her house she says “I get your connection to spencer, you both like to win.” and emily replies “well winnings great but usually if I do my best im happy with the outcome.” and maya chooses to move the topic to spencer by asking how she feels about winning which always kind of stuck out to me. Emily tells her spencer HAS to win.

I just never quite understood why Maya only really asked questions about spencer, I know you could argue she was just trying to get to know emily but throughout the episodes maya’s in we don’t really see her interested in knowing about all the liars to me it seemed like she asked about spencer only because she reminded her the most of Ali.

& then maya moves the conversation to Alison again saying how she seemed like she was always the center of attention. Then tells emily she usually runs from those girls. Em says “you don’t look like the type of girl who runs from anyone” and Maya moves the convo to something else. (WHO U RUNNIN FROM MAYA)

Also later in the night when emily turns around maya immediately goes and cuddles with her almost like she KNOWS emily was in the closet. She said she had a boyfriend & i dont think it was something she just did in her sleep. + the A alerts afterwards were right on time, something was up. 

this also happens again when they kiss in the photo booth and A steals the strips right away. & maya tells emily not to worry about it that it there was probably just no more paper & drags her away. MAYA WAS IN ON IT THE WHOLE TIME. She was used to bring em out the closet and let A use it against her. 

Also in S2: “I must confess” Maya is scene wearing the exact same tory burch boots -A ordered online. (couldnt find a pic though)

But I think somewhere along the way maya started to really develop feelings and wanted out but A/AD or someone connected to them had stuff on maya forcing her to stay in it so she chooses to run away but A gets her first and kills her before she can get far.

Now lets go back to what I said earlier about her kind of acting like Alison

In the pilot maya asks emily if shes ever smoked and em replies No. Maya says this and the way she says it for some reason really just reminds me of something Ali would say. 

& then later in the episode Spencer sees who she thinks is Ali in Mayas room (ali’s old room) 

But what’s odd is that this person is wearing the same tank Maya was wearing the whole episode.

now this can be explained in a couple ways, either:

1. maya found a blonde wig while looking through the dilaurentis house and tried it on to pretend to be ali.

2. that was really or ali or maybe an ali twin and she was talking to maya & wearing a similiar top? (this one seems too much but wouldnt be surprised if the writers went this way.)

3.maya bought a blonde wig & was really trying to pretend to be someone maybe a trick she learned from a real blonde she knew who liked to wear wigs & be someone else.

       - i’m thinking its this last one! (or i hope it is)

In S2E12: “eye of the beholder” Jason tells em & spencer that maya found some of Ali’s old things in the attic, “Like they were hidden” he thought they threw everything away but maya kept some things, maybe b/c she knew what they were for.

Another thing I wanna point out is maya has mentioned on more than one occasion (1.02 & 1.12) that she has trouble sleeping. I mean I would have trouble sleeping too if I was worried my secrets may catch up to me.

Now I know there a lot of maya theories & some have even said they think she’s A. I don’t think I could really hop on board with maya being A but I do think when mona said “MAYA KNEW” she really meant maya fucking knew, like she knew the game & knew what was going on & just how dangerous A could really be. 

Okay so, we all know there seems to be a couple different teams when it comes to PLL and their alliances. Theres, 

AD & Cece (& maybe someone else? idk yet still looking into this)

Theres the Liars 

Then theres AD’s pawns (Jenna, Noel, Lucas, Shana, Alison (sometimes), Garrett, Mona etc.)

Well i think maya started off as one of these pawns but like all the people above at some point they wanted out and like I said above its likely so did she. 

It’s possible that maybe Ali and Maya knew eachother prior to her disapperance maybe they met on vacation… at cape may.

I saw this picture when I searched up maya clues on google and I almost screamed! I think this Analyzing A tumblr acct found it so i’ll put her link:

http://analyzinga.tumblr.com/post/44225287853/major-clue-possible-spoiler-alert

Could this mean this is Maya’s unnamed brother? Did she also hang out with Ali, Cece, & Melissa during that summer? Or was she scared of them like she mentioned to emily about attention seeking girls like Alison?

Now I heard from twitter it may be fake but still why would they make the mistake of putting it in the credits? Idk I just think it would be a nice twist for maya to have a deeper connection to Ali than just living in her house. 

UPDATE: MARLENE SAID WE’RE MEETING AN UNKNOWN RELATIVE OF MAYA’S! Some people meationed that reporter Aria went off on in 7.12 may be her brother but I couldn’t find a pic and I didn’t wanna sit through hulu commercials to find out so if someone finds the pic reblog it cause I wanna knowwww!

I mean we find out they had to have known each other either way or at least met before b/c they were both staying in the kahn cabin around the same time!

Also when Ali and Maya’s body are found the scene is so similar they even play the same song.

I think at first Alison gave Maya the idea to fake her death & Noel, Garrett, & Jenna helped her carry it out. 

Marlene also posted this pic on insta w/ 2 dolls that w/ the hashtag #emison but to me the 2 dolls look more like ali and maya then ali and em. Idk I just think there’s alot more to their relationship than we know right now. 

Now lets talk about the night mayas body was presumably found:

Maya trys to call emily but she cant get service so it never goes through, I don’t think this was maya b/c her phone was already stolen by this point. I think A just was trying to distract emily to mess with hanna.

Jumping ahead to when Mona falls off the cliff, we get a zoom in on her watch that says its 12am. The girls then go back to their houses and the cops have a body they think is Mayas.

BUT we later see this video of Maya at the kahn cabin at 1:14am

So are we just really gonna believe it took the liars OVER 1hr & 30m to get to thier houses?? B/c maya had to have got kidnapped and then dragged over to emilys back yard from the cabin and murdered. Which just in my head doesn’t add up with the timeline.

In addition to this I noticed when Maya gets pulled out of the cameras view it doesn’t necessarily mean she was captured by A, I think theres a good chance it was Ali who pulled on her to take her out of view and talk to her. We know Ali was staying there too so maybe she already knew where the cameras were and didnt wanna take any chances being seen seeing as this was before A supposedly knew Ali was alive. 

Now lets talk about after her “Death”:

We find out Maya went to the kahn parties often and met holden before, she was also friendly with Jenna, we see her get into a car with garrett the night she died (But we know he didnt kill her because he was arrested at 12am) & its when Nate (lyndon) is introduced and he is accused of being the one who killed Maya. 

Nate never openly says he killed Maya, in fact some of the things he says when he tries to kill paige kind of indicate he thinks emily has something to do with her death. 

He says “Im gonna do to you, what you did to me. Im gonna take someone from you & you are gonna watch me do it.” 

Its also been speculated that Maya was involved in the night em dug up Ali’s grave b/c they used her bottle of pills to drug her (which was also prescribed after she died) & flashbacks she remembers having + jenna lies to her saying she found her on the street drunk when spencer asks why she lied she says b/c she’s protecting a friend.

This was also one of the flashbacks she remembers having,

LIKE COME ON WHO ELSE WOULD WRITE THAT???

Most of me really does believe Maya did end up really dying sometime later before the end of season 3 or in the beginning of season 4 

The girls do find this carved into the dollhouse in S6 maybe AD found maya & took her to the doll house to be his Ali for a while before Mona got there.

But idk i’ve also read alot of theories w/ extra clues and reasons she could indeed still be alive helping out emily and hiding from AD or might even be bethany young herself. So theres that lol. I’m just excited to know that Maya still is relevant b/c her character had so much potential, hopefully mar doesn’t fuck it up!!

Reblog & tell me what you think, do you think maya’s still alive or dead? & if she wasn’t the person in the body bag in 2.25 then who was? 

[lindyhunt]

Here’s What You Missed at Last Night’s American Music Awards

Couldn’t catch the live show but need to brush up on all the things people are talking about this AM? Here’s a quick recap of the highlights, best moments and talking points from last night’s awards.

All of host Tracee Ellis Ross’ looks were made by black designers Perhaps taking a cue from Issa Rae, who wore only black designers for her gig hosting the CFDA Awards in June, actress Tracee Ellis Ross supported the black men and women of the fashion industry by donning their designs for her big night hosting the AMAs. “I’ve featured black designers in all of my @AMAs press looks, and will do the same for all my show looks tonight! Stay tuned for look-by-look details! #AMAs,” she tweeted before the ceremony began.

Her opening look—a boxy pink pantsuit—was designed by New York-based label Pyer Moss, founded by Kerby Jean-Raymond. She followed that up with a slew of showstopping looks, including a Gucci monogram cape by Harlem fashion legend Dapper Dan; a body-skimming gold dress by eveningwear designer CD Greene; a tulle dress by Virgil Abloh’s label Off-White, one of the buzziest fashion brands around; a sequinned tuxedo dress by Balmain, led by Olivier Rousteing; and a hot pink jumpsuit by Cushnie et Ochs.

.@AMAs opening number: We are a new kind of army. We lean on each other. We have each other’s backs. @DapperDanHarlem cape@Nicolas_Jebran sequin bodysuit@Nike Air Force 1s@JacobAndCo necklace & earrings@LillianShalomLA custom grill#AMAs pic.twitter.com/w2tQpseeOF

— Tracee Ellis Ross (@TraceeEllisRoss) October 10, 2018

Taylor Swift continued her political streak Yesterday, the 28-year-old became the most-awarded female artist in AMA history, and she used her acceptance speech for the Artist of the Year award to do something she’s never done in a speech before: urge her fans to vote. Following her much-discussed Instagram post from just a few days ago, in which she endorsed two Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterms, Swift brought the conversation back to the importance of voting, saying, “This award and every single award given out tonight were voted on by the people, and you know what else is voted on by the people?” Swift asked the audience. “It is the midterm elections on November 6. Get out and vote. I love you guys.”

Aretha Franklin finally got a real tribute After the disastrous “tribute” by Madonna at the Video Music Awards earlier this year, the Queen of Soul finally got a tribute she deserves. Gladys Knight kicked it off with a rendition of “Amazing Grace,” and was then joined on stage by Ledisi, CeCe Winans, Erica Atkins Campbell, Tina Atkins Campbell and others, who performed a string of gospel hymns and songs including “How I Got Over” and “Old Landmark” in tribute to the late Franklin’s gospel roots.

Aretha Franklin’s granddaughter Victoria watched Gladys Knight pay tribute to her grandmother with “Amazing Grace” on the #AMAs 😭❤️. #AMAsOn2 pic.twitter.com/RowQOX4AqK

— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) October 10, 2018

Jennifer Lopez gave a shoutout to Insta-poet Jasmin Kaur during her performance Opening Jennifer Lopez’s performance of “Limitless” from her upcoming film Second Act was a screen emblazoned with a short poem by Sikh artist/poet Jasmin Kaur. For the past week or so, this poem has been doing the rounds on social media, shared both by regular users and celebrities/activists like Tessa Thompson. In response to an edited version of her poem, which replaced the word ‘scream’ with the word ‘vote’ and began to circulate online extensively in the aftermath of the Kavanaugh hearings, Kaur wrote, “To edit my ideas without permission for your own interests is peak white entitlement. It says that my voice doesn’t matter unless it suits your specific needs.” Kudos to Lopez for sharing Kaur’s work in its powerful, unedited glory.

View this post on Instagram

my heart. 😭

A post shared by jasmin kaur (@jusmun) on Oct 9, 2018 at 10:00pm PDT

[betwixt-these-pages]

 Don’t Kiss the Messenger (Edge Lake High School, #1) by Katie Ray Publication Date: April 10, 2017 Publisher: Entangled Teen Crush

For most of her teenage life, CeCe Edmonds has been dealing with the stares and the not-so-polite whispers that follow her around Edgelake High. So she has a large scar on her face—Harry Potter had one on his forehead and people still liked him.

CeCe never cared about her looks—until Emmett Brady, transfer student and football darling, becomes her literature critique partner. The only problem? Emmett isblindsided by Bryn DeNeuville, CeCe’s gorgeous and suddenly shy volleyball teammate.

Bryn asks CeCe to help her compose messages that’ll charm Emmett.CeCe isn’t sure there’s anything in his head worth charming but agrees anyway—she’s a sucker for a good romance. Unfortunately, the more messages she sends and the more they run into each other, the more she realizes there’s plenty in his head, from food to literature. Too bad Emmett seems to be falling for the wrong girl…

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book involves one fiercely scarred girl who wants the new guy in town, the new guy who thinks he wants the new girl, and the new girl who really isn’t sure what she wants, and the misunderstanding that brings them all together. This modern Cyrano de Bergerac retelling will make you laugh, swoon, and fall in love.

Purchase Links:

Amazon |Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca | Entangled Publishing

Link to Tour Schedule

About the Author:

Katie Ray (also known by her previous author name, Katie Kacvinsky) writes teen and new adult fiction novels. Her books have been nominated for YALSA awards, and First Comes Love was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Her screenplay, A High Note, was a semifinalist in the Austin Screenplay Competition in 2015. She currently lives in Ashland, Wisconsin with her husband, two children, and a slightly insane dog.

Author Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway:

One (1) SIGNED copy of Don’t Kiss the Messenger

Go to the giveaway HERE!

Quick Reasons: loveloveLOVE the message here; this novel is packed with growth, courage, and morals; subjects are touched with sensitivity and tact; the snark and witty banter made this penguin swoon; cute, endearing characters….though I’m a bit iffy about the role of parents in this novel

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devoured it

insta-love

fishing for more

entertaining

Huge thanks to Katie Ray, Entangled: Crush, Netgalley, and Chapter by Chapter Book Tours for granting me free access to a digital galley of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.

I have to be honest, penguins. I sort of totally forgot I had this tour coming up. As in, I sat down in front of my computer on Saturday after work, opened up my calendar…and panicked because I hadn’t even STARTED the book yet. I promptly, of course, dropped everything else–told the boyfriend to watch his youtube “watch later” list and clicked open the galley on my Fire tablet. I fully expected to be sliding into Sunday with only half the read finished, in a blind panic to get to the close before the night’s end so I wasn’t RUSHING to get my review written before falling into bed. I totally forgot this book tour was coming…and it snuck up on me, but when I sat down today to read, I did not expect the whirlwind that was this book.

Because this read? Was a whirlwind. It’s boarding school, and opposites-attract, and poetic, and beautiful. I read this in something like three hours–maybe less, I don’t know because I was in such a hurry to read that I didn’t really keep track of the time I spent doing just that. This is teen angst at its best, and I adored every minute of it. The characters are endearing, and redeemable, and beautifully woven throughout. I fell in love with the witty banter, especially spouting from CeCe. She is such a fierce, tough character…and I honestly feel like she is, at the heart of things, the sort of role model girls in today’s world need. Because she’s fierce, and honest, and she doesn’t so much “hide” herself from the world but instead tackles it head-on. She challenges her classmates to see BEYOND the scar, to see anything outside the one feature people insist defines her. She challenges people who might in other ways be “bullies” to move past that, to accept her as she is, and to get over the pettiness that appearance sometimes brings with it.

This is a story of growth, and acceptance, and standing up for yourself. This is a journey that focuses on the emotional and, sometimes, damaging ways the world effects us. I was, however, a little put off by the role of these kids’ parents throughout. It is made clear, early on, that CeCe and Emmett are a bit…on their own? They are cut off from their families, sort of striking it out alone. Of course, they do have backstories and reasons for the distance…and in some cases, this distance is bridged in the journey, but… I felt like the parents were more cardboard cutouts than actual characters, I guess. I suppose this makes sense, though–they are away at a boarding school of sorts, and therefore, not under their parents’ or guardians’ supervision. It just bugged me a little…but not enough to put a damper on the read!

This was a fun, snarky, angst-laden title, and I cannot WAIT to lay hands on the next book in this series–it’s bound to be just as entertaining a journey! The characters are endearing and adorable, the witty banter scenes were delicious, and I blew through this like a whirlwind. I recommend the read to lovers of cutesy contemporaries, characters struggling to understand the world, and tastefully handled morals. Like the title says, penguins–don’t kiss the messenger. You might just like it.

  In Partnership With:

  Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Review: Don’t Kiss the Messenger  Don't Kiss the Messenger (Edge Lake High School, #1) by Katie Ray Publication Date: April 10, 2017…

[stephanietabitha]

oh, the joyful seasons!

1. Corgi shaped cookies! I’m dying! 2. When Davey Tayley calls me, and says he’s excited about the menu we’re putting together for my birthday, and that he’s brewing  kombucha especially for that day!  3. Having friends who are so willing to help with little details- like this guy who’s letting me use his skatepark as a venue, for vanessa for writing out the menu all pretty for me 4. really valuable birthday rewards that aren’t bogos, but actual freebies!!  5. the entirety of the new j.cole album  6. dominion & settlers of katan nights 7. left over chinese food  8. the revelation that my name was chosen for me by a God who knew who i’d become, even before I became what it means  9. Cece can’t make it to my birthday, which is an open mic night for my friends, so to compensate, she went to a coffee shop open mic night and performed the piece she was going to do for my birthday, but at the coffee shop. And, it was LOVELY  10. peanut butter blueberry smoothies  11. asking people who were in the same room as you, hearing the same words, what their experience was like, and everyone receiving entirely different things  12. growth  13. healings 14. my dad is hilarious and cute and all things wonderful 15. I just love eating with enzo, anywhere really, but i love how happy we both are to share meals together 16. running into my old boss, and her telling me people come in six months later asking for me, and bringing up conversations/ foods we discussed. One in particular brings up how she saw me bringing in my birthday cake to my coworkers and how lovely looking it was :)  17. that rather than screen shotting things and taking up phone storage I can save things on insta  18. darn good pasta is all I want right now!  19. when rachel comey goes on sale 20. living in hope 21. endless joy  22. since i’m 22, my happy list will be 22 items long 

[hyuckles-chuckles]

get 2 know ME~~~

i got tagged by @ismycapsloudenoughforyou (thank you, victoria💕😚💞💓)

first name: ADIBA:))))))

last name: it’s cook, y’all can imagine the teasing i got in primary school ughhhh kids are dumb

nicknames: deebs, diba, adobe, cookie, america (because i’m south african with an american accent)

pronouns: she/her

zodiac: cancer

age: i’m 19 years old, ms legal eagle over here

height: I WENT TO THE DOCTORS TODAY (don’t worry it was so my fam could score points on our life insurance) AND THEY TOOK MY HEIGHT AND SAID I WAS 1.64m AND I’M SOOO MAD (it’s roughly equivalent to 5′4″)

hair color: i have light brown hair and two gray hairs, the first one is named greyson and the second one is named walker:)))

time: 16:21

fave fruit: strawberry?? idk, i just like fruit

fave season: i like the colder seasons definitely i can’t handle the sun, it’s so hot right now

fave animal: sugar gliders?? idk, i just like animals (but i also lowkey want to get a hamster so i want to get a job before i ask my parents if i can look after one by myself:)))

fave fictional character: i feel like the percy jackson series taught me a lot so i’ll say about every good guy there....

fave tv show: idk i don’t really watch tv anymore,, but i’m really into that netflix show “the haunting of hill house” and i have yet to finish it because the lighting in my living room sucksss

cats or dogs: why choose one when you can have both??

do you have a crush on tumblr: not really, but i love my mutuals<333

fave artists: nct, taemin, exo, blackpink, bts, sunmi, hyuna, vav and more

song stuck in my head: the a capella part of dmumt by exo, the “i need you right here yeah~~” in we go up by nct dream (but really renjun lol - haechan is shaking HA)

last movie i saw: high school musical 3 bro :’‘‘( they added it to netflix and i was crying with jaehyun in spirit

last thing I googled: why an americano is called that (it is led to believe that in ww2 americans would dilute their italian espressos with hot water in italy so that it was a normal sized american coffee)

other blogs: my fic rec blog ( @adiba-willalways-read ) and my personal where i reblog stuff that i saw on insta ( @leesaranghaechan )

do you get asks: i’ve gotten a few requests recently and some from ask games but please send me more i like talking to you guys

why did you choose your user: idk lol, i just wanted something i could remember i guess. but i want to change but i also don’t want to because of the links and stuff ughh

following: i follow 468 blogs whAT

what are you wearing: i’m wearing a white long-sleeved shirt despite it being somewhat warm that has dark blue sleeves, a blue collar. i have on some black shorts that i usually wear to bed but because it’s warm i put them on. and i have my slides on that are going to fall apart soon

dream job: when i was a kid i wanted to be a violinist but right now (as a professional long-time job i guess) i want to go overseas to teach english in asian countries. i also went to the mall today and realized i wanted more books and now i want a job at the book store

dream trip: my percy jackson nerd brain just wants to travel to greece and italy and all that demigod jazz

fave food: i like spaghet

play(ed) any instruments: i played the violin from 4 until 12, i played the guitar from 7 to 11 (lol), i was forced to play the recorder as some (?) public schools do in the 3rd grade or so i can’t remember, i can play the spongebob outro and la vie en rose on the ukulele, and i’m a 7th grade pianist but i suck at the piano

fave song: my fave songs at the moment are definitely new heroes by nct’s ten and euphoria by bts’ jungkook

play(ed) any sports: i’m not really a sporty person but when i was younger i’d play netball, field hockey, tennis and when i was in high school it was mandatory for everyone to do a sport so i did multi-sport where you would do a bit of everything which was fun because it wasn’t competitive and i enjoyed that:)

languages you speak: english is my first language, and then i know basic afrikaans despite it being taught to me for my entire schooling career, and a teeny tiny bit of korean

random fact: my tongue can touch the tip of my nose

the people i shall tag (who don’t need to do it): @screechingaussie @cookiebro36 @yeriohs @goandtouch @planethyuck @no-money-no-fonny @yup-indecisive-girl-cece @emotiadouche ♥♥♥

[itsanerdlife]

Dreaming of You 1

Pairing: Eggsy Unwin x Reader (Jake Miller x Reader - Friends)

Sequel to Caught Up In You…

Warning: Swearing. Insecurity. Drinking. Lots of jealousy. Mentions of cheating. Angst. Mentions of sex.

Traveling relationships are never easy. Specially when one lands you in the media on a regular and the other risks their life on a regular bases. But you and Eggsy were coming up on a year since he showed up in your life. Protecting you from a crazed, stalker fan, you managed to fall face first in love with Eggsy. You’d managed to keep your relationship going strong the last eight months. FaceTime, texting, phone calls, long flights and so many pictures kept you going. But do long distance relationships really last? Specially when your careers keep you apart, can you keep strong or will it come crumbling down??

“Introducing our special guest today Y/N!” The crowd cheers. You walk out, grinning, waving as you head for the seat waiting for you. “You look amazing!” Kail stands up hugging you.

“Thank you!” You laugh, sitting down.

“So Y/N, you have a new album coming out soon.” She grins at you.

“I do. I’m super excited about this album. It’s a little different than the last one I put out.” You cross your legs, your hands on your thighs of your ripped up jeans.

“Does this mean the boyfriend song will finally be available?” She grins back at you.

“Wow that song. Never thought it would be so popular.” You laugh. “But yes, it’s going to be on this album.” You laugh. “Maybe I should name it The Boyfriend Song, since that’s all I’ve ever heard anyone call it.” You laugh, tossing your hair over your shoulder.

“So I think I’m allowed to ask about this. The boyfriend?” She looks unsure.

“Oh yeah.” You nod, grinning. “We’re great. Long distance is hard, but he’s worth it.” You laugh, looking up at the camera.

“That’s so cute. You think he’s watching?” She asks with a smile.

“Probably.” You snort. “He records everything when he can’t watch it, so I know he will see this.” You flush pink thinking about how Eggsy was about never missing one of your interviews, TV, podcast, radio or magazine.

“That’s adorable.” She sighs with adoration. “When is the next time you see each other?” She perks up.

“Three weeks.” You nod, swallowing. “After we start the tour for the new album.” You force a smile.

“So far away.” She nods.

“We FaceTime and text and talk on the phone all the time, so it’s not terrible. But it’s sucky some days.” You agree.

“You two are too cute.” She smiles. “So, about your new tour.” She continues.

She grinned excitedly taking her seat on stage, she looked good, but that was nothing new. Ripped up jeans and a cropped black T-shirt, her hair falling over her shoulders. She lights up talking about her new tour, the new album, and of course the song she wrote. Her laugh feels like home and she looks too good to be this far away from. Her smile slips talking about the long distance, the longest they’d been apart so far, right now.

“Hey you’re watching it.” Brandon grins sitting down.

“Yeah. Before I have to go again.” Eggsy sighs, looking at the screen again.

“Can’t believe she’s touring with Jake Miller. That’s going to be one amazing show they put on each night.” Brandon nods, a grin on his lips.

“Who?” Eggsy looks at his best friend.

“Jake Miller, rapper/singer. He’s joining her on tour.” Brandon looks slightly confused. “Did you not know that? I mean seems like something she would have told you.” Brandon shifts in his seat.

“Fuck.” Eggsy jumps up, pulling out his phone.

“Hey babe. Did you watch?” She answers excitedly.

“I did. You look too good for me being this far away.” Eggsy chuckles walking into the other room of his flat.

“I miss you too.” She sighs.

“When do you leave for tour again?” He asks.

“Next week.” She replies excitedly.

“Right. So, the whole tour is with Jake?” Eggsy asks casual. There is a long pause, he waits.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” She calls him out.

“Fuck, babe I’m sorry.” Eggsy groans feeling horrible.

“It’s fine.” She laughs. “You have a lot going on. “Jake is meeting me at the first stop. We’re not touring together, we’re just playing at the same places. Different buses, different hotel rooms.” She explains. “First stop is New York.” She was giddy he could hear it in her voice.

“I wish I was going to be there. But I can’t wait to hear the new album. Roxy promises to make sure it’s downloaded to my phone instantly, no matter what.” He had set the plan up with his best friend when Y/N got the release date. “She even bought a copy herself.” He grins.

“Awe. Tell her thank you!” She was squealing with excitement.

“I miss you.” Eggsy sighs. JB scurries into the room, one sharp bark. “JB misses you too and Peach.” He chuckles.

“I miss you both. You sure it’s okay you take her during the tour?” She sighs again.

“Brandon, Mate.” Eggsy steps back into the living room.

“Yeah?” He looks up.

“You good with Peach coming to stay?” Eggsy chuckles.

“JB’s girl? Nah, maybe he’ll stop mopping around.” Brandon laughs.

“See told you.” Eggsy chuckles into the phone.

“Poor JB.” She giggles.

“Flat is all yours while you’re here as well.” Eggsy looks around the house.

“No hotel or bus. I’m so spoiled!” She giggles.

“Have to take what I can while you’re in my area.” He chuckles.

“Babe I have to go. We have press coverage for the tour.” She sighs.

“Go. I’ll text you when I get details.” He smiles softly.

“Check Instagram and Twitter for the coverage.” She pleads.

“Always love.” He grins.

“I love you. Bye babe.”

“I love you too.” He sighs, hanging up the phone. “What you looking at?” Eggsy sits back on the couch.

“Jake Millers Insta.” Brandon tilts his phone for Eggsy to look.

“The guy touring with Y/N?” Eggsy looks at the screen. “Fuck.” Eggsy groans looking at the shirtless photos that littered the man’s Instagram.

“What?” Brandon looks at his friend.

“He’s pretty!” Eggsy groans. Brandon laughs, pressing the story feed. A video plays a song playing in the background, the camera bobbing along, turning Y/N fills the frame, wiggling her hips to the song, a man voice starts to sing with the song.

“Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it. Shake what your momma gave you. Let me see you on your worst behavior.” Y/N’s hips bounce to the song, as he encourages her, she mouths the lyrics with him the camera gets closer to her moving waist as she rolls her hips slowly. “Ayyyyyyyyy!!” He cheers, and the video cuts out. Eggsy looks to Brandon who looks to him, they both look at JB sitting in the chair, he grumbles laying down.

“Fuck!” Eggsy jumps up off the couch quickly.

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Dreaming of You: @thegirlalmighty27   @deanwinchestersrifle   @thesandbeneathmytoes   @mlr17   @ladylannisterxo   @thinks--for-thanking-of-me     @ponycake27    @angelicstormz   @ingridsigne     @misspygmypie   @superwholockedbeauty   @canadianjelly