#couldn’t deal with the checkout at a supermarket

[macrotiis]

Tbh if I ever end up in a ward again I will have to try make friends with my inmates. Last time I didn’t bc I had extremely debilitating anxiety/agoraphobia & that made the whole situation so much worse.

[piratefishmama]

Fake it till you Make it | Part 21

Eddie wouldn’t necessarily call himself poor. Yes. He lived in a trailer park. But he wouldn’t necessarily call himself poor. He had money, he made bank on being weird for the women of Hawkins, he’d made an easy quick buck dealing back in his high school years, and he had many marketable skills that could get him some kind of menial labour kind of job.

Barback, auto repair, retail, manual labour, and of course, music among the few.

So he was never really poor enough to see moths fly from his wallet in place of cash, never poor enough to miss meals on purpose to save money, or to worry about where his next meal was going to come from while hunger gnawed at his gut.

But being able to just. Walk through a supermarket, without having to look at the price of things before putting them into the cart?

That was a level of financial security that he’d not yet attained, and yet there he was. After being given a second cart for himself, and being assured that he could get anything he thought he and Steve might want while John would grab things for himself and Lynda in his own cart, he was set loose with the simple instruction to meet at the checkouts, John would wait for him if he ended up there first and vice versa.

Eddie didn’t think he’d be finishing first though. There were options. He had options. He didn’t have to look at prices, he didn’t have to grab the cheapest things on the shelf, or look for things reduced in price cause they were about to expire.

He didn’t even have to do mental mathematics for taxes because it didn’t matter!

The only thing he had to worry about, the only thing that made Eddie completely certain in the fact that he’d be making John wait for him at the checkouts, was figuring out what Steve might want to eat without making it way too obvious that he didn’t actually know Steve all that well at all.

He was really starting to wish that he’d just sided with Steve about the pizza.

Okay so, contrary to popular belief given his whole. Keg King persona back in high school. Steve Harrington… couldn’t hold his drink.

At least not anymore. He couldn’t even do a hand stand anymore.

Before, he’d been a killer at it, he could drink and drink and drink, he was like a fish with it, king of the drinking games, lording it over the popular crowd as if it were something to actually be proud of, as if it were a genuine accomplishment to be able to out drink your peers.

But he didn’t drink anymore. At least not nearly as often as he used to.

Alcohol was expensive, and he worked minimum wage.

The most he could do was a six pack from the gas station that he and Robin would split out on a picnic blanket in his back yard, staring up at the sky with nothing but the glow of the pool lights to dim the stars above, laughing about their failed conquests and making plans neither of them could really afford to see through.

Back to the point, Steve, and Lynda Harrington, had found ol Mags’ stash of cheaper reds.

Not quite the big bucks bottles lining the shelves of the wine cellar which Steve, despite them being his now thank you very much grandparents and their ridiculously generous will, wouldn’t touch, but definitely heavy hitting enough to lighten any terrible lows that may have lingered after their earlier spat.

Which led them to their current predicament. Laying on the rug in the living room in front of a crackling fireplace, two glasses of wine between them, and two half empty bottles.

One each of course, they weren’t going to share just one, what were they? Poor?

Steve, feeling curious about a thing that’d come up once as a small, throwaway thought, now the only thing he could think about as he stared at the wooden beams that made up the ceiling and having zero inhibitions stopping him from asking it, so he asked, “How come you never brought up Robin?”

“Hm?” His mother turned to him, cheeks flushed a warm pink, she never could hold her alcohol, he’d gotten that skill from his dad, however fleeting his use of it had been. “Your friend?”

“Yeah, Robbie’s great, why’d you never… why’d you never try’n set me up with Robbie, wh’ts wrong with Robbie?” He didn’t think she meant to laugh quite as condescendingly as she had, but it definitely sounded like that as she burst out laughing. “Tried every girl but Robbie—s’not funny!”

“Oh, sweetheart, my little baby boy, Eddie… Eddie is lovely. You’re not… not thinking of leaving him for Robin are you?” That slight infliction on her name, what was wrong with Robin?! And then— “B’cause, cause… Jesus—baby, sweetie, you’re not— she’s not—it’s not… hm.” She looked at her almost empty glass as if it’d offended her, then placed it down to look at him again “It’s s’not my place… if you don’t know, s’not my place to tell you!”

“What do you know?” He pushed himself up onto his rear, shaking his head for a moment to clear up the spinny feeling that followed him moving “I—I know everything, Robbie tells me everythin but you… you don’t—what do you know about Robbie?”

“Pfft, sweetheart if you want a chance with Robin then, I’m sorry you’re definitely not aware of everything and that’s surprising, does she know you’re… you know… safe? To talk to I mean? You seemed so close I thought she’d have told you!” Granted, half of the words she was saying were slurred, but not slurred enough that he couldn’t make them out, and they were ringing all the alarm bells his brain could possibly conjure.

What did his mother know, and how had she found it out? “I don’t, I just—I was just wondering why you never—I thought maybe you didn’t think she cut it or something stupid, she’s told me everythin but that doesn’t explain why you know… or what you know, what do you know?”

And now his mother was up, sitting up straight doing the exact same thing as him, shaking off that little spinny spin the world decided to do as she sat up too fast. “Robin is perfect, Steven. Truly a one of a kind, kind of young woman.” The slurring had reduced the more serious she’d become, as if the alcohol couldn’t quite touch the severity of what they were now talking about “she also doodles quite obscene things on her shoes. I saw them in the rack not the last time we were home, the time before it? When she stayed the night? Those ratty old canvas things she wore covered in marker scribbles… most young ladies don't doodle breasts on their shoes, and they certainly don’t write about going 'down' on someone’s sister… I… figured it out. I also know that this isn’t something we should be talking about without her being aware of it.” Or at all, really.

She was right. As usual, his mother was right, he even knew she was right about the pizza, he always broke out a little after Tony’s, a few spots would always appear around his mouth that’d drive him insane, so he knew she was right about the groceries too, but yet…

It was so hard to admit that she was right.

“She uh… she was talking about what you guys were doin before we came out here y’know?” But if his mother knew about Robin then… maybe it wasn’t bad to talk about it. His mom regarded him with a curious expression but didn’t ask him to elaborate, didn’t stop him from elaborating either though “the matchmaking thing? I was complaining about it, cause… y’know… I had someone already” no he didn’t, but the excuse of ‘they all sucked’ probably wouldn’t go down very well. “And she said she wished you’d try setting her up with someone…” it was probably a joke but then…

Robin had been struggling.

The uncertainty in approaching queer dating in a small town like Hawkins was… scary. It was terrifying. They were only getting older, there’d only be so many more chances to experience things and trying to experience things later in life while being a big ol bundle of inexperienced anxiety?

Not fun, Steve didn’t want that for Robin. He wanted her to experience things. To be confident in herself because he loved her. He wanted nice things for her. And nice things involved kissing pretty ladies.

“Really?” Oh that little lightbulb, the devious little twinkle in her eyes, her passion reignited, aimed at a much more deserving and probably receptive target “Oh! Sweetie she should have said, second we get home, give her my personal number, okay? It’s up to her to call me but I would— I have a rolodex of names, an it’ll only the best for—for Robin.” Lynda would find that girl a hot sugar mama even if it killed her.

“You’d do that for her?” Steve put a hand to his chest, touched in a way he couldn’t really describe.

“Oh sweetheart, of course I’d do that for her, she makes you so happy, you just… you light up whenever you’re around her an I know it’s not cause you’re dating her because, unless there’s another conversation we need to be having, you’re really not her type. I know she makes you happy. And I know—I know I don’t say it very often—” her voice was wibbling, and oh boy if she was going to cry, then he’d start crying and they’d be a mess “but I’d—" her voice cracked, oh no “I’d move mountains for—for anything—anyone that makes you happy, sweetheart.”

And that was how Eddie and John found them ten minutes later after shaking the snow from their bodies, grocery bags in hand. The mother and son duo bawling together on the carpet, two bottles into the reds, wondering a very simple “what the fuck...?” voiced by a very confused Eddie.

[harrison-abbott]

He tried to sleep but he couldn’t do it.

There seemed no motivation for sleep, physically or mentally.

Couldn’t turn his mind off.

There were far too many issues he had to take care of and

He had no clue how to deal with them.

So he got up after the failure and thought about what to do

With the evening. For the past few months he hadn’t really

Felt like himself, or any other person. When he was a kid he

Used to think he’d be somebody at the age he was now.

And the bizarre thing was that he spent way too much of

His consciousness on a past that wasn’t relevant in the present

Age whatsoever. None of those people were around anymore.

Was it because all of those people had kinda gotten away with it?

Did they have issues with memory as well? Probably not.

He got down to some reading. Current affairs; some fiction;

The latest soccer scores; some short stories from a wacky

American writer that he hadn’t finished yet. All good.

His mind still fully wasn’t working. That was another thing:

He hadn’t been able to switch on properly for about five weeks.

Language was a bizarre contradiction, because, though he loved

Words and books and stories and poems, they sure made him

Think too much: intelligence can be beneficial, but also

Exhausting. Just like the irony that he couldn’t sleep too well

Because he thought too much.

He needed to head up to the supermarket for a few things.

The evening was misty and saturated with semi warmth from

The dying day, and, passing the woods, the leaves were all

Turning from green to blue in the tumbling twilight.

On these ten minute bouts up to the shop he often thought

About people that had whacked him around when he was

Younger. There was that ugly kid who had attacked him when

He was fourteen. This nasty-faced boy who had used his

Height and aggro to headbutt and punch him when he was

That young, for no palpable reason other than to make himself

Feel valiant. And he often thought about finding this boy,

Now, as a man, as men, and getting some violent revenge.

Crazy that that happened sixteen years ago and he was still

Thinking about it in the present arena.

…

He thought about what he was going to do next artistically.

Or what he had done in the past, artistically, and whether any

Of those things had been proper achievements.

It was as if words were constantly attacking his mind from a

Jumble of directions and he had no way to shield them off.

His verbal tics were as worse as ever. They showed no signs

Of improving, i.e., going away, and, as he walked, he would

Tic and jabber and spurt out these words, to nobody whomever

But how own consciousness – his brain couldn’t stop racing.

And, when he got to the supermarket carpark he was still

Doing it. He did it next to the trolley guy with the big beard

Who also worked in the store … and hoped that his tic hadn’t

Been heard. But it probably had. The trolley guy didn’t react.

Inside the store he picked up a bag of onions and a packet of

Broth mix. He usually ate healthily and cheaply, to make up

For the remaining poison intake for most days of his life.

He passed aisles of dead animals and the biscuits and crips

Section, which had their colourful calorific glee in plastic

Bags; passed the chemical section of laundry powder and

Wash up liquid with their glittery carcinogenic tubs and the

Smell of the chemicals nipped his nose, and then he paid

For all of his items at the self checkout. The guy who was

At the checkout was this tiny man from somewhere in

Northern England who had a limp, and there was something

About his vulnerability and working in this shit job

For such a long time that gave off the air of a good man,

Because he was always polite with you and never seemed

Morose. … Back outside. The sky had darkened some.

Grown into somewhere between that blue from earlier,

And purple, but it didn’t belong to a specific colour –

the way skies often are. … On the journey back home he

Wondered whether things would ever be different. He had

Made this journey so many times. With the lurking summer

Woods nearby it was a pretty walk, but the repetition was

Rather like being in an unconcluded dream.

When would his consciousness return and when would he

Be free of the poison – unless it killed him first? It was

Fairly possible that the poison would win.

There were a few glimmers of ideas for stories, he had

Going in his mind, when he went up the last hill back to his

House. A glimmer of sweat down his back and over his neck.

He got back home. He’d still not become anybody by heading

Out to the shop and back, and, two minutes later he was in his

Room again and shut in within the inner island of solitude, that

Was mostly self inflicted. But, he got back to some reading.

A history book this time. Was about what happened to Europe,

Post 1945. As you can imagine, it had some profound detail in it.

So he read that for a while and the knowledge seemed to ease

His personal worries. There was something about learning that

Broke down the troubles of the inner self. If you focused on

Educating yourself then you didn’t have to think about yourself.

And, all the while, the language was heading inwards and you

Felt as if you were growing. Even if you were still as mucked

Up as anybody else was. He read for a while and then he opened

His laptop up and thought he’d do some writing. That’s

What he usually did before he went to sleep again. (Or tried to.)

[1morelaparound]

Here is One of my Sex Stories that I have written over the years..30 total ... “Alissa the checkout Girl” ... beginning

“Sorry I have to ask you this, but can I see you’re I.D.?” The cashier who asked me this question didn’t look old enough to buy beer herself but, in the supermarket, where she worked it was store policy to check everyone, no matter their age. “I know you’re only doing your job. Glad to help fight the menace of underage drinking” I said with a straight face while handing her my license. She typed my birth date into the computerized register before returning my license to me. “ Wow that’s how old you are? Sorry, what I meant is that you don’t seem that old. Still sounds wrong though. Never mind, forget everything I’ve said. Sorry.” The girl seemed embarrassed by her comments. “Well Alissa is it, if my old eyes haven’t failed me in reading your name tag, you’re complimenting me and saying I’m not that old, or at least I don’t look old.” “No I just thought you were a lot younger is all, closer to my age.” For some reason her pale face reddened, and she looked away from me. After putting a sold sticker on the case of beer she sent it down the belt then continued ringing up my order. As I packed my groceries, I couldn’t help but stare at her. She was a cute young thing with short, spiky blonde hair that was so bleached it was almost white. Both her roots and eyebrows were black and on her it looked very attractive. Alissa wasn’t a thin girl by any means. Like much of modern American society she was thick, but in her case in all the right places. She had an hourglass figure with a big, round ass and thick thighs encased in a pair of black tights with a short denim skirt worn over it. A store uniform top was over her own shirt, but I could see that she had a nice rack hidden under her clothes. Her arms did have an extra layer of fat over her muscles but there was no jiggling and as she handled the groceries, I saw she had a cute set of biceps. Like many of the kids of today her ears had multiple piercings as well as her nose had a stud nose ring. I found the effect enchanting, but I figured she was too young for me, as I was thirty-three. As she worked her phone sitting on her counter rang. Alissa picked it up and looked at the screen before putting it back down. She had just about finished my order when it rang again. This time she picked it up and put it to her ear and answered it. “What is it? You know I’m at work and I can’t talk. Yes, but that’s during my break. Fine hurry up Mother. No problem Mother.” She had run all my items through the scanner and was standing there with a helpless look on her face as she continued to listen to the phone. Alissa held up her finger to me telling me one minute and I smiled and nodded at her. Finally, she collected her breath and spoke in a low tone. “Listen I must go now, I’m dealing with a customer, and I’ll get in trouble. Don’t worry, I’ll be home in time. Goodbye Mother.” She put down the phone and turned toward me with an apologetic half smile. “I’m so sorry. Thanks for not getting mad at me, some people would have lost it. The total comes to $112.56.” “Don’t worry about it. I’m not in a rush.” “I try to tell her that they don’t appreciate me taking calls, but she never gets it. Thanks again, if you made a scene then I’d get written up.” “Like I said I’m not in a rush, just a couple of errands to run today” I told her as I handed her the money “besides I enjoyed the view while waiting.” There could be no doubt what I meant and Alissa turned red as she took the money and I heard her mumble something. She handed me my change without looking at me and I wondered if I had offended her. “Thank you for shopping with us and you saved $8.70 today.” She then looked me in the eye and gave me a sweet smile. “And thanks for everything from me as well.” “Have a good day Alissa and hang in there.” “Thanks I will.” Pushing my cart to the exit I resolved that the next time I shopped here I would certainly see if she was there to ring me up. Soon I had loaded the groceries in the back of the extended cab and was headed to the location of my next errand. The masonry supply store was busier than I’d expected and by the time my bed was loaded with bags of gravel and some concrete mix the skies looked like they would open up. As I drove, I was glad that the last stop I had to make was done. Halfway home the rain started although it wasn’t hard yet. Driving down a highway service road I noticed a car on the other side of the road with its hazards flashing and a totally blown front passenger side tire. There was a figure pacing by the side of the vehicle with a hand to her ear. As my truck passed by I did a double take. The person with the flat was the young cashier, Alissa. After checking in my side view mirror, I pulled a quick U-turn and pulled up behind the disabled vehicle and turned on my hazards before alighting from my pick-up. When I approached, she looked up at me and her face showed surprise at seeing me there. “Hold on one-minute Mother” she said into the phone. “What happened to you and are you alright?” I asked concerned. “I don’t know, some animal ran in the street and when I swerved and hit the brakes I skidded into the curb because of the rain and damaged the tire.” “What about you, are you okay?” “I’m fine thanks. It’s just that the tire is destroyed, and I have to get the car to my mom soon. She needs it to get to work and I don’t know what to do.” As she talked, she seemed to get more and more upset and looked like she was about to cry. I put a hand on her shoulder and her big brown eyes met my gaze. “Two things Alissa, do you have a spare tire? And is there any chance you have roadside assistance?” She shook her head no. “I don’t have roadside assistance; I can’t afford it. I’m not sure if I have a spare either.” “That’s okay we’ll check; can you pop the trunk?” When she did, I opened it and rummaged through the junk she had back there. Her spare tire was in a little compartment in the bottom of the trunk, so I removed it and checked it out and it seemed okay. Alissa joined me at the back of the car still looking worried and holding the phone in her hand. “You have a spare, so I can change it for you no problem. I’m just going to use my jack and lug wrench. Yours is a little flimsy.” “Oh my God really, you’ll change it for me. Thank you, if I had to do it I think I’d be stranded here forever.” “Well don’t worry, I’ll have you up and running in no time. The rain is starting to pick up so if you want you can wait in my truck where it’s dry.” She followed me to my truck as she talked on her phone. “Good news, someone is going to change the tire for me. No, it’s someone from work who happened to be passing by. Hopefully I’ll be there in time, but I can’t control that.” Alissa got in the passenger door as I removed my lug wrench and jack then removed my shirt leaving me in a wife beater. Between the rain and the grease there was no sense in ruining my shirt I figured. Her voice faded as I headed to her car. After loosening the lug nuts, I jacked her little rice burner up and proceeded to replace the tire with her spare. It didn’t take too long but the rain had really come down hard while I was doing it and I was soaked. Her flat was in such bad shape with a huge gash that it couldn’t be repaired so I decided to throw it in my truck bed so I could dispose of it for Alissa. It was while putting it there that I got careless and skinned my knuckle bad, making me laugh. Last and easiest part and that’s when I messed up. When I opened the door, she saw the blood on my hand and gasped. “What happened to you?” “Just a small scrape, it’s nothing” I said while opening the glove compartment and removing hand wipes and a small first aid kit. She took the first aid kit from me and opened it. “Give me your hand” she said in a no-nonsense tone. The antiseptic wipe stung a little while she cleaned it. She then applied some ointment and finished up by putting a bandage over the broken skin. “There all done” Alissa said inspecting her handiwork critically. “Good work Alissa, a bit of overkill maybe” I said at which she delivered a withering glance my way. “Sorry, sorry” I apologized while throwing my hands up in mock surrender. “One day you’ll make a great mom.” “Thanks but why do you say that, wait what is your name? I know I saw your I.D. but I didn’t notice.” “My name’s Ed. You took care of my boo boo and kept me in line just with a look, two big qualifications to be a mother.” “Yeah but what about being a nag, I’m not one of those.” I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you talking about your mom?” “She can be such a pain in the ass. I love her but sometimes she makes me want to scream. That reminds me what’s the time? I have to get her the car, so she can go to work.” “Time is three forty-five. You guys share a car, that is rough.” “Well her car died a bit back, so she’s been borrowing mine. Either that or I’d have to drive her to and from work all the time. Damn that means I must hurry home. I wanted to reward you for all you’ve done for me.” “Helping you and seeing your smile was enough of a reward for me Alissa.” She rolled her eyes at that. “Okay if you say so. But truthfully what would you go for now if you could?” “I could go for a beer after the fun I’ve been having. You can buy me one if you like.” “Two problems, I’m not 21 and I must get the car home now.” “You can get the car home and buy me a beer in a bar near where you live. You don’t have to be 21 to pay.” “Okay Ed follow my car and I’ll see what I can do.” Alissa got out of my truck and ran to her car while I started the truck. We drove for around twenty minutes when she pulled into the driveway of an attached townhouse in an all-right section of town. Before going to the house, she came up to my window. “If you drive two blocks and make a right there is a sports bar another block down.” “You’re not coming with me? Where is the fun in that?” “Want some fun, is that it? I’m going to meet you there, but I didn’t want my mother to see you is all.” “Without a car you’ll get soaked. If you want, I’ll pass by in a little while and get you.” “Sounds like a plan. Come by in ten minutes. She’s late already so she can’t wait around.” Alissa started to the house then changed her mind and returned whereupon she leaned in my window and gave me a quick kiss on my cheek before running to her house. Feeling on top of the world I pulled away from the curb and drove to the bar to check it out. It seemed to be a standard strip mall bar, but it did have a front courtyard with tables under umbrellas that was fenced off from the parking lot. That looked promising to me as the rain had almost stopped now and I could see streaks of azure skies through the dark clouds. Ten minutes later I drove up to Alissa’s house and her car was gone. I parked in front and rang the bell. After a couple of minutes, the door opened, and she stood there in front of me. She had changed her shirt and was now wearing a cream-colored sleeveless top with a scoop neck that revealed some of her ample cleavage. “Wow you look great.” “Yeah right. I’ll just be a couple of minutes more so come in and wait.”

As I followed her in, I did check out her butt again, but it was so nice I couldn’t help myself. The living room was a tad messy to say the least with the coffee table buried under a ton of things, but it was by no means dirty. The TV was blaring, tuned to some video program. She gestured to the couch where an unfriendly looking gray cat was sprawled. When I came in it raised its head and gave me the once over. Alissa cleared some space by moving a pile of folded clothing “Don’t mind Zelda, she’s not too friendly with strangers but she doesn’t attack. Sorry but it’s laundry day and it’s a bit crowded. I’ll be ready in a minute.” Saying that she disappeared around the corner. Sitting as far from Zelda as I could manage, I returned the feline’s stare. When I made no sudden move the pussy cat got up and stretched its lithe body. I held out my hand with my index finger extended until Zelda deigned to come and sniff it. She must have liked my smell as she then rubbed her face along my hand. By the time Alissa returned a few minutes later Zelda was stretched on her side across my lap whilst I stroked her belly. “I don’t know how you did it, but Zelda has never taken to someone so fast before.” “Maybe I have the magic touch with kitty cats.” “We’ll see about that. Shoo Zelda, Ed must go now” she told the cat. Zelda moved but took her own sweet time as befitted royalty. First, she stood and languidly stretched before rubbing against me a final time. Then with her tail in the air she slowly climbed from me and hopped to the floor. After standing I brushed the cat hair from my pants and headed to the door with Alissa who had already turned the TV off. The sun was peering through the clouds as we emerged from the house and walked to my truck. I held the door while she got in then closed it and headed to my side. In a few minutes we were parked in the lot and the sun was shining brightly. It had been a typical summer thundershower in that it was gone a little after it arrived. Again, I held the door for her and for this she rewarded me with her dazzling smile. “Not that I mind but since the rain stopped, I could have walked here Ed.” “True but then I couldn’t have met Zelda or arrived with such a pretty young lady. The tables outside are nice, do you want to sit out here then.” Alissa nodded in agreement, so I held her chair for her as she sat. After a few minutes of sitting there I was about to look for someone to take our order when a waitress came out and she ordered an iced tea and I asked for a draft. In a couple of minutes, we were drinking and laughing as we talked. Alissa was nineteen I learned with mixed Irish, German and Italian heritage and she liked rock and country music and of course cats. When I asked her about school her face got serious, and she paused before answering. “No Ed I really want to go to college but right now I need to work full time to help my mother pay the bills. Things aren’t good with the economy, and she lost her last job which paid better. She’s been working at a gas station/convenience store and without my salary she couldn’t afford the mortgage now. Which is why I wished she would cut me a little slack; I’m being responsible and helping out. I know it’s been tough on her all these years since my father left and her supporting us both.” “Sorry sweetie, I’m a child of divorce too. It’s never a good thing when marriage doesn’t work.” “Yeah he left when I was seven and I haven’t seen him since I was ten.” She looked sad and wistful now and it broke my heart that some guy would abandon a sweet girl like her. If the marriage went south and her parents hated each other that was one thing, but to move and cut all ties with your kid forever was unforgivable. She started to rub her neck now and I saw her wince. Maybe I couldn’t help her psyche in regard to her father but perhaps I might be able to help her out with that.

PARTS 2 AND 3 are Further Down in my Blog ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

[thessalian]

Thess vs Shopping Trips

Once again, ill-advised trip to Peckham for sundries. Didn’t help that the bus stop near my house was closed. Still, I needed some bits and pieces that I can’t get in this area on the weekend, and yesterday was bus strike, so...

Two separate pharmacies got a visit. One of the chain pharmacies in the area is cheaper than the other, but the cheaper one doesn’t have a pharmacy counter, so I couldn’t get mallet-meds there. So to the cheaper one for cold meds (I have a cold and it is doing my sinuses a misery), face wash, and something to deal with the insect bites that seem to have cropped up on my right middle finger. It was crowded, and people were not paying attention to how they were blocking aisles, and it was kind of miserable. The other pharmacy for mallet-meds was worse; the queue was awful and they only had one guy working the checkout, so ... yeah. Still, at least I got everything I needed.

Then, local grocery store. I’ve been looking up easy fudge recipes - ones that don’t require constant stirring and a candy thermometer - and picked out a couple for making over the next few days. This mostly because I figure I would be in zero shape to do the regular fudge-making when I got home from today’s excursion. Thing is, first thing I found when walking into big grocery store was ... you know those hugely oversized fleecy hoodies that are basically like wearing a fleece blanket? I’ve wanted one since the weather got overly cold but all the ones I were seeing were mega-expensive. But right at the front of the shop was a rack of particularly warm sweaters and ... some of those hugely oversized fleecy hoodies that are basically like wearing a fleece blanket. At a reasonable price. Fine, the quality isn’t going to be as good, but needs must, y’know?

(Note: it says something about the situation about heating bills in this country when shops known for selling cheap essentials are putting heavy sweaters and fleecy-blanket hoodies right up front. Not particularly a good something, either.)

Anyway, shopping really only involved the fleecy-blanket hoodie, two different kinds of chocolate, some espresso powder, and strawberry preserves, which I will turn into sauce for the making of strawberry fudge. Which made a fairly interesting bundle to take to the checkout. (I would have done the self-checkout but clothing item, wanted to ensure the security tag was taken off.) Thankfully I found a till with minimal queue, and amusingly, when I looked at the lady at the till ... she bore a nametag with the same name that turns up on my official paperwork. Y’know, the one my parentals use, which isn’t generally the one I use these days. Still, rough-looking very busy day, not much heating in the supermarket, I figured it might be nice to flag up that we share a given name, skipping over the fact that I don’t generally use it much. She was very amused by that, so it was a nice transaction for both of us, and that mood seemed to have carried over to her interaction with the next customer, so go, me!

...And then on my way out, someone not looking where they were going bashed past me and kicked my cane out from under me in the process. I managed to keep my balance, though that was painful, and the guy kind of looked over but with a very annoyed look and no apology whatsoever. The world may not be entirely made of jackass, but the jackasses are really disruptive.

Finally made it home, and now there are a bunch of kids stomping around in the corridor while I have a massive sinus headache. But I am in the warm fleecy-blanket hoodie and two pairs of socks, so that’s helpful. I also have some really good sherpa fleece slipper socks coming soon, as a sort of a Yule present, since while my shark slippers are cute, the soles are crap and have twisted in really uncomfortable ways. Still, fleecy slipper socks will make all things better when they get here.

I just wish the kids would stop...

[jcmarchi]

AI In Your Supermarket Ai-sles?

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/ai-in-your-supermarket-ai-sles/

AI In Your Supermarket Ai-sles?

This century has seen the rise of digitization and technology across countless businesses and sectors. While tech companies and online retailers have driven much of this transformation, the past decade has also brought these changes to brick-and-mortar establishments as well.

As such, supermarkets have increasingly turned to digital technology to improve the shopping experience – everything from self-checkout kiosks and electronic shelf labels to smart shopping carts and inventory tracking systems. These innovations have made shopping easier and faster, changing shoppers’ habits and expectations in turn.

Fast forward to 2024 and industries everywhere are being disrupted not just by technology in general, but by AI in particular. Supermarkets are no exception, with AI poised to streamline operations, boost cost efficiency, and improve the shopping experience even further.

According to a research report from Grocery Doppio, AI is expected to add $113 billion in value to the grocery industry by 2025, and 82% of grocers expect AI to be embedded in most, if not all, of their software in the next two years.

This transformation couldn’t have come at a better time, arriving amid rising inflation, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, all of which are plaguing grocers around the globe. Fortunately, AI is proving itself effective at keeping all of these challenges at bay by optimizing prices, managing inventory and revolutionizing shelf placement of perishables to reduce financial loss and food waste.

Personalization Alleviates Primary Supermarket Challenges

In an increasingly competitive retail market, personalization is the critical factor for effectively engaging with customers and earning their loyalty as repeat patrons.

Personalization leverages data analysis techniques such as purchase history analysis, customer feedback and assessment of browsing behaviors to identify personal shopping patterns. Today’s customers often prioritize price above all else, so the ability to meet the needs of their unique budgets in real time and offer personalized promotions that match individual customer preferences can make or break a supermarket’s ability to retain their shoppers. Research shows that 78% of today’s shoppers are actively seeking the best deals, making personalization crucial for grocers to increase customer satisfaction, boost sales, and stay competitive.

AI can create tailored shopping lists or product deals based around the unique habits of individual repeat customers or families. For instance, an analysis of a customer’s purchase history may reveal their dietary preferences, what days they visit the supermarket each week, whether they respond better to text-message coupons or traditional in-store pamphlets, and much more. Let’s say a supermarket has a promotion on baby products which leads to increased sales. AI can then suggest targeted promotions that bundle these items together to the shoppers who initially engaged with the original promotion. By continuously refining personalized experiences, AI helps supermarkets build stronger relationships with customers and fosters long-term loyalty too.

Dynamic Pricing Transforms Retail Profitability and Sustainability Too

Dynamic Pricing is a relatively new concept in the world of grocery stores. It was introduced to help tackle food waste, and boost profit margins in supermarkets. Now, it is undergoing an AI-driven revolution as more and more retailers have begun implementing this tech solution – it is poised to become even more effective at helping businesses maximize sales potential within retail establishments.

Dynamic pricing with AI allows retailers to optimize price markdowns, maximize profits and reduce waste through enhanced inventory management. The concept is that the prices of goods shouldn’t necessarily be static but rather that by shifting prices around variables that change throughout the year, sales will increase. AI-based dynamic pricing is not so different in practice, but the performance enhancement is radical in terms of speed, efficiency, and overall effectiveness.

AI-based dynamic pricing allows retailers and, specifically, supermarkets to intuitively optimize prices in real-time, responding to factors such as expiration dates alongside demand, competitor pricing, seasons, brand strength, shelf capacity, and much more. It can also optimize the timing and discount rates for fresh products in real-time. At the click of a button, this technology is capable of deciding on its own “what to discount,” “when to discount,” “by how much to discount,” and even “how to fine-tune the initial discounts.”

Simply put, strategic deployment of AI-based pricing makes grocery retailers more profitable and more sustainable. By removing the guesswork from applying markdowns to items in a store, discounts will be determined at the optimal rate to move fresh products before expiration and capitalize on other deals and promotions, significantly reducing food waste and cutting surplus costs.

AI-Driven Shelf Monitoring Enhances Customer Satisfaction

Finally, no matter how “smart” supermarkets become, one thing that will always remain the same is the need for food to be organized and displayed. AI-driven shelf monitoring addresses the critical need to maintain well-stocked and organized shelves.

Supermarkets consistently struggle to ensure that products are always in stock and correctly placed, as out-of-stock or misplaced items can lead to lost sales and dissatisfied customers. AI-supported computer vision technologies can scan shelves continuously to monitor stock levels, product placement, rate of purchase for particular products and more. Store managers subsequently receive detailed reports, which include photos and specific information about items that need to be restocked or moved.

This real-time reporting on the flow of goods enables store managers to address discrepancies and optimize item stocking, ensuring shelves are always well-stocked and organized. These systems also offer actionable insights by analyzing customer traffic patterns and historical sales data. Regardless of their layout, now any grocery store can predict demand surges and suggest the best times for restocking, enhancing operational efficiency.

By automating shelf scanning and reporting, AI shelf monitoring reduces the time employees spend on continuous inventory checking, allowing them to focus on more important tasks. This approach helps improve customer satisfaction by ensuring product availability and organization while also maximizing sales and profitability. Shelf space management is a vital aspect of modern grocery retail operations, and AI makes it better.

Ret(ai)l Therapy

The benefits of AI are revealing themselves across countless industries, and grocery retail is as primed as any sector to reap the rewards.

By leveraging AI, grocers can achieve significant cost savings, boost sales and contribute to a more sustainable and efficient retail environment, allowing them to stay competitive, meet ever-changing consumer demands and foster a more innovative and adaptive business.

With AI in the AI-sles, grocery shopping will be smarter, easier, and more sustainable than ever before.

[my-weird-news]

Ariana Ditches Scooter! Drama Unfolds 🚀

Ariana Grande's Manager Shuffle: A Comedy of Pop Notes and Heartbreaks 🎤💔 Move over, world, it's time for the musical chairs of management! 🎶 The spotlight's on Ariana Grande, who just decided to cut ties with her manager, Scooter Braun. Hold the applause, folks. Now, if you're wondering who the heck Scooter Braun is, well, he's not a circus performer with a fancy scooter. No, no, he's the guy who managed Ariana's musical affairs for a whopping 10 years! That's like a decade in music years, where a year is basically a lifetime. But wait, there's more! 📣 Demi Lovato, another musical gem, has also given Scooter Braun the "deuces" sign. It's like the exodus of pop stars from his managerial clutches. This guy must be handing out glittery exit tickets with every deal. The grapevine is buzzing, but don't worry, nobody's vineyard is on fire – it's just some Hollywood news. And guess what? Even Justin Bieber, the guy who once made us all believe in the power of floppy hair and catchy tunes, was rumored to have bid farewell to Braun. But hold your horses, folks, both Justin and Braun chimed in with a melodious duet of "Not true!" Can you hear the harmony? So, Ariana is stepping out of Braun's managerial umbrella – like a tiny pop starlet taking her first solo steps. 🚶‍♀️ She joined Team Braun back in 2013, when we were all still trying to figure out if "selfies" were actually a word or just a bunch of letters hanging out. Her debut album, "Yours Truly," came out that year, marking the beginning of a beautiful musical relationship. And to commemorate a whole decade of that partnership, she's planning a week-long bash that involves drumroll deluxe releases, live shows, and even Q&A sessions! Someone get the confetti cannons ready! But wait, let's not forget the plot twists in Ariana's personal life. 📜 Just last month, she parted ways with her estranged husband, Dalton Gomez. Rumor has it that the two were dealing with issues that couldn't be solved even with a Google search. The cherry on top? The long-distance relationship turned into a long-distance separation. 🌍🙅‍♂️ And yes, a divorce is apparently waving hello on the horizon. But don't grab your tissues just yet, because Grande's not one to play melancholic tunes for too long. Enter stage left: Ethan Slater, Ariana's new flame! 🔥🕺 This guy's her "Wicked" co-star and seems to have won her heart faster than an express checkout line at the supermarket. And remember Glinda the Good Witch? That's who Ariana is becoming in a two-film adaptation of a Broadway musical. Meanwhile, Slater's bringing life to Boq, who's got an unrequited crush on Glinda. Talk about mixing business with a tornado of emotions! But wait, there's another twist! 🌀 Slater's marital tale is like a rollercoaster with a surprise drop. He filed for divorce from his wife, Lilly Jay, not long before being swept up in the grande whirlwind of Ariana. Talk about bad timing! 💥 Lilly, it seems, didn't see it coming, and I bet she's thinking, "Did I just get a one-way ticket to the spin cycle of celebrity drama?" And there you have it, folks! 🎭 Pop stars swapping managers like kids trading lunchbox snacks, love triangles that make geometry look easy, and enough plot twists to leave a suspense novelist asking for pointers. Can't wait to see what's next in the symphony of showbiz shenanigans! 🎵🤹‍♂️# Ariana Grande's Manager Shuffle: A Comedy of Pop Notes and Heartbreaks 🎤💔 Move over, world, it's time for the musical chairs of management! 🎶 The spotlight's on Ariana Grande, who just decided to cut ties with her manager, Scooter Braun. Hold the applause, folks. Now, if you're wondering who the heck Scooter Braun is, well, he's not a circus performer with a fancy scooter. No, no, he's the guy who managed Ariana's musical affairs for a whopping 10 years! That's like a decade in music years, where a year is basically a lifetime. But wait, there's more! 📣 Demi Lovato, another musical gem, has also given Scooter Braun the "deuces" sign. It's like the exodus of pop stars from his managerial clutches. This guy must be handing out glittery exit tickets with every deal. The grapevine is buzzing, but don't worry, nobody's vineyard is on fire – it's just some Hollywood news. And guess what? Even Justin Bieber, the guy who once made us all believe in the power of floppy hair and catchy tunes, was rumored to have bid farewell to Braun. But hold your horses, folks, both Justin and Braun chimed in with a melodious duet of "Not true!" Can you hear the harmony? So, Ariana is stepping out of Braun's managerial umbrella – like a tiny pop starlet taking her first solo steps. 🚶‍♀️ She joined Team Braun back in 2013, when we were all still trying to figure out if "selfies" were actually a word or just a bunch of letters hanging out. Her debut album, "Yours Truly," came out that year, marking the beginning of a beautiful musical relationship. And to commemorate a whole decade of that partnership, she's planning a week-long bash that involves drumroll deluxe releases, live shows, and even Q&A sessions! Someone get the confetti cannons ready! But wait, let's not forget the plot twists in Ariana's personal life. 📜 Just last month, she parted ways with her estranged husband, Dalton Gomez. Rumor has it that the two were dealing with issues that couldn't be solved even with a Google search. The cherry on top? The long-distance relationship turned into a long-distance separation. 🌍🙅‍♂️ And yes, a divorce is apparently waving hello on the horizon. But don't grab your tissues just yet, because Grande's not one to play melancholic tunes for too long. Enter stage left: Ethan Slater, Ariana's new flame! 🔥🕺 This guy's her "Wicked" co-star and seems to have won her heart faster than an express checkout line at the supermarket. And remember Glinda the Good Witch? That's who Ariana is becoming in a two-film adaptation of a Broadway musical. Meanwhile, Slater's bringing life to Boq, who's got an unrequited crush on Glinda. Talk about mixing business with a tornado of emotions! But wait, there's another twist! 🌀 Slater's marital tale is like a rollercoaster with a surprise drop. He filed for divorce from his wife, Lilly Jay, not long before being swept up in the grande whirlwind of Ariana. Talk about bad timing! 💥 Lilly, it seems, didn't see it coming, and I bet she's thinking, "Did I just get a one-way ticket to the spin cycle of celebrity drama?" And there you have it, folks! 🎭 Pop stars swapping managers like kids trading lunchbox snacks, love triangles that make geometry look easy, and enough plot twists to leave a suspense novelist asking for pointers. Can't wait to see what's next in the symphony of showbiz shenanigans! 🎵🤹‍♂️ Read the full article

[fuck-customers]

Fun fact about working for supermarket chains: I really don’t care if you want to steal things. Yeah it’s a small shop but it’s part of a huge chain and it’s an hour before we close so I really couldn’t care less. Honestly, if you want to shoplift just do me the decency of being good at it! Or at least subtle!

I’m at the kiosk, dealing with gods know how many customers with full baskets and trolleys who want lottery tickets, cigarettes and electricity to boot. I am not focused on you, I am never focused on you. If there was nothing else to do in the shop I wouldn’t be focused on you because I DON’T CARE. But because you decided to sprint in and grab FIVE bottles of whisky and bolt out the door - I have to call the police.

The police don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to see the police for the 8th time in my five hour shift. Yet here we are.

I know it’s a lot to ask but can’t shoplifters just be a little FUCKING CONSIDERATE of the time??? Is it too much to stuff a bottle of vodka down your trousers and buy 30p gum at the checkouts like a normal person?? We have so many shoplifters it’s a wonder the police don’t bring sleeping bags with them smh

[baepsaesbae]

Personal Galaxy

Pairing—  Jungkook x female reader

Genre—  SMUT, Fluff, Established relationship au

Warnings— Explicit unprotected sex, slight exhibitionism (they’re outside), oral (m receiving), mild swearing, fluffy boyfriend vibes that will make you love Jungkook even more 

Word count—  ~4.1k

About—  You and your boyfriend, Jungkook, decide to go stargazing as a special treat for your anniversary. 

A/N— Happy Birthday Jungkook! This was a collab with @goldenclosetnetwork for their Golden Closet Net Jungkook Birthday Project. I hope you guys like it, please let me know what ya think! (also this beautiful banner was whipped up in record time by the marvelous @kimtaehyunq)

After college starts, summer is no longer a relaxing season dedicated to lounging around and goofing off with friends. Unfortunately, now summers were filled with internships or temporary summer jobs. You got the short end of the stick though, as your summer was going to be filled with summer classes. Along with taking summer classes, you had to deal with the grueling heat. Walking back and forth from your classes to your dorm was quite an ordeal, as the sun drained you of all your energy. 

Your only solace of not going home was that you were close to your boyfriend, Jungkook. You guys started dating towards the end of the spring semester, so the relationship was somewhat new. He was nothing but incredibly sweet to you, and you honestly could not believe you were dating him. From what you observed, he was basically perfect. 

At first you thought he was a little shy, but when you got to know him, you soon realized he’s just a huge lovable dork. He loved gaming, and bragged about what his rank in League of Legends used to be (platinum, he was in the top 8% of all people who played). You tried to take him seriously, but you couldn’t help but laugh. You didn’t laugh because you were making fun of him, you laughed because he was just too cute. You adored the way his eyes twinkled when he talked about what he was passionate about. He would get lost in his own world and ramble on before he realized you were still there. At that point he would reach out and pull you into a hug and ask about your day.

After a long day of listening to a boring chemistry lecture, you finally got back to your dorm. You freshened up with a quick shower and collapsed into your bed. You were about to drift off when your phone starts to buzz. It was a video call from Jungkook.

“Hey baby what’s up?” Jungkook beamed on the other end. It looked like he just got out of the shower too.

“Hey Kookie. I’m done with class for the day. Have I told you how much I hate chemistry?” you groaned in response.

“Plenty of times. In fact, multiple times a day. Can’t blame you though. You can relax when I come see you this weekend,” Jungkook tried to cheer you up. 

Jungkook lived about an hour away from campus, so he stayed in a dorm during the school year. However, he went home during the summer break. With that being said, he insisted on coming down to see you every weekend. At first you protested, arguing that gas was too expensive and the commute would take too much time. But he simply said, “I just want to see my girl. What’s so wrong with that? It’s no one’s decision but mine.” You couldn’t argue with him after that.

“Why don’t we do something different this weekend?” you asked. This weekend would mark your 3 month anniversary. 

“Yeah? Like in the bedroom?” he was intrigued. 

“No! I mean...sure? Wait no that’s not what I’m talking about right now, you dingus. Why don’t we get away or something? There’s a park about an hour away that is known for stargazing! They have their own observatory and all that. Would you wanna--”

“Yes. Let’s do it.” Jungkook didn’t even let you finish. You knew he’d be excited. Along with videogames, anything pertaining to outer space had his heart. He loved reading about various stars, and was always hypothesizing how space travel would work.

The weekend couldn’t come fast enough. You spaced out in lecture often, but now you definitely couldn’t focus. The thought of being hand in hand with Jungkook while traversing the trails together was enough to make your heart flutter. That, coupled with the fact that you two would be under the stars without any air pollution, really had you on Cloud 9. 

You gleefully hopped into Jungkook’s car in the late afternoon. Jungkook was wearing his favorite bucket hat with his usual casual clothes. 

“Hello beautiful,” Jungkook leaned over to kiss you, “Let’s go get our dinner. How do ready made sandwiches sound?”

“Sounds perfect! Why don’t we get some fruit too?” you sat back in your seat.

“Ohhh healthy. Yes ma’am we can do that.” he drove to the closest supermarket. 

“Hey babe, let’s get this bread,” Jungkook joked as he picked up a sandwich. You couldn’t help but laugh at his little one-liner. You both love that meme. You guys strolled over to the fruits section. Of course, there had to be a debate over which fruits to get.

“It’s hot outside so why don’t we get watermelon?” you suggested.

“Mm that’s a good point. But watermelons are basically just water. Why don’t we get pineapples instead? We can see if that myth really is true?” Jungkook wiggled his eyebrows at you. 

“You dog!” you playfully slap his arm, “Let’s get both then. The more the merrier.”

“Okiedokie. Don’t act like you don’t wanna try the pineapple trick though,” he teased.

“Maybe I do. What of it?” you retorted.

“Nothing. That’s perfect for me,” he winked as you guys went to checkout.

The drive to the park was relaxing. Jungkook played his music and sang along to all the songs. You occasionally chimed in whenever you knew the lyrics, but you preferred to listen to him instead. Even when he was messing around, his angelic voice was still euphoric. You were pleasantly surprised when he first sang in front of you. You didn’t think it was possible to hear an angel up close. 

Getting away from the city was something you needed. As the tall buildings faded in the background, a more sparse landscape came into view. You loved the open road. Sure, the neverending grass and scattered trees weren’t the most breathtaking view, but it was pleasant nonetheless. You saw the occasional cow or horse, and never failed to point them out to Jungkook. He would always respond with a “wow!” or a “so cute!” and chuckle at you. Everything you did was so adorable to him, though he wasn’t the most vocal about all that mushy stuff. He was sure he had already fallen in love with you, but he wasn’t sure if you felt the same yet. He’d keep that to himself for a little bit longer.

The park itself was nothing grand. It being closer to the coast meant that it was a little on the swampy side. After several attempts to make sense of the provided park map, Jungkook finally found a parking lot.

“Okay according to the map, this is the closest parking lot to the observatory. I think there’s a trail nearby too,” you say as you hand him the map.

“Let’s go!” Jungkook leapt out of the car before he could even see you trying to give him the map.

Jungkook grabbed the food from the backseat as you got out of the car. Sadly, neither of you had a stereotypical picnic wicker basket, so everything was just in the plastic shopping bag from the store. That didn’t make it any less charming when Jungkook started swinging the bag back and forth in one hand while doing the same thing to your hand on his other side. 

The sun was beginning to set, but you could still feel its warmth in the breaks between the shady parts of the trail Jungkook led you on. The trail itself was basically a small gravel path that led from the parking lot to a picnic site overlooking a swampy lake. The trees that grew in the open grove by the picnic tables were extremely old, as they loomed high overhead. 

Neither of you had spoken since you left the car. You were both enjoying the fresh air and new sights. The candid sounds of nature filled the air. From the buzzing of the cicadas, to the occasional whooping of unseen birds, the authenticity of it all had you in a trance. Jungkook squeezed your hand and you snapped back to reality. Your eyes wandered back to him to see a soft smile on his face. 

“Is this table okay, baby?” he looked at you with his doe eyes.

“Yeah it’s good. Do you like this place so far?” you asked as you started to get the food out.

“I do. It’s beautiful. Everything is just so...natural. Obviously,” he chuckled, “The scenery is the second most beautiful thing here.”

“Mm okay I’ll bite. What’s the first most beautiful thing here?” you cocked your head in amusement.

“Me, of course! Why would you even ask that when you already know the answer?” he laughed. 

“Oh you’re so right. How silly of me. I have your food here, you dork. Do you wanna start with the pineapples or watermelons first?”

“Let’s open the watermelons since it’s still kinda hot out,” he plopped down beside you.

You foolishly skipped lunch, so your stomach was killing you. Jungkook joked that it sounded like a dying cat during the car ride. Sometimes it got so loud that he could hear it over his music. He wanted you to eat while he drove, but you refused because you wanted to eat together. Thinking back, you realized you could have fed him while he was driving. It’s not an issue anymore though, not when you’re both wolfing down your sandwiches. The watermelon was definitely a good choice, as it was a perfect weapon to combat the heat. 

There was a gazebo next to the water that allowed visitors to get a better view of the swampy environment. You led Jungkook over to it after packing up the leftovers (only a few pineapples were left). The water was murky, most of the vegetation that surfaced looked dead, and everything put together made the place seem perfect for filming a swamp horror film. Despite all of that, you couldn’t help but think it was still beautiful. Upon a closer look, you spotted some small turtles on the closest log by the gazebo. Of course you excitedly pointed them out to Jungkook, who cooed at how cute they were. Jungkook brought you closer to him so he could hug you from behind and rested his chin atop your head. He loved the height difference between you two, it always made him feel like that much more of YOUR man. He also mercilessly teased you for being short, but that was just an added bonus. 

“Do you feel relaxed?” he whispered in your ear before nibbling it.

“I feel so relaxed, darling,” you say, leaning into him, “The sunset is gorgeous out here. Even if it feels like we’re about to get attacked by a swamp creature at any second.”

“Yeah, instead we’re being attacked by a billion fucking mosquitoes. Babe, I don’t think your bug spray is working,” Jungkook swatted away the hovering pests.

“But my mom got it for me! It’s supposed to be a more organic and natural spray,” you pout.

“Well, I’m sorry but your mom’s organic bug spray isn’t doing shit. In fact, I feel like it’s attracting them,” his swatting became more forceful. 

“Oh, you’re not even getting bit. They’re all over ME,” you say as you started to feel insanely itchy all over your arms and legs, “Let’s go to the observatory, the sun has already begun to set. Also there are probably more mosquitoes here by the water, so let’s get the hell away from that.” 

“There’s still about half an hour of sunlight left,” Jungkook observed after checking his phone, “We have some time to kill. Wanna check out more of this trail?”

“Sure. As long as it leads away from the water,” you shrugged as you followed Jungkook into the forested area.

Golden hour shone down through the trees. The rays made Jungkook glow and look even more ethereal. He rubbed his thumb over your hand as he led you down the trail. You absentmindedly brought his hand up to your mouth to plant a soft kiss on the back of it. 

“I haven’t seen anyone on this trail the entire time we’ve been here,” Jungkook observed.

“It’s nice. It’s like our own little sanctuary,” you agreed.

“And you look so cute in that outfit of yours,” Jungkook’s voice lowered.

“What are you suggesting, Jungkook?” you played along, caressing his bicep. 

Jungkook abruptly led you off the beaten path, into a more heavily wooded area. He spun you around into a deep kiss, backing you up against a tree. You palmed him through his pants, finding him already half hard.

“What if we get caught?” you huffed into his mouth.

“Doesn’t that make it more exciting?” he said as he nipped at your neck while fondling your breasts. 

“I’m gonna have bug bites on my ass,” you laughed.

“I’ll bite your ass when we get back to even it out,” he chuckled into another kiss.

You forcefully switched positions with Jungkook as you tugged off his pants. You kissed along his jawline and down his neck before sinking to your knees in front of him. His erection bulged in his underwear, begging to be set free.  

You teasingly licked him over his underwear, making him groan. As much as you wanted to continue teasing him, you didn’t want to get caught before he actually had the chance to fuck you.

You pulled off his underwear, leaving him fully exposed. You delicately kissed the tip of his penis like it was some sort of polite greeting. Then, you lewdly flattened your tongue on the base of his cock and licked a long stripe upwards and finished at the top with a swirl. You hollowed out your cheeks as you sucked him off at a repetitive pace. 

“Do you want me to fuck you here, baby?” Jungkook huffed above you.

You looked up at him with innocent eyes as you deepthroated him. Saliva dripped off his cock and down your chin, a sight that would make any man sweat. You nodded and released him with a satisfying *pop*. 

“You’re so fucking sexy. Switch places with me and face the tree,” he commanded. 

You did as he said, bending over at the waist. He tugged off your bottoms, revealing your dripping core. He tantalizingly ran his tip along your folds.

“Hurry up! I don’t wanna get caught,” you complained as you wiggled your butt at him.

“So impatient,” Jungkook admonished as he slapped your ass.

You didn’t have time to complain because he jammed his dick into you immediately after his slap. You instinctively covered your mouth to suppress your moans. Your free hand toyed with your clit, rubbing it intensely. The thought of being caught at any second had you even more wet than usual. Jungkook noticed.

“You’re so wet. I’m gonna cum in no time,” Jungkook groaned as he thrust deeper into you. 

Jungkook released his load into you. You moaned as you felt his hot juices fill you up, mixing with your own mess as it dribbled down your legs. Jungkook gave your ass one last slap before rummaging for a spare napkin in the picnic bag. He cleaned you up as best as he could, but you desperately needed a shower. That’ll have to wait.

Retracing your steps, you both wound up back at the parking lot, which was perfect because the trail to the observatory was just on the other side. The once empty parking lot was now nearly full as the new arrivals made their way towards the observatory. The sun was almost fully set at this point, so it was getting a little hard to see.

“Babe look!” Jungkook shouted as he pointed to a little creature that scurried in front of you. You jump back from his sudden yell, and then lock eyes with the possum that stood in your path.

“I don’t know whether to be scared or to call it cute,” you say, clinging tightly onto Jungkook’s arm as the possum lost interest in your staring contest and continued on its journey. 

“I would say it’s cute. As long as it doesn’t attack you. Oh holy SHIT babe don’t look up!” Jungkook found himself frozen in place. 

“Huh why-- OH MY FUCKIN GOD!” you neglected to heed his warning. Looming about two feet above Jungkook’s head was a gigantic spider. The web it was dangling from was enormous. You hate all kinds of insects (yes a spider isn’t an insect, but it falls under the creepy crawly category so you hate it too) but spiders are by far the scariest to you. After you screamed you clutched Jungkook’s arm tighter, probably cutting off his circulation. 

“Okay okay just close your eyes and keep close to me. It seems like those guys are strung along the entire path,” Jungkook kept you by his side as you guys progressed past the trees. You helplessly kept your eyes closed and completely relied on Jungkook to guide you. Thankfully, it only took about three minutes to get past all the trees; the observatory was in an open clearing. Jungkook gave you the ok to open your eyes again.

“Thank you Kookie, you’re so sweet to me,” you kissed Jungkook softly on the cheek.

“Usually I’d make fun of you, but those things kinda freaked me out. So I could only imagine how scared you’d be of them. Don’t worry baby, I’ll protect you,” Jungkook returned your affection with a kiss on the forehead. 

The line for the main telescope was already long, so you guys ventured off to one of the smaller ones instead. There were three big telescopes in the overall observatory. Amateur stargazers were scattered around the deck with their personal telescopes. You saw them letting other people see through them, so you made a mental note to check them out after the main telescopes. The sun had finally set, and now the dark sky was illuminated with shining stars. 

As you waited in line, you looked back at Jungkook, who hadn’t let go of your hand this entire time. His eyes were glued to the wonders above him. His doe eyes were wide and twinkled more than you’ve ever seen before. His mouth was agape and you were amused by how captivated he was; everything about this boy was so pure. It was in that moment that you realized you had fallen head over heels for him. You wanted to tell him you loved him right then and there, but you held your tongue. You were worried that he didn’t feel the same way. Hopefully one day he could return the sentiment, but for now you will keep those three words to yourself. 

“You lot are pretty lucky! It had been cloudy for the past week. Tonight’s the first night that the sky’s been clear. It’s also the perfect night to view Saturn!” the telescope’s attendant informed the people in line.

You and Jungkook were the next people to go. You were amazed at how big the telescope was, and this wasn’t even the big main one yet. You went first. You climbed up a small step stool to get to the eye piece. You peered into it and was amazed by what you saw. The image was not the clearest, but it was pretty evident that you were looking at Saturn because of the iconic rings. Of course you could look up better pictures of Saturn online, but seeing it for yourself made it more special. Experiencing it all with Jungkook was something you would not trade for the world. You waited for Jungkook outside after you finished.

“Wasn’t that incredible ___?! We actually saw all the rings! And it’s a pretty color! I mean it’s like a reddish brown. We can call it a rusty color because that sounds cooler...ah I can’t wait to go to the main telescope,” Jungkook grabbed your hand and bounded to the next line. Watching him get so excited was enough to make getting eaten alive by mosquitoes worth it (yeah, they never ceased their attack on you).

“Is this the best date you’ve ever been on then?” you squeezed his hand as he continued to bounce up and down. His abundant energy always amazed you, and certainly came in handy in certain situations *wink wink*. 

“Oh is this a date? What? Do you like me or something, ___?” he teased, looking down at you, “Yes, this is hands down the best date I have ever been on. Thank you for suggesting this babe,” he grabbed your other hand and pulled you in for a kiss. You weren’t fond of PDA, but you’re willing to make an exception for Jungkook. 

The wait in line lasted for about half an hour, and you wondered which celestial being this telescope was being focused on. Everything around the observing deck was kept dark to make it easier to see through the telescopes. It was also advised to not look at any phone screens because your eyes would have to readjust to the darkness afterward. You and Jungkook complied with the tip for the optimal viewing experience. Jungkook was rambling about UFO conspiracy theories when you interrupted him by pointing out the fireflies behind him. They danced in the darkness of the open air, and it was your turn to be captivated. Yes, you hated insects, but fireflies had a special place in your heart. You thought they were fairies when you were younger, and you would spend hours playing with them. Your parents would even help you catch them. The nostalgia that hit automatically put a smile on your face. 

“You’re adorable, you know that ___?” Jungkook smiled as he wrapped his arms around you, “I wish you’d look at me that way,” he pouted.

“Oh shut up Kookie. I do look at you that way, but you never notice,” you stuck your tongue at him. Jungkook laughed in response. His laughter stopped and his eyes widened when he realized you guys were next in line.

“What is this one looking at?” Jungkook asked the telescope attendant. 

“Oh, all three of these are pointed at Saturn,” he replied.

“Oh no, we waited in line for so long just to look at the same thing,” you said, shoulders sagging.

“Awesome! Since this one is the biggest, does that mean that we’ll get a better view than the other two telescopes?” Jungkook asked, his eyes twinkling once again.

“Uh, technically yes. But only slightly better, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” the attendant replied as he let Jungkook enter.

From the way he asked, it probably didn’t bother Jungkook that he’d be seeing the same thing again. Once it was your turn, you realized the attendant was right. There wasn’t much of a difference in the quality of the image you were seeing, but it didn’t make personally seeing Saturn any less magical. 

“Seeing it a second time was super cool. Can you believe it? People a hundred years ago would have never thought they’d see Saturn with their own eyes!” Jungkook greeted you when you came out. 

“Yeah that’s all pretty dope, but I kinda wanted to see something else. Maybe some of the people who brought their own telescopes are looking at other things,” you took Jungkook’s hand and made a beeline to the amateur stargazers.

There was an interesting assortment of telescopes there. Some were big and bulky, some were sleek and aesthetically pleasing, and some just straight up looked like weapons. Multiple people were willing to let you both look through their telescopes. You both saw an additional two stars whose names you will never remember, along with seeing Saturn one last time. 

You and Jungkook stood in the middle of the deck, gazing upwards to soak in the clarity of the stars before your departure. As if the night couldn’t get any more magical, a shooting star streaked across the sky. Oohs and aahs were heard from people in the general vicinity when they saw it too. Jungkook pulled you close to him, his face inches from yours.

“You know, maybe we were lovers in a past life, because I feel like I’ve known you forever. I think you’re the most special thing in this universe. Thank you for today,” Jungkook said tenderly. 

“You’re welcome, darling. I would give you the whole world if I could,” you smiled, slowly leaning closer to him.

“For you, my dear, I’ll give you your own personal galaxy,” Jungkook practically whispered as he cupped your face and brought you in for a kiss. The kiss was the epitome of sweet, as his soft lips brushed against yours without much force. You swear you’ve never been happier in your life. Thank the stars for Jeon Jungkook.

Published September 4th, 2020. No editing, copying, translating, or reposting allowed. All Rights Reserved © 2020 Baepsaesbae.

[yourfavewriteress]

check you out (part 1) | connor mcdavid

Teaser: “This is a grocery store, we really can’t control who comes in here.”

(i know i should be working on something else but sometimes i really can’t help what i come up with :/ )

Four Times Connor wanted to ask for your number + the one time he finally did

one.

“Please wait for assistance.”

You sighed, standing up straight at your post to move towards the waiting customer.

“Hi, how are you?” Smiling at customers had become second nature for you, having been working at the grocery store for almost a year. Although not a marvelous job, you got a weekly check that you had earned yourself and you were finally able to pay for your own bills without the help of your parents. 

“Good, you?” He responded.

“I’m doing okay, how can I help you today?”

“Do you know what aisle your pasta sauce is? I was looking for a bit and I didn’t see it.”

“Should be in aisle 7,” You directed. “Did you check there?”

“I think so, but I’m going to check again anyways since I now know where to actually look,” He let out a laugh before looking back at you. “Do you- Can I leave my stuff here while I go grab it? I’ll be five seconds.”

“Yeah, go ahead, I’ll watch them for you,” You smiled, nodding.

“Thanks,” He turned on his heel, quickly walking towards the aisle. You continued smiling at customers passing by, leaning against the machine. As he disappeared into the aisle, you looked over the items he was buying. Protein powder, a lot of healthy shit that you had never seen before, and literally one bag of candy (that was sugar free, btw). You laughed to yourself, wondering how disciplined this guy had to be to stick to whatever diet he was on.

A few seconds later, he re-emerged from the aisle and you took your time to study him as he walked. Clearly taller than most guys you’ve seen close up, he had to be at least six feet. In his jeans and hoodie, you could see the shape of his body, and judging by the diet, he most definitely took care of himself and his health. 

“Thank you,” He smiled when he finally reached you. “I don’t know how I missed it the first time but you’re a lifesaver.”

“No problem,” You nodded, walking back over to your post. You looked over all the customers in the self-checkout area, trying to find something to occupy your attention as you still had three hours left in the shift. When you looked back over to the right, you were surprised to see the man from before standing in front of the kiosk. 

“I feel like that annoying customer right now and I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure my machine just froze,” He said, scratching the back of his head. You peeked over to the machine he was using.

“If you think you’re annoying, you wouldn’t survive two minutes as a cashier,” You replied, walking with him to the machine. “Let’s take a look.”

He laughed in response, shaking his head. “I probably wouldn’t.”

Tapping a few buttons on the screen had no success, “What happened exactly?”

“I’m not really sure, I scanned everything, I put a $50 bill in there and I was just waiting for my change.”

“Okay,” You mumbled, pulling the key from your pocket to open the machine. He stood behind you as you worked to figure out the problem, or at least get his bill back to send him to another machine. When you crouched down to be eye-level with the cash acceptor, the man’s eye’s couldn’t help but travel over your body. Although covered in your uniform of the store shirt and black jeans, he saw enough that made him have to look away otherwise he was sure he would be seen as that creep customer that couldn’t keep his eyes in appropriate places. 

You felt his eyes on you, and while this wasn’t a rare occurrence with the many forward customers who shop at your local supermarket, his look (if he was even looking, as far as you were concerned) didn’t make you uncomfortable in the slightest. To be fair, you already had your chance to study him when he wasn’t looking. Making sure you weren’t still smiling at the thought of him checking you out, you looked back, your eyes immediately locking on his.

You paused as he let out a gentle smile, asking, “I broke it, didn’t I?”

You couldn’t help but laugh then, your head leaning on your forearm that was holding the machine to keep you from falling in your crouched position. “You didn’t break it, these machines have minds of their own, trust me. But, I just need to grab a different key to get this part open and then I can take care of you.”

He swallowed at that, and even though he knew it was in reference to his grocery order, he couldn’t help it when his eyes once again trailed over you as you stood up to walk towards a nearby door.

“Got it,” You smiled as you came back into view of him. He stepped aside to allow you to crouch down again. The man focused his eyes on his items on the belt in order to avoid being caught admiring you again red-handed. Really, he could feel blood rushing up his neck, and in other places. It was better for him to look away now before it was too late.

“Ah, here it is,” He heard you say before holding up his crumpled bill. “I’m pretty sure it just got jammed somehow after you put it in, wasn’t your fault.”

“I still feel bad for causing all this trouble,” He replied, biting his lip.

“It’s no trouble, it actually gives me something to do other than stand here like a statue,” You said, closing the machine and standing up.

He smiled then, although you didn’t see it. “I’m glad I can help, then.”

Not knowing what to respond, you moved on, “Okay, I’m going to have you pay at my station because I don’t want the same thing to happen again.” You restarted his machine and then reached for his water pack, to help move it back to his cart.

“No, no, it’s okay, I got it,” The man said, stepping closer to you to motion to the water. “You’ve done enough, literally.”

It was your turn to swallow as you got a whiff of his scent, which was hard to describe in any way besides manly. You know that scent that you think a true man has? It’s strong, but enticing. Clean, but also sweaty in a way. It was like a version of Old Spice but younger, and hotter (at least to you).

Taking a breath to soak in as much as you could without being a creep, you stepped back, “Okay, I’ll meet you up there then.”

You turned on your heel, your mind racing as you thought of how to compose yourself until he left the store.

Working in a place that had different people coming in everyday, you were used to the occasional smokeshow and having to not stare. You usually didn’t have to interact with said smokeshow, but you always had to be professional. This case was nothing different. No matter how hot this guy appeared today, or how nice he smelled, he was still a customer and you were still an employee. Get it together! you thought.

“Okay, here you go,” The man said, handing you his bill again.

“Thank you,” You replied, taking it and giving him his change. “Sorry about our machine, but I hope you have a good day.”

“Thanks, you, too,” He smiled. “It’s been a pleasure,” Trailing off, his eyes fell to your chest, “Y/N.”

Although his eyes prompted it, you didn’t allow your jaw to drop as you watched him, pushing his cart away with a smile still on his face.

You thought about him for the next hour, and when you finished wiping down your machines, you caught your reflection in the store window.

Your eyes locked on your name tag sitting on your chest. Why the hell does he get to know your name but you don’t get to know his?

two.

The next few weeks went by as uneventful as any other time in your life. You worked at the supermarket, and when you weren’t there, you were at your apartment, catching up on as many shows as you could with the free time. Until you had to return to your college classes, you were going to relax as much as possible.

“Hey, Y/N,” Your boss said, approaching your station. “Do you think you can stay until 10 tonight? Eva just called out.”

“Uhm, sure,” You shrugged, looking down at the time. “That’s fine.”

“Thank you, you’re the best,” He breathed. “Seriously, I can always count on you and I’ll never forget that.”

“I just like the extra money in my paycheck,” You joked. 

“I’m going to act like I didn’t hear that,” He began as he walked away, laughing.  

You shook you head, laughing as well. As you were still smiling, you could hear one of the machines start up, meaning that you finally had a customer after ten minutes of complete silence. The back profile seemed familiar, including the large container of protein powder in his cart. A few moments later, he looked over, smiling.

“Hi, Y/N,” He said.

You did your best to hide your blush as you smiled back, “Hey, how are you?” Not a big deal, you thought, he probably just remembers everyone’s name.

“Pretty good, how about you?”

“Same old,” You shrugged. “Try not to break the machine this time, though.”

He laughed, his head falling back on his shoulders, “Last time I checked, you told me the machine’s have minds of their own. I accept no responsibility.” 

He made a note in his head of the fact that you remembered him from your last encounter. It wasn’t the last time he was in the store, but it was the last time he saw you. Every time he stepped into the store since then, he searched for you near the registers and today was the first time in weeks he finally saw what, and who he wanted to see.

“I only said that because you looked scared, and I wanted to make you feel better.”

Better wasn’t the only thing you made him feel in your short encounter, and the man knew this as he replied, “How noble of you.”

You laughed at that, so much you didn’t catch the look of pure admiration he gave you as he studied your features from where he was standing.

“Yeah, someone has to do it, right?” You breathed.

He didn’t respond, but you saw him smiling as he shook his head at the machine.

three.

It was a pretty boring day. With only one other cashier in the store, it truly felt like you were in the middle of the woods. You leaned over onto your station, chin in your palm as you looked around the store in view. 

“Hi,” A voice broke you from your daze. You stood up straight looking over at the customer.

“Hi, can I help you with anything?” You asked.

“Not at the moment, but I’ll let you know,” He said as he walked over to a nearby machine.

You had every intention to lean back down in your spot, but as you peeked outside, your eye caught the sight of your favorite mystery customer. He was getting out of a nice white car, a car that made you mumble holy shit to yourself. Looking away quickly, you stood straight at your station. Since you couldn’t see the entrance and wouldn’t dare to look if you did, you didn’t know when exactly the mystery guy walked into the store. 

However, about 10 minutes later, he was walking into the self-checkout area.

“Hey,” He smiled as he approached the empty machine next to a slightly older man.

“Hi, nice to see you,” You smiled, as politely as possible. 

“You, too,” He smiled.

After a quick once over of him, you looked back to your monitor. At this point, his face had already been burned in your brain every time you came into the store. His voice burned into your memories, especially when it was saying your name, addressing you. Whoever the hell he was, he had an effect on you that forcibly kept him on your mind, no matter how minimal your encounters with him had been thus far. 

It was maybe a minute before you dragged your eyes up to look around. Spending a longer second on him, you could see the muscles he had clearly through his simple black tee. Snap out of it. You sighed, looking back at your monitor, even though you didn’t really want to. Why the hell was he so nice? Why the hell was he so hot?

“Excuse me, I need some help,” The man at the machine next to him called out. You nodded, moving towards him.

“How can I help?”

“I’m not sure how to do these tomatoes. They don’t have stickers.”

“Sure,” You replied, stepping closer to the screen to put them in. As he didn’t step back, you kept a safe distance, reaching around him. You did your best not to make a face signaling back the fuck up but that was only made harder by his stare that you could feel on the side of your neck.

“I see you here a lot, do you get a lot of hours?” He said in a teasing tone. 

“I get enough,” You responded through a polite one.

As you finished the tomatoes, you looked up at him, “Anything else?”

“What do I have to do to get your number?” He asked. “This has to count as, like, our fourth meeting.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t give my number out to customers,” You pursed your lips, eyes flickering back to the machine. “Anything with your items, though?”

“Make an exception for me,” He said, ignoring your redirection.

“No, I’m sorry. But, if that’s it with your items, I’m going to go back over there.” As you turned around to walk back over to your station, he grabbed your arm, halting your movements. It wasn’t a tight grip at all, but it was locked. You could cause a scene, scream and draw unnecessary attention, but you opted out. You still attempted to pull your arm free, getting more frustrated as he didn’t let up.

You turned, locking eyes with him, “Let me go.” Punctuation every word, you pointed to the cameras that you were only 20% sure were actually recording the encounter.

“Let me give you my number, then.”

Your eyes once again scanned the area that apparently had everyone looking everywhere but where you were basically being held against your will. You looked over at the mystery guy who was focused on bagging his items now, holding your eyes on him longer because you really didn’t know what to do and he did seem like your closest solution without drawing too much attention. If only you knew his name. Shit. 

“I said no already, seriously, stop,” You narrowed your eyes back at the man holding you, hiding the true fear you were feeling under your skin. “You do know that this is grounds to get you banned from this store, correct? Arrested, even?”

“Come on,” He jerked you slightly and you tried again to calmly remove his hand.

“Dude,” You heard suddenly. You looked over to see the mystery guy, who you could now call your hero, beside you, bags in hand and eyes trained on the man’s now tightened grip on your arm. “What are you doing?”

“We’re talking,” He responded, releasing you within seconds, especially after the mystery guy stepped closer. You stepped back, closer to the mystery guy unintentionally.

“That didn’t look like talking, man.”

“How about you worry about your own shit?” You rolled your eyes at that, walking back over to the station. You took a deep breath, rubbing the area that had already started to redden from his grip. You didn’t look up as the two men exchanged words or when the mystery guy came over.

“Are yo- Wait, is that your manager? Should I go get him?” You followed his pointer finger then looked back down at the monitor.

You shook your head, avoiding his eyes, “I’m fine, thank you though. I really appreciated that.”

“This is your place of work,” He said, slowly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to tell someone? Give a statement or something? That was insane.”

You nodded, “It’s fine. A guy with an ego as big as this store is not worth me stressing over.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice it before, though. Is your arm okay?“ His eyes trailed down and you shifted on your weight onto your other leg, looking down at the damage, but also to look somewhere else besides his eyes.

“I’ll be okay, I’ve suffered through worse,” You gently shrugged, looking back up at him. He was already watching you and you could see his shoulders slump.

“I’m sorry, again-”

“-You are not the one who should be apologizing,” You started. “This is a grocery store, we really can’t control who comes in here.”

“They should,” He raised his eyebrows. “For your safety.”

You were sure he meant “your” as all cashiers and not just you.

You paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond, going with, “Yeah.”

“I’m still sorry that he thought it was okay to put his hands on you,” He said. You nodded slowly and he smiled then, a light laugh escaping his lips. “I hope you have a safe rest of your shift, Y/N.”

As you held eye contact, your stomach did a flip at the thought of him saying your name. It was music to your ears, and also a slight boost to your ego.

“You know, it’s a little unfair that you know my name and I don’t know yours since we’ve talked multiple times at this point.”

Adjusting his bags to one hand, he held the other out to you, “I’m Connor.”

“Well, it’s nice to finally have a name to put to the face,” You responded, returning the handshake. You cursed yourself in your head for not double checking for sweat as your hands touched but he didn’t seem to mind, if there was. In fact, all Connor could think about was the fact that you basically just admitted to him that you had been thinking about him. Or, at least that’s what he hoped you meant because that would make him feel less weird for having thought about you so much. 

This was only the third time he had seen you and you were on his mind more than he ever expected. At this rate, Connor knew he was fucked. But, he didn’t know you were, too. He didn’t know anything about you, and that was the problem.

He thought about doing it then, putting himself out there to a complete stranger, even though you didn’t feel like a one to him. Just ask for her number, he thought. Then, he remembered the asshole you had both just dealt with and decided to leave it for now. Bad timing, he convinced himself.

“I’m sorry I don’t wear a name tag like you,” He joked.

You smiled, rolling your eyes, “Yeah, lucky you.”

“I’ll see you around,” Connor then replied. “Be safe.”

“I’ll try,” You sighed. “Bye, Connor.”

“Bye.”

Watching him as he walked off, you thought back to what had all just happened. You made a note to tell your supervisor when he got back from his lunch and of course, have that man banned from the store. You also started to mentally prepare yourself for your next encounter with Connor. Connor. Now you had a name to think about during the boring hours of work.

four.

“Fancy seeing you here.” You nearly jumped out of your skin as you walked through the parking lot of the supermarket. You had the early morning shift, which was usually a graveyard, and had hoped you wouldn’t have to work too hard.

Turning on your heel, you were surprised to see Connor getting out of his car. How the hell did I miss his car right in front of me? you thought as you looked down, double-checking your appearance subtly. You weren’t a slob, especially lately since you never knew who you would run in to. Who am I kidding? This is exactly what you wanted to happen. Maybe not early in the morning but beggars can’t be choosers, can they?

“Who goes to a supermarket at 7 am?” You asked, stopping with your hand on your hip. 

The sun was shining bright behind Connor, and you couldn’t see his eyes trail over you. You looked better than he even remembered. You were wearing blue jeans that were exactly your size and since you had classes the day before, your hair wasn’t a total mess. It was a simple look but still made Connor’s breath hitch as he stood in front of you.

Much to his despise, it had been over three months since he last ran into you at the store. On top of his practices in preparation for the upcoming hockey season, he had media interviews up to his neck as a young captain in the NHL. 

You, of course, had resumed classes and worked less hours at the supermarket to keep academics as your main priority. Having only three shifts a week seemed small, but you were stressed and the semester wasn’t even halfway done. When did professors stop giving students a few weeks before killing them with assignments?

“Someone who has a tight schedule,” He smiled, walking until he was by your side. Nodding to the store, “Opening shift?”

“Unfortunately,” You sighed, nodding. 

“Well, at least you’ll be awake for the rest of the day,” He said.

“Thinking like that is the only way I convince myself to get up,” You laughed.

“How have you been?” He slyly slowed his stride as you walked towards the entrance together to prolong your conversation, hoping you weren’t running late for your shift. You noticed, and continued at his speed, biting your lip to stop from smiling.

“Pretty good, tired,” You shrugged. “How about you?”

“Same,” He laughed, putting his hands in his pockets. “How long have you been working here?”

“Like a year and a half,” You answered. “It’s close to where I live.”

“Hm,” He hummed.

“Close enough that I could walk if I wanted to,” You said. “But, also driving is an option, I guess. Not that that’s important or anything, or that you even needed that much detail.”

If it wasn’t for him standing next to you, you would have pinched yourself for how awkward you were being. You weren’t used to talking to an attractive guy this early in the morning. Or, at all.

“No, it makes sense,” He replied, laughing. “I was just asking because I feel like I would have noticed you before we met.”

“Notice me?”

He looked down at you, a smile still on his lips, “Yeah, I would definitely remember you.”

“My first memory of you is when you broke our machine,” You teased.

He rolled his eyes, “I didn’t break it, it did that to itself,” He defended. 

“Sure,” You nodded sarcastically.

“Anyway,” He sighed dramatically, letting out a laugh after. “I think that’s when I first saw you, too.”

“Now, I finally know your name,” You said as you finally reached the entrance.

“You do,” Connor responded, smiling. 

As you entered the store, you couldn’t miss your boss already waving you over with a wide smile on his face. Furrowing your eyebrows, you looked back at Connor to say bye but he moved to speak at the same time.

“We-”

“Ca-” You both froze, and you blushed under his eye. He smiled again, “You can go first.”

“No, I think you should go because I was just going to say that my boss is waving me over like a crazy person.”

Connor turned around to your nod, and you watched your boss furrow his eyebrows before Connor looked back at you.

“I was just going to say I hope you have a good shift, if I don’t see you before I leave the store.” That wasn’t at all what Connor wanted to say but he knew you had to go. And, he’d much rather ask you out when your boss wasn’t watching less than 20 feet away.

“Oh, thank you,” You smiled, oblivious to his failed attempt. “Have a good day, with whatever crazy thing has you here at 7 am.”

He laughed, “I’ll see you around.”

and, one.

Finally free, you thought as you adjusted your bag on your shoulder. You had just finished your shift, the day finally reaching 5 pm. You were on your way out of the store, waving bye to your coworkers on the registers when you saw Connor bagging items near the exit.

You noticed he was practically done and simply gathering his things together to walk out and you thought about speeding by him as sly as you could, hoping to avoid an encounter when you were sure you looked as drained as you felt. However, before you could even make a decision, he looked over, eyes locking on yours.

He smiled, brightly, “Y/N, hey!”

“Hi, Connor,” You smiled, laughing lightly at his excitement.

“How are you? Are you just now getting off?” He looked down at his watch.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for a few hours,” You replied. “More protein shakes?”

He laughed, “I’m actually good on those. I had to restock on my unhealthy stuff this time.”

“I’m surprised,” You said. He grabbed his bags, motioning to the exit. This is it, he thought. Connor heart rate quickened as he quickly went over what he wanted to say in his head.

“No one eats healthy all the time,” He said as you both walked towards the exit. “Did you drive today?”

“I did, actually. I knew I was going to be too lazy to walk after eight hours,” You admitted. “And, it’s been getting dark a lot earlier.”

“Smart,” He smirked. 

“I haven’t seen you in awhile,” You commented after a few moments. “Awhile,” meaning a little over two months. 

“I’ve actually been out of town for a few weeks,” He said. “But, I did have a question for you, so I’m happy I caught you today.”

“About the store?” After it came out of your mouth, you realized how truly stupid you sounded. Obviously not.

“No, not really,” He said, looking down at you briefly. 

“What’s up?” You asked him. At this point, you had reached his car in the parking lot, your car only a few spots down. He set his bags on the ground, slightly fumbling around to find what you thought were his keys.

You watched him, and held in your smile when he finally found them, letting out a slight breath of relief. He looked over at you, and you were caught red-handed. You weren’t sure what reaction you expected, but blushing and shaking his head was not one of them.

“Give me a sec,” He mumbled as he pressed a button on his key to open the trunk of his car. You looked over the part of the clean interior that was visible to you, admiring it.

“This is a really nice car,” You said as he placed his bags in the trunk.

“Thank you,” He said, reaching up to close it. “Can I walk you to yours?”

“Sure,” You felt your heart rate pick up as he locked his car again. “It’s just right here.”

“So, you can absolutely say no, I can take it,” He started, and you couldn’t tell if he was still blushing from a few moments ago, or maybe it was just the reflection of the headlights of passing cars. “Would it be okay if I asked for your number?”

You had enough self control in the moment to keep your jaw from falling, or your face from turning as bright as firetruck, but your words were always another thing. “You want my number?”

“Yeah,” He laughed softly. 

“Why?” The word came out of your mouth before you could stop it. You also couldn’t stop the blush then, taking a breath to push your hair out of your face, nervously. “Sorry, I mean, uhm, what-, why-”

“-Our sixty second conversations kinda have me hooked,” He explained. “And, I’d really like to take you out sometime, but obviously I wanted to work my way to that since we don’t know each other and I get that this might be weird. And, maybe you get this a lot working here.” He was beginning to ramble so he stopped, staring into your eyes to hopefully communicate that he really wasn’t some weirdo. Just a guy super into you, even though he barely knew anything besides your name and your laugh. And, so far, also your corny but admirable digs at him. 

He couldn’t help but smile when he was around you, and he really couldn’t help but want to see you outside of the store. He wanted to get to know you, and spend more time with you. He knew there had to be a lot more to you than your job.

“This does happen sometimes,” You nodded. “Usually, older, perverted guys. The occasional young guy with a big ego, really depends on the day.”

“I hope I don’t fit into either of those categories,” He laughed. “I really don’t want to overstep or make you feel weird.”

“You haven’t,” You responded quickly. “It’s okay, do you have your phone on you?”

He smiled then, reaching into his pocket before pulling out his phone. Unlocking it, he handed it to you and watched as you typed away. 

Holy shit, he thought again. It was the first time that he was ever really nervous to ask a girl for her number and he almost expected you to reject him. Already be in a relationship, or just simply not be interested. He expected the worst, just like you did.

You hoped he couldn’t see the shaking that you felt in your fingers as you created a contact for yourself in his phone. Once you were finished, you looked up to find him already watching you. Blushing, you held his phone out to him, “There you go, that’s me.”

He took his phone back, smile widening after he looked down at the screen. “Thank you.”

“I guess I’ll talk to you soon?” You suggested, finally unlocking your car.

“Definitely, I’ll text you later tonight,” He responded, stepping back a few steps.

“Okay,” You grinned, opening the door. He nodded before a smile appeared on his face as he walked backwards towards his car.

“Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye, Connor,” You responded as you slid into your car. Closing the door, you let out a breath as you kept your eyes forward to start the car.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

7.5

*** Incubus Keith prt5

Premise: Lance accidentally summons Keith

Scene: Working in a second hand bookstore Lance accidentally summons Keith who agrees to help him save his store in exchange for carrying his child. All the cliches. Lance is 30.

*

Keith had no idea what to do in an actual store with lighting that worked and actual customers. He’d tried putting meat under his arm to carry it in a way that looked a hell of a lot like shoplifting. Then Lance had to explain what different fruits were and that milk came in bottles. Being the bigger adult was only leading to a bigger headache. His tiny savings going on buying the ingredients for beef stew thinking that maybe it’d be something Keith might find somewhat normal. Paying by card led to a whole other conversation about how money could be on there, thankfully though, that conversation came after they’d left the checkout. The cashier eyeing off Keith the whole time didn’t help his mood in the slightest. He got it. Keith was unfairly attractive… if you went for that sort of thing… which he did.

Returning to an empty house was such a rarity that Lance couldn’t remember the last time it’d happened. He’d been forced to use his sad wage after his card had declined when he’d tried it. With his anxiety and working part time he received a small fortnightly payment from the government. Most of it went to wiping out his credit debt he’d accumulated trying to keep up with fashion and technology, and of course his books. Leading Keith through to the kitchen, Lance dumped the shopping on the kitchen table before letting out a sigh. A happyish sigh given he wouldn’t have to explain who Keith was to everyone immediately. The only way he could explain Keith was as friend from work…

“Can we watch a movie now?”

Oh the luxury. As much as he would love to, he had to start on dinner then check the washing machine was empty and deal with the washing if it wasn’t

“Not right now”

“Why not? You said you had them at home”

“Because I need to put dinner on to cook and do some chores. Here, you can help”

“Why do I need to help? I don’t know how to cook your weird food”

“Because this is my house and… and… it’d be nice if you could please help me”

He couldn’t tell Keith that he needed him to help cook because he wanted the company, nor due to the fact he was trying to do a friendly thing to make Keith feel better about being stuck here and felt kind of like a touch of familiarity might be good for him

“Fine. I suppose I can. Do you need me to go get anything?”

“No. We don’t need to go hunting. We’ve already been this town’s version of hunting at the supermarket. Can you rinse the vegetables?”

“Where’s the bucket?”

Taking a long breath, Lance then pulled out the vegetables

“No bucket needed, my sweet summer child. Here we use the sink and a tap”

“You have running water?”

“Yep. You don’t?”

“Not really. Shiro says…”

Keith cut himself off, Lance wasn’t about to let a chance to pry into Keith’s personal life slip by. Not when he had to share his

“Who’s Shiro?”

Keith huffed, if he had heckles they’d be up

“None of your business. Show me how to use this sink of yours”

Flicking the handle up and down, Keith drew back a little. His brow scrunched as he scowled to cover his curiosity

“So that’s how it works. You don’t need to cut them up yet, but they do need a rinse”

“All of them?”

There was no space for being a picky eater in his family. He’d brought more than enough to feed at least 10 yet doubted there’d be anything left by the end of the night

“Yep. I’m going to start browning off the meat”

Turning back to sorting out the ingredients, Keith immediately started playing with the tap the second he thought Lance’s back was turned. At least now he knew how to keep the demon preoccupied. He was as bad as his little cousins, trying to put the tap up and down fast enough to prevent anything coming out. It was kind of cute… not that Keith could be cute or anything. He was kind of a total arsehole… who only wanted him for his body. Maybe he could introduce him to the upstairs taps and keep everything Keith had in his pants safely away from his virtue? No. That was too optimistic. He needed to hurry up and make a baby with him so he could keep his damn job.

“Hey, Lance. Are you sure we need all these vegetables?”

“You’re really hung up on that, aren’t you? Don’t you have vegetables where you come from?”

“We do… but meat is better”

Lance was sure there was some joke in there about Keith’s incubus tendencies, but that would mean bringing up sex and now they were home with the house to themselves… no. Noooo. Nope…

“Vegetables are good for humans. I take it with all the hunting you do, you only eat meat?”

“And sexual energy. We should have sex again”

He’d dug his own hole on that one

“Not now. I’m busy. Plus vegetables makes the meal go further”

“But there’s meat in it, right?”

“Yes, Keith. There’s meat in it. That was why I bought so much of it. Do you do any cooking back in your world?”

“Not like this. Where’s the fire? Should I start a fire? I’m pretty good at it”

Keith would more than likely burn the whole house down proving he could do it

“No! No. I’ll show you when I put the meat on”

Seeing it’d been a while since he’d made stew, Lance pulled his poor nearly dead phone out and opened up the first link that came up when he searched it up. Not thinking about the fact it was a video, Keith growled when the channel host’s voice came through. Dear lord, Keith growled, please send help him

“Easy, tiger. It’s a video”

“What’s that?”

“It’s like a short movie”

It amazed Lance that Keith didn’t ask about what his phone was. Not that Lance knew how to describe it as anything other than magical device that was highly addictive

“You get to watch movies while I do this?”

“I’m watching to make sure I don’t mess up”

“I thought you could cook”

“I can. And I’m going to cook you if you don’t finish up with those vegetables”

“I doubt you could manage it”

“I’m not afraid to give it my best shot. I want to get this on before Mami comes home. She always adds mushrooms despite how much I hate them”

“Then why does she do it?”

“Because I’m the only one who doesn’t like them. When you’ve got a big family and you’re the youngest you don’t have much of a say. You should know what that’s like”

Keith didn’t take the bait, instead he kind of almost sounded like he cared about Lance’s feelings

“If it’s your food why share it? Shouldn’t that be your choice?”

“Maybe if this was my house. That reminds me. Mami is gonna wanna know how I know you. I’m going to tell her I know you through work, seeing it’s kind of true”

“I have to meet your family?”

“You’ll have to meet them eventually. It’s easier now than later”

“I’m not interested in them. I’m barely interested in you”

“I know. You only want your baby and to go back, but humans are tricky creatures. You have to play nice”

“You can’t snap their necks?”

“No, Keith. No neck snapping”

Keith sighed heavily, Lance now fearing all over again he was definitely going to end up dead because of him

“You have a lot of rules”

“Yep. So stop distracting me. I want to get this cooking then take a shower before I do my chores”

*

Keith turned out to be pretty handy with a knife. The pair of them working together quite well if Lance did say so himself. However, he now had another issue. His precious private shower had some how turned into an excuse for Keith to be handsy. All he could say was thank god no one was home when the demon got too impatient and Lance found himself thrown over Keith’s shoulder and carried back to his room.

With Keith’s head buried between his legs, Lance wasn’t sure how this benefited him. The way Keith was sucking on him meant the demon was about to be fed any moment now, while all Lance could do was fist his sheets at the building pleasure. Not trusting Keith not to get himself into trouble he’d had the incubus follow him to the bathroom where he was supposed to sit and stay on the toilet. Keith had given up, Lance jumping as the incubus’s hands hand slid down his hips and his lips had pressed against his neck

“K-Keith… I’m going to come if you don’t stop”

That was not the sign for Keith to take things further. Pulling off his dick, Lance was hiked up by the hips as Keith’s mouth went places he’d never thought a mouth would go. Letting out a strangled moan, he came across his stomach and chest, cum pooling on his collar bone as Keith started fucking him with his tongue. His virtue was gone forever. Packed up and thrown out to sea by this damn incubus and his damn tongue. He needed Keith to hurry up down there thanks to the intoxicating kisses they’d shared before he’d gotten all dominant and hefted him off to his room

“Either fuck me or stop… you’re killing me like this”

As Keith raised his head, Lance gulped. The look in Keith’s eyes was a base hunger Lance knew he’d just fanned into a conflagration. Growling, his voice went right down Lance’s spine

“Remember you asked for this”

With a surprised squeak Lance found himself on all fours, Keith burying his face back against his arse. He was being manhandled far too easily, Keith’s strength was terrifying when he stopped to think about things. They were going to have to set some ground rules once Keith had hurried up and given him what he needed. Wait… shit… he needed it? There was a throbbing low in his belly, like if he didn’t get Keith right away he’d literally die. It had to be the demons mark calling out for energy otherwise that would mean admitting he’d kind of loved being dicked down the night before.

The difference between Keith’s dick in his human form and his incubus form should have been massive, but no. The sting and the stretch felt like he was taking that same monster dick as Keith buried himself balls deep. The only difference was the fact that Keith wasn’t ribbed. Keith wasn’t ribbed but damn if he didn’t feel good. The lack of lube Lance could only put up to the man being an incubus

“Shit… go easy on me”

Keith’s fingers dug into his hips, Lance feeling the way the incubus’s nails lengthened pricking and scratching as Keith drew back and thrust hard

“I said go e-e-easy…”

Railed by Keith until his arms gave out and Keith’s hands were the only thing keeping him up. Lance lost count of how many times he’d come. He knew that his second orgasm definitely happened… which seemed to excite Keith and some kind of sweetish scent had then filled his senses. His dick now hanging limp, pleasure turned to a sated numbness where he had no control of himself. Whining as he tried to lift his head and failed, Lance was pulled up and into Keith’s lap. The demons legs holding his open as he lay back against Keith’s smooth chest. Sliding his hand from Lance’s right hip to his stomach, Keith let out three hard grunts in time with his thrusts before his hips stuttered. Warm flared in Lance’s chest, Lance too tired to understand. Now he wanted cuddles…

“Keef?”

“Shhhh”

Peering over his shoulder, Lance tried to follow Keith’s gaze. Something was on his chest, over where he his heart sat. Something red… and black? Was he dying? Feeling Keith shake, the incubus laughed

“You’re not dying. You’re so dumb”

Rude… and since when could Keith read his thoughts?

“You’re mumbling, fool. My mark has settled on your chest. For a crybaby who complains far too much and lacks any discernible charms, your sexual energy makes for a good meal. I never would have chosen a meal like you for myself. Now if you were more open like this you’d be much less annoying to tolerate”

He’d been complimented? That was like the nicest thing Keith had ever said to him…

“Be quite. Sleep if you must but stop talking”

Lance must have fallen asleep. When he woke Keith was playing on his phone. Groaning, his arse was throbbing like a bass dumb

“Finally. You humans sleep too much. Your mother is home”

What?! He hadn’t accomplished any of his chores and now he had a literal pain in the arse to deal with

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You wouldn’t let me see this weird thing of yours when you were awake”

“That’s because phones are a private thing here! Give me that back”

“That’s exactly what I meant”

“Keith, how would you feel if someone took your book and drew all over it? That’s how we humans feel about our phones…”

“You’re the one who said we’d watch a movie and fell asleep”

“Because you’re the one who wanted to have sex”

“I have to feed the mark or it’ll drain too much of your energy”

Dragging his sore and sorry arse up to sit, Lance looked down at his chest. The mark still red and black like he very dimly remembered

“Is it always going to look like this?! Because I’ve got to tell you Mami is anti-tattoos”

“It’ll fade. When your energy levels are low or when it’s still feeding on my energy it’ll show. You should know that”

“How am I supposed to know if you don’t tell me?”

Keith huffed at him, but Lance had bigger problems to deal with

“I’m going to go see Mami. You can either stay here or you can come meet her and get that out of the way”

“Do you want me to come down?”

“I think it’ll be easier to explain who you are now in case she sees you again and thinks you’re trying to rob us”

“Fine. Whatever. Your thing is dumb”

Tossing the phone on the bed, Lance snatched it up before Keith could change his mind

“It’s not dumb. I’ll show you how to use it properly later”

Keith sulked as he climbed off Lance’s bed, drawing his hair back into a ponytail

“Forget it. I doubt I’ll actually need to learn about your weird things. Your realm is so complicated and loud”

“Don’t get huffy at me. You shouldn’t have lost your book if you didn’t want to be summoned here by a dumb human like me. Now when we see Mami you can’t tell her about us or talk about sex. It’s a human thing… and don’t say anything about this whole pregnancy either”

Finding his cleanest shirt in arms reach, Lance nearly face planted over the pain in his hips. Keith and his monster dick had a lot explaining to do

“As if I would tell everyone. I do have my pride”

“Really? Because you seemed to love fucking with me”

“You’re passable”

Keith didn’t get it. Of course he didn’t get it, Lance hissing in his direction

“Just behave yourself and let me do most of the talking”

If only he could go back in time and not read Keith’s name… now he wouldn’t be trapped in this semi-hell with an unfairly hot and ill tempered incubus and a Christian Mami would faint on the spot if she knew he was being railed by a demon. Lord give him strength.

[nineteenninety-six]

Hidden Feelings

REQUEST:  hey i really love your posts! could i get an imagine with oscar diaz where the reader is fake dating mario (or someone else) just so the guy can get back at his ex, and oscar gets jealous but the reader reassures him to relax, it's not real and oscar can't help but hate it and ends up telling her how he feels about her? thank you!💞

Repost since tumblr sucks ass

I wasn’t very confident in writing this, so if this isn’t great, I apologize

“Please, (Y/N)! I’m begging you” Mario pleaded as he followed (Y/N) as she made her way through the supermarket.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes at him, “Angelica isn’t going to believe that we’re dating, Mario. We’ve been friends since we were babies and our relationship is that of siblings, not lovers. She knows this.”

Mario added things that he wanted into her shopping cart, causing her to shoot him an unimpressed look.

“Look, this is beneficial for both of us,” Mario told her.

(Y/N) let out a scoff as she placed a carton of milk in her cart before she continued shopping.

“Ruby told me that Oscar’s been released from jail.” Mario suddenly brought up

(Y/N) pauses at Mario’s words and blinks in shock before she turns to her best friend.

“Since when?”

Mario shrugged, “Not sure, Ruby just told me that Cesar has been spending all this time with his brother.”

(Y/N) quickly shook her head, “That doesn’t have anything to do with what you’re trying to do Mario”

“Yes, it does!” Mario throws a pack of cookies into the cart, “I’d get Angelica back and you and Oscar can finally confess to each other.”

“It was a childhood crush, nothing more.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

(Y/N) sighed, “Okay, fine but when this blows up in your face, do not say I didn’t tell you so because I did. Several times.”

“You’re the best!” Mario pressed a kiss to her cheek, “The Santos are holding a party tonight and everyone will be there, including Angelica.”

“So what time will you pick me up?” (Y/N) asked as they reached the checkout

“Around eight” Mario replies as he pays for the shopping that ended up being mostly his.

“Sounds good.”

Mario picked her up at eight pm just like he said and (Y/N) would be lying if she said she didn’t put in more effort into how she looked that night than what she usually did.

Mario noticed it when she slipped into the passenger seat of his car and gave her a smirk,

“Dressing up for Spooky?”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, “Keep it up and I’ll stop being your fake girlfriend.”

Mario’s smirk widened, “Whatever you say, babe”

(Y/N) huffed at his words but she couldn’t help the smile that came onto her face.

When they arrived at the Diaz house the party was already in full swing. People littered in the front yard with bottles of alcohol in their hands, as well in the backyard. There was also a couch in the front yard that had the top members of the Santos on them, including Spooky.

While the men on the couch greeted Mario, (Y/N) looked in the other direction, acting as if she didn’t know that the person she had a crush on since she was a teen was on that couch.

“Isn’t that (Y/N)? How you doing, girl?!” Sad Eyes shouts from the couch.

(Y/N) could no longer act like she was obvious, so she turned to the men on the couch with a small smile and joined her hands with Marios, almost forgetting that they were faking it.

“Hey, Sad Eyes”

The action didn’t go unnoticed.

All of the men but one let out oohs and jeers.

“Mario and (Y/N)? Eyyy….”

The shouts had caught the attention of everyone in the front yard, including Angelica who (Y/N) could see from the corner of her eyes.

Mario wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her an obnoxious kiss on the side of her head,

“Yup!, we realised we both had secret crushes on each other and decided not to waste any more time.”

Oh god (Y/N) was sure if she rolled her eyes again, they’d get stuck. They made their way into the house afterwards, heading towards the kitchen where the drinks were held.

“Keeping acting like that and people will find out the truth” (Y/N) muttered

“Did you see how Angelica was looking at us?!” Mario completely ignored what she said.

“Mario”

“Spooky was looking at you too!” This time Mario’s words were hushed, not wanting anyone to hear.

After a while, (Y/N) excused herself to the bathroom and when she left the bathroom she was ambushed by Angelica.

“So you and Mario yeah?” Angelica crowded close to her.

“...Yeah”

“When did that happen?”

“Not that long ago, we’re still new” (Y/N) was extremely uncomfortable

“Huh…” Angelica gave her one last strong look before storming away.

(Y/N) breathed out a sigh of relief and went to the kitchen to get herself another drink but even there, she wasn’t able to have a moment alone

“Long time no see”

It was Oscar and his presence meant that the kitchen almost immediately.

(Y/N) turned to him with a smile, “Oscar, hey.”

“How’ve you been?” Oscar moved to stand next to her.

“I’ve been good.” (Y/N) always felt at ease next to Oscar, “I didn’t realise you got out of jail.”

Oscar gave her a small shrug, “Didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

(Y/N) gave him a warm smile, “I’m glad you’re out. Your little brother needs you”

Oscar opens his mouth to talk but Mario calling for (Y/N) interrupts him.

(Y/N) pushed away from the counter and took a few steps towards her fake boyfriend before she turned back to Oscar, “We should catch up over lunch sometime.”

Oscar nodded silently and watched her leave, not hearing Sad Eyes approach him until he rested his hand on his shoulder.

“You’re lovesick hermano” Sad Eyes snickered.

Oscar rolled his eyes and moved away, not saying anything.

He hated to admit it but he was lovesick.

Instead of going out for lunch, Oscar had invited her over and cooked lunch for them. They spent the time catching up, as before Oscar’s stint in jail they were quite close.

“How long have you and Mario been together?” Oscar finally asks the question that had been weighing on him since the party.

“Me and Mario? -oh” (Y/N) let out a small laugh, “Me and Mario aren’t dating.”

“But at the party….”

“We’re fake dating” (Y/N) shrugged, “He wants to make Angelica jealous and get back with her.”

“I-... why did you agree?”

“Mostly because I want to watch Mario’s face when he realises his ‘master plan’ has failed.” (Y/N) smiled, “Mario is my best friend but he’s also a dumbass”

Oscar was relieved that she wasn’t dating Mario but he wanted to take the opportunity to finally confess his feelings before the opportunity left.

“(Y/N), I like you. I’ve liked you for a long time but never told you because I thought you wouldn’t be interested.” Oscar was straightforward with his confession but was too afraid to look at (Y/N)

“Oscar…”

Oscar finally looked up and was greeted with a beaming smile.

“Oscar, I like you to.”

“You do?”

“For years” (Y/N) snickered before pulling out her phone.

“What are you doing?” Oscar asked.

“Texting Mario that this little game or whatever it is, is over and to actually talk to Angelica.”

“He won’t be happy”

(Y/N) shrugged, “I don’t really care.”

Oscar began to laugh and (Y/N) quickly joined in.

[seanfalco]

The Going Away Party | Misfits Timeline Anomaly’verse

an oc x oc collaboration between @seanfalco & @super-unpredictable98​

Word Count: 5k Warnings: Smut, Jealousy a/n: The quad’s last night in London before starting a new chapter in their lives.

[ masterlist ]

“Okay, so... is that everythin’?” Win’s Nathan asked, trying to peer over Lyddie’s shoulder at the list in her hand.

"I think so, it's not like it's gonna be a ton of people, the flat can’t really fit more ten people sitting down, fifteen, if they’re standing up..." Lydia murmured, checking the list once again, her people-pleasing reflexes kicking in trying to remember what each of their guests liked. 

"Good thing Natty told us, I'm so happy to help you guys," she mused, following Win's Nathan while texting Win to say they would be home soon.  "I'll miss the Estate. I know we're not going forever, but it feels weird... I've been living here my whole life.

“Yeah, I hear yeh, but it’ll be a nice change of scenery,” Win’s Nathan exclaimed, pushing the trolley for her.  “I’m excited for yeh to perform,” he said, flashing her a grin.

"Me too, I think I'm kinda numb at this point, if I actually access my feelings, I might faint," Lydia laughed as she put the groceries on the conveyor.  "Do you think that's enough beer?  Should I get more?" she mused at the four cases in front of them.

“We can tell people t’bring their own too,” Win’s Nathan’s laughed.  “Oh.... shite,” he breathed, quickly ducking down behind Lydia.

"What?" she almost instinctively made a force field around them, but thankfully she held back — that would've been hard to explain.  "Is it someone that tried to kill us?" she asked, looking around.

“No, even worse!” Nathan hissed, the checkout girl giving them a strange look.  “That’s Win’s evil stepmum.  The queen bitch, herself!” he exclaimed, gesturing toward the blonde woman nearby, who bore a rather striking resemblance to her daughter, Delilah.

"Ah, who cares, I'm not scared of her... If she tries me, her and her daughter will have matching scars," Lydia said, bagging the groceries with a chuckle.  "Nothing can ruin my mood today, not even the queen bitch supreme."

“Yeah, y’say that now...” Nathan mumbled, eyeing her warily.  She hadn’t seemed to see them... yet, but with the determined way Lydia was moving, it wouldn’t be long til she noticed them, having just gotten all her bagged groceries back into her own trolley.

"What is she gonna do?  Call the manager and say 'the girl with blue hair assaulted my daughter'?  The worst she can do is bore me to death, you shouldn't be scared of a gold-digging slag with ego problems, you're basically a superhero," Lydia pointed out, turning to kiss him before loading the groceries into the car Simon managed to borrow from their parents.

Win’s Nathan spluttered, but accepted Lyddie’s kiss.  “I guess,” he muttered.  “I don’t always feel like a superhero though.”  As soon as the words would out of his mouth he swallowed thickly, Win’s stepmum having clearly spotted him, her head swiveling his way and suddenly her trolley was changing directions.  He couldn’t see her eyes behind the dark sunglasses she wore, but he swore she was glaring bloody murder at him. 

“You!” she cried, running her trolley right into his shin as he yelped in pain.  “You and you!” she amended, venom dripping from her voice as she turned her glare on Lydia.  “You’re the miscreants that got my Delilah sent to the hospital!” she cried. 

“Oh hi, Karen,” Nathan drawled, “So y’remember me?  I’m flattered!”

"Hey, Karen... name suits you," Lydia added under her breath.  She was probably the only one able to understand the joke from the future, but she didn't care.  "I didn't do anything, Delilah's mouth sent her to the hospital, it wasn't me... and if you touch my boyfriend again you'll see who goes to the hospital next," Lydia growled.  She tried to be civil, but seeing her run into Nathan like that was too much. 

"You okay, sweetie?" she cooed, running her fingers through his curls as he nursed his bruised shin.

“Oh please, he’s fine!” Karen snapped, giving Nathan a disdainful look as he pouted, rubbing at his shin.  “I want you to tell my ungrateful slag of a stepdaughter not to contact us again.  Her father was willing to overlook her past transgressions, which is more than she deserved, honestly, but no longer.  He wishes to have nothing further to do with her and it’s about time.”

"I'll really appreciate if you wash your fucking mouth before talking about my girlfriend," Lydia snapped back, flashing her a hollow grin before taking Nathan's hand to avoid slapping the woman.  "Maybe watch what your own daughter is doing in her spare time.  You know, besides committing crimes, terrorizing children... but it'll be my pleasure, I'll tell Win that her shitty family is finally leaving her alone, she'll be enthused!"

Nathan let Lydia pull him away.  He knew, though, that she was bluffing.  She wouldn’t tell Win what Karen had said, it would hurt Win too much.  She’d always held out hope that her dad might finally come to his senses and try to make up for everything, to be the dad she needed him to be, and anger bubbled up inside him. 

“But what about me?” he called, catching Karen’s attention once more.  “Am I still allowed t’call?  I mean, how else are we supposed to continue our illicit affair, Karen?  You were the best cougar I’ve ever had!  I thought what he had meant somethin’!  And now you’re just throwin’ me away like a old rag?” he cried dramatically, drawing more onlookers’ attention and causing a scene, Karen’s mouth falling open.

"Oh my God!  You're saying that you're cheating on me with this crusty old cunt?" Lydia cried, dramatically falling to her knees, crocodile tears running down her face.  "Tell me now!  She's the one who gave you crabs wasn't she?  WASN'T SHE?” she sobbed, turning next to Win’s stepmum.  

“You homewrecker, I’m pregnant with his child and you stab me in the back, stealing my boyfriend, Karen?  You'll pay for what you did, you monster!"  Lydia knew that would probably end up somewhere in some tabloid, but Karen's expression was absolutely priceless, totally worth the damage control afterwards.

Snickering, Nathan pulled Lyddie to her feet and jumped into the car, leaving Karen gaping after them as people stared and muttered behind their hands. 

“Oh my God, that was priceless!” he laughed. “Lyddie, you were amazing!  Absolute perfection!”

 He knew it wouldn’t be enough to make up for the fact that Win’s dad was finally cutting her off for good, but it had felt good to humiliate Karen one last time.

"Thanks... I gotta practice for my big Broadway debut," Lydia laughed, taking Win's Nathan's face in her hands and kissing him lovingly.  "Once we get home, Winnie can borrow my power and get rid of that bruise — speaking of that!  I don't know what to say to her, she's gonna be devastated; I wanted tonight to be perfect for her."

“Maybe... we shouldn’t tell her?” Nathan ventured hesitantly.  He didn’t want her to be upset either and he had a feeling hearing about this would completely ruin her night.

"Yeah, maybe it's best, at least for now..." Lydia agreed.  "Maybe in New York, if I were to receive bad news, I'd rather be on top of the Empire State than a flat in Wertham."

——

“Jeeze what’s taking them so long,” Win muttered, checking her phone.  She and Lyddie’s Nathan were on decoration duty while Lyddie and her Nathan had gone to the supermarket to grab the food.  Smart idea, Win thought ruefully.  Though Lydia had been teaching her some things, she still struggled in the kitchen and didn’t want to ruin the party with her subpar cooking skills.

With Nathan’s powers and Win borrowing them, it had taken them almost no time at all to decorate the flat for the party.  

"They're shaggin', they have t'be!" Lyddie's Nathan groaned, throwing himself down to the couch.  "It's almost time for the party and they’re shaggin' in her mum's car!"

“Maybe they just got held up,” Win murmured, sitting down next to him on the edge and running her fingers through his hair.  “I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

"Hey, loves!" Lydia exclaimed, shouldering open the door while carrying two huge paper bags under her arms.  "Sorry we took so long, the line was crazy..." 

"The line, uh huh..." her Natha teased, getting up to help.  "Let's pretend I believe you."

“Oh sure, like you weren’t gettin’ frisky with Win while you were waitin’ for us,” Win’s Nathan teased, carrying the beer in.

"How dare you!  We did no such thing!" Lyddie's Nathan gasped.  "We've been workin'..." 

"I wish we had time for that," Lydia mused, looking over at Win's Nathan, he was really sexy dealing with the whole Karen thing earlier.  "But looks like I'll have to wait until after the party, the guests will be here any second."

“Why didn’t we do that?” Win teased, following Lyddie’s Nathan into the kitchen to help unload the food.

"Cause I'm nervous..." he admitted, it was a little scary, every time he remembered he was moving across the world, he felt slightly sick to his stomach.  "But after the party I'll take care o'that," he pushed that fear aside and smiled.

“Aw, Nats,” Win murmured, wrapping her arms around him, momentarily surprised at his moment of vulnerability.  “I’m nervous too,” she whispered.  “But the important thing is we’ll all be together.”

Since the flat was so tiny, they only invited a few people — their closest friends, but Lydia was still freaking out.  Being anxious about being a good host, on top of leaving for New York the next day, on top of the unpleasant (to say the least) encounter from earlier made her run and hide in the bedroom for a moment, not sure if she was doing everything right.

“Hey Lyds, you alright?” Win asked, pushing the door open a hair, having noticed her hurry out of the room.

"I-I don't know... I think I'm having a little bit of a panic attack, but I'll be fine," Lydia assured her, kissing the back of Win's hands.  "Don't worry, baby, go have fun, I'll be right there."

“Are you sure?  I really don’t mind if you want me to keep you company,” Win insisted.

"Maybe just for a second..." Lydia admitted, curling up against Win, trying to breathe properly.  "I love you, Winnie. You’re amazing, you know that?  If anyone ever says you're not, the problem's with them," she insisted heatedly.

“Oh Lyddie, I love you too,” Win murmured, holding her girlfriend while rubbing soothing circles against her back.  “Did someone say I’m not amazing?” she asked with a laugh.

"I just wanted you to know, that's all," Lydia mumbled.  "You're the best girlfriend I could ask for, and I don't ever wanna be without you."  She said, looking up and placing a gentle kiss to Win's lips.

“Oh babe, you’re so sweet,” Win murmured, kissing her back as she caressed her cheek.  “I don’t ever wanna be without you either, Lyddie.”  She could hear the Nathans’ raucous laughter from the other room and was glad they were out there entertaining.  “Everything’s gunna be alright,” Win assured Lydia.  “Like I told Nathan... the most important part is we’ll all be together.”

"Yeah, that's all that matters..." Lydia agreed, getting up.  Before opening the door, she hesitated, looking in the mirror to make sure everything was in place.  "Let's do this." 

"Hey, are you okay, Lyds?" Simon asked, pulling her to the corner as soon as he noticed her coming out of the room. 

"Yeah yeah, don't worry, I was just a little scared, but I feel better now," she smiled.

Win gave Lyddie’s hand a squeeze before Simon pulled her off to the side to talk to her and she waded into the small sea of bodies, looking for a tall curly head.  

“Hey! There yeh are, Winnie,” her Nathan exclaimed, his twin not too far off.  “Where were ya?” 

“I was talking to Lyddie, she got a little overwhelmed, but I think she’s okay now,” she murmured, looking around at all their friends.  Most of them seemed to know her somehow, more like a faint memory, and though it made her a little sad to think about, it was bearable.  At least they knew her at all.

Lydia tried to forget all the foggy thoughts getting in the way and tried to have fun.  The Nathans worked really hard on planning the party, she didn't want to upset them by not enjoying it.  Grabbing a beer, she sat down with the rest of the gang and her partners.  Everyone seemed happy, chatting about anything and everything. 

"So, what are you guys talking about?"

"Not much, just gushing about you," Win answered, leaning into her side as she joined them, resting her head against her shoulder for a moment.

"About me?" Lydia blushed, laughing as she imagined what they could be saying. 

"Yeah, we were talkin' about your sexual prowess with three lovers," her Nathan mocked. 

"Nathan, Jesus Christ..." Simon shook his head with a wince.  "How many times have I told you not to do that?  I don't wanna know!"

"Actually we were talking about the musical, and how excited we are to be spending time in New York again," Win cut in, giving Simon an apologetic grin.

"It feels so odd to think about it, it's like a dream, I'm really excited, you know even in the future there has never been a female Lonny in Rock of Ages, I have no idea how this happened!"  Lydia was always so excited to talk about the musical.  She knew she’d never be able to repay them for getting her to audition.  "Of course, everyone's coming to the City to watch me when the night comes... I need everyone there," she insisted.

"Of course!" Alisha exclaimed excitedly, grabbing onto Simon's arm. 

"Don't worry, we'll make sure everyone's there, Lollipop," Win's Nathan assured her with a grin, his hand resting on her thigh. 

"Win? Hey, Win!"  A voice through the crowd drew her attention and she looked up to see her bandmate, Max making his way over.  She'd been a little surprised that the Nathans' had thought to invite him, but she was glad to see him.

"Max, hey!" she exclaimed, getting up from the couch to greet him with a hug.

"Who's that?" Lydia whispered to her Nathan, feeling just the tiniest hint of jealousy, not that she would ever admit it... 

"That's Max, th’other Nathan had the idea to invite him," he explained.  

Lydia watched that with an indecipherable expression.  She didn't really understand why she felt so off. 

"You alright?" Kelly asked, following Lydia's eyes. 

"Yeah, sure," she answered distractedly, getting up to introduce herself.  "Hey there."

"Hey!" Win exclaimed.  "Oh, that's right, you guys have never been introduced before," she remembered.  "Lyds, this is my bandmate Max.  Max, this is my lovely girlfriend, Lydia," she said, wearing a bright smile.

"Nice to meet you," Lydia murmured,  shaking his hand.  "Make yourself at home, get a drink, a snack... I think I remember seeing you at the music festival that Winnie and I played at together, is that right?" she asked, taking her seat with a smile that made Simon and Lyddie's Nathan exchange a look. 

“What's wrong with her?” Simon mouthed while Nathan shrugged, but he was wondering the same thing.

Win frowned as Lydia hurried away again before even really waiting for Max's response, but she couldn't exactly ask her about it right then. 

"Hey, Win, d'you think we could go somewhere quieter?” Max asked, interrupting her thoughts.  “There’s, uhh... there's something I need to talk to you about.” 

"Uh, yeah, sure..." Win said awkwardly, looking around for a quiet spot.  She didn’t exactly like the sound of that.

"I don't like him," Lydia announced suddenly, bouncing her leg nervously as she sat back down. "Not one bit..." 

"Aww, is someone jealous?" her Nathan teased, poking her playfully. 

"So what if I am?" she demanded, folding her arms. 

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Peanut..." Simon took her hand. 

"Yeah, the Nathans should be jealous, but you're much hotter than that guy," Alisha assured her with a grin. 

"I feel like I should be offended, but I don't exactly understand why," Lyddie's Nathan muttered with a twist of his lips.

"Don't worry, Lollipop, I may have been a little jealous of the guy back in th'day, but he's good people.  Surprisingly," Win's Nathan exclaimed. 

"C'mon, we can talk on the balcony," Win suggested, opening the sliding door and ushering Max outside.  "So, what did you wanna talk about, Max?" 

"It's actually somethin' I've been wanting to tell you for a while, and when I heard you were leaving to go to the States... well, I couldn't put off telling you any longer.”

Oh no, Win thought with a grimace.  This can’t be good.

“Winrey, I'm in love with you," Max blurted out, taking her hand. 

"What?" Win exclaimed in response, nearly ripping her hand from his.

"I've been in love with you for years, don't you remember that night we spent together once? Didn't that mean something to you?"

"Being 'good people' doesn't stop him from hitting on our girlfriend..." Lydia huffed. "Did you see the way he looked at her?  I'm telling you, I have an eye for these things." 

"Win has three partners, I think that's more than enough," Kelly laughed. 

"Wow, Lollipop, haven't seen you like this ever since Ruth..." Lyddie's Nathan taunted. "Remember?" 

"Yeah, granny fucker, very funny!" Lydia replied, shifting slightly closer to the balcony to hear their conversation.

"Max, what the fuck are you talking about?" Win exclaimed.  “I never slept with you!”

“I know we were pretty drunk that night, but you have to remember.”

“Oh my God,” Win groaned.  It must have been the other her, the one originally from this timeline before she showed up.

"I'm already in a relationship.  Please don't do this, Max," she begged, saying anything to get him to back off. 

"Do what?  C'mon Win, I know you feel something for me too." 

"Max, I—" Win sighed, unsure what else to say.  This was not the conversation she wanted to be having right now, or ever to be honest.  Max was her best friend outside of the ASBO group, and she didn't want to lose him, but there was no way she was gunna jeopardize her relationship for him, for something she didn’t do.  

"Just, please Win—" Before she could react he leaned in to kiss her.

In a flurry of events the sliding door suddenly flew open and Lydia’s angry voice echoed over the Estate.  "BACK THE FUCK OFF MY GIRLFRIEND" she cried, fuming.  

The two Nathans looked at each other surprised, Lyddie wouldn't act like that without a reason... she must've heard or seen something they didn’t. 

"You come to my flat, in the middle of my party, and you try to kiss my fucking girlfriend?  What the fuck, man?" she shouted angrily.  The rest of the gang was taken back, Simon’s eyes widening — it had been a long time since he'd seen his sister that angry. 

Turns out she did have a good eye for that stuff. 

"Get the fuck out!" Lydia snapped, pointing at the door.  "I've had a pretty hard day, I don't need this shit.  Take the hint and leave."

"But, Win, please?" Max stuttered, hesitating. 

"Max, I'm sorry, but you need t'leave," Win said, giving him a pointed look.  For a moment she didn't think he was going to, but finally he stormed out and Win slumped into the nearest chair, hiding her face in her hands.

"Very well done, Nathan, brilliant!" Lydia snapped at both of them, thought they couldn't have possibly known this was going to happen. "Very memorable last night in England!" she cried, throwing her hands up. 

She wasn't mad at Win, of course not, it wasn't her fault, though the thought of her — any version of her — sleeping with him made Lyddie's stomach churn and she slumped down next to Winnie. 

"Hey, it's okay," she whispered.  "I'm so sorry this happened, I... wanted tonight to be perfect for you."

"It's not your fault, Lyddie," Win murmured, completely embarrassed.  "I'm so sorry, I didn't think he'd... I had no idea he felt that way," she said, squeezing her eyes shut.  "I'm gunna... uh, I'll be right back—“  Before anyone could say anything more Win made a b-line for the bedroom, away from everyone's prying eyes.

Lydia was pretty much used to sharing her entire life with the gang, but she’d known them for a long time, Win had only known them since Community Service and she suddenly felt bad for making such a scene in front of everyone. "

“Winnie, baby," Lyddie exclaimed, hurrying to the door and knocking gently.  "Can I come in?  I just wanna talk and hold you, I'm sorry for all the yelling, I just couldn't help it."

“Yeah, you can come in,” Win said, her voice muffled.  As soon as Lydia shut the door behind her Win quickly scrubbed at her eyes, trying to hide her tears.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea he felt that way... I can’t believe he tried to kiss me— I can’t believe he actually thought I’d leave you guys for him.  I’m just... I’m sorry, I don’t want you t’think—“  She shook her head and sank to the bed.

"There's nothing you could've done, baby, it was completely delusional of him to come here and pull this stunt," Lydia joined Win in bed and pulled her close.  "I love you, I would never judge you because of that.  I was really jealous and I embarrassed you, I'm so sorry about that."

“You were jealous?” Win asked softly, glancing over, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Yeah, of course..." Lyddie felt her cheeks burn slightly.  "I saw th’way he looked at you, I saw you hugging him, I was bloody jealous."

“Aw babe,” Win drawled, her embarrassment forgotten for the moment.  “Is it terrible that I kinda like that?  It makes me feel special,” she laughed.  “I’m sorry, I’m terrible.”

"No, you're not terrible and you are special..." Lydia felt happy for being able to make Win smile after that shitshow.  "I just love you too much, and thinking about someone else with you made me lose it, you're mine."

“Someone other than a Nathan?” Win teased.  “I like how fiery you got babe, it was pretty hot,” she admitted, sliding her hand along Lyddie’s jaw as she leaned in to kiss her.

"I've never seen you get jealous over me..." Lydia mused, kissing her back, one hand firmly squeezing her thigh.  "But that's good to know, I should get jealous over you more often," she joked.

“I’ve been jealous before,” Win admitted softly between kisses.  “Though it wasn’t like some asshole was about to try to shove his tongue down your throat,” she said with a small laugh. “But I’ve definitely been jealous,” she said.  “It’s usually when fans flirt with you and you don’t realize it, or when guys at the bar check you out...”

"Yeah you're right, it does feel good," Lyddie murmured, using her thigh to part Win's legs, as she pushed her back, grinding against her.  "To know that you're scared of losing me, it's cute..." she moved to kiss Win's neck.  "I think we might be getting a little outta hand here, do you want me to stop?"

“No, please don’t stop,” Win moaned, tilting her head for Lyddie to keep kissing her neck.

“Win, are you oka—?!” her Nathan exclaimed, cutting off as soon as he saw Lyddie with her. “Oh! I... sorry.  I came t’check on yeh... I knew that guy was bad news!”

"Hey, go on, sit down," Lydia bit her lip.  "That is if you'd like to watch…” she drawled before turning her attention back to her girlfriend.  "Don't worry, we'll be back at the party in no time, but you gotta be quiet, okay, Winnie?" Lydia purred next to her ear, one of her hands sliding under Win's shirt as her thigh kept rubbing against her girlfriend's sex.  "Come on, baby, you know what to do..."

Win nodded, careful not to make a noise as she reached for her Nathan who joined them without having to be told twice.

"So beautiful like this..." Lyddie breathed before capturing Win's lips, one hand sliding between her legs, gathering her arousal as lube to tease her clit.  "Say you're mine, Winnie," she commanded.

“I’m yours, Lyddie,” she breathed, her breath catching, and she rolled her hips against her hand.

"You're so good, baby," Lydia pumped one finger inside of her while nipping at the tender skin of her neck.  "I love you so much."

“I love you too, please Lyddie,” Win whimpered, jumping as she felt Nathan’s thumb circle her clit as Lydia’s fingers pumped into her.  “Oh—“ she sighed, writhing at the pleasure that coursed through her at such two simple touches.

"Please what?  You wanna come for us?  Is that what you want, baby?  Cause I wanna watch you..." Lyddie added another finger, moving faster, while leaving a trail of hickeys down Win's neck.

“Yes, please, I’ll be quiet,” Win whined, threading her fingers in Lyddie’s hair, her other hand seeking Nathan’s.

"Good girl, come for me," Lyddie smirked, by now all the anxiety and sadness had faded, the only one she could focus on was Win.

As if Lyddie’s words were a switch Win climaxed, her body tensing as pleasure took over and she was floating for a moment.  When she came down from her high, her chest heaving, she looked up at her two lovers and gave a tremulous smile.  “I love you both, so much.”

"I love you too," Lydia licked her fingers clean and gently kissed Win's forehead.  "Are you ready to go back?  Can't leave Natty out there by himself for too long," she laughed.

“Yeah, you go on, I’ll be there in a sec,” Win murmured, sitting up, her eyes trailing over to her Nathan who seemed rather quiet.

"Okay," Lyddie stole one last kiss before leaving.  When she came out, she found exactly what she expected: Nathan being Nathan, cracking jokes and pulling tricks that only made everyone roll their eyes, while Lydia laughed.

“Did you ever have a thing with Max?” Win’s Nathan asked quietly. 

“No,” Win answered truthfully.  “He’s a good friend, but I never thought of him that way.  Though,  if what he said tonight is to be believed, apparently my clone from this timeline did…”

Nathan nodded reluctantly.  “Guess he’s been in love with you ever since, huh?  Or at least… well, you know...” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Win murmured.  “This is just so fucked up.” 

“I know,” Nathan exclaimed, reaching for her and Win let him pull her into his arms.  “But it’s not your fault.”

“I know, but I’m still sorry...” she insisted, her words muffled against his shirt. 

“Y’got nothin’ to be sorry for.  I’m sorry he did that t’yeh.” 

Win stayed there for a long time, just letting Nathan hold her.  

“C’mon, let’s go back out there and put all this behind us, huh?  Don’t wanna keep our lovely Lyddie waitin’,” Nathan said, pulling Win to her feet. 

“Yeah, definitely not,” Win agreed, seeming better, and they left the room to rejoin the party.

"So you were right about Max after all," Lyddie's Nathan let his head rest on her lap while they all watched a movie.  

"Yeah, as usual..." she teased.  "But I thought you were used to it by now."  She grinned as Win and the other Nathan joined them.  It felt so odd to know that tomorrow she would have to say goodbye to all their friends and her home. 

"Hey, Simon?" a voice came from the door, Max having left it ajar as he’d left and Lydia looked at her brother, tears springing to her eyes as she recognized the voice. 

"In here, dad!" he called. 

"I was hoping this was the right address, you know how I am sometimes..." 

"Yeah," Lyddie laughed as she shed a tear. 

"The car, right... I'll get the keys.  Dad, you remember my friend Lyddie, right?" Simon asked, taking her hand as he got to his feet.  "She's going to the US tomorrow to perform on Broadway." 

"Wow, that's amazing!  Congratulations!  I remember how talented you are," he exclaimed, holding his hand out to shake hers, but instead Lydia threw her arms around him.

Win watched Lydia hug her dad from her spot on the couch and she was overcome with a sudden wave of emotion. She really wished that Lyddie could tell him the truth about her identity some day.  She wanted her to be happy.  And a part of her wished that she and her own dad could work things out.  For a moment she thought about giving him a call, but what would she say?

"Do you wanna stay?  We have plenty of food and beer," Lydia asked hopefully, fixing her hair to cover the birthmark on her shoulder.  

"Thank you, but I can't, I'm supposed to pick my daughter up at the library.  It's getting a little late, don't want her walking around alone." 

"Yeah, that's... yeah, it's dangerous at night, thanks for dropping by," Lydia stumbled over her words. 

"Well, congrats again on the Broadway thing," he said, giving Lydia a tender look and waved at the rest of the guests.  "Have a good night you lot, sorry for interrupting your party," he chuckled before leaving. 

"Goodbye," Lydia waved back, falling into her Nathan's lap. "—Dad," she added softly after he’d already left.

Win looked over as Lyddie returned, slipping her hand in hers without a word and giving her a squeeze.  “Can I get you anything?” she asked.

"Just a hug," Lydia murmured, wiping the tears from her face as she took Win in her arms.  "Let's just finish the movie, yeah?"

“Of course, babe,” Win murmured, pulling Lydia into her arms.  As they watched the movie, the Nathans cracking jokes and quoting random lines Win idly ran her fingers through Lyddie’s hair, feeling strangely at peace, despite how the evening had gone.

———————-

Tag list: @magic-multicolored-miracle @santacarlahorrorshow @messengeronthemoon @the-freckled-luba @firstpersonnarrator  @spanishmossmagnolia @salvador-daley @forenschik @a-ghoulish-tale @love-is-dirty-baby @vonkimmeren  @violetrainbow412-blog

[harrison-abbott]

A Small Start

When Pat woke up he felt pretty bad. He drank some of the water from his pint glass. It gave him momentary respite. Then he was lying there looking up at the ceiling. With yellow light beyond the curtains. Dehydration across his whole body. “How did I ever get to this point?” he said, quietly, to himself. Eventually he got up. His hair swished in his eyes. Had been doing that for weeks; badly needed a haircut. His face always seemed to look worse in the mirror in the mornings. But, maybe he shouldn’t be thinking about his appearance at all. He put his coat on and walked out into the street. With a brief wonder over the daylight that smarted the eyes. Pat wished that there were some things in life that he had done way differently when he was younger. He supposed that was the irony with older age: you were more mature, now, but you wished you’d been this way, back then. Hmm. Maybe he couldn’t call himself ‘mature’. It was when Pat was bathed in the sobering sunlight that he most felt like a nobody. He walked down to the supermarket. A pair of magpies flumed overhead in brilliant black n white and he saluted both of them. When he got to the supermarket carpark he remembered the story of the man who had been stabbed here. A few years back, there’d been a stabbing. And it was odd how, when it happened, he didn’t know about it until he saw it on the news: considering how close he lived to the building. Pat went inside the market. There was an odd mixture of workers in there with different nationalities. One of them was a very pretty woman who was hard to look at. Pat wondered whether he’d ever be with another woman in his life … Maybe not. Boo hoo. It wasn’t the most important thing. Pat figured that if he could work on survival, and keep his health in check, then he could think about other things such as those. He picked up some humous and a bag of tomatoes and a cucumber. The prices had gone up 10p since last time. Inflation. Hey: at least the city he lived in wasn’t being bombed to smithereens. … There were entire sections for the Easter weekend coming up; as in, a whole cacophony of chocolate eggs. Pat didn’t eat chocolate anymore, or eggs. Though when he was a kid he used to do the painting thing with them and roll them in the garden, the hard boiled eggs. It was odd how mass atheism in this country had turned into millions of overturn on chocolate products in bulky plastic boxes, sold by among the larger corporations in the world. Pat wondered what Jesus must think of it now, if indeed he was watching from Heaven. … Pat took his stuff to the checkout and scanned the items. There was an older chap there with a white fuzzy beard, who was always friendly and chatty with the customers. Even though it seemed like such a gruelling job, you never saw him in a grouchy mood; and Pat wished he could be like that, like him, most of the time. Pat went back home, up the long road. Maybe being a nobody was fairly normal. He was only 31. He hoped he could get to the age of 40 without dying. It’s just that it was getting harder to move as fast at this age and he really had no clue how his future would play out, and it often seemed that he could use his imagination well in certain ways, but not at all in others. He got back into the house. There was no other option than to deal with his issues. He went up into his room and reopened the book that he’d been reading last night. This was a small start.                                                                 

[sneezingpotatoes]

Merry (LATE ASF) Christmas xD

Over a year late, but... You know?😂😂😂 I come baring gifts! xD Gotta keep my word no matter how long it takes lmao

Okay so I got my ex-best friend to draw Draco for me xD LOL She’s vanilla and doesn’t know about my kink so I had to kinda sneakily ask her to add the blush and stuff lmao BUT FOR THE MOST PART, this is my OC Draco xDD She did a good job with it! That’s him feeling all sickly in the story xD I might get her to draw my other OC’s too! If you want her to draw for you too or see what else she drew, her instagrams are: @ixreikoluxi and @ixreiko_luxi ((Just dont message her anything kinky LOL but she does do commissions on anime art!)) Also I tried new things in here... And there’s a lot that be happenin in this fic so hopefully it’s a good read lmao xD 

ANYWAYS MERRY (LATE ASF) CHRISTMAS AND ONTO THE FIC XD I think it’s around 15k words OvO ENJOY

December 23rd

 A soft murmur slips past Draco’s ears through the darkness of sleep, earning a sleepy snort and a shift on the couch from the sleeping drunkard. The murmur wasn’t loud enough to fully wake the hungover excuse of a man resting on the couch, but it did plant the seed of a weak headache into his temples from the lingering alcohol flowing through his veins.

“...co ... Draco! Wake up, please.” 

The gentle shaking of his arm causes Draco to slowly stir awake. The rugged man lazily blinks a few times, trying to get his eyes to focus through the dim light on the face hovering above him. He winces as he’s greeted with a sharp churning in his stomach from his heavy alcohol consumption the past few days, cursing at the situation entirely.

“Shit. Wahtimeisit..? Wahdoyouwant?” His voice was deep and groggy from sleep, words slurred from his mind and mouth both sluggish and still trying to register and function at the thought of being awake so early.

“It’s 10 ‘till 6am. I need you to do the Christmas shopping for me while I’m at work today.” The gentleman firmly instructed. Shit. He had forgotten about that. The rugged man audibly grunted, rubbing the sleep out of his tired eyes. “I left the shopping list and some money on the table. Do not forget about it, Draco. I mean it.” His voice was strict and bold, leaving a mark on Draco’s deafened pride. The gentleman locked the door behind him and was gone before Draco could even attempt to respond. 

“Could’ve at least turned off the fricken light, jeez.”

He groaned, dreading the long day of shopping he had ahead of him. Every time Reuben had asked him to go to the store for him, it was always at least a four-hour endeavor, seeing how Reuben always had items on the list that he had never heard of, and the nearest shops around his area were all unheard of and he had no idea where any of the items were. Even if he did go shopping on a regular basis, he was sure that he would still be lost in each of the supermarkets. Christmas was in two days, so that meant that everyone was out and about, doing their last-minute Christmas shopping, just as he was about to, seeing how he had waited nearly a month to even think about the list. Yeah, Reuben had warned him about this multiple times, that’s why he had made the list ahead of time, but Draco didn’t care. Well, he didn’t care until now. The rugged man cursed to himself just thinking about the long shopping list and having to deal with crowds of people. Why did he have to do all the damn shopping, anyway? ‘It’s not like you do anything all day, anyway. You just lay around or go to the bar and get drunk. The least you could do is help out around here and go to the grocery store.’ He could hear Reuben’s nagging voice already engraved into his memory. They’ve had this conversation once before, and Draco hated to be reminded of it. He sighs, shoving away the memory and slamming his eyes shut, trying to return to the peaceful slumber that he had been rudely awoken from.

4 hours felt like minutes according to Draco as he was rudely pulled out of sleep by warm licks to the tip of his nose. At first, he shoves the clever feline back away from his torso and rubs his freshly licked nose, sluggishly trying to go back to sleep. Absinthe returns a couple of seconds later, gently sitting on his chest with a soft ‘meowrr’ that makes the rugged man bat an eye at the creature.

“Jesus Christ, cut it out, will ya!?” The man grunted, remembering that he was supposed to feed the feline two hours ago, and that he probably wouldn’t hear the end of it with Reuben when he got home. She speaks again, hopping onto the floor and stretching outward near her food bowl. “Alright, alright already. Shaash, I’m goin’.”

Brain still foggy from sleep, the rugged man brought himself to his feet, releasing a loud, well-needed yawn that forced his jaw to slack all the way open as he headed into the kitchen, feeling the patient feline watching his every move. He takes the can of cat food from the cabinet and sluggishly places the food in the bowl, having Absinthe instantly begin to eat the protein packed meal.

“You’re welcome, little bastard.” He mumbled as he watched the feline scarf down the mushy substance, gliding a gentle hand behind her ears. “Must be good, huh?” It was odd. Draco normally judged Reuben for speaking to his feline like an actual person, but it was actually quite soothing to say the least, as it brought a wry smirk to his face. Obviously, he wasn’t going to tell Reuben that. The black cat abruptly stopped eating and peeked her head at the man crouched directly behind her, purring when he rubbed the right spot. He gave her one last rub before getting up to grab a change of clothes.

He called an Uber after taking a decently long, hot shower and eating a slice of cold, leftover pizza from the fridge for breakfast. Reuben was the only person with a car around here and he had taken it to work today, so he felt that an Uber would be the better option at least. The rugged man scoops the money from on the table into his pocket, grabs the shopping list and heads outside into the freezing winter air.

***

The sky was a nice dark gray, not doing the sun any favors with providing any warmth or sunlight really. There was a cold, gentle breeze that would occasionally brush through his dark black bangs and hug his neck and chest, forcing him to pull up his short jacket collar as much as he could in order to shield himself from at least some of the coldness. This would be one of the moments that he missed his trench coat and fedora the most. Reuben had made him throw the old things out entirely and get a completely new wardrobe about a week after he had moved in. He couldn’t complain; he didn’t much care about having to wear new clothes, he just wanted to keep his fedora and trench coat if anything. The sound of car tires sloshing in a puddle of rainwater catches his attention as it appears to be his Uber driver. The driver waves at his direction, beckoning him to come over.

“So, where we headed?” The uber driver asked as Draco entered the back seat.

“Just to the local shopping center up ahead. I put the damn address in the app, why are you asking me? Do your damn job.” He muttered, eyeing the long list in his hand. He’s sure that the driver said something back to him, but he wasn’t listening; He was already in a bad mood and had to prepare himself for the long endeavor ahead of him. 

The closer they got to the shopping center, the more Draco started to get annoyed. There were so many cars in the street, driving slow for what Draco thought was both to look at all of the Christmas lights and decorations hanging up on all of the lamp posts and just from the amount of people in the area period. There were so many people walking on the sidewalks with their families, friends, partners and just some walking solo; He was kind of glad that he hadn’t driven here himself. It would be hell to find a parking spot anywhere, and just hell to get out of here. He grunts to himself, noticing a few people wearing face masks that were walking along the sidewalks as well. He had forgotten that this was the perfect weather and season for people to get sick. It was probably the perfect place to get sick too, seeing how there were just so many people brushing up against one another, touching all sorts of the same products and just overall breathing the same air in general. The driver pulled over in what seemed to be the middle of the shopping center, having a giant Christmas tree on display to his left with so many bright lights and Christmas ornaments dangling from all of the branches. That seemed to be the hot spot of the entire center, seeing how there seemed to be a ton of families crowded around the tree, whether they were taking pictures in front of it, sitting and chatting, or just hanging out around the area. He paid the uber driver and exited the vehicle, instantly starting to make his way towards the nearest supermarket so that he could get out of this mess as quickly as possible.

Draco was hit with a little bit of relief when he entered the store, feeling the heat instantly wash over him as he grabbed his handheld shopping basket. It was short lived though as he saw how long the checkout lines were, and how many people were still shopping down every isle in the store. He briefly sighed, shoving all of his aggravation aside. He knew that he wasn’t going to get anything done fast if he just kept moping about the situation.

It took about an hour of roaming down every isle a few times, bumping into and being bumped into a good handful of times and scanning over the shopping list at least 30 times before Draco was sure that he had gotten a good selection of items off of the list and made the executive decision to check out. It didn’t matter which line he chose; each line was so long that it was stretching into an actual isle, causing multiple people to have to cut through every once in a while, just to get to the other side of the store. He picks the closest line to him and decides to start waiting now rather than later. Why does everybody have to be out shopping right now anyway? He thought to himself, feeling his arms starting to grow tired from carrying the heavy basket for so long. 

It wasn’t long before other shoppers began to slowly file in behind him, causing him to feel slightly uneasy from how close they had to stand in order to be out of the way of other shoppers. What made matters worse was that the person behind him sounded like he was under the weather and Draco didn’t want to be anywhere near it. The thick sniffling that was heard from behind him made Draco internally groan. Damn it, he hated this so much. The regret was really starting to sink in now. At this moment he wished that he had went shopping right when Reuben had made the list. There’s a chesty cough from behind him that makes Draco turn his head slightly enough to see a young man sniffling helplessly into the palm of his hand. He rolls his eyes, feeling like he’s stuck in his current position. He knew that he always had an option to leave the line, but he had already waited 10 minutes and he didn’t want to be there any longer than he had to. The shuffling of feet in front of him caught his attention as he followed suit and scooted forward a couple of inches as the next customer was being serviced. There were only two customers in front of him now, and he was actually standing inside of the gap with the chip racks and soda coolers; He was nearing the light at the end of his tunnel. He knew that he could wait a couple more minutes and put up with this a little while longer. That was until…

“Hh… Ah’TSSCHiuh!!” 

The loud sneeze from behind makes the rugged man flinch, feeling a gust of air and cold spray instantly hit the back of his neck. He slowly turns around completely this time, bringing a hand up to wipe where he had felt the sickly spray come in contact as he was greeted by a young man with short brown hair, sniffling and wiping his nose onto his jacket sleeve.

“Oh, come on, man! Are you freggin serious?!” Draco yells, feeling disgusted and aggravated at the stranger. The outburst causes a handful of eyes to veer over to their direction. The younger man could only give a sheepish smile in return, feeling way beyond embarrassed and nervous of what the rugged man would do.

“I, uhh… I’m sorry, man! It’s just allergies! ‘Tis the season, right?” The young man said with a pleading smile and nervous laugh, trying his best to ease the rugged man over. Allergies my ass. His voice sounded thick and strained just from that apology alone, and Draco already knew what this meant. He looked like a walking germ cell; ain’t no way that’s some goddamn allergies. 

“Un-fucking-believable.” He muttered, looking at his hand in disgust. He was furious way beyond comprehension, but he didn’t want to cause a bigger scene than he had already. For this kids’ sake. The young man pulled out a pack of tissues and handed him one with a shaky hand. “Where the hell was this at before you fucking sneezed on me?!” His voice was loud with anger again as he snatched the tissue out of the man’s hand and wiped his own in disgust. The younger man quickly fumbled into the packet again to grab his own tissues as his eyelashes began to gently flutter shut. 

“Ah’TSSCHiih..! Ih‘TISShiEW!!” 

The cans and bottles in his handheld basket clanked against each other as the young man jerked forwards, diving into his hand full of tissues as his bangs bounced off of his clammy forehead with each itchy explosion. He would’ve crashed into the chip rack if not for the kind stranger behind him. Draco was relieved when the customer in front of him was beginning to load the belt with his items, allowing him to scoot up some again. It was short lived though, when the young man also scooted up behind him, sniffling and coughing so close in his ear it felt like he was practically shoulder to shoulder with him.

Finally, after a few more minutes of waiting, it was Draco’s turn to quickly checkout and instantly leave the store. The cold air greeted Draco once again, but he didn’t care this time. He was just happy to get out of that store and separate himself from that walking germ infestation. His arms were already starting to get tired even though he had two more stores to visit; He just wanted to go home honestly and take another hot shower to cleanse himself. It was about a ten-minute walk to get to the next store on his list. The fresh air was really nice, but it was awfully cold and starting to loosen up his sinuses. He had to sniffle every few seconds just to try and prevent his nose from leaking onto his numb upper lip.

His second shopping experience was pretty similar to the last store, minus the disgusting event, but the process went by faster than he had thought it would, and for that he was grateful. He peered down at the shopping list once again, having a wave of relief brush over him from seeing the small handful of items that he had left to get: Cranberry sauce, Asparagus, wait… Proscouittio? What the hell was a proscouittio? The rugged man sat down on the nearest bench, allowing his arms to rest by setting down all of his grocery bags onto the cold concrete as he pulled out his cellphone and dialed up the pediatrician.

“Hello? Draco?” The smooth and concerned voice of the gentleman was heard on the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, it’s me. What the hell is a pro… scouittio?” The rugged man asked, voice still coated with irritation from having to be out shopping. He snuffled twice into a curled knuckle, giving the underside of his nose a quick wipe after feeling a faint burning at the back of his sinuses from the cold air. A light chuckle is heard on the other end from the gentleman.

“It’s prosciutto, not proscouittio.” Reuben corrected through a light snicker. Draco snarled, irritably bringing his phone closer to his mouth. 

“If you’re going to laugh and make fun of me, so help me God I swear I’ll hang up right fucking now and blow this money at the nearest bar in sight.” His voice was dry and grim, causing Reuben to stop his chuckling instantly. The rugged man snuffled thickly again, lifting up his arm to briefly rub his leaky nose along his jacket sleeve this time. 

“Okay, okay, calm down. There’s no reason to get all riled up.” Reuben’s voice had a naturally childish glee to it today that forced Draco to ease up a little, even if he didn’t want to. “It’s a thinly sliced ham. Very delicious. You can find it at Scardello deli a little way east of the Shopping Center. Oh, and Draco, make sure you’re reading all of the ingredients carefully. My parents are coming over and it has to be correct.” It was hard to pay attention to Reuben, seeing how his nose would not stop running no matter how many times he wiped at it. He had to keep sniffling to himself in order to barely keep the leakage at bay. He audibly sighs, as he felt his inner nostrils begin to tingle from the cold air just enough to make his chest bounce with a muted hitch.  “—And a block of Gruyère cheese from the deli too, please.” There was a moment of silence before Reuben realized that he had been talking to himself for the past few seconds. Another muted hitch escapes from Draco as his nose and lips began to quiver uncomfortably from the subtle itch. 

“Hehh…” He could feel his eyelids start to droop closed and his shoulders begin to rise from the third inhale that was audible this time and forced him to bring up a shaky hand to squeeze his nostrils shut with his thumb and forefinger. 

“Hello? Draco? Are you there—" The hitch only sounds like a soft grunt to Reuben as he is unable to hear clearly since Draco instantly pushed the device deep into his chest as he jerked forwards twice.

“Kxxnt… Hhuh-… Eh’GSXnt!” The first sneeze was weak and soft enough to go unnoticed, but it made the gentle tingle in his sinuses rattle, causing the second sneeze to sound a bit more agitated and loud enough to get picked up on the line.  

“Oh? Bless you, Draco. Are you alright?” Reuben asked, voice clearly coated with concern. The rugged man barely caught the sentence as he brought the phone back up to his ear, sniffling a handful of times into his curled knuckle.

“Yeah, ‘s just cold as hell out here. What were you talkin’ about?” Draco muttered, massaging the bridge of his nose with chilled fingertips.

“I said I need you to pick up a block of Gruyère cheese from Scardello’s Deli for me while you’re out. I must’ve forgotten to put it on the list.”

“Jeez, I need a drink.” Draco groaned as he massaged the bridge of his nose in irritation of the new item added to his list this time.

"Tell you what: I'll pay your bar tab for all of the hassle you're going through today, even though all of this could've been avoided had you listened to me." Reuben offered, mumbling the second half of his sentence in a matter-of-fact manner. Draco didn't care though. He was sold on the 'pay your bar tab' part.

"You've got yourself a deal then." 

“Good. Oh- And Draco, be safe out there. Don’t stay out in the cold for too long. Make sure you’re keeping wa--” 

“Tch.” Draco instantly ended the call after he irritably smacked his lips, ignoring the pediatrician’s advice. He didn’t need to hear something he already knew and was well aware of. Reuben wasn’t his parent. He knew how to take care of himself. The rugged man quickly stood back up in a huff and headed straight for the second to last store on his list. 

The next store that he needed to visit was a fresh produce store. Reuben was very picky about the ingredients that he needed. He always wanted it to be organic and to be from a certain brand, which was very annoying and very time consuming to find. If he had been lazy and just brought home a random brand of the product, he knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it from Reuben. Draco didn't know why the hell he cared so much, seeing how it all tasted the same to him anyway. What was the point? It was all food; one just costs more than the other.

The list was growing shorter though, and it only took him about half an hour to find the ingredients that he needed, and checking out was a breeze. The only place he needed to visit was Scardello's Deli. He was glad that this was his last stop though. He was growing rather hungry and decided to take this opportunity to grab him some lunch with the leftover grocery money, if he had any.

Upon approaching the Deli, his heart instantly sinks from how many people are inside of the deli, and just from seeing all the tables outside being filled as well. For a brief moment he had forgotten that it was almost Christmas and that the piles of people showing up to this Deli wouldn't be an exception. Scardello's was also a popular Italian deli, famous for their tasty, high quality ingredients; seeing this many people here on an average day wouldn't be surprising either. You'd be lucky if you didn't have to wait in a long line that extended outside of the store.

Draco quickly stepped in line, wanting to save his place before someone else had the chance to and began the waiting game for the last time. He was happy, seeing how after he was finished shopping here, he could finally go home and he also had free alcohol on his waiting list. It wasn't too bad though. He enjoyed the scent of freshly toasted bread and the savory scent of spices that were infused into the meats. This was the best experience he had today for waiting in a long line, even if he had handfuls of groceries in his hands.

After waiting for about 20 minutes in line, it was finally his turn to order and he was relieved. There was a big glass full of different types of meats on display in front of him, all looking very delicious, but he points to the specific type of prosciutto that Reuben had asked for, along with the block of Gruyère cheese. The cashier nods to the rugged man and repeats the order back to a couple of workers that were slicing meat in the back as he pressed a few buttons onto his register.

"Prosciutto di Parma. Good choice. Delicate to the tongue and sweet to the taste." The woman behind him stated as she approached the meat display and stood beside him. She held her black suitcase to her side as her long, white lab coat flapped behind her as she turned to study the rugged man standing in front of her. "Hmm... You don't look like the type to eat anything close to prosciutto... Who sent you?" She mused, chuckling to herself as she saw the confused, and now irritated glare on Draco's face. The rugged man furrowed a brow at the lady, feeling offended by her choice of words. ‘Look the type’? The hell does she mean by that? 

Her long, brown hair seemed to flow vibrantly behind her back, naturally complimenting her dark, purple orbs while she looked at the display case full of meat. She was actually very beautiful in Draco's eyes; he had to force himself to shift his gaze so that he didn’t end up staring for too long.

"I gotta $62.60 for a Prosciutto Di Parma an’ a Gruyère ." The cashier stated through a heavy Italian accent that instantly snagged Draco's attention and brought him back to reality. Over $50 for just some damn meat and cheese? What has the world come to, he thought to himself. 

"U-uh, yeah, and I wanna add your uhh... Italian Sub. That should be cheap enough at least." He muttered, dazed by both the woman still hovering over his shoulder and the price of the meat as he fumbled into his pockets for the leftover grocery money. 

"Ey, Giuseppe, put his order on my ticket." The woman stated as she gently grabbed his hand in order to prevent him from scrambling for the lose bills in his pockets any longer. “Grazie mille amico mio.” Draco gave the woman both a confused and disapproving look in return but she brushed it off as she placed her own order on top of his. 

“Nessun problema. Qualunque cosa per mia sorella!” The cashier replied with a smile as he typed away on the cash register. 

"The hell d’you think you’re doing, lady? I have the money to pay, you know." Draco muttered to the woman with shattered pride after she had placed her order. The cashier had told them to stand over to the side as they began preparing their food.

"Mm-hmm. Oh I'm sure you do." She said with a flirtatious grin. Draco couldn't tell if she was joking or if she was just being sarcastic. Or both. The childish tone of her voice reminded him of Lirin a bit, and made him unintentionally release an agitated sigh. "Nobody in their right mind walks into Scardello's with pocket change."

"Listen, lady, pocket change or not: money is money. Don’t give a rats ass about how it looks." Even though she was very beautiful, her beauty didn’t seem to filter Draco’s mouth nor his personality. He could care less, really. She could’ve been Beyonce in a two piece and he still would’ve said the same thing. 

"Hm. Touché." She muttered, giving the rugged man an approving nod before giving him a light punch in the shoulder. “Can you not call me lady though? Don’t you know how rude that sounds?” 

"Do I look like a fuckin’ mind-reader? I don’t know your name, lady.”

“The name's Sicily." Her response came out awkward sounding as she fought to keep herself from actually socking him in the shoulder again. “Gaash, do you kiss your mother with that potty mouth?” 

"Don’t you ever mention my mother ever again, you got that??" He mutters intensely, having the cashier interrupt their conversation with two bags of food in hand. 

She awkwardly thanked the cashier and gave him a tip before leaving the Deli. Draco followed her outside over to a wooden bench a few steps away from the Deli as she sat down and separated the food between both of them.

"Y’know, you’re being kinda rude to the person that just bought all this food for you. Here." She said as she gave him the bag with freshly purchased food inside. "That one's yours." Draco accepted the bag in silence as she taps the bench and invites him to join her and have a seat, in which he distantly accepts. The two sit in silence for a good few minutes before Sicily decides to cut through the tension. “I didn’t catch your name earlier...” She mumbled into her sandwich before taking a bite out of it. 

“... Draco, I guess...” He replied annoyed, only staring at his sandwich rather than eating it.

"Well, Mr. Draco... You’re an asshole, you know that?” She stated through a soft chuckle after hearing Draco release a loud, obviously aggravated grunt in response, “An attractive asshole, I might add. And honestly, you just have the manliest resting bitch face I’ve ever seen--” 

“What the hell are you getting at here?” 

 “You wanna know why I paid for your meal? I just wanted to make that sour face at least a liiiittle bit sweeter, you know?” The rugged man gave a perplexed look towards the woman sitting beside him. It felt weird hearing a woman speak so openly and without a filter just like him. 

“...Shut up...” Draco half-muttered after an exhausted sigh, before finally taking a bite out of his sandwich. 

“You’d like that wouldn’t you? Too bad. I’m not a sheep. I don’t follow orders.” She mused with a dorky accent, surprisingly earning an unexpected chuckle from the rugged man. He wasn’t expecting such a resilient response. He had to admit, she was a cute, quirky, and geeky person that made his heart flutter the more he talked with the woman. 

The two sat on the bench oddly enjoying each other's company and eating the delicious Italian lunch for about half an hour. Even though it was really cold outside, it didnt matter to them. It felt like Draco was genuinely having a great time with Sicily and he didn't want it to end. You might even say it was a first date at that. She seemed to be the only person that could get underneath his thick skin and actually make him chuckle, multiple times at that. Wait a minute, what was he thinking? It couldn’t have been a date. They were simply just having a decent lunch together. That was all. 

The half hour feels like seconds as the time flew by, though. They had already finished their lunch and Draco knew that he needed to get back and put the groceries away. Sicily seemed like she had her own plans to get back to as well, seeing how she was the one who had cut the event short. She did feel awful about ending their moment, so she paid for his Uber and waited with him until the Uber arrived to take him home.

***

Draco had an odd, empty feeling resting in his stomach as the Uber pulled up to Reuben's home. He was glad to be home and to have all the shopping finished; It felt like a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders, but he still missed the company of Sicily. He thanks the driver for the ride after he collected all of his belongings and started for the front door, heaving all of the groceries along with him.

Draco raises a curious brow as he sees Reuben's car in the driveway. It was out of the ordinary to see Reuben's car here at this time, because he normally didn't come home until late at night. The rugged man adjusts the bags in his hands, dismissing the fact of the car being there only to be halted by a stray dog crossing his path in the driveway.

The dog looked like a black and brown German Shepard, but it had a deep cut along its left eye and it was faintly shivering from the cold winter air. Once Draco made eye contact with the canine, it slowly sat down and wagged its tail, patiently waiting. For what, Draco had no idea. He had seen this dog before. Multiple times at that. Reuben would always chase the dog away with his shoe whenever he saw him on the porch, but Draco never understood why. The rugged man cautiously approached the injured creature with a struggling hand to scratch behind its ears and the dog instantly dropped its mouth open and let its tongue hang out, clearly enjoying the attention and feeling of affection.

"You like that, dontcha boy?" As if in response to Draco, the dog barked and hopped up to place his paws onto the rugged man’s chest, trying to lick his face. Draco chuckled at the friendly creature and gave it a hug as he couldn't resist the poor, abandoned animal. He knew how being cold, lonely and abandoned felt and how much value was in the slightest amount of affection. He wasn’t fast enough to dodge as the canine licked his cheek a few times. "Okay, okay, down boy! Get down!" He had to force the dog down, seeing how the canine was overly excited from the rugged man and his attention. "What’s your name, anyway?" He muttered, trying to find a collar or dog tag on the animal, only to find nothing. The stray dog sat in front of the rugged man with excited eyes. It was hard for Draco to look back at the poor animal, but he knew that he couldn't take him into Reuben's house. The pediatrician had mentioned that he disliked dogs with a passion; for what reason, Draco had no clue. He gave the dog one last good rub and slipped past him in order to get to the front porch. The dog only sat in place, watching the rugged man as he stood on the porch, glaring back at the stray dog with guilt. “... You know what, fuck it.” He says as he grabs a slice of the prosciutto and tosses it to the stray dog. Immediately, the dog grabs the meat and runs into the grass, tearing the meat up and swallowing it savagely like he hadn’t eaten in a while. ‘You enjoy that, little buddy.” He whispers before sliding into the house. 

***

Draco released a light sigh as he was relieved to be back home and outside of the cold. Before he could enter the kitchen to set down the groceries, Reuben arose from the couch and greeted him with a cheerful grin.

"Welcome back, Draco. I assume everything went well?" The gentleman grabbed a few of the bags from the rugged man and led him into the kitchen.

"Yeah, but- wait, why are you home right now?" Draco asked, confusion coating his voice, as he sat the bags on the counter and began to take all of the items out. Reuben gives a slight chuckle as he takes the empty bag from Draco and throws it in the trash.

"I couldn't have you here while I wrapped up all the Christmas gifts, now could I?" He said, pointing at the elegant Christmas tree that now had multiple gifts resting underneath it. Draco rolled his eyes, aggravated at the fact that it would’ve been a whole lot easier if Reuben would’ve taken him to the store in the first place. “Oh, relax, would you? I thought I’d find you wearing an ear-to-ear grin from the clean slate you now have at the bar!"

"... Fine, just whatever... There better be a flask full of booze under there or you're catching fists." He falsely allowed the joke to slip off of his tongue, forgetting that he wasn't outside with Sicily anymore. Reuben doesn't mind though, and takes it as him finally getting into the Christmas spirit. "What's with the sweater?"

"Oh this old thing? You like it?” Humors Reuben as he stretches out the sweater in order to show off all the glowing Christmas lights and decorations on it. The rugged man only gives a disgusted look in disapproval at the ugly thing. "It even lights up, s-see?Ihktsh!" Reuben furrowed a confused brow as he barely caught the abrupt sneeze into a curled knuckle, feeling an overwhelming itch force entry into his sinuses and cut his shirt viewing short. 

A sharp, breathy inhale was the only thing Draco heard before he looked over to see Reuben twitching forward with each rapid sneeze, catching them with the top-side of his hand. "Hih-Ktsh! Hihktsh! Hh-Hihh! Hih'KSsh! HuhISsSCH'ue!!" The power of the tickling sensation was so strong and abrupt that his lungs didn’t know how to function properly with the irritant fighting in his sinuses.

He knew the feeling of this type of tickle. It wasn’t from sickness, nor from hay fever, and his house hadn’t been dusty enough to irritate him the past few days, so it could’ve only been one other thing.  A handful of muted gasps escape from the gentleman as he could feel his sensitive nose trembling in agony. 

“Hh-have youhh beenn playi’gw-wihh-hih! Wid dohh-gs??” The pediatrician struggled to ask between hitching breaths as he grabbed a few tissues from off of the counter with one hand and pinched his nostrils closed with his other hand. 

“Yeah, so what if I did?” Draco fired back, defensively as if the stray dog were under attack by the evil pediatrician. The gentleman only blew his nose in return, shaking his head from how intense the tickle was becoming. He instantly shuffled backwards after he blew into the handful of tissues for a second time, foolishly trying to expel the irritant as quickly as possible, only to rattle the irritant around and get hit with the full force of the tickling sensation. He coughed and fanned at the air as if doing so would remove the irritant that forced his nostrils to instantly tremble in aggravation. He could feel his body rejecting the irritant fiercely as his eyelids instantly slammed shut once again and his chest visibly bounced from the rapid, overwhelming breaths his body felt were necessary to take between each desperate sneeze he lazily caught in the handful of tissues. The sudden irritant caught both him and his body off guard as it physically tried to process what the devil Draco had brought into his presence. 

“D-Dr-a’KSh!Ihktsh!! Huh’kSsh!! I-Ihssh’uehh-hih! HihH’ksh’u!!… I-Ih-hhehh-HH…” Reuben barely squinted his eyes open to share a struggling glare with Draco, trying his hardest to speak but failed miserably, getting lost in his own sea of rapid hitches. The strength of the irritant forced the pediatrician to instantly jerk forwards into the damp handful of tissues with rapid, itchy explosions. 

“Hihktsh! Kshnt! IhKTSH-tsshIISsh! AlleH-Hh’Issh…! T-tIDSh’ue!! Hehh…D-dohhgs-s Hhgh-ihkssh’u! hHAH-ESsh’uekgshu! IH’KGshIEw!! Iksshu! Kgshu-IKGSshu!” The gentleman's body trembled with each sneeze as he struggled to take in a breath of air. He had foolishly tried to speak in-between the fit in vain as he had cut himself off with the rapid, tumbling sneezes. 

The rugged man gives Reuben a questioning glare as he released four more tired sneezes in-between desperate nose blows and irritated coughs into his handful of tissues. He didn't know that Reuben had a dog allergy; He also hadn't played with the canine for that long either, so he was confused as to why Reuben was having such a reaction.

"I'm a-allerhh-hih... Hahh...! Ihktsh!! Hheh'kssh-ISshu! 'EDSh'ue!! Ekgsh!! IsshShishh! IGSSch'uh! Hahh... Allergigk do dogs." He congestedly tried to explain again through disruptive hitches. 

Draco could see the pediatrician's pink tipped nose still twitching from the irritant lingering about as he dabbed away the allergic tears that started rolling down his cheeks with the side of his hand. He gave a sly smirk to himself, finding a hint of pleasure in seeing the arrogant pediatrician looking so vulnerable. It was nice to see Reuben knocked off of his high horse for a bit. 

"Well in that case, I want a dog." Draco humored to the pediatrician as he watched him still trying to catch his unsteady breath.

"Hah’KGshn! Ihgsh! Kgsch! H-how consihhderate o-of... Ih-Kgsshn! Hh-huh... youhh." His speech was still shaky and broken from the faint hitches riddled between his words. He blows his nose once again in an attempt to blow out the irritant that had entered his nostrils, but it does nothing but dampen the tissues further in his hand.  

 The gentleman irritably tells Draco to finish putting away the groceries and to throw his clothes into the washer as he left the room to take some allergy medicine, already beginning to feel miserable. He also couldn’t help but give a little chuckle to himself, finding the whole situation to be quite humorous. He only wondered how bad it would be if Reuben were to actually encounter a dog in person. 

The hot shower that Draco had been waiting for all day finally came and went, leaving him with a strong feeling of relief and relaxation. It felt like ten pounds had been lifted off of his shoulders, seeing how he still felt disgusting from that irritating encounter at the store. Reuben seemed to be feeling better as well, since he had stopped sneezing when he got out of the shower. He had to admit: The Christmas vibes were definitely present from both the nicely decorated Christmas tree and all of the decorations Reuben had been putting up all over the house. It was his first Christmas with the pediatrician, and it felt like it was going to be a great one at that.

December 24th

The loud clank of a pan serves as a rude awakening for the rugged man as he flinched awake from the couch. He tries to open his eyes but instantly slams them shut with a heavy wince from the blinding living room lights. A few light coughs escape from his grasp as he sluggishly wiped the sleep from his eyes. He felt groggy today. Groggier than usual. He releases a sluggish snuffle in an attempt to clear the wall of congestion that must’ve built up overnight. 

“Evening, Draco.” The lanky gentleman greeted from the kitchen, adding water to a pot before placing it on the stove top. “A pleasure to see you awake. I surely thought you were going to sleep the entire day away.” The rugged man remained silent as he blindly reached for his flask from off of the coffee table and instantly began consuming the alcoholic beverage, only to choke on the burn in his throat. That was strange. He thought that he was used to the burn of a little Whiskey. “How many times have I told you to stop drinking in the morning?” The rugged man winces, trying to clear his throat of the itch and now faint burn from the alcohol.

“Mornin’ to you too, asshole.” He muttered dismissively, hearing his own voice sound a little scratchier than usual. “HhUh-TDZSSH...!! EHh’GTSZSHh’UHH!! GOD--!! Damnit!!” He barely catches the first loud sneeze into the cup of his hand, almost spilling his flask from the force of the second loud sneeze that shakes his entire core. He yells a swear, feeling the most torturous burn scrape his raw throat from the loud morning sneezes. 

“Ah. Lovely.” The sarcastic tone from the gentleman earned a pained chuckle out of Draco as he struggled to choke down another swig from his flask. “I’m expecting company over soon. I’d recommend getting dressed and presentable.”

“Dressed and ‘presentable’? Screw off.” Reuben only sighed in return, not in the mood to put up with Draco’s shenanigans. A mild yawn escapes his lips as he glares at the clock resting on the stand. “3:30pm? Shit.” He mumbled as he rubbed a hand across his face in an attempt to wipe the sleep away as he got up to join the pediatrician in the kitchen. There were a lot of different foods scattered across all of the kitchen countertops with other food items cooking on the stove as well, and he was sure that he saw something baking in the oven. “Why the hell are you makin’ so much food?” Reuben abruptly stopped cutting the vegetables on the cutting board and sat his knife down in order to share a confused glare at Draco. 

“Draco, my family is coming over for the Holidays, remember?” His heart instantly sank after hearing those words. He had forgotten about Reuben’s family coming to visit. He dreaded this day as well because it was going to be the most awkward day of his life, which was probably the reason he had forgotten about it in the first place. “You do remember, don’t you?”

“HhUH-EGTSsh!! Y-yeah, sure. When are dhey cobin’ a-adywayhh? IH’TIZSSCH'ugh!! Shidt.” He asked between the forceful sneezes, dismissively trying to hide the fact that he truly had forgotten about his parents coming over. The gentleman raises a concerned brow at the second pair of harsh sneezes and gives the rugged man a quick gloss-over. 

“My blessings. Are you feeling well, Draco?” The pediatrician doesn’t hesitate to shove a cool palm underneath the man’s disheveled bangs and atop his clammy forehead out of his routine pediatric habit. “You look exhausted. Then again, when don’t you look exhausted?” Draco flinches and knocks away Reuben’s hand in return, before taking another swig from his flask. 

“’M fine. Your snooty parents must be talking about me already.” He humored, but not really. He didn’t want to offend the gentleman, but they both knew it was obvious. Reuben brushed off his comment, not disputing it either, seeing how Draco could’ve been right. His parents were a bit snobbish and he wouldn’t be surprised if they actually were talking about him right now.

“We agreed on 4pm, but knowing my family they’ll probably be knocking on the door any minute now. That is why I’d strongly advise getting dressed.” The rugged man leaned against the countertop in silence for a moment, trying to find at least someway to get out of this pickle he was forced into. 

“Why the hell do I gotta act all nice and prissy just to impress your damn parents? It ain’t like we gettin’ married.” He irritably muttered into his opened flask, dreading the evening he had to prepare for. The pediatrician took a moment to compose himself, trying not to let the stress of the day wash over him and cause him to say or do something he didn’t intend to. 

“Draco, can you please just wash up and get dressed? Don’t make this difficult. You can leave for the bar right after, I don’t care, just don’t embarrass me, please?” Draco gave the man a questioning look. He hadn’t heard the pediatrician ask him to do something in this pleading tone ever. It was... different. A bit concerning. 

“Whatever...” He grumbled, silently slipping out of the kitchen and leaving the pediatrician to continue cooking the feast in kitchen.

He had to admit that he was a little nervous about meeting Reuben’s family. If his family was as arrogant and uptight just like he was, it was going to be a long evening. Especially if Reuben was acting this way about his parents, something was definitely going to go down. He did seem like the type to have parents with high expectations and standards, which Draco knew that he wasn’t qualified for. Even though Reuben was how he was, he didn’t want to leave a bad impression on his family, but he couldn’t make any promises either. He knew that he was going to have to prepare himself to probably listen to his parent’s brag about how much money they make and how proud they are to have a Pediatrician as a son. He released a long sigh as he collected a some-what clean outfit, completely ignoring the pressed suit and tie that Reuben picked out for him, and headed into the bathroom. 

***

Draco took his time in the shower, not wanting to leave the bathroom at all and face a room of strangers. He already started to feel slightly worse from when he had woken up, seeing how his nose had begun to leak and itch more profoundly and his throat was really becoming agitated. He could already hear a few unfamiliar voices carrying into the restroom that made him uneasy. He was a complete stranger getting dumped into a family meet and greet. He knew that he would feel out of place and like he didn’t belong but there was no way to escape. All of his guests had already arrived and were chatting up a storm in the other room. He could make out Lirin’s high pitched voice, which gave him at least a little bit of comfort, but the other few voices made him release a tense sigh. This was going to be weird, but it was better to hurry up and get this over with now.

Draco slowly opened the bathroom door, deciding that it was time to leave the steamy bathroom so that the stuffy, warm air could stop making his nose leak so damn much. He carefully peered down the hallway, instantly being greeted by unfamiliar faces. There was a man with brown hair and glasses in a dark suit, looking like an older version of Reuben just with stubbles on his chin that was having a conversation with a mature woman, looking young for her age, with long, luscious brown hair; They looked like they had professions related in business or sales.

“Speak of the devil, that must be the man of the hour! My son here’s been tellin’ me all about ya!” The man in the suit said with open arms as Draco approached the group. He instantly pulled the rugged man in for a tight hug that took the breath away from him and caused him to cough over the man’s shoulder. “Don’t be shy! We’re all family here.” After a brief moment, he finally let go and gave Draco a good look over. “You look well! Seems like you’ve made yourself right at home.” The rugged man remained silent, unsure of how to respond to the sudden change of tone from his last sentence.

“Oh, don’t mind him, honey.” The woman said as she straightened up Draco’s shirt. “Donovan’s always been such a hard-ass to all of Reuben’s new friends, haven’t you, Donny?” She said, abruptly giving Donovan a death glare. “My name’s Colette.” Before he could even reply to the woman, Donovan stepped closer to Draco with judging eyes.

“I just don’t want my son to have any bad influences or distractions. You know how it is.” Draco took an uncomfortable step backwards, feeling the tense atmosphere weighing on his shoulders. He already felt like he was being pulled in both directions from both parents. The rugged man froze, feeling like the dark glare from Reuben’s father was judging his every move and action. He curses internally, feeling his nose start to run again, knowing that he can’t do anything about it at this moment.

“Dad I’ve told you countless times, he’s not a distraction. I’ve been doing just fine even with him here.” Reuben said through an irritated sigh as he stressfully massaged the bridge of his nose. Donovan instantly approaches Reuben with a stern voice, clearly not fond of the entire situation. It seemed like none of his words were getting through to him.

“Mmm. And just how long does this Draco plan on staying here?” The rugged man forcefully took this opportunity to turn around and grab a few tissues and wipe his nose, before the leakage had the chance to become visible. A hint of relief crosses over him as he quietly blew into the tissues. It was a soft enough blow to the point where it didn’t draw any attention away from the conversation.

“Ease up, darling. It’s Christmas. We came down here to enjoy the holiday with our son and niece. Besides, Draco looks like a responsible young man. If our son says he’s fine with him being here, leave it at that.”

“Yeah, Draco is SUCH a RESPONSIBLE young man.” Lirin childishly chimed in, hugging Reuben loosely from his side. “You should see how RESPONSIBLE he is when he’s drunk.” She smirked. Draco bit his tongue, trying his best to catch himself from saying an angry remark. Just hearing her sarcasm made him clench his teeth.

“Is that so…?” The voice of a clearly intrigued and curious woman fills the room as Sicily enters the house and locks the door behind her. “We’ll have to grab a drink later.” She flashes Draco a charming wink that makes him instantly look away.

"Sicily, darling! We thought you wouldn't be able to make it! What a pleasant surprise!" Colette exclaims in surprise as she embraces the woman. “Is that alcohol I smell on your breath?”

"Mom, relax. What are you, a police officer? It’s Christmas!” Sicily’s entrance cuts through the tense atmosphere as she gives Donovan, Reuben and Lirin a hug in greeting. “Anywho, don’t be shy now, Draco, was it?” She gave the rugged man a playful nudge in his side as she pulled him over onto the couch. Draco doesn't fight her as he allows himself to be forced down onto the couch, feeling both relieved that he got snatched away from the demonic man, but also, dare he say 'happy' to see Sicily for a second time. "Some parents, huh?" She says after observing Draco's facial expressions. "I know. Dad can be quite the handful. Just make sure mom doesn't get a hold of any wine, or that could be a real shit-show." She giggled to herself as she kicked off her boots. “Last year, mom had a liiiiittle too much of the holiday nog and almost broke all of my drinking glasses. Wanna know how? She was throwing them at pops for losing 10 grand in one of his stock investments.” Another, louder giggle erupts from Sicily, earning a darted glare from Donovan towards Draco. 

“Um, excuse me everyone. Dinner is almost ready, so if you all could please relocate to the dining room…” Reuben muttered, placing the dinner rolls on the table.”

  ***

“Honey, this looks delicious!” Colette exclaims, looking at all of the food Reuben had prepared. It did look delicious. How one man could make so many different dishes all by himself beat Draco. He did a really nice job with everything, but of course, he wasn’t going to tell Reuben that.

“Let’s dig in!!” Lirin exclaimed before instantly chowing down on her over-piled plate. She was the first to make her plate before anyone else cold even touch the food.

There were so many silverware and differently sized plates on the table and it made Draco squirm internally. It felt like he was being setup. He and Reuben both knew that he didn’t have any knowledge about dining etiquette, or any etiquette in general. Hell- he doesn’t even know the name of anything that’s on his plate! He’s sure that everything on the dining table was fancy and had a L or Lu in front of it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Reuben’s family called their glasses of water: L’agua. 

The rugged man watched as all of the family members delicately picked up their proper utensils and began to elegantly cut and eat the food on their plates. It was like he was in the realm of gods and goddesses and he was the only human in sight, attempting to mimic their custom. Even Lirin somehow managed to mask her gluttony. It was hard to even think about eating, seeing how he could barely survive the coldhearted looks that Donovan was darting his way. He could tell that he was subtly watching him, waiting to see which utensil he would pick up first and judge him if he grabbed at the wrong one.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Draco?” Reuben’s mom gave him a concerned look as she noticed he hadn’t touched his plate. “Your food will get cold soon. It really is good, I promise!” 

"Mom? Please." She whispered, feeling insulted. "Hey Draco, wanna blow this joint and go get some drinks? Lirin tells me you're a real drinker."

“I thought you’d never ask…” He replied with a nervous laugh, giving Reuben almost a puppy dog look of ‘please let me leave, this is my only escape.’ His parents tried to talk them out of it, but of course, Draco can’t be talked out of consuming alcohol.

***

 The music being played from the piano at the back of the bar rang blissfully in their ears as they entered the bar. It wasn’t too crowded, surprisingly. A soft aroma of alcohol filled the air as the two slowly approached the counter. There was a nice Christmas tree set up near the piano that lit up the room, with a male bartender wiping out a glass behind the counter.

“How can I help you?” The man said as he tossed the towel onto his shoulder and sat the glass down onto the rack.

“Let me get two shots of Bourbon for me and my friend here please.” Sicily ordered as she took a seat on the bar stool. The bartender nodded in understanding as he grabbed a bottle and started pouring the alcohol. Draco hesitantly sat down in the stool beside the woman, still tense and a bit uncomfortable with going into a bar with the pediatrician’s sister. “Relax, I just want to loosen up and have a couple of drinks with you.” She muttered, pulling out a cigarette from the paper carton and resting it on her rose red lips. She shared a short glance with Draco before it was awkwardly broken by the rugged man pretending to clear his throat.

 As the night went on, the fuzzier his head was beginning to feel. He had only had 5 shots and he could already feel himself starting to get a little more than tipsy. It was weird; Usually he could down more shots than this without feeling a buzz this early on. He could hardly think, let alone keep up with what Sicily was saying, not like what she was saying mattered, anyway. Draco was sure that she was one shot away from being completely plastered, seeing how her cheeks were flushed and her words were so slurred that it was a challenge to understand a word coming from her.

“It’s nice to let lose every once in a while, and take a break from all this classy shit.” She says, hoping to break the tension while allowing a long sigh to escape from her lips, causing a stream of gray smoke to bounce off of the counter-top and disperse into the air.

"You're tellin' me..." Draco muttered, grabbing the shot glass from the bartender and immediately scarfing it down like it were a dose a vicodine. "I could barely manage back there."

"Yeah..." Sicily distantly mutters, glaring down at the shot glass in her hand for a moment before irritably scarfing it down as well with haste.

“HhH’EGJISCH…!! ‘EGSSCHIUH!!” The rugged man dove forwards over the counter, holding his glass of whiskey away from him in vain so that hopefully it didn’t spill when he jerked forward with both of his itchy explosions. “O-oh shit! *hic*” He yelled with a breathy chuckle, finding humor from both Sicily’s laughter and the discovery of a small splash of alcohol that had spilled onto the counter from his glass. Sicily had toppled over onto the drunk man’s chest in laughter, struggling to breathe from how hard she was laughing. Draco’s own laughter abruptly stopped as the burning in his nostrils was still intense and flaring about.

“HhUH…!!” He sloppily leaned backwards with a deep inhale, barely able to stay upright from the weight of Sicily leaned so close up against him. He can feel his nostrils trembling in irritation from the burning as he slams his eyelids shut and dipped forwards again, slamming his glass onto the counter-top.

“Hhih…! Hhg’TIZSSCH’uhh! *hic* h-HUhgDzZSSCH’uhgg!!” His reflexes aren’t in tune from the alcoholic fuzziness as he is slow in turning his head away from the drunk woman. The first sneeze flies over Sicily’s head and lands on the counter-top, but he is able to partially turn his head over to the right and aim the second slurred mess of a sneeze towards the ground. Sicily shrieks in surprise from the two loud sneezes, feeling his chest tense up and shove her forwards, but she instantly smothered her chuckles into her hands as she pulled away from Draco and took a sip of alcohol from her shot glass. The rugged man brings up a sluggish, curled knuckle to lazily wipe underneath his faintly twitching nostrils, only to feel how moist and leaky they had been.

“Sh-shidt… Hheh…” He tries to cup his hand in order to lazily cover the disgusting mess on the lower half of his face, but before he can even ask for a tissue, his chest inflates quickly, forcing him to lean back once more with a disturbed grimace on his face. “

Sicily sloppily reaches into her purse, fumbling over herself as she takes out her handkerchief and shoves it into his cupped hand.

“Pineapple!” Sicily yelled abruptly, before he could even finish the oncoming sneeze.

“HhUHh’G-ghhn…?” The forceful hitch is instantly interrupted as his fuzzy and sluggish brain tried to wrap his mind around the randomness of the word pineapple. He sat there for a moment, confused, still waiting for the impending sneeze but the tingling in his sinuses had slightly died down to a quieter itch at the back of his nose.

“Ahh YEP, works everytimee.” She tiredly mused, downing her last shot of whiskey. Two hiccups escaped from her mouth once she downed her last shot and she giggled to herself before she flipped the shot glass upside down onto the counter.

“I use’to do thaht with Reuben when he’ws younger. That boy hadth’ most sensitive nose I’d ever seen. Once he start’d sneezin’ there was no goin’ back. ‘less you yell ‘pineapple!’ a’the right time. That’ll do it.” She muttered, fighting the effects of the alcohol that were trying to make her pass out on the counter-top.

"Hey... I wann' tell you somethin' an... An' you bettnot l-laugh..." The rugged man rubbed his face, feeling his mouth and tongue gradually becoming numb. It was definitely weird. He was feeling a lot of things tonight, both good and bad. He looked at Sicily with tired eyes, watching her back rise and sink with each breath she took as she rested on the counter with her head faced down in her arms. She grunted softly, as if signaling to Draco that she was still listening. "I... I r-really like you, you know tha?"

"Oh, that's nice. Me too." She muttered, giggling softly in her folded arms. At that moment, Draco's heart flew out of his chest as he struggled to sit upright.

"I'll have the ramen too. No eggs..." She weakly reached out to grab Draco's arm and shook it gently, "Please no eggs. I don't want eggs." He sighed and rolled his eyes, realizing that Sicily must've been talking in her sleep.

   December 25th 

“Hhg’tdsszhh! ‘Egsschh!!” The two tired sneezes were lazily stifled and released into the air as he shuffled around covered in his soft blanket in which he wore like an oversized jacket. He gently scrunches his nose around, feeling the tickle remaining at the same strength. He was lifelessly lying on the couch, too fatigued to do anything. Too exhausted to even sniff away the wetness leaking from his sore nostrils. What was the point? He had been sniffling and snuffling all night; every time he sneezed, the wetness quickly returned anyway. He was so congested to the point where it sounded like he was inhaling pudding every time he took a breath. The room was still dark, besides the random flashing lights of the elegant Christmas tree in the corner of the room. He audibly winced from the pressure pounding in his head with the pulsing of his veins. Drinking alcohol all day probably wasn't the best call, he had to admit. He felt so worn out and tired but he couldn't fall asleep; Not even the word Christmas could bring his spirits up. He snuffled lightly, too exhausted to even sniffle as hard as he needed to. His body tensed up reflexively as a shiver crept down his spine, forcing his body to quiver every once in a while. Blankets. N-need more blankets. A-and huhh-

“Draco…? Are you up?” The soft, sleepy and tender voice of Sicily cuts through his suffering as he can just barely see a thin figure slowly approaching from down the hall. She slowly made her way over to the couch and noticed the poor, sickly body lying there in pain. Her sleepy expression changes instantly to concerned when she observes the sick body closely. “Draco, you look horrible!” She exclaimed in an intense whisper, not trying to wake up the sleeping pediatrician. She held his clammy cheeks and frowned, giving them a smooth rub with her thumb to clear the sweat away. “You’re boiling! And-- Oh...”

"Ehh'hoOo! Hh-hih- HIH'gdzssh!" He can feel his cheeks start to blush a light pink as he barely realizes that he had sneezed on Sicily's neck and chest; He wanted to pull away but he was too exhausted and fever struck to do anything.

“HEH'Ssgk! ’M-m alrigh’. ‘ll jus’… Jus’ do the sleep. EEH'HooOgk! Hih'gSHUHhgk!Tiredhh…” He muttered, finding it complicated to compose the proper sentences and to communicate in general. At this point, he had partially given up stifling, forcing his sneezes to sound like a mixture of a cough and a mild yell. Sicily gave him a worried look, finding it odd to see a person so delusional and out if sorts. She was too worried to feel disgusted.

“Hey, Draco! Wake up! I ne...ed you t.. sta... Awa... Ke..!"

Draco wasn’t sure what dimension he had stumbled upon, but he couldn't hear or see Sicily anymore; He felt like he was asleep but at the same time, he wasn’t sure if he was. The blackness around him began to swirl into a spiral as if he were entering a portal, and before he could comprehend what was happening, he was back home in his old house. All the lights were off in the house but the single overhead kitchen light, which severed as a homing beacon to the rugged man. There was a tall, slender woman that stood hovering over the stove, humming an all too familiar tune.  

“Mm?” The woman slowly turned around to face the rugged man as if she were moving through molasses. The crimson locks resting beneath her shoulders dangled behind her back as she gave him a pained smile. “Just in time for dinner. Have a seat.” The bags underneath her eyes were complimented with a subtle dark circle, indicating that she had been overly exhausted and worn out for days on end. “Dinner’s almost ready.” 

“N-no, I...” Something isn’t right. Before he could do anything, the creaking of the front door catches his attention.

“M-mom...?” His words came out sluggish and muffled, as if he were moving in a time warp. With each hesitant step he took, the world around him blurred and swashed around, colors blending and smothering each other like dye on cake batter. The single word that he spoke seemed to echo for ages and bounce off of the walls and floors with a weird reverb like they were in a mutated cave. 

“You heard your mother, boy.” A dark tone from behind brings a boil to the blood flowing throughout Draco’s veins. He knew that voice all too well.  “Sit like a good dog.” 

“You...” He clenches his fists, feeling all of his uncontrollable anger rising to the surface.

“Draco. Draco, get up! Draco--!?”  He could barely hear the screams of his mother behind him as he was too busy dashing towards the figment of his father with a bawled fist, ready for a solid punch.

“I’LL KILL YOU!! YOU FUCKING MONSTER!!!” His own battle cries begin to drown out the loud crackling of the now roaring fire engulfing the walls and flooring. The dark, bulky body in front of him kept a cool smirk on his face, even in the given situation, which angered the rugged man and the fire even more.

“Draco, stop it!! Draco--!!!” The fear-filled screams from his mother began to cut in and out, almost mutating into the worried screams of the pediatrician.“Draco!!! Stop! Wake up! Blast--, he’s not responding!” Reuben yelled as he was holding on to Draco’s arms.

“We need to get him into some cold water, NOW! Start the bath!” Sicily nodded and darted for the bathroom, immediately starting to fill the tub with the coldest water she could. "Draco, you're hallucinating! WAKE UP, DAMN IT!" There was a slight shakiness to Reuben's voice as he struggled to pin the rugged man down. He had been in situations like this before and seen it plenty of times, but something about seeing Draco in such a broken state filled the pediatrician with more than just a little worry. 

“I-I’ll fucking--... Kill you... I swear it...”  The rugged man exhaustedly muttered, trying to punch the air but failing, since Reuben was holding him down in place.

"Reuben, the tubs halfway full!" Sicily yelled from the bathroom. The pediatrician signals for her to come and help him drag the sick corpse into the bathroom, in which she doesn't hesitate to do.

He was a tall, heavy and sickly thing. It took them a while to get him off of the couch with him fighting the two while weakly kicking and punching at the air as if doing so would hurt his invisible enemy. You could imagine how tough it was for them to force him into the bathroom, let alone the freezing bathtub.

"Help me get his shirt and jeans off..." Reuben muttered to his sister as he forced the rugged man to sit down on the toilet lid.

"W-whahd are yhou d-doig, pervert?!" Draco yelled, eyes sluggishly tracing the room and barely staying open. "G-Gedhh... HEH'Gdzsshiew!" The sneeze sprays the pediatrician’s pajama shirt as he temporarily flinches in disgust, but he doesn't let it bother him. He's in pure focus mode, as a trained pediatrician should be. "EHHgtsshnk!! Thad's whad you ged, b-bast.. bah.. heh-"

"Don't mind him, Sicily. He'll be fine." He says, noting Sicily watching with an expression on her face that he couldn’t read, but mainly to himself to give him some sort of relief while dealing with the given situation. He bites his lip, having mixed feelings about the situation. "L-Let's get him into the tub." The two nearly shove the rugged man into the cold pool of water, causing a lot of it to be spilled onto the bathroom floor. It only takes a second of being in the freezing water for him to snap out of it and realize where he was. Reuben sighs, feeling his heart nearly beating out of its chest. He had never seen Draco in such a state before in his life, and it worried him more than any patient he ever had. “Could you use this cup and pour some cold water over him?” He says, handing Sicily the small cup. “We still need to cool his body temperature down before he overheats. I need to go ge… some water. T-towels…” Before Sicily can even say anything, Reuben darted out of the room and closed the door behind him. She knew exactly what that meant.

“I need to ge… some water. T-towels…”

She heard him repeat it in her head. The tone in his voice when he said it. The strain and slight shake towards the ending. The pause in between and after. She gripped the cup tighter in slight anger. Two loud coughs from the rugged man jolt Sicily out of her own thoughts and redirect her attention. She can’t help but give the rugged man a good gloss over. He was visibly shivering in place, causing little ripples to bang against to tub walls. He looked like a dead corpse that still managed to breathe in her eyes. His red nose didn’t even attempt to hold back the sickly fluids that dripped down onto his chin and bare chest. He was too cold and out of it to care or do anything about it. She could see a tinge of black starting to linger underneath his eyes and his cheeks looked like pieces of cotton candy against his ghostly pale skin. She dipped the cup in the water on his side until it was submerged in the water and poured it over his head. He didn’t even flinch. He was probably too dazed to even feel the cold water, she thought to herself.

“… ‘ts c-cold m-mom-mm…” He barely mutters through chattering teeth, slowly closing his eyes and leaning back into the tub. Sicily immediately drops the cup and grabs the rugged man before his back can fully sink into the tub.

“Draco! Hey-hey, you have to sit up! Look at me!” She says, voice sounding strained from pushing the rugged man forward to sit upright. Draco doesn’t respond, allowing his body to fully go limp into Sicily’s arms. Sicily grunts, barely being able to keep Draco above the water from her current position. She hunches over the bathtub, trying to find the right position to comfortably hold Draco upright, but falls forward into the cold water on top of him. She releases a heavy exhale from the abrupt submersion in cold water and immediately pulls Draco’s upper half out of the water and into her chest as if he were hugging her. The rugged man takes in an immediate deep gasp and releases a handful of wet coughs over her shoulder, shivering like a madman. The woman gives a soft smile to herself, feeling the grown mans body tremble underneath her arms. She allows her fingers to rest on his clammy back, enjoying the feeling of his body up against hers so tight and closely. She closes her eyes, feeling warm from both Draco’s body and the happiness and comfort of Draco’s embrace. It felt as if time stood still for ages as the two leaned up against each other in the tub. Draco’s body had calmed down from the event, besides the constant sniffles, and they just sat there together. Holding each other. 

“S-Sicily…” Draco’s faint whisper barely cut through the thin silence.

“It’s me, Draco.” She whispered back softly, still resting her head atop of Draco’s shoulder and hugging him. The rugged man slowly pulled away and nuzzled their foreheads together. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the company of the rugged man. She moaned softly, feeling the warmth from his forehead rub against hers. The warmth from his fever radiated off of his face against her skin, summoning a faint smirk to cross her lips. She can feel her heart race a little from the shift in the room as she feels a cold hand rake through the side of her hair. She flinches as the cold water from his hand drip down her left side. His hot breath comforts her as she smells a hint of Marlboro and leftover booze beam closer. She can feel his shaky breaths get stronger and closer as his warm lips come in contact with hers. He gives her a long peck on her soft lips, allowing her body language to convey to him if he should stop or proceed. She gasps internally, half knowing what was happening and half not. She doesn’t fight it though, and brings up a hand to trace a line down his chest as he pulls her closer and gives her two more deep kisses. He can’t help but moan as she gently pushes his head closer to hers. It was a very intimate moment, that’s for sure. If Draco had any questions, they had all been answered right now.

He slowly pulls away and nuzzles her forehead again, allowing them both to catch their breath. Sicily’s eyes were locked onto his as she seductively licked her lips, signaling that she was ready for more. He swallows down a cough as she leans up against his chest again, but this time, pushing him back and forcing him to lay his back against the curve of the tub wall. Draco is caught off guard by this action and flinches, uncertain of what she was going to do next. He can feel his heart begin to race as she starts to give him kisses on the top half of his chest.  Once she reaches his neck, she rests her body on his and starts to give him pecks all over his face. She reaches his nose and gives it two pecks, feeling her insides start to get all warm and excited.

Her adrenaline was rushing all over for many different reasons. She knew about Reuben. She knew about him being gay and she knew about his sneezing fetish. She knew he had the hots for Draco way before he himself probably did. She knew that something was off when he said he needed to get some water. He couldn’t handle Draco sneezing on him or him being practically naked in the bathtub. She herself didn’t have the fetish, but she was overly curious about what was so appealing about it. She couldn’t knock it until she tried it at least; she was already in the mood to get dirty with Draco. It did give her a rush knowing that she had the man Reuben had his eyes on. She was doing things to Draco that Reuben would probably never get to do. Draco sneezing on him was probably the closest thing he would ever get. 

“S-Sicily I—… Hh…” He whispered weakly, closing his eyes and slowly lifting a hand to his face. She immediately grabs his wrist and shoves it back down into the water and holds his other hand hostage under the water as well.

“I know.” She says, watching his red, glistening nose twitch above her. Another peck from Sicily occurs on top of his nose. She can feel his chest rise with another weak inhale. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. Just sneeze.” Draco snuffles twice, giving Sicily a confused glare.

“W-waih wah?” He says, trying to lift his hand again only to have Sicily press more weight down against it and prevent him from doing so.

“You heard me.” She reaches her head up to Draco’s, using her nose to lightly rub against the moist rims of his nose to try to coax out the sneeze before he can say anything else.

“B-but I ne—” Sicily shushes him and pecks him on the lips before continuing to rub his nose in different patterns and speeds. He produces two loud snuffles, sounding both thick and wet, which creates a spark in Sicily’s eye. “W-wa- HhiH… Hih! W-wahd are y-you HiHh…. Hh-doig??” He manages to say before tilting his head back against his will, involuntarily trying to escape from the induced tickling sensation on his already sensitive nose. She reaches up to follow him, giving a subtle giggle, enjoying the chase.

“Stop fighting me and just do it already.” She says as she can feel his chest practically jumping with each stuttered inhale. Cold, clear sick coats the tip of her nose as she feels his nostrils twitching up against it. She knew that it was building up in there to the point where his nose was crying and leaking sick tears for a release.

“HhuH! …. Hh-hUh! HhIH!” She tightens the grip on his wrists in anticipation, feeling slightly aroused by it all. It was like waiting for the inevitable. A devilish smile creases her lips as she watches the rugged man’s face grimace in torment. He snuffles thickly a few times in vain, as the sick just leaked immediately back down anyway; he just accepted the fate of not being able to use his hands. He felt awkward not being able to have the freedom to cover his mouth. He wanted to turn away from her but he knew that wasn’t what she wanted. He curses mentally, feeling a little embarrassed but more irritated with the pestering itch in his sinuses.

“HIH… HHIH…! HHG’TIZGSSSSCHK’ughh!” She slams her eyes shut and flinches hard, unprepared for the sudden cold spray of sickly fluids. She wasn’t sure what position she was supposed to be in for the actual sneeze. She was too intrigued by the satisfaction of him suffering with his nose to think that far ahead. But this was something… new. “H-HUhgDzZSSSGCCH’kguhgg!! ‘HEEHGSSZCHH’uhh!!!” The second batch of mist sprays her face and she can feel glops of sick make contact with her face and chest that start to slowly drip down. At first she’s disgusted, but she is oddly satisfied in a way. The third sneeze hits her back-to-back with a new batch of wetness, and by this point, she feels like she’s being rewarded for her good deeds. A subtle moan is released, more to herself as she realizes that she liked it more than she thought she would. “Eh… HehhgKSSZCHHh’kt!!” She squirms, feeling a rush when his body jerks underneath her from the harsh coughs that follow; the rattling coughs remind him of how much he feels like a pile of crap all over again. Sick was all over both of them and he knew it. It was hard not to hide all of it, especially since he didn’t have his hands to cover or wipe away at it, and his nose was practically drooling over her nose tickling his. There was bound to be a lost of discharge. He can feel his cheeks start to flush a dark red from embarrassment as he tries so hard to sniff everything away. All he wanted to do was get out of the bath and hide on the couch. “S-sorry.” He mutters between sniffles and nose twitches, feeling slightly guilty as he tried to clean himself up without his hands.

“Thanks.” She says, kissing his now sick coated lips and giving him a smile. “Now I know.” Draco pauses for a moment, surprised at what he was hearing. Was he still hallucinating from the fever?

“Huh..??” He says, overly congested, trying to clean himself up with the bath water now that his hands are free.

“Now I know that you are the one… And this secret stays between us.” She said with a final kiss before getting out of the tub. The whole time she dried herself and left the room, Draco was still sitting there dumbfounded, overly confused about everything. He didn’t know how to feel. He was happy that he pretty much made out with his newfound crush, but… What the hell just happened??? Was any of this real..? N-no… It couldn’t have been…

“… I need to go the fuck to sleep…” He muttered before sinking into the tub again

***

“Reuben, I don’t care! I wanna open gifts now!” A loud, high-pitched voice rings the ears of Draco and causes him to stir awake against his will. “We’ve waited long enough! It’ll be New Years if we wait for him to get up!”

The rugged man sluggishly cracked open an eyelid to be blinded by the Christmas lights from the tree and the fire in the fireplace. Someone must’ve moved me back onto the couch… What the fuck… Immediately he feels his nose start to run like a faucet as he tries to sit up on the couch. He grimaces when his body aches and finds it a challenge to even sit upright. He sniffles a few times, trying to stop the leakage but it does nothing but make the sick dance around in his nostrils before returning back to the same spot it was in before so he just gives up and lets it stay there, too fatigued to attempt to blow his nose or wipe it. His heart skips a beat as he notices Sicily lying on the floor right beside the couch.

“Look who’s awake!” The pediatrician says, relieved to see him up and at ‘em. “Did we wake you?” Draco only sniffles in return, feeling grumpy and too sick to respond. He just wanted it to end. And by it, he means everything. This damn cold, flu, whatever the hell that kid gave him, Christmas, this day, pretty much EVERYTHING. Just leave him alone. “You should go back to bed and get some rest if you still aren’t feeling that well, Draco.”

“I wahs tryig do before your loud ass woge be ubp!” He yelled congestedly, coughing into the blanket right after. He winces, feeling his entire body feeling sore; inside and out. It felt like his whole body would break if he coughed or sneezed again.

“Okay, okay! Everybody calm down.” Reuben says, looking more towards Lirin as she raised a fist to him. “Don’t get too riled up, Draco. Your body is still recovering.” The rugged man leans back into the couch feeling defeated and overtaken by pain. He just wanted someone to put him out of his misery.

“I… I deed sobe paid bedicinde.” He mumbles through wet sniffles, sounding clearly beat down and worn.

“I’ll get them.” Sicily says, stretching from the floor before Reuben can leave the room. He freezes for a second but then nods in acceptance for her to get the meds. She returns a moment later, with the bottle of NyQuil and pours him a cup.

“I deed like… dhree o’ dhose…” He mutters through a strained voice as he shots the cap of medicine down.

“You ‘deed’ to blow your nose.” She jokingly mocks, pouring him a second cap full of NyQuil and handing him some tissues. He snuffles dismissively and jokingly steals the cap, chugging it down and returning it back to her with a mumbled ‘fuck you’ under his breath. She giggles, feeling slightly relieved that the old Draco was starting to come back a little. Reuben distantly watches the two from the distance, feeling a little excluded and odd. He knew something was going on here, but he wasn’t sure.

The gurgling sound in the tissues grabs the attention of the entire room as Draco gives one good blow into the handful of tissues. One blow and that’s it. Fuck it. He was too tired and that single blow took the wind and force away from him. He weakly coughed a few times into the tissues and threw them onto the floor, immediately sinking back into the couch.

“Let’s do the fucking gifts so you assholes can get out and leave me the hell alone.” He mutters, voice barely audible.

***

The gift exchange was fun for the most part. Everyone was having a great time except for Draco of course. Everyone seemed happy with their gifts. Reuben bought him a brand-new motorcycle so that he didn’t have to Uber or wait for him to drive him around. Lirin bought him a book on tips for being sober. And Sicily went out and got him a new flask with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a pack of Marlboros. One thing he could say was that this was the first Christmas that he had in a long while that actually felt homie. And it was the first Christmas that he had been too sick to participate in the festivities for.

“Alright Draco. Thanks for being apart of our Christmas and opening the gifts. We’ll get out and let you rest.” Reuben says, watching the NyQuil already start to take its’ toll.

Reuben and Lirin walk out of the room, leaving Sicily and Draco together again. She was sitting beside the rugged man on the right side of the couch. They sat together in a peaceful silence, besides Draco sniffling every couple of seconds. He didn’t mind her company. If anything, he was glad that she decided to stay.

“Alright, you’re tired. Time to go back to sleep.” Sicily says as she tries to get comfortable on the couch. “Come here.” She gently tugs on his arm for him to come closer to her on the couch. He exhaustedly obliges and nearly collapses into her chest, shifting around to get comfortable in her embrace. She blushes a little, feeling his head resting on her chest. Best Christmas gift ever, she thought to herself. She closed her eyes and raked her fingers through his damp hair, massaging his scalp as she tried to fall asleep wit the sick rugged man. She cracks an eye open as she feels the rugged man shift uncomfortably in her embrace and freeze before lightly jerking forwards twice, releasing two weak sneezes aimed at the floor.

“Hhuh’kgDTzsshn! Eh’Dsschkn!” The two weak sneezes take whatever energy he had left and he doesn’t even sniffle, feeling his entire body becoming too tired to do anything at the moment. He can only release a shaky exhale and collapse into Sicily’s embrace. She smiles, feeling overwhelmingly happy at the situation.

“Merry Christmas to me…” She happily mutters to herself before joining Draco in a long, well deserved sleep. 

END. 

Hopefully it was worth the wait LOL XD A lot is going on in this fic but I like’d working on it even though I had some intense writers blocks lol xD Like I said, I’m working on like 5 different fics all at the same time hahaha so hopefully I can post those because I been writing a lot, just not all on the same fic ahaha.

[something-tofightfor]

You already give a lot of detail in STC storyline, but - without giving too much away of course - I would love an oversight of Logan’s developing feelings & attraction for the reader from when they met in the supermarket, then the hotel, when they kissed, their relationship as it stands now. Can he see them together in the future? Also - a snippet of his conversation with Juliet about the NDA? - or does that fall under your series NDA 😉☺️

These are all really really good! And I can’t say too much about any one of these things, because I might go through and write specifically from Logan’s POV for the things you mentioned.... but: 

When he met Reader in the store, he initially thought that she was trying to get his attention because he was Logan Delos - but he was pretty quickly able to see that she hadn’t recognized him right away. It was a relief for him, and it was a welcome break for him to interact with someone like that in a casual way.  When she realized it was him at the checkout counter? He was even more relieved that she didn’t make it a huge deal, and still joked with him instead of getting starry eyed.  The hotel ... was a shock to him, because he wasn’t even supposed to be there that long, and then him choosing to stay instead of going home to an empty apartment led to him getting to talk to her more. 

There was definite attraction when he saw her in the store, and then again when she was a little more “put together” for a night out with her friend, but the thing that Logan likes most about her is her honesty. She looks good, and she’s friendly and she’s nice, but she’s never been anything but honest with him, and he loves that. She could have made a huge deal over Logan buying drinks or sitting with them, or even over him letting them stay in the room overnight ... but didn’t. She treats him like a regular person, and when compared to Ariella - someone that’s milking the Delos connection for everything it’s worth - it’s really refreshing.  He wanted to kiss her in the hotel. Not because he expected it, but because it felt natural to him to do it. But he refrained. He wanted to kiss her at Juliet’s when they were in the pool together and she was asking him serious questions and making an effort to get to know him. But he didn’t, because he knew he couldn’t. He wanted to kiss her when they were watching that season finale - and it almost happened because he lost control for just a second ... but she stopped him. And that only made him want to kiss her more because very few people have ever turned him down ... and that said a lot about her as a person.  But when he FINALLY kissed her? It was a combination of everything all at once, and knowing that she wasn’t upset he kept it from her - and that she IMMEDIATELY told him exactly what she thought of the whole situation, and didn’t mince words. He wanted to kiss her. She knew he wasn’t (technically) doing anything wrong. She wanted him to kiss her. He knew he wasn’t doing anything wrong. And they couldn’t help it. It happened and neither of them regret it, and they both wish that it could be more than kisses ... but they know it can’t.  Because he’s going to marry Ariella. He’s going to do his duty to the family, and he’s not going to make it even harder for both of them. (But it’s already going to be hard, because who could resist falling for him? Especially when they know that the reason nothing more is happening or can happen is because of a fraud marriage?) Logan never really considered a lasting marriage. He saw no reason for one, or for settling down. He wasn’t against it, it just wasn’t a priority. But after everything with Ari, he sees the value in having a real relationship, because in a lot of ways the engagement and the timed marriage are a lot like his past “relationships” - destined to fail, preplanned and meaningless. Sure, it’s going to boost Delos and in turn make them more money and set them + Emily up in the future ... but it’s not worth it in the long run, because it’s fleeting happiness.  He can see Reader in his life in the future, yes. But to what extent? He doesn’t know. Because he can’t expect her to sit around and wait for three years to figure out what could happen after the divorce. It’s not fair. And Logan doesn’t want to restrict her from finding someone that can give her what she wants now. Does he want to keep her in his life? Yes. Will he be selfish and do so? For now. And he hates himself for it, but he’s not going to do it without telling Reader exactly what’s going on - and what her options are. He’s not forcing her to stay around, but knowing that she’s there if and when he needs someone to talk to? It helps.  Why? Because it happened slowly. It wasn’t him seeing someone, buying them a drink and taking them to bed. It wasn’t two people using together and going to bed. It wasn’t meeting each other at an event and then going to bed. They had a chance to get to know each other outside of a bedroom and (for the most part) with all of their clothes on, and Logan’s kicking himself for not doing it sooner, because even if it wasn’t with Reader, he’s beginning to think that he could have been happy with someone earlier, and it would have saved him a lot of grief. (But now he has Reader, so it works out because... he really likes her).  And Juliet ... oh, she was pissed that he agreed to the NDA. They needed witnesses that weren’t the legal team, so he and Jim called her in and explained what was happening AS it was happening. She feels guilty, she feels like it’s her fault, and from the moment the pen hit the paper, she was already trying to figure out how to get him out of it. She’s got her own team working on it in secret - even Logan doesn’t know that it’s happening - and she’s tried to convince him multiple times that he needs to break it off and come clean with the public. Delos will take a hit initially, but she thinks it shows integrity that he didn’t want to lie to their customers and the public. But he’s stubborn. Jim might be a shitty father, but he knows how much the company means to Logan, and so he’s basically unconcerned that the deal will fall through. BUT. I repeat - Ariella’s family needs Delos. Delos does not need them. It’s a nice union, and a nice little form of mutual promotion ... but a lot can happen. 

So... enter Reader, and another reason for Juliet to work even harder and find Logan an out. Juliet’s scheming. She’s doing it from a place of love, but she definitely was the one that made sure that they’d be sitting next to each other and then “had something come up” ... she made sure to have too much to drink at the party so Logan would have to help her inside ... and she’s got something else up her sleeve, too, which is going to lead to Reader and Logan spending a LOT of time together in a very private setting. She doesn’t want Reader to go against what she believes in, but she wants them both to see what’s right there - because she’s very aware of what a real connection between two people looks like, especially after living through a marriage with Fucking William.  I 100000% apologize for basically writing a chapter-length response to this, but ... i had a lot to say.  This Logan is trying to do what’s best for himself and the company in terms of image and longevity ... but he’s actually agreeing to do what’s worst, and he needs to realize that as soon as possible. Thank you so much for asking about them! I hope this answered your questions. (at least some of them)