#drew kept sitting there like... is mom okay... i don't think mom's okay...

[suiheisen]

you think YOU had a bad day at work?

bonus: sid shrieking "no!!!! NO!!!!!" loud enough to be heard in the stands and on camera

[sabo-has-my-heart]

Okay Astra, I got another idea for a fic.

8 year old Ace just moved to a new town with his parents. Since they're new, Ace doesn't know anyone and wanted to meet new people. Apparently, the kids his age don't like him so they avoid and insult him. He was sitting on a swing by himself, watching as other kids play, unaware of another person sitting beside him on the swings. The person turned out to be a girl his age, alone like himself and wanting to have friends. So the two quickly clicked with each other, and omg! Y/n was Ace's first love like 🥰. Ace was so happy to hang out with her, always telling his mom about the friend he had, gushing about her happily. Due to this, Roger kept teasing kid Ace about his crush, resulting in a blushing freckled tsundere yelling at his laughing dad.

Warnings: Tsundere 8-year-old Ace, kids fighting, childhood crushes

Word Count: 1320

Hey, so I loved this idea, it’s so cute! I’ve been thinking about how to write it since I got it but haven’t managed to get to it until now. I hope it’s about what you wanted, I think it’s cute. Enjoy!

A little black haired boy sat on the swings, glaring at the other kids on the playground. Why didn’t they like him? Why had they already decided that he was someone to be teased and pushed around? He hadn’t been going here for even a month and already he was enemies with most of the playground. He wanted to go back to his old home, back to where he wasn’t avoided. Not that he could, he was 8, what could he realistically do? Even if he built and lived in a large tree house, his mom did all the shopping, cooking, his laundry, the most he could do was make sandwiches and even then his mother insisted on supervising him. The sound of swing chains squeaking drew him out of his thoughts, looking over to see a little girl sitting next to him on the swings, lightly pushing herself back and forth.

“I’ve seen you around recently, you’re new right?” she asked, smiling at him.

“Yeah? What of it? Come to talk more shit about me like all the rest of the kids?” Ace growled angrily, surprising her.

“Why would I do that? And you shouldn’t say that word. My mommy says it’s a bad word.” she said, her head tilted to the side. Ace could feel his cheeks heat up the tiniest bit, she looked cute like that. 

Looking at the boy, you noticed his cheeks turning a little red, it had been getting colder, was he cold because he was sitting alone? 

“Here. you’re cold, right?” you asked, taking off your scarf and offering it to him. He looked down at the red fabric before looking away, his cheeks turning redder.

“I’m not cold! I don’t need your stupid scarf, go play with the other kids already, nobody wants to hang out with a loser like me.” he said stubbornly, a mix of sadness and anger on his face. Sighing, you stood up, moving to stand in front of him as you wrapped your scarf around his neck, tucking it in before crossing your arms and smiling.

“It’s not good to be stubborn! And I bet they don’t like you because you don’t smile more. I bet you’d look super nice if you stopped scowling.” you stated, the boy looking at you in surprise.

“Now tell me your name so I can write the name of my new friend in my notebook!” you demanded, surprising him even further. Clearly you were as stubborn as he was.

“Why do you want to be friends with me? Don’t you have other friends to hang out with? And take your stupid scarf back!” he said, starting to unwrap the scarf, only for you to grab his hands, trying to stop him, the both of you struggling against the other.

“Keep it on! You’ll get cold again!” you protested, the boy falling backwards off the swing, taking you with him, a small ‘oof’ leaving him as his back hit the dirt, followed by another when you landed on him.

“See what you did? You knocked me off the swing!” he shouted, pushing you off him before sitting up.

“It wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t trying to take the scarf off! Now leave it on or I’ll pin you into the dirt!” you shouted back, your cheeks puffing out irritably, making the boy look away, his head ducking into the scarf, cheeks still a little pink.

“Don’t you have other friends to play with? Leave me alone!” he grumbled irritably, still not looking at you.

“No, at least not any real friends, so I wanted to be your friend!” you said sadly, looking at the ground, the boy looking at you in shock.

“..... Ace, my name is Ace.” he said softly, looking away once more.

“Y/n, can…. Can we be friends now?” you asked hopefully, Ace just nodding a little. The bell signaling the end of recess rang, the two of you heading inside, you insisting on holding his hand as you walked inside. You were friends now, you could hold his hand if you wanted.

Ace smiled as he leaned over the couch, his mother preparing dinner.

“And she’s super nice and has really pretty hair! I tried to give her her scarf back so she wouldn’t get in trouble with her mom but she said it was okay and that I needed it more. Then we spent all of arts and crafts together making stupid things like friendship bracelets cause she wanted to make friendship bracelets, but it’s okay, cause she looked really happy when I gave her one.” Ace babbled on, his mom smiling as she cooked, happy to see Ace happy. She knew he’d had a hard couple of weeks, so it was nice that he’d finally made a friend.

“She sounds like a good friend. You can invite her over if you’d like.” she offered, smiling at the boy.

“Awesome! I’ll tell her right away, but she might need to ask her mom first! She asks her mom for everything which is kinda stupid but that’s alright, because she’s cool so I’ll let her get away with it. Oh! She also gave me part of her lunch! She said she didn’t want her pudding so she gave it to me and I traded my carrots for her pineapple chunks!” 

“Ace! You were supposed to eat those! You need to eat your vegetables!” his mother scolded, making the boy pout.

“But I don’t want baby carrots! You always give me baby carrots! I’m not a baby! I can have regular carrots!” he protested, glaring. Though his mother just laughed, finding the boy adorable.

“How about carrot sticks? Even your father eats those.” she offered, Ace nodding hesitantly.

“Fine, but pack enough for Y/n too! She likes carrots!” Ace said, a loud laugh coming from the entryway.

“You want more carrots in your lunch so you can give them to your new girlfriend?” Roger asked, walking into the living room, plopping down on the couch next to Ace.

“She’s not a girlfriend! She’s a friend who’s a girl!” Ace shouted, his cheeks heating up, making Roger laugh harder.

“That’s why you want extra carrots to give her? Because she’s ‘just a friend’.” Roger asked, knowing what it was like to be young.

“That’s what you do for friends! You give each other food and you play together! She even gave me her scarf so I wouldn’t be cold! She’s a really good friend!” Ace shouted, starting to pound his fists against his father’s arm. Roger laughed, but shied away from his son’s blows.

“Alright, alright! I submit! She’s just a friend!” Roger laughed, watching as Ace nodded and turned away, “but from how you talk about her, she sounds like she’d be a great girlfriend.” he added, bursting with more laughter as Ace’s cheeks turned bright red.

“She is not! She’s lame! She has to ask her mom for everything! And she wouldn’t leave me alone at first! And she wanted to make stupid friendship bracelets!” Ace shouted at his father, once again beating on the man.

“I thought you said she was cool and that she was happy when you gave her a bracelet.” Rouge interjected, Ace’s attention turning back to her.

“She is! But she’s not…. I mean she… agh! You guys just don’t get it!” Ace shouted, huffing and pouting as he stomped to his room. Rouge and Roger looked at each other, similar smiles on their faces.

“I’d bet that he gets her something really special soon.” Roger said, grinning.

“Dear, I don’t think you understand him at all, he’s already asking to go shopping to get her a nice, new scarf for giving him hers.” she said, shaking her head, just making the man laugh more. It was clear how Ace felt about you, whether or not he denied it.

[icy-book]

41 with normal and someone else? I hope you have a good day!!

41: “I… I think I’m happy.” “You think? So you’re not one hundred percent certain?” - Normal and Lark, S2 no D.A.D.D.I.E.S. AU but still with the dance

For this writing prompt requests. I hope you have a good day as well!!

The car ride home was icy cold. Dad hadn't come to pick him up from the game, but after the dance that was hardly surprising. Even if Normal hadn't been in the mascot outfit. Instead, Uncle Lark had come and got him, refusing to accept the idea of Normal walking home or getting a bus by himself.

(Normal was sort of relieved. Getting the bus meant rehearsing the stop for his house and how to ask the bus driver for a ticket, and normal people didn't need to make sure they remembered where they lived. Be normal, be normal, be normal, be normal)

"How was the game?" Uncle Lark had been white-knuckled the entire drive, and Normal hadn't been particularly inclined to break the silence himself. It was suprisingly that Uncle Lark, even spoke. He was steeler these days.

"Yeah! Yeah, it was good." Normal didn't take his eyes off the road, not wanting to have to make eye contact. The window was a good cover. "The Teens won, even without Teeny. It must have been because of Scary and Link's super awesome skills." (He tried to shake off the thought that it was because Teeny the Teen wasn't there, that his abnormalities had dragged the team down even through the foam shield.)

Uncle Lark gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Was it fun? Watching?" Normal hesitated.

"Yeah! You know, Taylor and I got to sit together," (even though he kept leaving to talk to the team about their strategy) "and it was lots of fun cheering on the team, but not, y'know, cheering cheering." (He wished it was)

Uncle Lark's frown was visible even through the reflection on the. window."Normal, are-" He sighed. "Are you happy? With all this?" Normal froze. (Be normal be normal be normal be-)

"I… I think I’m happy."

"You think?" Uncle Lark pounced. "So you’re not one hundred percent certain?”

"I mean, I'm supposed to be happy aren't I?"

Lark slammed the horn in frustration.

Normal winced at the sudden harsh sound, curling up on himself. As he tried to refocus, he heard Uncle Lark cursing under his breath: "Fucking Sparrow."

"Look, Normal," he turned to face him.

"You're not supposed to take your eyes of the road," Normal interrupted. Uncle Lark sighed a little and turned back, forcibly relaxing his grip on the wheel.

"Sorry. I know, it's the rules and it's dangerous to break them. Sorry about the car horn too. Just, listen to me for a second. I'm still focused on the road, don't worry."

He nodded, even though Uncle Lark shouldn't be able to see him. "I'm listening."

"There's no meant to be anything, okay? You don't have to be happy, you can just be, I don't know, angry or sad or numb or whatever the fuck. Emotions aren't logical. And just because your dad thinks something should make you to happy, doesn't mean it does. Got it?"

Normal stayed silent. In the window he could see Uncle Lark briefly glance over at him, before turning back to the road. After a minute, Normal spoke up.

"...but this makes Dad happy, right? Being more normal. That's what makes him proud of me, he said so. And I want him to be proud of me. So if he's proud of me, why aren't I happy?" An absent tear ran down his neck, startling him.

"Normal..." Out of the blurry corner of his eye, he saw Uncle Lark shake his head slightly, looking at him with... Pity? Sympathy?

"You know, your mom was a cheerleader." He said after a second. "Really?" Normal sat up, turning to look at Uncle Lark's hair as he spoke."Yeah. She went to our middle school, and high school. So, at each of our football games, she'd cheer for us. Sparrow drew the mascot for our school," Uncle Lark seemed to wince slightly as he said that, "and she was one of the only people who complimented him on The Doodler. She also liked his wolf ears he wore to school every day." He took another deep breath. "My point is, your dad and mom both would have been devastated to give those up when they were your age. It's not fair for Sparrow to ask you to give up both."

They pulled up by the house, and, in an uncharacteristical display of affection, he leaned over and ruffled Normal's hair.

"Uncle Lark!" He mock protested.

"Don't worry about being normal, kid. Just focus on being Normal. I'll talk your dad around, okay?"

"Okay." Normal whispered. And for once, he believed it.

[disasterbixmafiagay]

little kinnporsche things that stuck with me enough that i can remember them off the top of my head:

porsche stick out his leggy in the kidnap scene in ep 1

kinn's face moments later when porsche nails him in the junk

tankhun popping vegas upside the head with a tray

porsche "jelly legs" pachara forgetting how to air when kinn shot an apple off his head

porsche peed in that bottle before breaking it on that dude during the fight in ep 1

kinn has no idea how to camp

tankhun throwing arm and pol dolls into the fire during his funeral for pete

the A T M YALL

pete's iqiyi-censored 'porsche, what the fuck is that' when porsche drew tawan

kinn caught the wooden dick with his mouth

pete's cute lil workout booty with the chalky cheeks

kim giving the guy trying to drug chay The Face to make him sit the fuck back down

kim's lil 'ope!' face right before he slams one of the bar fight guys' heads into the counter

the many many times i turned the volume down on my tv so my roommates didn't think i was watching porn

the ongoing 'magnum' joke

porsche holds cigarettes like my mom used to when she smoked

vegas' handwriting is so nice

really REALLY tall doors in the minor family house

tankhun is super creative, he would have done some very interesting interrogations if he was head of the family

kinn grew up so much as he and porsche fell in love

english in the minor family is a running theme...ken did it too which makes me wonder how i didn't see him as the mole before...

kim falling for chay not because of a song or a handmade guitar pick but because of how awkward and human and genuine he is--something you don't get in the mafia world

unhinged pete

yok vetting kinn before accepting him

jom thinking he's gonna be a star bc porsche used his name one (1) time to kinn

the way porsche looks at gun when he's threatening kinn in ep 14

chan got a more meaningful death scene than big

porsche's ^w^ smile while he wiggles his feet

the way vegas saw god when pete told him their dads were the problem, not them

bread

porsche looking so grown up during his march through the minor family house with everyone bowing to him

the hands touching with the rings visible was an allusion to marriage and nobody can convince me otherwise

tankhun's utter delight when kinn confessed his love for porsche

macau and vegas being so Warm at the end

pete's scream after vegas got shot

the dead look in chay's eyes when he realized he'd been lied to by kim

lil headbutty arguin porsche and tankhun

arm and pol goin postal when korn gave kinn and porsche his blessing

yok and tankhun passed out together

kinn's genuine confusion when porsche pretended to be sick and kept making those weirdass noises

pete howling drunkenly in korean

porsche socking vegas

feel free to add to this list there's so much okay

[dabblingreturns]

I dont know who needs to hear this,

But if your kid has ADHD, it's okay to look into medicating them.

The medications might not work out..... if so stop trying that one

The getting the diagnosis might be a pain. (I don't personally remember my own diagnostic process)

What I remember is sitting in class in 1st grade trying to think of 4 words that I could reliably spell and draw for my worksheet as all my classmates got to go out to play. It was a 15 minuet recesses, and I burned though the whole thing because I thought that if I I drew a fort, ( which automatically had to have a flag) I could not also draw a flag. And my fox was bad, and my number four was lazy and stupid. And I was stupid because I kept thinking of things and then they would go away.

I don't remember the doctors vist where is was percribed the Ritalin (it was the mid 90s. I'm not sure if anything else was avaliable to 45 lb goblin children.) But the doctor apparently said to my parrents "have you tried a low sugar diet? To which my parrents said "Yes!" And the doctor said, "well have you tried behavior modification?", to which my parrnents said "yes!" Neither the doctor nor i, knew about the shelf of books with names like "right brained children in a left brain world" or "how to parrent a difficult child"

Finally part way though the questions my dad said , "Just watch her for 5 minuets." The doctor wrote the percription at the four minuet mark.

I don't remember the pharmacy or those other details of getting the drug.

But I do remember the next morning, taking the itsy bitsy teeny tiny pill. And wondering if it would turn me into a teenage mutant ninja turtle.

And I remember how easy it was to fill out the work sheet for the letter M, "Moom, mom, me and may" then out the door to play for the full 15 minuets

I was lucky, I had parrents who advocated for me, I have classic ADHD C which got me a diagnosis, in a time when "only boys got adhd"

I also got a small trampoline from my grandmother for my 4th birthday because "She can't stop boncing so this will keep her in one place"

I've been on an ADHD medication for most of my life. I know that the drug probably isn't great for my liver long term. That's one of the reasons I don't drink. I know there are consequences. My own undialayed eyes catch me off balance. Because my eyes are normal just black holes.

Sometimes it's really hard to get. Getting a new doctor is hard. I've been though addiction risk evaluations and done without when I had to.

But I like myself better on medication, my ideas arnt better, I'm not smarter on drugs. But what i am able to to to look at my ideas and evaluate them and pick the best one in real time, instead of being bombarded by my own thoughts.

What I'm saying is, it's not easy to medicate your child, and it shouldn't be done lightly but it can make a world of difference to them.

[luisa323]

The bird-Miss Peregrine

Chapter 1

‼️WARNINGS‼️-Little mentions of abuse, neglect, being drunk, yelling, curse words, mentions of blood

Sorry if I missed a few

This morning I woke up and I knew today was going to be a rough day. About 5 minutes after I woke up my mom slammed the door open and I immediately got a strong whiff of alcohol. I knew my mom was drunk.

"WAKE UP!"

"I'm up"

Right after I respond the door slams shut and I sit up so I can get dressed, I get dressed in a hoodie and ripped jeans. I also style my hair so I can put a hat on it, then I slip my shoes on and head downstairs.

"Hey mom I'm going out to walk"

"Okay just be back by dinner to feed your hermana and hermano."

I sigh at that but quietly so I don't get yelled at like I have basically every other day, having to feed my hermana and hermano dinner isn't something new.

"Alright, bye."

And with that I leave, go under the house into the shelter and grab my bag that I keep hidden with my journal and pen, then I head out to the abandoned children's home like I do every day I am allowed to leave. Once I'm there I go inside and head upstairs into the room that I believe to be the headmistresses room, I sit on the chair I found to be the most sturdy. I pull out my journal and pen then I just started drawing, I let my imagination run wild and I started drawing a few people just randomly drawing details and by the time I was done and actually paid attention to what I drew it looks like a boy who is really skinny but in his teens and two little kids one a boy and the other a girl, the boy had a had and the girl had long hair. Then there was one more person and that was an older and taller woman but still in her teenage years, she looked so strong and I had no idea how I was able to draw all of that.

Once I'm done analyzing the picture I drew I looked around the room and I saw a peregrine falcon just staring at me. I couldn't quite place the color but it was like a mix between brown and black but more brown, and maybe a little small specks of navy blue. I get curious and start walking towards the bird and I stick my hand out so it isn't scared and it knows I mean no harm, but the bird just hopped right onto my arm like it's seen me before or it may have been watching me draw. I set my journal back on the chair so I'm able to pet the bird and once I do the bird automatically started cooing and it was so cute! I had this big huge grin on my face and was looking at the peregrine as I kept petting it.

"Why don't I try drawing you?"

I said to myself but it seemed like the bird understood me and flew off my arm and right in front of me so I had a clear vision of what it looked like. As I drew I lost track of time and as I was half way done I realized how late it got and I immediately stopped.

"Oh no, I'm fucked, I'm so late I have to leave!"

I panicked and I got up, almost forgetting the bird is there and I say to the bird like it can understand me.

"I'm so sorry but come back around the time you did yesterday and I'll be here, maybe"

I mumbled the last word to myself but the bird probably heard it, seeing as it is a peregrine falcon and it's not even 5 feet away from me. I rush out the door and sprint out of there but I wasn't careful of the rocks and everything on the path so I fell and hurt my leg bad, it was bleeding and it hurt to walk but I had to keep going, I had to keep running so I won't be even later than I already was.

I made it back after about 10 minutes of running with my badly wounded leg and put my journal and pen with my bag back in its hiding spot and this is the only time in my life that I have hoped my mom drank so much she has passed out. I walk into the house as quietly as I can but as soon as I enter the kitchen for water there is my mom, watching my every move with a can of beer in her hands.

"Fuck"

I think to myself.

"Where were you?"

"I was outside and lost track of time Im sorry"

I say with my head down and my voice just barely above a whisper because I know I can piss her off very easily right now and I know what happens if I do and I don't want that to happen agai-

"HEY LISTEN TO ME!"

"I'm sorry"

"I SAID WHY WERE YOU LATE?"

"I was drawing and I lost track of time like I told you"

Oops I said the wrong thing. My mom throws the can on the floor with it still half full.

"GO TO YOUR FUCKING ROOM!!"

I waste no time running- well speed walking to my room as best as I can and going straight to the bathroom so I can clean my cut. I grab my first aid kit and start cleaning my cut and then putting wrap on it so it won't get infected. Once my cut is clean I can see how big it actually is because before all the blood was covering it and it's probably from my knee to almost my ankle. I change my clothes into sleeping clothes and get in bed. After about 5 minutes of just laying in bed, my mom bursts the door open again like he did this morning just as drunk as she was before, meaning she had to hold on to the door frame so she won't fall over.

"YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF YOUNG LADY AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"

I'm scared shitless right now because this has only happened twice before and it never ended well for me. My mom started to walk over towards me, well more like I stumbled as I awaited my punishment like before, but little did I and my mom know there was someone watching. And when my mom got close enough to me she raised her hand and...

A/N: I do not regret ending it this way, I honestly don't know what's going to happen next chapter completely so you guys are in for a fun ride. Hope you all have a good day/night or afternoon, wherever you are and don't forget to eat and drink even if it's a bit.

Lots of love,

El ❤️

[lostinthewiind]

Piss Off Your Parents - Part 5

Ukai Keishin - Haikyuu

Synopsis: freshly turned 18, you want to prove to your parents that you aren’t a child for them to push around anymore. First, get a job at the local corner store. Second, use the store owner’s 26-year-old son with piercings and a cigarette addiction to piss your parents off. Third, accidentally fall in love.

Rating: PG13

Warnings: arguing with parents, stereotyping?, reader's parents just being generally horrible people, angst

Song → 18 by Anarbor

Previous → Part 4

Next → Part 6

"This is a horrible idea," you whispered to yourself as you got ready in your bedroom mirror, unable to concentrate for more than five minutes without a small panic attack taking over.

Your eyes flicked over to your clock every few seconds. Keishin was due to arrive at your family house for dinner in about thirty minutes and with every minute that passed, you asked yourself over and over again why you ever agreed to this.

Originally, when your parents had insisted on meeting your 'boyfriend' over a family dinner, your heart had dropped into the pit of your stomach; it was the worst feeling you had ever experienced . . . until you told Keishin about it jokingly and he actually agreed. Never before had you felt so sick to your stomach. Dinner was the last thing you wanted, and to make it worse, it was going to be dinner with your parents and fake boyfriend.

Shit.

More than once you had contemplated pretending to be sick or throwing yourself down the stairs, but you just couldn't go through with it. Every time you got close to backing out, a small part of your brain reminded you that this dinner might be the thing that changed your parents mind, and even though the odds of that actually happening were close to none, you couldn't give up without even trying.

So, with knots in your stomach and your palms sweating like never before, you continued getting ready for the evening and prayed that everything went as smoothly as possible.

If only you had known then that it would take much more than a prayer to save this evening.

When you heard the doorbell ring approximately thirty minutes later, your whole body froze and the thought of jumping out your second story window was starting to sound really appealing. But then, you remembered that it would be way worse if your mom or dad answered the door before you could so you rushed out of your room and down the stairs.

"I've got the door!" you shouted throughout the house, almost as if you were marking the front door as your territory and trying to scare anyone else away from it.

Standing in front of the door, you drew in a few deep, calming breaths before plastering a forced smile across your face and pulling the door open. Let the night of hell begin.

As soon as your eyes settled on Keishin, your smile faltered and you gasped. His dyed blonde hair was slicked back like usual, but instead of a headband, it was clear he had used gel. He had every hole in his ear stuffed with a black earring, and to top things off, he had showed up in jeans, a black t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

"What?" Keishin took a step back and examined his outfit. "You said to go all out. I did."

"I know, I know . . . I just . . ." You took a moment to compose yourself. "I didn't even know you owned a leather jacket."

"Yeah, well, you don't know everything about me," Keishin smirked devilishly, proud that he still had a few secrets to himself. "Well, are you going to let me in? I kind of want to get this dinner over with."

Opening the door wider, you stepped to the side and let Keishin inside your house. "You and me both," you agreed. "You sure you want to do this? We could both make a run for it right now if we act fast."

Shrugging the jacket off of his shoulders, Keishin shook his head. "Come on, at least give your parents a chance to change their minds."

Just then, your father's heavy footsteps could be heard exiting the kitchen and approaching the front door where you and Keishin stood together. Swallowing hard, you wiped the sweat from your palms on your clothes and sent one last pleading thought up to the heavens above, hoping that if there was a great being up there, they could be on your side tonight.

This was it. No turning back now.

"If your boyfriend has arrived, Y/N, please don't keep your mother and I waiting. Introduce us." Your father rounded the corner, stopping in his tracks when he set eyes on Keishin. Sure, you had told your parents all about your 'boyfriend', which was why they had insisted on this dinner in the first place, but Keishin was a man that words couldn't quite capture. "Oh. Hello." Your father reluctantly held out his hand to greet Keishin.

"Hello, sir." Keishin shook your father's hand without hesitation. "I'm Ukai Keishin. Keishin is fine though."

Seconds later, your mother joined the three of you. She had a similar reaction as your father had and was not subtle about it in the least. "So this is the man you've been seeing?" Your mother gave you an almost pleading look, like she was silently begging you to come clean and admit that you were joking.

Right off of the bat, things were not going well.

"Well, let me take your jacket and hang it up in the closet." Your mother stepped toward Keishin with the fakest smile you had ever seen on her face.

"Oh, there's no need." Keishin hung his jacket on the banister of the stairs. "I'll just end up taking it out in a little while anyway when I go out for a smoke. It's easier this way, but thank you."

You watched your mother's eye twitch and the smile she had forced threaten to crack. "You smoke?" You could tell that both of your parents were on the brink of snapping right then and there, but they had promised to actually get to know Keishin, and despite all the horrible things your parents did, breaking promises was not one of them.

"I do." Keishin grinned. "I know, I know, it's not good for me. Y/N tells me to quit all the time so I'm trying."

You let out a nervous chuckle as both your parents turned to face you. "Shall we head into the living room?" You started ushering everyone into the other room, hoping to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"Yes, let's have a seat." Your father nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Keishin, watching him like a hawk. "Can I get you anything to drink, Keishin?"

"Just a water is fine, thanks." Keishin had obviously decided not to push his luck too hard because you had been fully expecting him to ask for a beer.

With that, both your mother and father disappeared into the kitchen; your mother to finish dinner and your father to collect the drinks.

Taking the brief moment of reprieve to breathe, you looked up at Keishin. "I've never seen my parents struggle between their flawless hospitality and kicking someone out of their house so much in my life," you chuckled lightly.

"I'm a bit of a shock." Keishin placed his hand on your lower back and led you toward the couch. "I brought out all the stops in the beginning so they could have the whole night to get used to me."

"How kind of you." You sat down, slightly caught off guard when Keishin sat down right next to you and slung his arm over your shoulders. You were about to ask him what he was doing, but then you remembered that the two of you were supposed to be an actual couple and this is what couples did.

As soon as you felt his touch on you, however, your mind flashed back to that night in the park a few weeks ago. Since then, neither one of you had spoken about what had happened on that bench; a wordless agreement between the two of you that you would just move on and pretend it didn't happen.

But as much as you pretended to forget, you never actually could. The feeling of Keishin's hands on your sides and his warm breath on your lips kept you up at night. As much as you tried not to think of him like that, you just couldn't help yourself.

"You seem really nervous," Keishin leaned closer to you a whispered. "You okay?"

Snapping out of your thoughts, you nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just trying not to freak out is all."

"Hey." Keishin tilted your head toward him so he could look you in your eyes. "You're their daughter. No matter what happens, they will always love you. Remember that."

You flashed a smile. Somehow, Keishin knew exactly what to say to help you relax. "Yeah . . . thanks."

Just then, your father returned with two glasses of water in hand. Handing one each to you and Keishin, you didn't miss the way his gaze settled on the sight of Keishin's arm around you.

"Thank you." Keishin grabbed his glass right away and took a sip. You, on the other hand, let your glass sit on the coaster on the table. Despite how dry your mouth was, you didn't trust your shaky hands to pick up the glass.

"Dinner should be ready soon," your father said as he sat down in his armchair across from you and Keishin. "So, Keishin, tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living?"

"Well, currently, I spend most of my time coaching the boys' volleyball team at Karasuno high school," Keishin answered, his eyes lighting up a little when he spoke about the team he coached; you could tell he really enjoyed it. "And my family owns Sakanoshita Market and I work there sometimes."

"Sakanoshita Market," your father repeated. "That sounds familiar."

You rolled your eyes, not surprised in the slightest that your father had forgotten the name of the place you had been working at for the past few months. "That's where I work, Dad," you told him. "That's how Keishin and I met."

"I see." Your father eyed Keishin and you were surprised that Keishin didn't shrink under the cold, hard gaze like you usually did. "So do you go after all the young women who work at your family store or just my daughter?"

"Dad!" you gasped, unsure whether to tell him off or apologize to Keishin on behalf of your father.

"It's okay," Keishin told you calmly before answering your father's question. "Actually, the store hasn't seen a new employee in years. For the longest time, it was just my mother and me. We are both very grateful for all the hard work Y/N puts in to help us with the store. She is a wonderful employee."

You couldn't help the blush that tinted your cheeks at the compliment. "Thanks."

"No need to thank me. It's the truth," Keishin said before leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to your lips. "And good thing you took the job too, or else we would have never met."

Keishin then shot a sparkling grin your father's way, completely blinding him and distracting him from the shocked expression on your face. You knew you told Keishin to act like the two of you were really a couple, but you never expected him to play the part so thoroughly.

Your father opened his mouth to no doubt interrogate Keishin some more, but before he could, your mother began setting the table and announced that dinner was ready.

Moving over to the table, you took a seat across from Keishin while your parents sat at the ends of the table. As your mother brought the dishes of food over, you took the chance to drink some water and parch your dry throat.

The thought of having to keep this awkward conversation up gave you a headache, but thankfully, Keishin seemed to be handling everything quite well. Just as you had expected, he took everything with a grain of salt and refused to let your parents get under his skin.

You wished you were able to do that.

After the four of you bowed your heads and said thank you for the food, you dug in. At first, everyone was too busy eating to say anything. Somehow, the silence was worse than when your dad had been firing off questions rapid fire.

"This is delicious," Keishin was the first to speak. "Thank you again for inviting me for dinner."

"Yes, o-of course," your mother wavered a little but somehow managed to voice her fake pleasure nonetheless. "Y/N has never dated anyone before so we were curious as to what kind of . . . person . . . had caught her eye."

Keishin nodded, letting the not-so-subtle rude comment roll right off his back. "Well, here I am."

"Yes, here you are indeed," your father muttered under his breath. Thankfully, it didn't seem as though Keishin had heard it, but you certainly had. "So, you said you coach high school volleyball. Is this a long-term thing or?"

Keishin thought for a moment before shrugging. "I'm not sure, honestly. I do enjoy it but I've never given much thought as to if I want to do it long-term. I started coaching because of special circumstances and just haven't stopped yet."

"Well, plenty of people coach and teach," your mother said. "You seem to enjoy working with kids, so have you ever considered becoming a teacher?"

"That doesn't sound like the worst job, but that would require me to have a teaching degree, which I don't have," Keishin responded.

"What degree did you get in university?"

Keishin chuckled. "I didn't go to university."

Oh God. Your jaw dropped and you wished that a black hole could just open up underneath you and suck you in. Out of all the things your parents hated most, people who didn't go to university were at the top of the list. They always told you that 'people who didn't go to university had no interest in investing in their future.'

Hence why they always pushed so hard for you to go the university they wanted so you could study what they thought would be best for you.

You watched your mother's face go red as she reached for her glass of wine a take a particularly large sip. "Community college, then?" she squeaked out.

"Nope, afraid not," Keishin answered, completely unashamed and even proud. "I started working for the family store right after high school."

The looks on your parents' faces that they didn't even try to hide filled you with a deep sense of shame. You didn't know how they could be so blatantly rude to someone they barely knew . . . well, actually, you did know, and that was the worst part. As much as you wished you could deny it, you had thought the same things about Keishin when you had first met him.

Hanging your head in shame, you let the suffocating silence of the dining room take over.

Feeling something brush against your leg, you looked up to see Keishin smiling at you from across the table. 'It's okay' he mouthed to you. You thought back to the time Keishin had told you he was a big boy who could take a little verbal ribbing and exhaled through your nose sharply, your mood lifting ever-so-slightly.

Keishin brushed his foot against your leg a few more times to remind you that you weren't alone at this dinner before he attempted to restart the conversation. "So what do you two do for a living?" he asked, looking to your parents.

"We are both lawyers," your father said.

You nodded and sighed. "Hence why they want me to go to law school."

"Oh, honestly, Y/N, you say that like paying for you to go to law school is abuse." Your mother shook her head disapprovingly. "Do you know how many children would kill for the opportunities you have been given and yet you want to throw them away just like that? You should be grateful."

You were about to retort but stopped yourself before you did, knowing that it would only serve to start the same argument that you had lost over and over again. No matter what you said on the matter, your parents refused to try and see things from your perspective.

It never once occurred to them that you might actually not want to be a lawyer.

"Tell me, Keishin, if you had a child who you could pay for to go to law school and they told you they wanted to pursue their dream of playing soccer, what would you do?" Your father turned to Keishin, suddenly interested in what he had to say on the issue.

"Dad, let's not talk about that now," you spoke softly, hoping to get him to change the subject.

"No, no, let's hear what Keishin has to say." Your father insisted.

Keishin thought for a moment before answering. "Well, I think I would just want my child to be happy," he said, his eyes leaving your father to look at you. "I made the mistake of not following my dreams after high school and I regret it every day, so I would tell my child to follow their dreams and try my hardest to be there to support them."

You smiled wide, surprised by how emotional Keishin's words made you feel. For a moment, it was just you and him, and he was saying everything you had ever wanted to hear. All you ever wanted for was someone to be in your corner . . . someone to support you whether your choice was a mistake or not.

"Congratulations, Y/N, you've found a dreamer just like yourself," your father scoffed, breaking you out of your happy trance. "Too bad dreams don't pay the bills."

"Well, when your future is working at a family-run corner store, dreams are all you have," your mother cackled, not even trying to be quiet about it.

Your father laughed as well. "Too true, honey."

"Mom!" you shouted at her, your anger taking over before you even had the chance to think about your actions.

"It's okay," Keishin told you again, reaching across the table for your hand.

You shook your head and tugged your hand out of his reach. "No, it's not okay!" You rose to your feet, finally having had enough. "This dinner was a terrible idea. I cannot believe you!"

"If you've finally come to your senses, darling, we can send Keishin on his way and-" your mother reached for you as well but you shrugged her off.

"I'm not talking about Keishin! I'm talking about the two of you!" You slammed your hands down onto the table, shaking the dishes of food. "The whole night you have been making offhanded remarks and rude comments about Keishin while he has been nothing but the perfect guest. I'm sorry, Keishin, but I can't sit here and let you take their abuse anymore. I've dealt with it my whole life and I won't let them do the same thing to you. You don't deserve that."

"Y/N, you're being a bit dramatic, don't you think?" your father asked, sipping his wine as if nothing was happening, which only made you angrier.

"No, father, I don't think so," you snapped back. "I think that you and Mom are being horrible and I cannot believe that this is how you're acting when meeting someone for the first time. What makes you think that you have the right to treat someone so poorly just because they don't live the same life or have the same ideals as you? You think you know what is best for me but you don't even know me, so how could you?! I would rather work at the corner store for the rest of my life if it meant being genuinely happy over being a snobby, emotionless lawyer any day."

While you vented in front of your parents, Keishin just stared at you wide-eyed, completely floored by how quickly your demeanor had changed from shy and uncomfortable to enraged and animated in mere seconds. The last time he had seen you like this was when you were going off on him and he was grateful your rage wasn't directed at him this time.

Aside from relieved, Keishin felt proud; proud of you for standing your ground.

An embarrassed look flashed across your mother's face. "Y/N, please-"

"No, just don't," you lowered your voice and took a few deep breaths. "I can't do this anymore. I can't keep pretending that I'm going to put up with your plans for me just so I can have a roof over my head. Mom, Dad, I'm not going to law school. I'm not letting you dictate my life anymore. I'm done."

Stepping away from the table, completely emotionally drained, you looked over your shoulder at Keishin. "Come on, let's go." You waved for him to follow.

Without a word, Keishin stood from the table and followed you to the front door where the two of you grabbed your jackets and got ready to leave.

"If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back!" You heard your father call after you as you left the house, but his threat didn't phase you in the least. If anything, never having to return to that house sounded like bliss right then.

Wrapping your jacket tight around your body to fight the cool evening wind, you sighed. "I'm sorry about that," you told Keishin as he walked silently beside you. "I should never have dragged you into my mess. You don't deserve to be treated the way my parents treated you."

"You don't need to apologize." He wrapped his arm around you once more and held you close, both to comfort you and to keep you warm. "I'm just worried about you. Are you okay?"

You felt tears begin to well in your eyes and frantically wiped them away. "I . . . I don't know," you answered truthfully. "I suppose I should just worry about one thing at a time, and since I've apparently got nowhere to spend the night now . . ."

"You'll spend the night at my place," Keishin stated plainly, not even bothering to ask if you wanted to or not. It was more like an order, but right then, you had nothing against him making decisions for you. As long as the choices weren't made by your parents, you didn't care who they came from.

"Okay," you exhaled. "Thank you."

As the two of you walked through the quiet night in the direction of the store, Keishin pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. Without thinking, you wrapped your arm around his waist and leaned into him, the warmth he radiated bringing you some semblance of peace.

"I'm sorry tonight went so shit," Keishin spoke as he exhaled, smoke spilling from his lips.

"It's not your fault," you told him. "In fact . . . I don't think tonight could have gone any better. In the end, this is how it was always going to turn out. It's better I realize that sooner rather than later."

Keishin stopped and looked down at you. "That's not-"

"It's okay," you said those two magic words this time. "You remember when you told me that no matter what happened they would always love me because I'm their daughter?"

Keishin nodded.

"I wish you could have been right."

[starshard17]

For @tscampfireau

I was thinking abt Nate and Achilles and also Vee so here's a very nice little story for you >:]

---

Vee held the toy up to their friends, a proud grin on their face.

"What does it do?" Achilles asked, squinting at it. Nate tilted his head to the side, examining the little toy in Vee's hands.

"It's a yellie!" Vee exclaimed, jittering with pure excitement. They set the toy down on the hardwood floor before looking back up at their friends.

"Yell at it! And it'll go zooming!!!" Vee chirped, bouncing up and down on their toes. Nate looked to Achilles. Achilles merely glanced at Nate before looking at the toy. Xe let out a very weak and unenthusiastic yell, watching the toy and frowning when it didn't move.

"I don't think it works Vee." Achilles pointed out, just staring at the toy.

"No it does!! Yell louder!!" Vee squawked, flapping their arms. Achilles crossed xyr arms, shaking xyr head. Nate scowled and lightly shoved Achilles.

"Come on yell at it!" Nate said. Achilles glared daggers at Nate.

"You yell at it! I already did!" Achilles countered, lightly shoving him back. Nate's eyes narrowed into slits. He drew he his arm back and threw his fist into Achilles' stomach.

"DUDE WHAT THE FUCK YOU LITTLE!-" Achilles sputtered and shoved Nate to the floor, causing his friend to screech in fear as he fell backwards.

As they squabbled, Vee jumped for joy, clapping their hands. Achilles and Nate looked at Vee to see what they were so happy about before screaming in sync upon seeing the little toy scittering across the floor.

"ITS MOVING HOLY SHIT!" Achilles screamed, backing up as it just moved closer.

"Your voice activates it you dumbass, stop yelling!" Nate shouted, standing up. Achilles clamped his mouth shut, basically fusing with the wall as xe pushed himself back to avoid being touched by the toy.

Vee giggled and reached down, picking up the yellie and smiling. Achilles stepped away from the wall, looking at the toy which was once again in Vee's hands.

"So it does work!" Nate exclaimed, a huge grin coming to his face. Achilles rolled his eyes.

"Of course it does! I knew it would." Achilles said with a scoff. Nate shook his head.

"Says the guy who thought it didn't work." He said, poking Achilles in the side.

"Watch your mouth! It's called joking!" Achilles countered, poking Nate back.

"Well it wasn't a very funny joke." Nate said, ducking out of the way as Achilles moved to shove him. Nate ended up latching onto Achilles legs and caused xem to lose xyr balance and xe toppled to the floor, yelling as he fell. The yellie in Vee's hands started moving, so naturally, Vee dropped it after it spooked them. Vee then watched as Nate and Achilles started wrestling with each other, their shouting getting increasingly louder.

The yellie just kept on moving. Ain't nothing gonna break their stride...

It ended up running into Achilles' side. Achilles jumped and basically threw Nate off of xem.

"Hey what's your deal!" Nate groaned, sitting up from the floor. He looked to see Achilles' staring at the floor, not moving.

"Achilles?" Nate asked, shifting closer. Nate looked at the floor, seeing the toy sitting idley in front of Achilles. Vee sat down in front of their friends.

"Okay I will admit this thing is cool but that's also really terrifying to look at." Achilles mumbled. Nate shook his head and frowned.

"You're crazy. It's not even that scary." Nate said with a nonchalant shrug.

Then Vee let out a shrill shreak, and the yellie moved closer to Nate and Achilles, causing both boys to jump and latch onto each other in fear.

"Hehehe." Vee giggled like the little gremlin they are. Achilles and Nate both glared at Vee before turning the yellie in Vee's direction, shouting at it.

Then it started crawling after Vee at an insane speed.

Vee could do nothing but squeal with pure delight.

This went on for many hours.

---

"So do you regret getting Vee that toy?" Dee asked his moms. Celeste and Annika glanced at each other before turning back to Dee.

"Absolutely not."

[piscesparker]

Betraying the bond

Masterlist | Taglist

Part 1

"Rise and shine, your highness!" My maid, Amber, chirped as she drew the curtains open letting the sunlight come in. I groaned and rolled to the other side, shielding my eyes from the bright light and bringing the quilt closer to my chest. I had hoped that since my classes were canceled I might have some more hours to rest but that clearly was not happening. "I hope you're excited for today." She continued. In all honesty I had no intention whatsoever to be part of welcoming the royal family for Redmont, I just wished I could stay up in my room without anyone to disturb me or tell me what lessons I have to attend every hour or so.

"Yeah, a bit." I said, removing the covers off me and slipping out of my comfortable bed.

"I really can't believe that soon the war might come to an end." Amber really was the kind of person that would talk your ears off but I, on the other hand loved listening and talking about everything that does not pertain to me running a country in the future. "And I am so excited for this new chapter in your life!" She exclaimed as I rubbed my eye, finally waking up.

"So how is he?" Her eyes glistened with hope.

"How is who?"

"Your future husband! Who else?"

My future what?

"Amber what are you talking about?" I chuckled nervously, she brought me my breakfast tray along with a newspaper sitting beside my plate of buttered toast and chamomile tea. I look at her excited face skeptically as it took the news paper and saw a collage photo of me and prince Harrison and read the headline which couldn't be missed.

The Kingdoms of Northollow and Redmont will not only be uniting in land, but also will be uniting in the form of marriage for Princess Y/n and Prince Harrison.

My eyes widened with shock. Marriage? How could dad keep this away from me? He knew how much I despised the thought of being married early and yet went on to give my hand in marriage without even asking me? Leaving my breakfast, I stormed to dad's office. At this moment I did not care that I was running around the castle bare foot and in my nightgown, I had to talk to him before he ruins my life. I was too furious to think of knocking, barging in, I slammed the paper on his desk, "Were you going to tell me you were getting me married or did I have to wait till I gave birth to your first grand child?"

He looked at me and then around the room, trying to tell me that he had visitors. "Please excuse us." He said. "Well?" I asked impatiently, hands on my hips.

"Honey I had no choice." His eyes softened, I sat down and sighed, taking in everything. "I did it for the kingdom, and I know I should have asked you but I know you would have said no."

"Of course I would!" I raised my voice and cut him off, banging my fist on the desk.

"Y/n, I know you're upset," I scoffed, upset would be an understatement, "but this is soon going to be your life, you will have to make decisions that you won't favor but it will be in the betterment of your people." He explained. It was true, the role of being a leader is always sacrificing yourself for others; I couldn't argue, as much as I wanted to I couldn't. I knew what dad was saying was right, I've been training for this. Maybe it was the suddenness that enraged me this early in the morning. Most kids get surprise gifts whereas I get surprise a marriage to someone I don't even know.

"Okay," I took a deep breath, "I will agree only on one condition." His eyes lightened up. "Since I don't know him that well, I wish to take my time to get to know him, if he is not a snob then and only then might I agree to this arrangement." Dad took some time to think about it but he agreed.

"Okay, well now I'm going to get dressed now." You gave a tight lipped smile.

"Good, because I don't want to him to see you in your night gown this early on." Dad winked.

"Dad!" I whined and went back to my room to continue my day with dread.

As I entered my room again I saw Amber cleaning up my room, she whipped her head and her eyes met my disappointed ones, "Is everything alright your highness?"

"Well yes and no." She furrowed her brows and turned her attention to me. "Apparently your king was going to get me married, without actually telling me." She let out a soft 'oh', "But don't worry, I handled it." I winked her way plopping on my bed and taking a bite of my toast. "What would you like to wear to day your highness?" Amber brought out two gowns in front of me; a silky navy blue a-line gown and a teal blue knee-length dress. "The teal blue one please."

After getting dressed, Amber helped me with my hair, putting it in a neat bun as the pins poked in my skull and light make up, nothing too heavy. Looking at the clock I saw that I had some time before the guests could arrive so I decided to take a walk with Spencer and try to clear my mind. Walking past the horses in the stable, a particular white one caught my eye and made me grin, opening the door I smile and ruffle his well-kept hair and pulling him out before putting on the reins.

Spencer wasn't only my pet he was also my friend, the only one whom I could talk my heart to and I felt like he actually heard me, it felt nice. "You know Spence, I don't think I'll ever be able to like him. What if he's a snob or worse," I paused and shuddered, "hates horses." He cried, as if he was saying that I wouldn't allow it; I smiled, "You're right, I am overthinking it."

After a refreshing walk with Spencer I entered to the hustling and bustling of servants in the castle. "Oh, there you are!" Mom called out.

"Hey mom."

"I heard what happened." She held my hand and gave a small squeeze reassuring me.  

"Did you know?" She stayed silent for longer than I expected and then nodded; I sighed.

"Did everyone beside me know that I was getting married?"

"I really am sorry, the circumstances were such, we couldn't help it." She gave an apologetic smile, and went back to her work of making sure everything was ready for the royal family's arrival. The royal family of Redmont was  very special because they were more progressed than us since it was already being ruled by their queen, her majesty Phil. I always admired her integrity and will power to actually rule a kingdom and being beloved by her people; I was more excited to meet her than her son.

My family and I stood at the doors of the castle as the fanfare blew signalling their arrival. The red and gold carriage came to a stop and her majesty made the most grand yet modest entrance, followed by her youngest, Princess Charlotte and then stepped out my nightmare. He wore a white ruffle shirt with a royal blue jacket which had a few army medals pinned to the left with ridiculously tight pants. Why was I looking at his pants? As the walked up the stairs his blonde hair bounced with every step and then his piercing ocean blue eyes met mine as he gave me a smug smile which I already despised.

"Welcome to our humble abode your majesty!" Dad greeted, giving a respected bow which she reciprocated.

"The pleasure is all ours, thank you." She smiled.

"Your majesty." A deep voice caught my attention, Harrison and put forward his hand asking me to do the same. Unwillingly I slipped my hand in his as he placed a soft kiss on my knuckles, eyes meeting once again. "Y/n, would you mind showing Princess Charlotte and Prince Harrison their rooms?" Mom asked and I nodded, "After me your highness." I flashed a small smile.

"How was your journey?" I asked Charlotte, trying to make small talk, climbing up the stairs.

"It would have been better if I wasn't accompanied by my brother dear." She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder to the boy following us.

"Trust me siblings are annoying." I scoffed.

"Uh, ladies?" Harrison cleared his throat, "I'm right here." We ignored him and continued to laugh. I lead Charlotte to her room first, "This is your room your highness," I said opening the doors and letting her enter, "and you will have your maid here in case you need anything at all, please do not hesitate."

"Thank you," she smiled, "but please call me Lottie, highness seems to formal, now that we are going to be in-laws soon." She teased as I sent a nervous smile her way. I turned around to show Harrison his room when I crashed into his strong chest, he placed his firm hand on my hips to save me from falling, "Falling so soon for me?" He smirked. "You wish." I cleared my throat and balanced myself. We walked in silence to his room, "Well, this is your room." I licked my lips, "Your butler will be here if you need anything at all."

"Well I did want something." He called out before I left, "Where is your room?"

Excuse me? "Its down the hall, third door," I said hesitantly, "why may I ask?"

"Well my butler can't give me everything I want, I'll see you at dinner." He winked at me and closed the door, leaving me in the hallway absolutely baffled. What did he mean by that? I knew something was wrong about him.

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Strike through means I couldn't tag you

[generallybarzy]

hey there, stranger. i

SERIES MASTERLIST

summary: when you mention being lonely, Rebecca Seidenberg sets you- their babysitter- up on a blind date with Mat Barzal.

an: hi, i’ve been mia for a few days now due to some stuff, you all know what happened, but anyway here’s something to make my absence better! i know there might be some details that don’t make sense irl but just roll with it please I love the strangers to lovers trope so much. 

word count: 1.6k

Okay, you were lonely.

Ever since moving to New York for your first year of college, endless amounts of studying and work and more little jobs on the side to make ends meet living in the big city had taken up most of your spare time, leaving few opportunities for dating. Even when you did go on dates, they rarely lasted long enough to be called relationships, and not once have you had a serious relationship. This was your 20s, you were supposed to be out there living your life, weren’t you? Stupidly falling in love and getting your heart broken and learning along the way. But instead, you were busy trying to focus on that degree, leaving any hope of a love life behind.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with focusing on your degree, it was a degree you'd been looking forward to getting and you had been lucky enough to get accepted to your dream school, but it would be nice to have a significant other you could hold at the end of the day. Right? None of your many, many dates ended well, though, and though you were still young and didn't need to worry, you were lonely and felt late to the party as all your friends were falling in and out of love. It may have been dumb, but you were beginning to believe you’d never find the right guy.

And that’s where Rebecca Seidenberg stepped in to help.

She was a friend of your mom's and aunt's, and, though you didn't know her personally when you first moved out, word had spread through your family and to family friends, and she reached out to let you know that if you ever needed help in the big city, she would be there. She had been practically a mother figure to you since last year when you moved to New York all alone at 19 years old. She and her hockey player husband lived on Long Island with their children, just a quick commute from your city campus, and apparently, your mom had been in constant contact with her since your big move, checking in and asking someone to watch out for her little girl. You got a call one day asking if you needed any extra cash because, according to your mom, you were good with kids, and the two could use a babysitter for the night.

So, while you resided in a dorm room in the city and worked on campus between classes, you spent a lot of your Friday nights and weekends out on Long Island babysitting for the Seidenbergs when they went out on date nights.

They all quickly came to love you, especially the children, and you found it worth it to spend your weekends with them rather than out on any shitty dates or getting drunk at some stupid, dangerous frat party like a lot of college students. You loved their family, you loved all the genuine love, and could only hope that one day you'd have a relationship with that much love in it. You didn't like to admit how much you wanted a boyfriend, maybe it had something to do with your own insecurity, but you didn't want to think you needed a man. Maybe it had something to do with your fears, too. You didn’t want to get messed up again. You didn't need a man, but how great would it be to have someone there at the end of the day to curl into and rant to and love? It would be amazing. Okay, maybe you were a hopeless romantic. But you’d never admit it.

But about a month ago, as Rebecca was talking to you about a date Dennis was taking her on next week, you were feeling particularly romantic and hopeless. Your second year in college had just started up again, and you had returned to New York from your hometown to settle back into your lonely dorm room. All your friends were either meeting up with their partners after spending the summer apart, or dealing with the loneliness of having to be separate from them for the upcoming year, but you had nobody like that, and just let it slip.

"I wish I could find a guy who loves me like that." You lamented after commenting on how the Seids looked at each other with absolute heart eyes. "It's starting to feel like I'm just destined to be alone."

"What?" She looked at you incredulously, laughing a little as if she couldn't believe you hadn't found anyone. "You're still young, you have plenty of time!"

"Yeah, realistically I know, but I've been on so many dates, and none of them are ever successful.” You groaned, maybe a little dramatically as you thought back to all the dates you’d had since moving out of your parent’s house last year and coming to New York. “And all my friends have, like, solid relationships, or are at least messing around, and I can’t even do that. I feel so far behind.”

“There’s no timeline on love.” She spoke wisely, like the motherly figure you’d been missing. “You’re not falling behind. Anyway, the chances of you meeting the love of your life this young are pretty slim.”

“I know, and I’m not looking for the love of my life. Just… someone, you know?” You thought for a moment, just of having someone to smile with, to hug and to kiss after a hard day. You hadn’t had a true boyfriend since your last year of high school, and that hadn’t ended well. You had fallen hard for the wrongest person in the world, and he had done nothing but hurt you for months. It had definitely messed you up a bit, but you wanted nothing more than to forget about that whole ordeal and come out of your shell again, to love again. “I don't know if I'm being too picky or my standards are too high or something, but I just attract the wrong types of guys."

"Hmm." She gave it thought for a moment, and you knew she was going to work some of her motherly magic. "Well, what are you looking for?"

"I don't know. Just someone who's genuine? Someone who's really passionate and has a big heart. And funny, the guys I date always have the blandest humor and it makes dates so awkward and I'd have to force laughter. Someone who actually cares. I don't think that's too much to ask for, is it?"

"It's definitely not." She laughed for a moment. "I actually know someone who fits in those categories really well."

"Really?"

"If you'll let me, I think I could get him to go on a date with you."

"No, no way, blind dates aren't my thing."

"What's your thing? Dating apps?" You laughed at the playful chirp, but unfortunately, it was true. "Come on, I know it'll go well, even if you don't end up together. He's a great guy!"

"Alright, fine!" You laughed a bit, at both how excited she was and how excited you were to meet this guy she spoke so highly of. "It better be worth it."

"Trust me, you'll love him."

And that's how you ended up here, sitting all alone in the corner of a little coffee shop in Brooklyn, fiddling with the strings coming loose at the sleeves of your oversized sweater. It had been getting chillier out in the past few October weeks, and even though it was cozy and warm inside, you kept your sweater on for comfort, so you had something to fidget with and calm your nerves.

You were so nervous, you were overthinking everything you were doing. Were you dressed okay? Jean, a cute turtleneck with a loose sweater thrown over top, a cute little necklace- too casual? Not casual enough? Was your hair a wreck? You’d thrown it up in a cute bun but had it become a wreck since you walked here through the breeze? Your makeup was simple, but had it covered up the fact that you’d been breaking out due to the stress of your recent surge in classwork? You had already ordered a drink but immediately rethought it. Was it rude to order before he showed up?

As much as you trusted Mrs. Seidenberg, you couldn’t help the nagging feeling that this date would go horribly. He would be here any minute, you were sure of it. You could feel it.

And you were right.

The door to the coffee shop rattled open and in stepped a man who quickly drew your attention away from everybody else. In dark jeans, a tee, and a nice-looking black bomber jacket, he didn’t really stand out, but there was something about him- his aura, the way he held himself, that made him so appealing. That immediately drew your eyes to him. He had dark hair that looked soft to the touch and made you want to run your fingers through it, and his brows were furrowed above searching eyes as he looked around the room, making you think that maybe he was looking for someone. Maybe he was looking for you. Maybe it wasn't too much to hope that this man was your blind date. And the moment his eyes fell on you- the only person sitting all alone in this cafe- your eyes locked. Only then did you realize you’d been staring. His eyebrows quirked up a little bit and you saw a little smile start to pull at the corners of his lips. As he approached your table, you realized your prayers were answered.

He moved in long strides, almost gracefully towards you, and you were so mesmerized with how he approached you that you almost missed his beautiful voice when he spoke to you.

"(Y/N)?"

Breathless, you smiled. "Hey there, stranger."

[forkanna]

[AO3 LINK]

NOTES: Wow, that was quite a response to just reposting the prologue! Hopefully you all enjoy the rest of this fic as much as you've been anticipating it; I know it's been a lot of buildup to it, unintentionally I promise you. Here you go, better late than... well, you get it.

---------------------

The next morning had been a hard one for Anna. School just felt strained and weird without knowing for sure where her mother was. Punz helped her through it, and she managed to do most of her classwork, but her mind kept wandering off.

Tomorrow was the earliest they could report her missing to the police. Of course, she had a feeling that it wouldn't matter one way or the other, but it was the strongest hope that she and her father had. Knowing what they knew about time travel, they had refrained from calling John or Wendy for the time being; she might come back.

She had to come back.

So when she walked into the living room after school and saw her mother sitting on the couch, looking quite weary but whole, safe, normal, she ran into her arms. It didn't even occur to her to ask about her father, or what she was doing there, or anything else. Need overrode curiosity.

"MOM! Oh my god… oh Mom, you completely freaked me out, I didn't know what happened!"

Elsa wrapped her arms around Anna, hugging back just as a tight as a sound halfway between a laugh and a sigh spilled from her lips. "My angel… I'm so sorry for worrying you like that. Really."

Anna felt her eyes well with tears. She had been unwilling to truly face the idea that Elsa was truly gone, but seeing her here threw into sharp relief just how much she had been terrified. Her arms grew tired as she held on, but there was nothing that could make her let go. Not at this moment. Even the mere thought had her arms tightening their hold, squeezing just a little harder.

"Please don't leave again," she said softly. "Not- not without telling me first. Dad- Dad came home last night and we were gonna go to the cops and-"

"Shh…." Elsa hushed her, inhaling deeply. "I promise I'll never do that again without telling you. I'm so sorry, Anna."

Tearfully, Anna drew her head back, just enough so she could look in Elsa's eyes. "Where did you go? Did I… did I do something?"

Oh God. Elsa could see the forty-something version of her daughter, asking that same exact question. "No, no, baby. No you didn't do anything."

"But you just left me…" Anna's words, cracked and small, were also so heartfelt. So sincere in their pain that it made Elsa want to cry, too. How could she even have thought of giving this up? Of leaving the person who, truthfully, had become her entire world?

"I waited until the day your father would come home. That way, you wouldn't be without someone to… look out for your well-being, no matter what came to pass."

Clearing her throat and sniffling, Anna pulled back and gazed at her mother. "What… came to… Mom, what happened? Where did you go?"

"I was figuring some things out. Took a few weeks. And I've come to some decisions." She took a deep breath, then let it out very slowly before she took both of Anna's hands. "I'm not leaving you."

"Okay. I'm… b-but you made it sound like you… wanted to?"

"Not 'wanted'. But I thought it might be best." She released her hands. "However, there are going to have to be a few changes around here."

Still incredibly relieved at not losing her mother, Anna slumped downward. Then she said, "Okay, okay. You want me to stop hitting on you? Is that pretty much it?"

Elsa nodded slightly. "For now. I'm… willing to revisit that at a later date, but you have to promise me something. From now until you are in college, this stops. We have to learn to keep our hands to ourselves. It's going to be difficult, I know; we've already proven that it will be. But that's very important to me. You might technically be of age, but… you're my child, and you live in my house. There's no pretending that won't affect which of us has the power in a… in… well, in a romantic relationship."

"O-oh." Anna wasn't sure what to say. This sounded like bad news, but it also sounded like there was some good news attached. "But… what about when I'm in college?"

Only now did Elsa smile slightly. "Depends. I want you to really take this time to think hard about you and I. We both will. And we'll try our best to be a normal family. I'm never, ever going to stop loving you!" Her smile faltered slightly, and she looked away with red cheeks. "And if, once you're out on your own, not… being 'parented' by me, you still want to be something more than mother and daughter… we can try that. I know it's a long time-"

"Oh, Mom," she breathed, crushing her with her arms again, sore as they still were. "God! Of course, I… oh I'm sorry, I'm so dumb, I kept trying to… I d-don't know, I'm stupid, I'm so stupid!"

"Shhhhhh." It was soothing and sweet, and she kissed the crown of her head. Anna hummed a little through her tears, glad for the gentle gesture. "It's okay. Everything's okay, Anna; you're going to be just fine."

"B-but what if we try it, and I hurt you somehow? Make you sad th-that your daughter is… disgusting?"

"Don't ever think that. Even if I've been a little disgusted by your desires, by my own, that does not mean I think you are 'bad' or… or anything! And it never did. Do you hear me, sweetie? You'll always be my sweet Anna, whether or not I can handle you being my Tori at the same time. Always."

With renewed vigour, Anna hugged her mother so aggressively. Elsa returned the expression – and, where once she would have hesitated, now there was no sign of that reluctance. It was just what Anna needed.

"I should… really call Punz," she said finally. "Let her know what happened."

Elsa's lips quirked. "I should probably ring your father," she said. Still, neither of them moved. If anything, Anna seemed unable to stop herself pressing closer.

"What if… what if I can't?" she whispered. Even in that low tone, it was obvious she was scared – terrified – of something. "You want me to stop until college, but what if I can't? Or, if I slip up? Mom, I can't lose you just because my balls get ahead of my brain sometimes."

Squeezing tight for a second, Elsa chuckled and closed her eyes. "Accidents happen…" she began. It wasn't good enough.

"No! How can we trust that it would even be an accident when I want you so bad? It hurts, Mom!" Anna sniffled. "It hurts to have you so close sometimes when I want so much more but you… don't…"

"Anna, listen to me." Elsa had Anna's face clasped in her hands, giving her the ability to look directly into her eyes. "You have no idea how much I want you. But right now is the wrong moment. For you, for me… and sweetheart, you need to think of Punz, too. That girl adores you. And-" Elsa lowered her voice, though she smiled now, too. "I would love to be her mother one day, too. Well, mother-in-law."

"That still doesn't solve this problem," Anna said. Her words were monotone, but she felt herself blushing at Elsa's suggestion. It was easier to deflect than it was to think on the future and whether or not Punz would be part of hers.

"You're right. But I guess what I've realised is… this problem is not worth me leaving you behind. I want to work on it together. And if we slip up again, we will deal with it like adults. We aren't animals who have no willpower."

"Are you sure?" she asked with a weak laugh. "You came pretty close that morning."

At that, Elsa leaned in and whispered, "I really did. I was very close." The double meaning made Anna's cheeks grow yet rosier. "But I'm serious; I won't try that while I'm 'in charge' of you. That's not right. Even if we try to treat each other equally, we can't be equals until you're out on your own. And I'm not going to let you drop out of school or anything like that, before you ask," she warned.

"Damn, you caught me," Anna hissed, and Elsa chuckled. "Still Mom with your freakin' parenting chess moves, ten steps ahead. Man… that's so long, though."

"Is it? I know it seems that way to you, because you're young."

Sighing, Anna admitted, "Maybe not. And you're right, like… the past couple of weeks have been great! Not just the parts where we flirted, but everything. All three of us hanging out together was nice, too."

"See? We can make that work. And as I said, if I know you're making advances on purpose, then I will have to leave until you've graduated. Just for my own sanity, and to make sure I don't hurt you – and then I'll come back. But a few slip-ups here and there can be forgiven, Anna."

Anna's hand stroked up and down Elsa's side for a moment. Again, she didn't flinch away, but she started to look a little less comfortable, so Anna stopped. "Okay. I… don't really get the whole 'I can't be in charge while we're dating' thing, because like, you parenting me is totally separate. But I do trust you, Mom. So… so I can try it."

"Not as separate as it should be. But thank you, Anna," Elsa said honestly. She was smiling, too, so that was a good sign. "Now I really must contact your father." She got up and was halfway to the kitchen before Anna spoke.

"Hey, Mom?" she asked. Elsa turned.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

Suddenly, Anna felt very gun-shy and guilty. Like she was going to ask her mother for a treat after her father had already said no. "Can I ask a favour?"

"Of course!" Elsa turned more fully towards her daughter, and Anna felt her mouth grow dry. Just for a second, but it was more than enough, really.

Swallowing hard around a lump in her throat, Anna looked away. "Can I… have a kiss?"

Her mother answered with a sigh, but it was more weary than truly upset. "That would seem to defeat the purpose of giving us this dry period, wouldn't it? Unless you just mean a cheek-kiss."

"I didn't," she admitted readily. "Um… and I do kinda get what you mean? Cooling off to make sure this is what we really want, cause we can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. But like, I already did that. The past couple weeks were me trying not to feel things for you, and it didn't work. But if you want to try for longer…"

"I think, if a few more months go by and you still want me the way you did a couple of days ago, then it will prove that we're really intended to be that for each other. And if the feelings fade for you, then won't it be better that we never went too far? That we never… crossed the line that cannot be uncrossed?"

Anna was having trouble wrapping her mind around what Elsa was trying to get through to her. What would be the difference at this point? She already let her go down on her once before, even if it was her younger self and not this mother standing in front of her now. But she supposed there was probably some wisdom in this plan that she simply hadn't considered.

"Just tonight," Anna whispered very quietly. "Like, to get it out of my system. Then tomorrow, we can go back to 'Mom' and 'daughter' and all that, and… see where we end up when I go to college. And I know, I sound like an ungrateful brat, and it's demanding, a-and… I'm sorry. But I think it'll drive me nuts if I never get to touch you from now until I'm out of the house!"

"It's not a good idea, Anna." But she relented. "Fine. But you have to make all the moves. I already basically attacked you in 1985, and now that I really am your mother…"

That part, Anna could understand. Especially after she explained the whole 'being in charge' aspect; if she was worried about wielding power over Anna, she would give it all to her. Smiling, Anna placed her hands on Elsa's waist. "Just a kiss. Maybe it won't even feel right and we won't have to worry about anything more."

Both seemed to realise at the same moment how silly a thought that was. Anna could feel it already, that pull. Her mouth was no longer than dry – no, she was almost salivating at the thought of doing this again. Her cheeks warmed and her heart picked up, trotting in her chest as she took a step closer.

"Just a kiss," Elsa echoed, though her voice had suddenly lost its power.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Anna leaned forward. Elsa wasn't much taller than her – wasn't much taller than she had been in '85 – but still Anna missed. Her lips found Elsa's chin, and Elsa let out a snort of what could have been laughter.

Anna didn't correct herself upward, however. Contrarily, she moved away from Elsa's lips, grazing hers down to lave at her mother's throat.

"Anna…" Elsa tried. It was meant to be a warning, but instead it came out hoarse and throaty. A small noise slipped from Anna as she wrapped her hands more solidly around Elsa's waist. It was more of a hug now, and it had the side effect – intended or not – of bringing them even closer together.

Eyes sliding shut, Anna merely enjoyed the taste of her mother's skin. She felt gentle fingers tangling in her hair, and was prepared for when Elsa tugged her away. Even if it was a gentle distancing.

"This isn't quite what we agreed to," she sighed nervously. But she could see her mother was uncertain. Guilty. There had to be a way she could remove that guilt. What would make this woman she adored more comfortable with her how much she adored her?

"Elsa… you can call me 'Tori' tonight if you want," she murmured. "If that makes it easier. I could even dress up in 80s clothes or something? Like… since the whole problem is me being your daughter, I could be her instead."

At that, Elsa let out a soft laugh. "I didn't know we were doing an all-night affair. But… well…"

"Well?" Anna asked after a few seconds passed and her mother didn't finish the thought.

"I did ask Kristoff to get a hotel room. Give us space enough to figure things out." Anna drew back to see Elsa looking ashamed, but also smiling very slightly. "Not that this was what I had in mind. Just wanted to be prepared for any… eventuality."

For a few seconds, Anna had to suppress the tingles burbling up through her body. From very specific places. Elsa had planned for them to sleep together. Not as an intention, but a precaution – though that was still more than she had hoped lips pushed into Elsa's neck again, hearing a sigh. Then she whispered, "What if I just keep kissing? All over?"

"An- Tori," she corrected, and Anna smiled against her neck.

"You don't have to do anything back. I'm good. But… I want to try this out. See how far I can get before you need me to stop. Or before I need to stop."

"Let's just stick to kissing above the waist." When Anna pulled back to grin at her, head starting to duck downward, she hastily added, "Above the shoulders! Jesus Christ, how did I raise such an opportunist?"

"You didn't; the other Anna probably wasn't as bad as me. And she also wasn't as hot for you as me…" Knowing she was pushing her luck, she leaned up to whisper into Elsa's ear, "And I'm pretty hot for you right now."

Elsa let out a sharp breath that was probably covering something else. "Anna…" she tried one last time. This one felt breathier and needier than before, and Anna could feel the warmth pooling just below her navel.

"I just want you," Anna said softly. "To touch you… in whatever way you let me." Her hips rolled very slightly against Elsa's – not enough for any real friction, but certainly enough to give truth to her words. Elsa gave out another shuddering breath. "But for now, a kiss will do…"

And she did just that, sealing their lips together once more. Elsa sank down into it as if it were a warm bath, perhaps grateful that she no longer had to speak. It didn't really matter.

Slowly, Anna began to back away, leading them back to the couch. It seemed safer than heading for one of the bedrooms. It took Elsa a moment to realise what she was doing, but when she finally caught on she wasted no time in guiding Anna. Despite what she had said, she seemed to be a little less willing to stop now.

But finally they were seated, a strange parody of that moment in Doc's car. Anna had little doubt that she wanted to try paying her mother back for what she had done there, either. Hopefully Elsa felt the same.

Anna slipped her tongue between Elsa's lips, and she only groaned and accepted it with her own, leaning back until she was lying on the couch with Anna over her. Her arms never tightened around Anna, and she never gripped her shoulders; only laid her hands gently on her biceps. Seemed she was deadly serious about not making any 'moves', after all.

When they broke apart again, Anna's hips still grinding, Elsa warned her breathlessly, "This is… more than a kiss."

"Yeah. But hey… tonight is our night, huh? Like, the last one to be Tori and Elsa."

"It is. Even though we aren't going as far as you think we're going," she told her, resolve returning as she pointed a finger up at her.

"Right, I get it. So…" Biting her lip, she got up from the couch, leaving Elsa briefly confused. "Let's do it. Let's dress up."

What an adorable blush crept into the middle-aged woman's features. "Oh, you… were serious about that?"

Dancing backward a little, she said, "Remember that outfit I made you buy? The one that you said you wouldn't wear out of the house, short-shorts and crop top? You can put that on, and I'll find some stuff in my closet that makes me look really… different. Really Tori for you. And I'll change my hair, and wear the shoes from the dance!"

"Oooh," Elsa sighed at the mention of the shoes. Apparently, that was such a strong tie to the memory of going down on Anna that it instantly heated her up. Then she cleared her throat. "Well… I suppose it wouldn't hurt to simply look the parts. Might help create necessary boundaries."

She knew what her mother really meant; it would help assuage her guilt if they were recreating the past, instead of forging a new, sinful future. Clapping her hands, she started to head for the hallway. "You just wait! This is gonna be amazing!"

"I hope you're right," Elsa chuckled as she started to follow her. They were both going the same way, after all. "But I just wanted to reiterate..."

Hesitation. So she prompted, "What?"

"No matter what happens… I'm always going to love you. That was never in danger at any point, Anna."

"I know. Don't worry, we got this. Promise-promise."

"Now, that sounds familiar..."

Anna had no way of knowing what Elsa meant; she hadn't said it yet, after all. But she was all smiles as she retreated to her room with glee, only sparing Elsa one last glance over her shoulder to see her mother was standing in the doorway to her own room with a bemused smile on her blushing features.

Still so beautiful.

                                         To Be Continued…

[bluemoonbeam15]

A Monster Part 7

As much as he wanted to reach out and make sure she was okay...he found himself slinking back toward the wall. Dawn paused, "Someone told me you blacked out...th-that maybe you died." Now he could see the red in her eyes and the tears that were still trailing down her cheeks.

He didn't respond to her comment. His eyes trailed down to the wounds...the blood. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I-I should've gotten help--"

"You can't honestly be worrying about that still," she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Hopper's antennae drew back and he felt his back press against the wall. Anything to put distance between them. He didn't want to hurt her again. Dawn put her hand on his leg, "Are you sure you're okay? Do you need water--wait, you haven't eaten yet! I'll get you some food!"

Manny gently guided her to sit back down, "Rosie and Dim left earlier to get some food, in the hopes he woke up. They should be back shortly."

"O-Oh," she looked back to Hopper, smiling a bit, "do you need anything else? Are you cold? You're shaking...," her brow furrowed at his trembling body. "Hopper?"

"I don't wanna hurt you again," he didn't meet her gaze as he whispered.

Dawn frowned. Conscious of her wound, she pushed herself completely on the bed and sat up next to him. Hopper stiffened, back flush against the wall. "You won't. You didn't hurt me in the first place."

"You're bleeding--"

"That doesn't mean I'm hurt." Dawn reached out to grab his hand, pulling it to her lap, "I've been hurt before...and it's a lot more painful than this. I can handle this, Hopper."

Hopper stared down at their hands, "But I can't handle seeing you like this."

"Then close your eye," she quirked her mouth, gently brushing a finger down his eyelid to close it.

A quiet huff escaped him, gradually becoming a laugh, "You're awful."

She giggled, "But you're finally smiling again. I missed it."

"Here we go!" Rosie hurried into the room with a decent plate of food. It was set down on the bed beside him.

Dr. Flora walked around to put a hand to his forehead, "Just take it easy for a few days. The medicine is working but you shouldn't push it."

Hopper grimaced at the food, "Thank you, Rosie, but I can't look at food after all that." His stomach twisted just at the sight of it.

"You have to eat something, Sweetheart," Gypsy coaxed the plate toward him. "You've already lost so much weight."

"I know, but I...," he sighed.

Dawn leaned over, grabbing a piece of fruit. She held it up to his mouth, "One bite. Here's hoping it won't kill you."

He gave her a sarcastic look, "Gee, thanks. But I really don't think I can eat anything yet."

"You won't know until you try," she sang.

"What if I get sick again?" Gosh...he just couldn't stand that feeling again. The pain of his insides winding up and tightening into a tight ball. The gasps of breaths in between the heaves. He barely managed through it the first time. If it happened again he didn't know if there would be any strength left in him to fight.

"I'll still be right here with you," her voice was quieter this time that he didn't know if he'd heard her right.

Blinking down at her, he eventually allowed her to feed him the fruit. The citric acid stung a bit, but the second it hit his stomach all resolve was torn down. Another surge of instinct rushed through his body, threatening to turn him feral as it registered the starvation. Pupils dilated and he closed his eyes tight to try and will it away.

A weight rested against his chest. Dawn ran her hand down one of his arms, "Don't fight it, okay? Don't think about it. Just focus on what's around you."

He grunted through the sensation endangering his control. "It's not that easy," a sharp inhale barely did any good.

The others gave him some space. Molt sat on the other side of Hopper, determined to not move an inch away from his side. Dawn kept rubbing Hopper's arm, "Did you have any dreams? Anything nice?" She asked.

Hopper swallowed, "I...saw my mom, yeah."

She made an effort herself to push away the sudden shock of that statement. Barely a heartbeat passed before she followed up his answer, "Did you get to talk to her?"

The sensation began ebbing away. Either that or he was turning feral. Hopper directed his focus onto her question, "Y-Yeah, a little bit. She was happy to see me...so was I," he smiled a bit.

"That's really sweet, Hopper," she looked up at him. "Ready to try another piece?" Hopper took in a deep breath and nodded. With a remnant of seed in hand, she gently fed him. The food landed softer in his stomach this time.

He relaxed as the instinct washed away. "Thank you." Hopper grabbed her hand as it trailed back down his arm, squeezing it tightly.

"Always," she rested against him.

Gypsy smiled at the two, "We'll let you get some rest, Honey." She patted his leg and stood. "Did you want to stay?" She addressed Dawn.

"Yes ma'am, if that's okay."

"Of course," Gypsy smiled and nodded the others on. Molt stood, rubbing Hopper's shoulder before following the others out of the infirmary. The moth stopped at the entryway, "If anything goes wrong, we'll be in the commissary."

Dawn nodded, "Thank you." They exchanged a soft smile before Gypsy took her leave. Dr. Flora laid out some herbs.

"His medicine is set out on my table. I'll should be back in an hour, but if not just feed him two cloves." Hopper regarded the medicine disdainfully. Dawn nodded graciously.

Alone now, she felt Hopper wrap his arm around her, "I really am sorry for what I did to you...if there's anything I can do--"

"Hopper," she laughed softly, cupping the side of his face. "It's okay. Honest to God, I'm fine." His face darkened in hue as she held his gaze, "You just focus on getting better. Don't worry about me."

"I could say the same to you."

Dawn deadpanned, smirking, "This is different."

He hummed, raising an eyebrow, "Not really, no."

"Yeah," she laughed, "it kinda is, actually." Poking his chest, "I haven't starved myself for almost a month. Now," she grabbed another remnant of fruit, "eat."

"Always have an excuse," he smirked, accepting the piece. "You don't have to stay, you know. You have to be tired from everything."

She sighed peacefully, staring into his eyes for a moment. "Yeah, a little bit." With that, she made herself comfortable in his arms, nuzzling against his chest.

Hopper's face reddened, "W-What...um...do you not wanna sleep in your room?"

"I'd sleep better knowing you're close by. This should be close enough, don't you think?" Dawn rubbed his hand, "Unless you want me to sleep somewhere else."

"No," he responded quickly. Clearing his throat, he forced himself to relax back, "No, not at all. You're fine--that's fine." Smooth.

Dawn bit her lip to keep from laughing, "Platonically, you're cute when you're flustered."

He scoffed, face reddening more, "Platonically, you're cute when you worry over me." Timidly, Hopper drew her closer to him. They eventually drifted to sleep, taking advantage of what time they could before Dr. Flora would return to give his medicine.

Every few minutes, Dawn would peek her head up to make sure he was still breathing. Every time he rested peacefully. At one point nuzzling the top of her head in his sleep. It took some restraint to not laugh at the sight. That or hug him tightly and shower him in adoration.

But she stayed every second. Anything to make sure he was okay. That news terrified her senseless. The thought of him being dead. Gone. When she'd barely had enough time to enjoy his company. Though, no amount of time would be enough for her.

If only they could have forever.

<><><><><><><><>

I juggled the idea of Hopper and Dawn either being in a relationship already, or squeezing this in between my other fics on the timeline.

Leaning toward an established relationship for this series. But, in that case, this takes place later on from the other fics between the couple.

I really don't have a timeline, per se, so I don't know why I felt the need to explain that 😭 maybe I should make a timeline?

ALSO, this isn't the end. There's still a VERY significant part that is going to be the main goal of this whole series. I have a specific end for this series that will be the whole purpose for writing it.

[barnesandrogersfanfics]

Ocean Eyes - Part 5

To say i didn't get much sleep last night was an understatement! I had spent a couple hours on the phone to my mom telling her about Chris showing up and now knowing about Mason while having a couple glasses of wine. When i finally did go to bed i couldn't switch my brain off,  the last time i had looked at the time it was nearly 4:30am and i knew Mason would be getting up around 6! It felt like i had just closed my eyes when that darling boy of mine came jumping on the bed to wake me up.

After breakfast we both got ready and headed out to the car, i needed to go to the store to get some groceries (if i had guests coming round i should really have something to offer them).

"Oh nooo.... mom creepy Brian is coming out" Mason said quietly.

"Sshhh i told you not to call him that" i chuckled as we rushed to get into the car before Brian could reach us.

"Thats what you and aunt Hannah call him though" he rolled his eyes like i was crazy as i reversed out of the drive.

"Only when we're inside where he can't hear us. You can't say that while his around baby"

"Fine, i wont say it again" he shrugged "is my dad coming back today?"

"He said he was gonna come see you today"

"I like him, he seems cool"

I didn't know what to say to that so i just kept my eyes on the road.

"Mom, dont you like my dad?...."

"Sure i do bud, i just haven't seen your dad in a long time"

"But he makes you sad"

"Im fine Mace, don't you worry" i forced a smiled trying to put on a brave face for him.

Walking around the store i found myself picking up things i knew Chris and Scott liked.... or at least what they used to like.

I was loading the bags into the car when i got a text message.

Chris: Hey, just checking its still okay if we come over today?

Y/N: Sure

Chris: Thats good because we're at the house but your not home....

Y/N: Im at the store, be back in 5 minutes

Chris: 👍🏻

A thumbs up?? Really Chris??

I internally face palmed, he was still a dork.

I spotted Chris's car parked out on the road leaving the drive way empty, once i had parked up he then drove up and parked behind me. Mason was already out the car and running over to see Chris before i even had my belt off!

I got out and walked around to the trunk to get the groceries out.

"Morning Neighbour" i heard Brian approaching.

"God damn it" i muttered under my breath before sticking my head around to see him "hi Brian"

"You need a hand with those bags Y/N?"

"No thanks i'm good, got plenty of help with these two" i threw a thumb back pointing towards Chris & Scott.

"You sure? i don't mind helping you out"

"Its fine, we've got it" Chris said coming to a stop beside me with Scott and Mason either side of him, he reached in and easily scooped up two bags, Scott grabbing the another.

"We're all good, thanks for the offer though"

"Anytime, you know where i am" he smiled and walked back to his house stopping a few times to look back.

"Urghh" i shivered "guy gives me the creeps" i muttered quietly as i shut the trunk and led the way up to the house.

"Is he always like that?" Scott asked his eyes going comically wide at the thought.

"Yeah. He always appears when we're leaving the house or getting back...."

"Thats a little weird"

"Im sure he's harmless...." i shrugged. Chris was being unusually quiet, I didn't ask him what his problem was.

"Mom and aunt Hannah call him creepy Brian but its a secret" Mason said quietly to Chris and Scott even though we were now safely inside.

"Mace, stop it" i laughed shaking my head.

"He can't hear me mom its fine"

"Honestly kid...."

"Wonder where he gets it from huh?" Scott chuckled at me.

"Definitely his dad" i rolled my eyes "i love him more than life itself but he's a pain my ass sometimes" i muttered quietly so Mason couldn't hear.

"Sounds just like Chris" Scott laughed playfully nudging my shoulder with his.

"I heard that!" Chris added just making Scott laugh louder.

I made some sandwiches for lunch and grabbed some drinks taking them all out into the garden where Chris and Scott were kicking a ball around with Mason.

"Foods ready guys" i called out to them once everything was laid out.

"Can i sit next to dad?" Mason asked running over.

"Sure bud, Scott looks like you stuck with me" i shrugged switching their plates around.

"Fine by me sweetheart, id rather sit next to you anyway"

"At least someone wants to sit with me" i joked sticking my tongue out at Mason making him giggle.

"Hey Y/N..?" I heard Brian call from behind me, i sighed closing my eyes before turning around to see him looking over the fence at us.

"Hey Brian, everything okay?"

"Oh yeah! I just wanted to remind you about the BBQ, your friends are more than welcome to join us too"

"Thanks for the invite Brian but i think we're just gonna have a quiet family lunch"

"Okay well if y'all change your mind just come on over"

"Will do" i forced a smiled and turned back around.

"Has he gone?" I whispered to Chris who had the clear view of next door.

"Yeah" he nodded "that guy needs to take a hint".

"I don't think he knows how to" i shook my head before taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Maybe you should give him a shot" Scott teased wiggling his eyebrows.

"No!" Both Chris and I said at the same time.

"Relax i was joking" Scott laughed before shooting Chris a look. Chris looked like he was about say something but his cell phone ringing his pocket drew his attention.

"Sorry i need to take this" he said getting up from the table "hey Lindsey" i heard him say as he walked further down the yard for some privacy.

"Lindsey? That the girlfriend?" I asked Scott quietly, he nodded giving me a sad smile "its fine, i just wondered"

"I don't think it'll last personally"

"He obviously feels differently if he's now wanting that divorce"

"Thats because he's an idiot"

"Not gonna argue with you on that....."

"So what about you? Anyone special in your life Y/N?"

"Yeah Mason" i scoffed "i don't have time for dating. Being a single parent is tough Scott.... most guys run a mile when they hear you have a kid..."

"But you must have dated a bit?"

"Not really" i shook my head feeling my face burn in embarrassment.

"Y/N, there has been someone since my brother right?"

I looked up at Scott slowly shaking my head "no. I've been on a couple dinner dates Hannah set me up on but nothing ever came of it" i shrugged "its fine".

"Jesus woman how long has it been....like 7 years??" He asked looking surprised.

"Something like that" i mumbled picking up my glass of water, my throat suddenly bone dry.

"Girl that is some dry spell, please tell me you at least have a vibrator!" He said quietly so Mason wouldn't hear. I choked on the water that i was swallowing and started coughing before it turned to laugher.

"God i've missed you Scott" i smiled at him.

"I've missed you too! But that doesn't answer my question".

"Whats so funny?" Chris asked as he rejoined us.

"Just Scott being Scott" i rolled my eyes.

"Im finished mom can we go play football again now?" Mason asked looking hopeful.

"In a little bit bud, your dad and Scott are still eating".

Hannah and Lucas turned up unannounced not long after lunch was finished and I was grateful for the distraction. Lucas quickly joined in with Mason, Chris and Scott who were kicking the ball around again while Hannah poured us both a glass of wine.

"So hows it been having him around again?" She asked looking over at Chris.

"Weird. But Mason loves it"

"Your handling it better than i would be!"

"Mason deserves to know his dad, Chris has already been warned that i'll kill him if he does anything to upset him"

"I don't doubt that for a second" she laughed refilling our glasses.

"So..... Friday? I was thinking we start small just hitting some bars then we can end the night at 'Ruby's' for some dancing. I know you need to be wasted before you even consider dancing"

"Han i said id go out for a few drinks not an all nighter!"

"Oh come on! You haven't had a good night out in forever babe, we'll find us some cute guys...."

"Hannah...." i groaned closing my eyes.

"Ooh i heard you mention cute guys" Scott sat down looking very interested in our conversation.

"Im trying to talk Y/N into finding a cute guy to give her some much needed attention when we go out Friday" Hannah told Scott making me roll my eyes.

"Id listen to Hannah, you are in some serious need of male attention"

"But i don't just hook up with strangers guys.... we've talked about this!"

"Well maybe you should! Im just saying you deserve to find someone who makes you happy Y/N. Just because your a mom now doesn't mean you can't find love" Hannah said reaching over taking my hand with a smile. She had a point.... i couldn't sit around waiting for a man who had made his feelings perfectly clear 7 years ago. A man who was in a serious relationship..... maybe it was time to try and move on from him.

"Can i please come with you? I could use a night out" Scott asked looking hopeful.

"Sure, its been a while since you joined us on a night out Scotty" i smiled at him.

"You can help me find this one a man while your at it" Hannah smirked and shared a look with Scott that spelt nothing but trouble.

Everything taglist: @jesseswartzwelder @dumblani @barnesandrogersworld @patzammit @rynabarnesrogers-reading @rainbowkisses31 @rororo06 @supernaturalwintersoldier

Ocean eyes: @supraveng @michelehansel @denisemarieangelina @mrsjeffwittek @mery-be @marvelfansworld @cmalass @capstopavenger @fallenoutofrose @kelbabyblue @biebsmylife95 @loser-alert @traceyaudette @w3lissax @jennmurawski13 @ford66steal @saiyanprincessswanie

[addictofsupernatural]

OHSHC Rewrite: Episode 3a

Beware the Physical Exam!

Host Club x reader

Summary: Y/n has to deal with Maria's nephew coming for a visit right before the physical exams.

Word Count: 5k

Episode Masterlist

"Welcome ladies!"

You were outside talking to some of your clients, and they were excited that you wore a kimono for cosplay. In the middle of talking to them Kyoya appeared smoothly, trying to sell picture books of the host club. It made you wonder, how did he get those pictures?

A little later you didn't have any clients so you asked Honey and Mori if you could sit with them, and they agreed. You and the girls became quiet once Honey tried to make some tea. He was mixing too hard and almost everything had spilled out, but none of you knew what to say. You bit your lip and looked from the girls to Mori, who understood. He leaned over to Honey, saying, "You overdid it."

Honey looked at the almost empty bowl and looked very sad. "It's okay Honey-senpai! I'll drink it." One girl exclaimed.

"Yeah, if it was anything more it would be too much!" The other one chimed in.

He then beamed again. "Really?" He looked at you. "What do you think y/n-chan?"

You smiled. "I think you made enough for the ladies to not have to drink too much. It's very modest and considerate of you Honey-senpai. It shows how good your heart is."

He jumped into a hug with you. "Thanks y/n-chan!"

Once the Host Club closed for the day, you wandered around looking at the cherry blossom trees. Tamaki saw you and decided to try to work his charm again.

"Hello y/n."

"Oh, hey senpai." You gave him a small smile.

"The flower viewing reception went quite well. What do you think? Aren't the flowers today captivating?"

"Yeah, they're really pretty."

He took this as his chance. "Even so, it's rather daunting being admired than doing the admiring."

You sighed. "Wow senpai, I can really see how much you're blooming today." You said sarcastically.

"You noticed! Yes, today my beauty is in full bloom." He then flicked a heart with his fingers to you. "I bet you'll fall you me soon."

"I'll take that bet." You joked.

Tamaki smiled and was about to say something back when the twins interrupted. "So y/n, what are you gonna take for next term?"

You paid no mind to Hikaru's arm around your shoulder. "I haven't really thought about it yet."

"Why don't you take conversational French with us?" Kaoru suggested.

"Yeah, it does make sense," Hikaru added.

They then turned back to Tamaki, evily smiling as they said, "Since we're in the same class."

Tamaki sat near a tree and hugged his knees into his chest. "Say, mommy dear?"

Kyoya smiled. "What is it now, daddy?"

"It might just be my imagination, but it seems like the twins get to spend more time with my little girl."

"Tamaki, you're just now realizing that?" It was like Tamaki was struck by lightning. "If you look at these two charts, you'll see that the twins spend roughly 8 hours a day with y/n, which is a third of her day. You, on the other hand, spend a mere 3 hours with her, meaning about 12% of her day—"

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!!" Tamaki quickly grabbed your shoulders. "Listen to me y/n, daddy wants you to stop hanging around those two shady twins!"

"Who you calling shady boss?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah, take a good look at yourself!" Kaoru added.

"Tamaki-senpai, please calm down. It's just a class together." You took his hands off your shoulders. "You know what? If I need any help in French then I'll most likely go to you."

"Really?!" His eyes shown, only to go to confusion. "Wait, what do you mean most likely?"

"If I need help in the moment, I'll ask the twins." He began crying again. "Senpai, calm down—"

"All daddy wants is for you live a wholesome life!"

You sighed. "Why do you call yourself that?"

"Y'know y/n," Kyoya said. "It's pretty impressive that you're taking a class to learn a fourth language."

"Thank you senpai." You smiled at him.

"What does he mean by fourth?" Kaoru asked.

"Oh, Maria's latina so she taught me Spanish."

"A hispanic mother huh?" Hikaru said.

Kaoru then added, "You're very exotic."

You looked at them with an annoyed expression. "Sure." You then remembered something. "By the way, do you guys have anything you're doing this weekend?"

The twins looked at each other and then back at you. "No, why?"

You grinned. "Then let's do something! Anything."

They were taken back by your sudden forwardness. "What's got you so excited?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah, where did this come from?" Kaoru added.

"Maria's sisters are coming over and one of them hates me."

"Why?" Hikaru asked.

"Cause I'm not Maria's biological kid. It's stupid. But it's not her I'm worried about." Your face then turned to a grimace. "It's her son, Satan."

"Geez, what's with the name calling?" Hikaru asked again.

"He gets his annoying personality from his mother, and he loves to go out of my way to try and get me mad. It makes him feel better or something. One time he cut the head off of my stuffed dinosaur my first mother had bought for me." You pouted.

Kaoru asked, "Just because Maria's not your mom?"

"Yeah, he feels like I'm at a lower class than him, and that I need to learn to stay like that. Maria tried to fix my stuffed dino, and God bless her tomboy heart, her sewing skills are terrible. It looks like a voodoo doll now." You sighed, shrugging. "Anyways, I wanna see his face as less as possible. So, you do two wanna hang out over the weekend?"

Tamaki jumped in. "I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN! YOU DON'T NEED TO BE SPENDING MORE TIME WITH THEM!"

"Why are you so weird about Hikaru and Kaoru?" You asked. "They aren't even doing anything."

"I'd hate to break up this little chat," Kyoya said. "But do you recognize the name Alarico Gonzalez?"

You whipped your head over to Kyoya's direction. "Why?"

"Because he's from y/c and just booked each host towards the end of host hours for tomorrow."

"It's him." You grumbled. "I'm gonna go clean up."

Tamaki then spoke up. "It's not to fret about. This is obviously a romantic comedy fic, and me and y/n the main cast! That means that in the end I'll swoop in and make her feel better."

"Yeah, then what are we?" Hikaru asked, referring to the rest of the hosts.

"You boys are the homosexual supporting cast!" He then drew a line on the ground with a stick. "So please make sure that you don't step over this line."

"This is ridiculous." The twins said.

"And boss, I don't think you get it." Hikaru said as he smiled.

"Y/n-chan values friendship very much." Honey said.

"And she considers all of us her friends." Kaoru said.

Kyoya chimed in. "If you were to take her away from the rest of her friends, she would probably become quite unhappy and limit her contact with you."

"That means that the rest of us get to spend more time with her, while she ignores you." Honey said.

"Especially more time with us," Kaoru said. "Since we're in the same class."

You walked up to them. "Okay guys, I'm done—"

"Tamaki grabbed you again." Don't worry y/n! I'll let you go with the twins this weekend."

"I mean, that's nice of you to say, but I wasn't asking for your permi—"

"As long as the rest of us go as well!" He then turned to everyone else. "Listen up gentlemen. We are all going to hang out with y/n this weekend."

"Sure, I guess. If you wanted to come senpai, why didn't you just ask?"

"Nevermind that!" He panicked. "Make sure you choose where you want to go."

You smiled sweetly. "Okay!"

The next day you felt irritated, knowing it was only a matter of time before you see Alarico and his stupid face. Kyoya reminded you that during host hours you had to be on your best behavior, which meant that you couldn't defend himself.

The twins were staring at you all day. They made in incredibly noticable when you were setting up the tea sets. "Can I help you two?"

"You haven't smiled at all today." Kaoru said.

"Yeah, this isn't normal."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to smile when the guests come." You went around them and kept working, setting everything up.

"Why do you look sad y/n-chan?" Honey asked, trying to guilt trip you. "I don't like it. You're not like that because of me, right?"

"Of course not senpai. You're a sweet person." You said with a straight face. "Now excuse me." You continued and eventually finished up everything. You then walked to your place to welcome the girls. Sucking in a breath, you put on a smile.

"Welcome ladies."

You greeted your clients and they talked to you about what was going on with their lives. You threw out compliments and encouragements, and you hoped your smile would pay off. The stress was slowly coming off of you and your smile was becoming real. You did enjoy talking to all of your clients after all.

Your smile eventually became forced when Kyoya told you that someone requested for you to greet them at the door. You walked over to the door and opened it, smiling as best as you could. "Welcome sir."

He slapped your back hard. "Hey nickel. Long time no see."

You remained calm. "I didn't know we were using our nicknames Lucifer."

"Nickel?" Kaoru asked.

"Y/n would play the guitar and sing in the streets to save up some money. That's how she could afford to move. She would come home with bucket full of change. It's hilarious. So I call her nickel." He said, breaking out into a laugh. Though he was two years older than you, he was the about the same height as the twins. He then tossed his coat to you. "Show me where I go."

"Your first appointment is with the King. Right this way."

He looked you up and down. "This suits you nickel."

You ignored his comment. "Have a nice time."

You went back to your couch and talked to your clients. Meanwhile, Tamaki smiled warmly. "It's nice to meet you. The only person I've heard of from y/n is your aunt."

"Yeah, well, that's because she doesn't like what my mom and I have to say." You could feel his smug smile staring at the back of your head. You kept talking to your girls, trying to ignore him. "She just needs to accept who she is."

"And that is?" Tamaki smiled.

He smirked at Tamaki. "You know what they say, you can take the girl out of the streets but you can't take the streets out of the girl." Tamaki frowned. "Hey, what do you think of her? She was very keen on starting over, so I was wondering if she would be willing to share her past."

Tamaki tried to keep his princely self in tact. He smiled and sat up straighter. "I think she's a bright and smart person to be around. I enjoy her company, as do the rest of us here. And yes, she has shared some information with us regarding her past. We are her friends, after all."

"Trust me man, you don't wanna be too deep in her friend group. She had some really weird friends in y/c, and it's cause she's weird herself. She's got a lot of issues, and I wouldn't blame you if it sent you running." You knew what he was trying to do. Tamaki knew it. The rest of the hosts listening in knew it too. He was trying to isolate you, just to mess with you. "Well, gotta go to my next appointment."

He then got up and walked over to the twins' table. They hesitated to speak, but knew they had to be nice. "Nice to meet you." They said.

He quietly laughed. "Do you guys like to answer questions at the same time?"

They shrugged. "Sometimes."

"That's... strange." He grinned. They looked at him, offended and annoyed. "That's also the opposite from y/n, which is even stranger to me."

"Shit." You mumbled. You began to breath a little unsteadily.

"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked.

He laughed again. "You guys don't know?" They stared blankly at him. "Y/n has a twin brother. He up and ran away before their mom died. Apparently all three were supposed to leave together, but her brother left them high and dry."

You were starting to panic. Other people were turning their heads. Exposed. You felt so exposed.

"Excuse me for a minute." You quickly left the room and sat down on the floor, trying to catch your breath. You couldn't breathe, and your eyes began to sting from tears forming. You just couldn't breathe.

Tamaki and the twins shot up and ran to the door, but we're stopped by Kyoya. "Go back to your seats. There are guests waiting for you."

"Are you kidding?!" Hikaru barked.

"We need to see if she's okay!" Kaoru added.

"Kyoya, step aside!" Tamaki exclaimed.

"I don't have any appointments right now. I'll check on her. Go back to your seats." He then quickly left.

He saw you on the floor and sat down right to you. He put his arms around your upper arms and began to squeeze you tight in a hug. You tried to push him off, but he wouldn't budge. Soon you stopped moving and your breath stilled.

"Thank you." You weakly said.

"Of course."

"How did you do that?"

"It's a pressure point that calms a person's nerves." You weakly smiled at him. "How long have you been having anxiety attacks?"

You looked down. "I don't know. Years. It's been a while since I've had one up until now."

"Have you been medically diagnosed?"

You frowned and shook your head. "Let's go back in." You patted his thigh and got up. You stuck your hand out and he took it, having you hoist him up. You brought back your smile. "Thanks again senpai."

He nodded, though he also felt like the conversation needed be revisited, and would have to make sure of it. He opened the door for you. "Y/n!" Tamaki and the twins zoomed over to you.

"Sorry if I worried any of you. I just needed some air." You then sat back down on your couch. "Momo, let's resume our conversation."

"O–okay." She said, unsure whether she should ask if you were okay. "Is it okay if we take a walk in the maze? It's wonderful weather."

You grinned. "If you want to, I want to. Let's go."

When you two left, Alarico scoffed. "Still a damn baby." He then checked his watch. "Oh, switching time."

He walked over to Honey and Mori. Honey smiled at him. "You made y/n-chan really sad, so I think you should say sorry to make up for it. Kay?"

He shrugged. "I don't have to make up for anything. Like I said, she just doesn't like what I have to say. She doesn't want to face her reality, and I'm just trying to help her see it."

"So," Momoka asked you with your arms interlocked. "I was wondering if you would like to talk about what that boy you knew said."

"And here I thought I was host." You teased.

"Well, as a host it's your job to make the customers happy." She quietly stammered. "It would please me so if you had someone to talk to."

You scrunched up your nose. "You are way too nice Momo. It's grossing me out." You then looked straight ahead. "But it's much appreciated." You felt her eagerly stare at you. "Okay, we can talk."

"Really?" You nodded, and she hugged you.

"Out of the people I talk to everyday, and those who make an impression on me, I'm glad you're the one to want to talk to me like this." She smiled brightly. "Now, lead the way to that nice sitting stop first. I have no idea where to go." She nodded and took your hand, rushing to the spot.

Honey's face became darker. "Don't say mean things about y/n-chan, or I won't forgive you."

"No offense kid, but how old are you?"

"He's the same age as you." Hikaru angrily said as he sipped tea.

"Even so, some may argue that he's twice a man as you." Kaoru said as he also angrily sipped on his tea.

"Who knew important people would actually care about some rando girl from the nowhere."

"Don't talk about her like that." Mori said, standing up to hover over him.

"Stop talking about her like that, now." Honey warned.

Alarico scoffed. "Sorry little man, we're out of time." He then walked over to Kyoya, who was writing in his notebook. Honey was about to attack, but Tamaki quietly assured everyone that he knows Kyoya would handle things. "You seem to be the only who isn't phased by anything I say. That's good, since everyone's being weird about y/n."

"I assume it's due to the impression she's left on everyone here. It seems like the hardships she's had to endure has shaped her into a hard working and ambitious person."

"More like audacious." Kyoya just kept writing. "Not much gets to you, huh? That's pretty uninteresting."

"Well, I don't have a lot to worry about considering the position I'm in. You see, my family owns the largest police force in Japan. Just one phone call away and I could have over a hundred men in less than five minutes. So you see, I in fact do not have anything to worry about in this particular moment."

He frowned as you and Momoka came back in. "We're back." You happily announced.

"Did you ladies enjoy your walk?" Tamaki asked as he greeted you two at the door.

You and Momoka looked at each other and smiled. "We did." You said. "I had the pleasure of learning a few new things about Momo."

"Y/n! Those are secrets!" She blushed heavily.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna say anything. Anyways, have a safe way home."

"You as well." She said, leaving.

You closed the door and saw that Alarico was the last person there. "Okay Lucifer, let's get on with this. Shall we?"

He said nothing but smirked at you as he bumped your shoulder walking to your couch. Everyone watched. You sat on opposite ends. "So, your friends don't know about Christian."

You calmly smiled. "He's not in my life, so there's not much to say about him. How've you been doing back in y/c?"

"You mean back home?" He asked tauntingly.

"This is my home now. A step up, don't you think?"

"For now, yeah. How's money been? You still singing in the streets?"

"Nope. Don't have to. Maria got a management position at this club. She got the job from a friend she made at a store. His name is Ryoji, and he's awesome. We've had dinner at his house a few times. His daughter's pretty chill."

"Look at you making little friends. Just like at the liquor store." You grinned, and he scooched closer to you. "Y'know, I just don't get the hype for you. There's something about you that I don't like."

"I'm well aware."

"I don't know where to put my finger on it." He looked you over. "Maybe it's because I've seen those nasty scars on your legs. It a pretty big turn off."

You grinned and shrugged. "Maybe that's it. Maybe it's because you don't like what I have to say about you. Just maybe."

He didn't like that. He grabbed your jaw, holding it tight. "Or maybe it's your face. I've seen the pictures of your parents, and you have your dad's looks." He roughly took away his hand. "Get me some tea."

"Of course." You calmly got up and went over to pour the tea.

"Hey, who was that Momoka chick? She was hot. You think she's easy to bed?" He then laughed.

"Hikaru, what time is it?" You asked as you stared straight ahead.

"Uh, 5:02?"

You nodded, setting down the tea pot. You calmly wrapped your arms around Alarico's shoulders, leaning in as if you were about to whisper him something. Instead you kneed his dick. He yelped and fell to the ground. "You bitch!"

"It's after hours now so I can say whatever I want." You looked down at him. "I don't give a shit about what you think of me, I never have. You know it, and you hate it. But when you talk about sleeping with a sweet girl just to spite me, that's when I get pissed."

"Fuck you!" He rolled to his side.

"Never talk about her in that way, ever, and stay away from her. Don't even try to fight me on this. It wouldn't be the first time I've kicked your ass. Now it's time for you to leave. Go." He got up and stumbled away.

You turned and saw everybody looking at you. "Well," Kyoya said. "I believe it's time to clean up."

You all began to clean up in silence. It was almost unbearable for the twins, as well as Tamaki. Hikaru and Kaoru had finally snapped when you accidentally bumped into them. "Excuse me—"

"WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY BEATING HIM UP BEFORE?!" They asked.

"Oh, that's what was bugging you?"

"Among other things." Tamaki said. "But that is a good question."

You remembered the fond memory you had of that night and giggled. "It happened one time, and it was totally his fault."

"Well, what happened?" The twins asked.

"He thought that it would be funny to scare me so he could hold it over me. But his plan for it failed miserably. He made a plan to come through our window in the middle of the night with a ski mask on and act like he was robbing us."

"But if it was in the middle of the night, wouldn't you be asleep?" Honey asked.

"Yup. He's not the smartest person around. Anyways, right when he climbs in he trips over our shoes and was unintentionally makes a lot of noice. I woke up and assumed there was a robber in the house, so naturally I grabbed the bat from under my bed and—"

"Why on Earth would you have a bat under your bed?" Tamaki asked.

"In case some idiot decided to put on a ski mask and climb through our window." You giggled, and everybody smiled in response. "Anyways, I ran up to him and swung to his stomach. He fell, and broke a flower pot in the process. When he got up, I swung again. He once again fell, but this time when he tried to get up he slipped and landed on our table, breaking it. He fumbled around and tried to grab onto this shelf, but the house was old and the shelf came down on him."

The twins bursted into laughter. "Where was Maria during all this?" Kaoru asked.

"Sleeping! I swear, I don't know what she'd do without me. There was so many crashing sounds!" The twins laughed again, and this time Tamaki chuckled as Honey giggled. "So I'm about to swing again, but he takes off the mask and yells at me. We're yelling at each other, and I drop the bat on the floor. That's when Maria finally comes in, by hearing the bat, and just asks if I'm okay. Super relaxed and half asleep."

The laughter erupted again. "What happened after that?" Hikaru asked.

"I told her that Alarico was trying to rob us, and she says hands down the most 'I don't care' question ever: So, like, I can go back to sleep then right?" More laughter. "I told her no, and she called her sister who came there dead silent. She wrote us a check for the damage and they left. One of the most satisfying experiences of my life."

Everybody was smiling at the story. It was no wonder why you became a host. You were very interesting. "Do you think you'll be in trouble when you get home?" Kaoru asked.

You shrugged. "I mean, Maria's sister will yell at me, but that's kinda it. Maria thinks that I should only be punished if I'm in the wrong. He was being a creep to another girl and I defended her honor. Not in the wrong, and I'll probably just get a smack to the back of the head."

"Seriously?" Hikaru asked.

You shrugged. "She is Latina. And don't worry, since she's not the wealthiest person here, Maria's sister won't try to fight the school or anything."

"Not the wealthiest? What does that mean?" Tamaki asked.

"They're high middle class so they flaunt their money at people who don't make as much. She's a Karen."

"A Karen?" The twins asked.

"I don't believe I'm familiar with the term." Kyoya said.

"It's when someone makes a not bad situation so much worse for no reason. Like, let me speak to your manager for something dumb or my child would never do that when their kid is horrible. Stuff like that."

"Geez, you have to go home to that?" Hikaru asked.

You pursed your lips. "I really don't want to go home right now. Maybe I'll visit Ryoji's house. Or maybe I'll just stay at a fast food place for a bit."

"We'll come with you." Hikaru offered.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Kaoru added.

"Thanks guys. Let's go then." You began walking towards the door, but stopped and turned around. "And thank you, all of you. I'm really happy that you guys still like me."

"Wait y/n!" Tamaki zoomed over to you, invading your personal space. "I want you to be careful around those shady twins, okay?! Daddy just wants the best for you!"

You ruffled his hair and smiled. "I'll be fine senpai. You trust that I'll take care of myself, right?"

He looked at you, almost in a daze, and smiled. "Of course. Have fun." You nodded and left with the twins. "Well Kyoya, it seems like our little y/n is very capable of handling her problems."

Kyoya put on a smile and said nothing. On the outside, it could easily be seen as that. But that wasn't the case. You should see someone about your anxiety. You should accept help. That meant that he would have to tell Tamaki.

After having a fun time with the twins and getting chewed out by Linda, you went to bed hoping that the club wasn't actually upset with you.

The next day you got up and quickly left early before anyone else woke up. Unfortunately, you skipped breakfast in order to do so. So there you were, eating a breakfast burrito from WacDonald's on the steps of Ouran, way too early for anyone to be there yet.

The silence was pretty nice. It was peaceful, and the school was beautiful. You did notice someone though. A man in a lab coat. He looked lost, but you decided not to think anything of it. It was probably just a school doctor, since it is physical exam day.

Later on you threw away your wrapper and bought some coffee at a gas station. That's when some people began arriving. "Hey, you're the honor student, right?" One person walked over and asked you.

"Um, yeah. I'm sorry, I don't think I know you."

"I'm in the same year, though we're in different classes." He said.

A few minutes later the twins arrived to school, though they were peeved to see you talking to another guy. They ran over to you and began dragging you away.

"It was nice to meet you!" You called out. They then put you down, hearing you huff. "What was that for? I almost dropped my coffee."

"Who was that?" Kaoru asked.

You shrugged. "Some guy. He just came up to me and started talking."

"More like flirting." Hikaru grumbled.

"No he wasn't." You took a sip of your coffee. "Do you guys want some?"

Hikaru hesitated before shrugging. "Sure." He took a swig.

"Kaoru?" You offered.

"Are you sure that's Kaoru?" Hikaru asked, trying to trick you.

"Yes, I am." You said, taking back your coffee. "I'm not stupid."

Before they could say anything, you all heard. "Y/n~!"

A gush of wind passed you three as Tamaki ran over to you. "Morning senpai."

"Did those two shady twins hurt you last night?! I knew I should have gone with you!" He took your hands.

"No, they didn't. Calm down senpai. It was actually nice." You smiled at them.

"Oh, right." Hikaru took out an old phone. "Here."

You just stared up at him confusedly. "You don't have a phone, and this is my old one." Kaoru explained. "I don't use it anymore, so you could have it."

"Um, that's kind of a big thing to give someone." You nervously smiled. "You could turn it in to a phone company and get some money for it. Or maybe some store credit, depending on the company."

"We don't need money or credit stuff." Hikaru said. "Just take it."

You hesitated before taking it. You then smiled and wrapped your arms around each of their necks. "Thanks guys!"

"You're welcome." They smiled before looking darkly at Tamaki. Before Tamaki could say anything, the twins then pulled away. "Well, let's go to class!"

They rushed you off. "Bye Tamaki-senpai!" You called out.

Tamaki got angry. "But what about the plan?!" He barked.

"What did he say?" You turned as they carried you.

"Nothing!" They said.

Instead of going to your class though, you ended up going to the Music Room. "What's going on? Why are we in the host club class?"

Tamaki then stormed into the room. "You two could have waited for me!" He barked out again.

Kyoya then came out. "Y/n, we've come here today to talk about a problem regarding you."

---

Author's Note: I hit the limit for the paragraphs I can write (since there's a lot of dialogue), so I had to cut it short.

I guess I have to split it up into 2 parts and put the fast food part in my own filler .—.

---

Tag List: @krustykrabbspizza @animefan7420 @strangerthingsholland @the-dead-fucking-sea @blue-eyez-7

[benwllbond]

Is it too late for the 1k drabble request thing??? Because if not, maybe you could do one for hotchxrossi??? (Or hotch x reid if you're uncomfortable with hossi(but I prefer hossi)) anywho I don't remember the number but its the "apparently our friends have a bet about when we'll get together" one... it said something like that.. anyway ily thank you 🥰🥰🥰😘😘😘😘❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Aaron was sitting in the study of he and Dave’s house, trying to finish off some reports to get Strauss off of his back when Dave walked in.

“You really need to learn to leave work at the office, Love,” he said, once again attempting in vain to drag Aaron away from his work.

Aaron shook his head, “I have to get this done Dave, and you are the one who won’t let me stay past 7.”

“Come on, just this once, surely you can leave it one day,” Dave asked.

Laughing softly at his partner’s antics, Aaron replied, “If I do that this time, then I’m setting a precedent, and I can’t always just not do my work because you want attention.”

He paused, before giving in, as Dave had hoped he would. 

“Okay, fine. Just this once, though.”

Dave smiled as Aaron put away his pen and reports, and followed him through to the living room. As they sat down next to each other on the couch, Aaron put his head on Dave’s shoulder.

Aaron had been flipping mindlessly through the channels on the TV, looking for something good to watch, when Dave interrupted.

“Apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together,” he said.

Aaron lifted his head and looked up at Dave quizzically.

“What?”

“Well, a bet is w-” Dave began to reply sarcastically, before being interrupted by Aaron rolling his eyes and jokingly hitting him in the side.

“Since when have our colleagues been betting about us?” he questioned. Aaron knew that there were certainly bets going around, bets about relationships at that, but had always assumed he and Dave were left out of those. 

Apparently not.

“I have no clue… But do you want to tell the kids that Mom and Dad are dating?”

Aaron resisted the urge to once again elbow Dave in the side for that comment. Despite that, he did have a point. 

They had been considering telling the team for a long time - they had been together for going on 4 years - but it had just never seemed worth the risk of it going badly. However, given that they were making bets about the possibility of a relationship, it seemed unlikely that anything would go wrong.

“For that comment, you can handle it,” Aaron declared, smiling, before getting up, giving Dave a quick kiss and going to check on his hopefully sleeping son.

--

Aaron should have realised that giving Dave the power to come out on both of their behalf was an idea of questionable quality before the next morning, when he saw Dave smirking as he entered the building. Hopefully the man hadn’t gone too crazy, although, with David Rossi, that was never a guarantee.

It was only when he walked into the briefing to go over some possible cases that Aaron realised his plan. A gold band was on his finger - a gold band that Aaron knew very well. One that matched a band that he kept in a box in his desk.

Gold bands that they had exchanged when they had eloped.

A gold band that the team had now definitely noticed.

“You’ve been keeping the fourth Mrs. Rossi from us, I see,” Morgan said, bringing further focus to the ring.

That drew the attention of Garcia, who had just walked in.

“Rossi!” she shrieked in excitement, “You got married and didn’t tell us? When can we meet her?”

The room quickly filled with chatter as the team theorised about Dave’s partner. It wasn’t until a quickly exchanged glance between Aaron and Dave was spotted by Emily that any of them caught on.

“... It’s a Mr Rossi, this time, isn’t it?”

The rest of the team shared a look, before Emily continued on.

“Or more precisely, a Mr Hotchner-Rossi.”

Even Aaron couldn’t help but smile as the jaws of multiple team members dropped. The moment of shock was interrupted by Spencer, much to Aaron’s surprise.

“I told you guys! I think that means I’ve won this one.”

Dave and Aaron smiled, and gave the team a moment to bicker over the bet and congratulate them.

“Okay, back to the briefing now. What do you have for us, Garcia?”

[horrorstoryfanfics]

Summer To Remember: Part Three

So this one has some fluff and a little bit of tension. It also has some Xavier POV at the end. Let me know how you feel about it! If you guys like it then I’ll make sure to write more in the future ! 

Warnings: Mentions of death, gore, Trevor’s bulge, loads of Xavier being cute, some built up sexual tension, alcohol. 

Previous 

As we got into the cabin Ray was in a beanbag, Montana was on the floor with Chet, and Brooke was seated on the couch. I opted to go sit on the closest bunk, Xavier following and plopping down beside me.

"I'm going to go check on the hitchhiker guy, make sure he's okay." Brooke smiled innocently as she stood up and went out the door.

Montana raised an eyebrow and brushed it off as she looked over her shoulder to me, "So, how do you deal with Margaret as your mother?" Her eyebrow twinged up as she spoke.

"Montana!" Xavier snapped, sending a stern look her way.

She raised her hands in defense as I laughed, his demeanor changing as he saw I took it as a joke. "On a wing and a prayer," I winked as Montana chuckled lightly.

"She's very...." Montana made an implying face as she tried to find the right word.

"Overprotecting, unbearable, over the top, crazy, bogus?" I finished before she could, "Yeah those all pretty much sum her up." I sighed as I shifted a bit.

"She's off her rockers if she thinks I'm gonna listen to that no sex rule." Chet scoffed as he took a swig of his beer.

I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah and who are you fucking?"

"Maybe you if you're lucky," He winked at me before taking a sip.

"As if," I scoffed lightly as I rolled my eyes. "You aren't my type."

Chet looked hurt as if he thought he was every girls type.

"And what is your type?" Montana teased as her eyes quickly darted to the man beside me.

"Well," I started, glancing over at Xavier before looking back at the others, "I have this wicked things for blondes."

My goal was to tease Xavier, there was just something about him that brought upon my attraction. I enjoyed the look of amusement on his face whenever I teased him and I just wanted to make it happen more and more.

Xavier leaned back smugly while sending a shit eating grin over to Chet.

"Montana has more of a chance than you do," Ray joked as he took another sip of beer.

Chet pushed his shoulder, almost knocking the alcohol out of his hand, "Shut up," he sneered. Causing Ray to laugh even more.

"It just so happens that you're also my type," Xavier whispered in my ear, sending cool shivers all over my body. I kept my composure as I played it cool.

"That'll break Bertie's heart," I gasped, jokingly grabbing my heart in shock.

He shrugged coolly, "What can I say, when you find the one you gotta break some hearts."

My lips twinged into a faint smile as I bumped him with my shoulder. He bumped back which started a game of "Who could knock the other over first". And I was determined to win. We kept bumping each other until eventually he grabbed my arms and pinned me to the bedpost. My breath being taken away as I just sat there.

I cocked my eyebrow, "And what're you going to do now?"

He leaned in, no doubt about to whisper a comeback as the door slammed open. He jumped back, letting go of my arms as we all turned to stare at Brooke hurrying her way inside.

"That guy is crazy!" She said out of breath as she sat down on the couch. "He completely wigged out. I think he has a concussion."

"I mean we got him here, made sure he didn't die. Karmically, we're cool." Montana stated casually.

"He kept saying something bad was gonna happen." Brooke said as her voice rose a little in fear.

We all looked over to the door as we heard heavy footsteps approaching. The door opened unexpectedly as a man busted in.

"Hey!" He paused dramatically, "Don't you guys know you're not supposed to be coed fraternizing?"

We all looked around nervously as the man's laughter filled the room. "I'm just fucking with you," He waved his hand dismissedly, "I'm Trevor, the activities director. So technically I'm you're boss but don't worry, I'm not gonna be enforcing any of Margaret Booth's rules for godly living." He dropped his beer into the cooler, "Between you and me, I bet myself fifty bucks I'd bang her by the end of the summer."

"Good luck with that one," I laughed while making a face, "The only one my Mom gives it to is God."

He looked over at me, about to say something when Montana interjected. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

And this brought on the uncomfortably long conversation that was a battle of Trevor and Montana's sexual tension. Montana bringing up how he was in a Jane Fonda work out video and how he had to be removed because a certain part of him was taking the focus away from Jane. And the knowledge that that was the first thing Montana masturbated too, a little tmi. They had a stare down before deciding to sneak off together to take care of said tension.

As soon as they left I let out a loud laugh, "That was a little more information than I wanted to know."

"And see," Brooke chimed in quietly, referring to the bulge that Trevor proudly placed in front of her.

"He literally just walked through the door and he's getting laid." Chet waved his hand in their direction the sound of disappointment threaded through his voice.

I rolled my eyes, standing up and brushing off my pants. "I'm going for a walk, I don't want to hear you complain about being a virgin anymore."

Chet scrambled for words, "I-I'm not a virgin."

I looked back before rolling my eyes and heading out the door.

Making my way down the steps and hearing the door open with a creak behind me. Curiously I turned around to see Xavier trotting to my side.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked casually hoping off the last step to stand beside me.

"Not at all," I smiled back, secretly I had hoped that he would.

We made it away from the main camp and into one of the dimly lit paths in the woods.

"Y/n, aren't you afraid that Mr.Jingles is out here right now?" He said beside me, trying to scare me.

"No," I looked over at him and smiled, "And if you're trying to get me to jump into your arms you're gonna need a little more ammo than trying to spook me."

He laughed lightly, "I like a girl that doesn't scare easy."

"Then you're gonna love me," I gave him a flirty side eyed look. I don't know what it was about him that drew me in but it did. After only knowing him for a total of about six hours I wanted more. I had never felt like this before and it was exciting. Even if it would just turn out to be a summer fling.

"Oh sweetheart I have no doubt." He lightly grabbed a hold of my arm and pulled me to a stop. I turned around quickly to see him pull back, "Let's stop here for a bit."

We sat down on a log and looked out across the lake, admiring the moonlight glazing over the water. The low hum of the crickets was the only sound, a nice change from the busy streets of LA.

"So what made you decide to come here?" I asked, casually trying to make conversation. I looked over at his face to see his features lightly dusted with a mixture of the moonlight and the dim camp light.

"I had some things I needed to get away from, even if it was just for a little bit." He sighed lightly as I nodded with him. "What made you decide to help Mommy dearest with this place?"

I chuckled and looked out to the lake, "Honestly, I turned her down a thousand times...I wanted nothing to do with it until she wore me down and eventually I caved." I turned towards him, our eyes meeting "And now I'm glad I did."

His nose turned up as he looked down at me with a change in his eyes, "Well I hope I can make it a summer to remember," he leaned in ever so slightly.

I also leaned in so my lips were ghosting over his, "I'm sure you will," I whispered before leaning back. The corners of my mouth turning up into a wicked smirk.

He bit his lip gently as he stared at me, "I'm really regretting my dibs now. But they're unretractable." He threw his hands up, "I was just so blinded by lust," he joked.

"You're no different now," I mocked lightly. His blue eyes now dark as he hovered over me.

He parted his lips which caused me to look down at them, "I'm not blind baby, I know exactly what I want."

My heart rate increased as his hand came to rest on top of mine, "And what is that?"

His cocky grin grew as he knew the effect he was having on me, "Whatever you can give me." He gripped my hand and leaned in so close that our noses were almost touching.

Every atom in my body was telling me to just lean in and kiss him but I enjoyed teasing him way too much. So instead I took my other hand and rested it above his knee, "Well we'll just have to see what you deserve." I squeezed his leg before I stood up.

His mouth was ajar and his eyebrows were furrowed, he looked godly but I didn't want to give up my plan of  messing with him just yet. Instead I sauntered back up to the girls cabin. In a few seconds Xavier was on my heels.

When we made it back inside the guys were sat on the couch watching the Olympics as Montana and Brooke were asleep on their bunks. The guys didn't pay any attention to us as we snuck over to the beanbag chair on the ground.

Before I could sit down Xavier sat in it first.

"I wanted to sit there," I pouted playfully stomping my foot.

He had a devilish glint in his eye, "You still can," Before I could object he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning his head on top of my shoulder.

I wanted to pretend to be annoyed, to rile him up even further but all I could focus on was how warm he was and the sweet sent of his cologne. Not to mention how comfortable I was with him this close.

Now he was the one messing with me, "Sweetheart your heart sounds like it's going to burst. Are you okay?" His lips were touching my ear as he whispered.

My mouth parted as I was going to say something but then the door slammed open, my mother bursting in. Xavier and I both jumped up, nearly stumbling over each other again.

"Boys and girls together after dark," she reprimanded, looking from me to Trevor, no doubt angry at the fact we didn't enforce her rule.

"Lights out in twenty minutes," She looked down to her watch, "The boys will leave and remove themselves from temptation." She looked accusingly at Xavier as she spat out her words.

Ray sighed and Trevor headed over to the door, opening it, "Let's go boys." Chet and Ray left sunkenly, following Trevor out the door.

Xavier gave me a wink before smiling and striding to the door, stopping in front of my Mom. "You gonna make us pray the boners away?" He challenged a cocky glint in his eyes.

Montana and I laughed as Mom turned around quickly, "A clean body is a clean mind. How many times do I have to go over the rules? Boys shower at night. No exceptions. Now go wash the filth off so you can wake up pure and refreshed for morning prayer."

He looked over his shoulder and blew me kiss before striding out after the others. I bit my lip to hold back the smile that was fighting to get free.

Mom turned around to look at me, "Whatever it is that you have going on with that boy needs to stop before he corrupts your soul."

Before I could get a word in she slammed the door shut and left.

"Bitch," I muttered. I was twenty and she had no hold over me anymore. Whatever I wanted to do and with who was my decision. Not hers. I wasn't going to let her try to dictate me anymore.

Brooke and Montana were awake now, no thanks to my mom's sudden intrusion. Brooke sat up on the bed and Montana got up to crack open another beer. I walked over to the other bed across from her and laid down, leaning against my palm.

Brooke looked uneasy so Montana sat beside her, "Look, some dickhead broke into your apartment and attacked you, that's super scary. I mean, a stranger once grabbed my boob outside a Sam Goody, so I get it. But not everyone is out to get you."

I nodded, taking in her words as Brooke sniffled. "He said he was going to come back...that he was going to find me."

I sat up, scooting to the edge of the bed, "Trauma's a bitch Brooke," I hesitated before deciding to share my story with them, "When my dad died...I was the one who found him." I paused, looking at the floor. "His guts were spilled over the tub and all over the floor. For years all I saw was that image. They also never caught who did it..." I sighed and held my hands together, "Every sound I heard, every creak in the floorboards had me convinced that the killer was back and that I was going to end up like him." I looked up at her, tears threatening to spill out, "But it turned out they were just noises. You're going to be paranoid for a while...but eventually everything turns out okay." I gave her a reassuring smile.

I felt weird telling two strangers who I just met a very personal side of me, but I saw how upset Brooke was and if my story could help her just even in the tiniest bit, I wanted to try.

Montana gave me a short smile, "She's right," she turned back to Brooke, "If you imagine the worst, that's all you see."

"You don't have to imagine the worst when it's already happened." Brooke mumbled.

Montana and I sat there listening to Brooke relive her past summer trauma. She was engaged and on the day of her wedding her fiance snapped, thought she slept with his best man when in reality she just didn't want to be alone. Her man didn't believe that and shot the best man in the head, Brooke's dad, and then killed himself. It was horrific.

I just sat there in shock, we've all been through something or another that's made us who we are. We all are just hoping for something good, hopefully it can be this camp.

Xavier's POV

"I can't see shit," I mumbled while I swung the light in front of me, trying to get any kind of clarity. "If you had to give up one of your five senses which one would it be?" I asked, turning around to the others.

"Smell, definitely." Ray said.

"Yeah but then you could never smell bacon." Chet stated. He did have a point there. But out of all the senses I think that's the easiest one to justify losing.

We all were walking through the dark aimlessly. Ray and I were the only ones who had flashlights. They weren't really doing much for us as we stumbled over to the showers. Almost every step stumbling over rocks or vines.

"Montana's skin smells like vanilla frosting." Trevor said dreamily, "We had a real connection down there at the lake. Like a...meeting of the souls. First base never felt so good."

"Wait," Chet paused, "All you did was kiss?"

"'Course not," Trevor said as he strode radically.

"That's what first base means." Chet said matter of factly.

"Maybe for you.." Trevor said as Chet felt embarassed for the thousandth time tonight.

"If he gets dibs on Montana, and Xavier has Y/n, then I get first shot at Brooke." Ray said.

"Y/n, nice. She's real cute." Trevor held out his hand for me to fist bump and I did while a smirk played across my lips.

"Talk about connection," I patted my chest over my heart lightly. My thoughts ran back to her. She was fiery and didn't give in to me as easy as other girls did. I liked it, it was a different feeling.

"Wait..." Chet paused, "Who does that leave for me?"

"Margaret," Trevor stated. I stifled a laugh as Ray couldn't keep his in.

I walked over and patted Chet's shoulder. "Yeah you can be my new father in law." The others laughed while Chet shook my hand off and stormed inside the showers.

We all followed inside, genuinely forgetting how much of a shit hole the showers really were. I took the flashlight as I strolled through the showers as I scoffed, "Where's all the towels and little soaps?"

"This isn't a spa." Trevor said as he chucked a towel at me, "Here, I brought two." I caught it and thanked him casually, I genuinely didn't want to walk all the way back up to the cabin.

We all started undressing by the lockers, Ray brought a radio and turned it on. I was actually shocked it got reception out here.

I started washing all across my body, over my chest, down my arms, all over.

"So what base did you make it to with Y/n when you two snuck off?" Ray raised an eyebrow as he played with the toothpick in his mouth.

I smirked, "None yet, I'm along for the ride." I paused remembering how close we were to kissing and how I wanted nothing more than to taste her and see if her lips were as soft as they looked. "She's doing things to me man." I sighed, already wanting to see her again.

"I hear ya," Trevor agreed as he sent a wink over to me. "Montana is just something else." He turned over to me and tilted his head back, "Maybe summer love is real."

My head shot up as he said the word "love". It wasn't something I had thought of or even felt in a really long time. But it could be at play here, considering I'm not just thinking with my dick.

"When Brooke came and helped me bandage up my hand...I dunno. I just felt something too." Ray took the toothpick out and shook it while he looked up to the sky, thinking.

"Great well while you all find the one I guess I'll just be jacking off in the cabin alone." Chet huffed, he started scrubbing his body harder in annoyance.

"Don't lose hope yet Chet," I started, "You still have Margaret." I bit back a smile as he hurled the soap at me, I ducked before it could hit me as I couldn't hold my laughter anymore.

"Rita is cute.." Trevor mentioned, I nodded in agreement.

"Rita would kill him before he could even get a word in." Ray mentioned, he was kidding but there was a bit of truth to his words.

Trevor laughed, "Yeah she'd probably stab you with a needle as soon as you walked in." We all laughed as Chet scoffed.

The lights suddenly powered down.

"Guess our 20 minutes is up," I mumbled as I quickly rinsed the remaining soap and turned the water off.

When we were finished Ray and Chet immediately fell asleep, leaving me to stare up at the ceiling. My thoughts circling back to Y/n. I'd just met her today but something felt different about her and I just wanted to make sure she was safe. Like back at the campfire, I could tell she was getting a little tense about all the Mr.Jingles talk...I just wanted to help her.

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"This camp," Trevor whispered as I looked over at him, "Has a way of making people feel things." I turned so I was laying on my side, completely facing him now. "Like making that guy snap all those years ago, what if we're snapping in our own good ways."

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