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mandoalorian · 3 years

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Handy-Man

An AU in which Din Djarin advertises himself on Craigslist as a man who can assemble your IKEA furniture for 50 bucks.

credit for idea goes to @fleetwoodmactshirt and their post which you can read here; thank you to @clown-bae-anon for tagging me in the post!! 💓

Please please reblog!

You wanted to cry.

Moving out of your childhood home was meant to be your way of asserting your independence and proving to your parents that you could make it on your own. But, as you sat in front of the collapsed television unit, surrounded by an abundance of miscellaneous screws, with broken and bleeding fingernails, you found yourself wondering if you had made a severe lapse of judgement.

Better yet, they were coming over for dinner today— and you knew your dad would give you a mouthful if he saw you hadn’t finished assembling your furniture already. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Unfortunately, you were brand new to the neighbourhood and hadn’t yet made any friends. You had no one to rely on; no one to ask for a favour. You pondered for a few moments, trying to figure out where you could find a handy man willing to work such short notice. You had no other choice than to turn to Craigslist.

There were a few potential candidates. Boba Fett; but he couldn’t be there until Tuesday. Fennec Shand; but she was extremely pricey. Then, at the very bottom of the website, you noticed a small advertisement. Only a few words.

“Din Djarin: I will assemble your IKEA furniture for 50 bucks. Will take me no more than an hour. I will bring my kid. Call me.”

And underneath, he left his number. You guessed that was the catch: that he would bring his child while he worked. You didn’t mind too terribly, besides, you were out of other options. You just hoped it wouldn’t be a sticky iPad kid who was going to snoop around your stuff and make a mess.

Grabbing your phone, you dialled his number. He answered on the first few rings, but said nothing.

“Uhm, hi,” you greeted, scratching the back of your neck as you tried to figure out how to approach the handy man. You’d never hired anyone from Craigslist before. “I have this huge TV unit from IKEA and I need it assembled before 5pm today. Would you be able to—“

“Address?” he asked, giving you the first taste of his velvety voice. After giving him your address, you were about to ask him about the child, but he cut you off. “I’ll be over in ten minutes.” Then he hung up.

He was abrupt, to say the least. You stood there, phone in hand, reflecting on your short witted conversation you’d had with the handyman. Maybe he just wasn’t sociable? It was okay though, he’d be coming over to work, not chat. You just needed him to assemble the television stand before your parents came over.

And if he was true to his advertisement, he’d get it done in no time.

Din Djarin arrived on your doorstep after seven minutes, carrying his son close to his chest. When you heard your doorbell ring out, you smoothed out your outfit, fixed your hair, and checked your appearance on the mirror hanging in the entrance-way. After all, this would technically be the first person you met in your brand new neighbourhood. And first impressions mattered.

As you swung open the front door, you announced, with a beaming smile crossing your lips, “Thank you so much for com—“

You were awe-struck. He was… breathtaking. Not like the handymen back home. He stood there, blinking his chocolate brown eyes, and nursing a child who must have been no older than two years. His hair was only a few shades darker than his eyes, short and curly, and he had a light graze of stubble donning his jaw and upper lip.

You found your gaze quickly flicking to his hands, only to check for a wedding ring. You hated how that was your first instinct but you felt a hitch in your throat when you saw just how large and thick his fingers were.

Your wild thoughts were interrupted when he cleared his throat awkwardly, and you wanted to curse at yourself how long you’d been standing there, blatantly checking him out. Your grip on the door tightened as you felt a flush of heat cross your cheeks, and you offered the handyman a weak smile.

“S— am sorry, I— hi,” you extended your arm and shook his hand. “I’m new. I mean I’m Y/N. But I’m new too. I uh—“

“I’m Din,” he introduced, cutting your flustered response short. “This is Grogu.”

His child cooed slightly and you were in awe over just how big the little one’s eyes were. You smiled and closed in on the child, offering him a small wave.

“Hi baby,” you cooed back, completely enamoured with him. Now that you were more aware of how you were acting around the handyman, you turned to focus your attention more on him. “Uh, please come in. And make yourself comfortable,” you offered, opening the front door wider and ushering both the man and his son inside. “Can I get you anything? A drink?”

“No thanks.” Din replied, setting down his toolbox and then the child.

“Grogu, are you hungry?” you asked, kneeling down to the little child. He slurped and eagerly nodded his head, causing Din to roll his eyes.

“He just had soup before we left,” Din told you.

“Kids always have big appetites,” you laughed, and finally, your comment had caused Din to break a smile. Albeit it was a small one, you still adored the way the corners of his eyes crinkled with delight.

“You have kids?” Din asked curiously, briefly glancing around your living room in search for any signs of children; but he couldn’t find any toys or printed comfort blankies laying around.

Somehow, you got the idea that he didn’t get around much (other than for work, at least). You got the idea that maybe he didn’t have many friends.

“No, but uh— I come from a big family and I used to have a babysitting job when I was a teenager. Feels like I’ve been around kids my whole life,” you admitted, wondering if you’d offered the handyman a little too much personal information. You quickly made the decision to change the subject, grabbing Grogu’s tiny hand. “Come with me Grogu, let’s see what I have in the fridge.”

Grogu selected some dinosaur shaped crackers and a juice box, sipping on it merrily as he toddled back into the living room where his father was working. You silently leaned by the door frame, admiring Din as he constructed the television stand. You’d only been gone five minutes and he’d already made so much progress.

Unable to escape the feeling, you just couldn’t ignore the flurry of butterflies that were ecstatically circling around in the pit of your stomach. You couldn’t tear your gaze from the attractive handyman who was fixing up your IKEA television stand for only 50 bucks. All of this seemed too good to be true.

He could be a serial killer and you wouldn’t even know. But as you watched his bicep flex underneath his light grey sweatshirt, you considered the many ways he might kill you; and for a split second, you knew that if he decided to turn around and choke you with his strong hands, you wouldn’t be mad at all.

“You want kids one day?” he quizzed suddenly, the question causing you to jump slightly. You were so quiet, you had kind of hoped he hadn’t noticed you were just standing there, watching him work.

“Uhm, maybe. I don’t know yet,” you said, glancing down at Grogu who was just patiently sitting down on your sofa, munching at his cookies. He was so well behaved. Din must’ve been a really good dad. “Did you want kids before you had Grogu?”

You winced after asking the question, hating the way the words had left your lips. It sounded wrong; like you were asking your handyman if his son was planned or not. But thankfully, Din only laughed.

“Kind of a weird story,” He said as he tightened a screw using nothing but the strength in his left arm. “I found Grogu. Or more like, he found me.”

You pressed your lips together as you wondered what exactly that was supposed to mean.

You and Din exchanged more small talk, and you both found yourselves learning more and more menial facts about one another.

You: What’s your favourite colour?

Din: Brown. Like dirt.

You: Cats or dogs?

Din: Fish.

You: Fish?

Din: They’re nice to look at.

Despite the random quick-fire questions you both asked each other, it didn’t stop you from yearning to know more about the mysterious handyman who took his kid with him everywhere.

Din finished the job early. He always did. But he pottered around with the finished television stand simply because he just didn’t want to leave yet. He was enjoying your company so much, and you were so endearing and easy to talk to. Not to mention, you were brilliant with Grogu.

Eventually though, he stood up and dipped his hands into his jean pockets. “Uh, I’m finished. Does it look okay? I hammered the shelving unit into the wall so it looks neater. It’s more stable that way, too.”

You smiled, impressed with Din’s skillful labour. “It’s perfect,” you admired. “You’re my hero. Really.”

That tugged on Din’s heart strings. Your hero. His cheeks flushed pink and he prayed that you didn’t notice his warm blush. You reached into your purse and paid the handyman.

“Thanks again.” you said with gratitude as you saw Din and Grogu to the door. You passed Grogu some more dinosaur crackers for the journey home and he took them from you eagerly.

Din wanted to get your number so badly. In the short time you’d spent together, you had completely bewitched him, and he didn’t want this to be the last time he saw you. You had his number but… the chances that you’d call him again were slim. Unless—

“If you ever get more furniture, give me a ring,” Din offered awkwardly, shying away from the idea of asking for your number outright.

“I will Din, I promise.”

Din nodded and ran his fingers through his dark hair. “Okay. Thanks. Um— bye then.”

“I’ll see you around Din.”

See you around. The words rang in the back of Din’s mind as he drove home as he processed your open-ended goodbye. He really did hope that he’d see you again.

———————

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#pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #din djarin #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #jose pedro balmaceda pascal

228 notes · View notes

burned-out-match · 3 years

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I posted 1,629 times in 2021

224 posts created (14%)

1405 posts reblogged (86%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 6.3 posts.

I added 558 tags in 2021

#mha - 104 posts

#bnha - 102 posts

#asks - 74 posts

#bnha headcanons - 72 posts

#bnha x reader - 58 posts

#hxh - 41 posts

#hunter x hunter - 35 posts

#hawks - 26 posts

#shigaraki headcanons - 23 posts

#hawks headcanons - 23 posts

Longest Tag: 93 characters

#when people assume that characters are attractive because of their appearance it makes me sad

My Top Posts in 2021

How would Tomura, Katsuki, and Shōto react to jealousy? Like someone seems interested in their S/O, whether real or imagined…or heck, maybe someone is just straight up flirting with them.

Oooohhhhh good question anon! Katsuki and Shoto are aged up for this one :)

when they’re jealous

Shigaraki

No self control. He threatens their life on the spot.

He really just can’t stand the idea of losing you.. even if you don’t want to leave he’s terrified of it

So when there’s a possible chance of that he won’t tolerate it

He needs you. And the person that tries to interfere will pay.

The person who interrupts you two in any way will turn to dust. Shiggy is yandere in that aspect.

You’ll have to have a long talk with him about having other friends

Since you’re the only one for him, he expects to be the only one for you

Bakugou

We all know this boy would go absolutely feral. There would be no way to restrain him

“OI GET AWAY FROM WHAT’S MINE YOU IDIOT” can’t you just hear it? <3

In Kirishima’s words, “Boom Boom”

He can’t stand the idea of someone thinking they’re better than him. He’s the best! You’re worthy of him! You’re perfect for each other!

And if anyone tries to come between that, God bless them

He’ll make sure you’re away from the scene before he really does any damage since he doesn’t want to hurt you

He is VERY protective and defensive

Shoto

He’s the most calm out of the three

He would literally just “Excuse me, why are you speaking to my s/o? They are not available.” And loop his arm around you while making direct eye contact with the person.

They’ll probably just get uncomfy and leave

Unless they push the matter, he stays calm

If he’s feeling insecure about someone then he’ll have a chat with you about your relationship and your goals together

He’s pretty confident in your relationship, so anyone trying to interrupt it is promptly told to get out (or made to)

390 notes • Posted 2021-07-20 02:18:55 GMT

Can I request Bakugou Headcanons with a s/o who is 8 months pregnant? If not than that’s okay too❤️❤️

Awe this is too sweet!

Bakugou with a pregnant partner

He has a collection of #1 dad shirts

And he’s so aggressive about being the best father figure

You don’t lift a single finger during the whole pregnancy

I mean- “yes I do the cooking, yes I do the cleaning”

That’s him rn

He’s even got a little househusband playlist

And an apron with #1 dad on it that he wears all.the.time.

His coffee cup says that

And he’s got a bag that says that

You get my point

You two go to so many birthing classes and he gets INTO it

I mean Kiri just lost his gym buddy because he does all the pregnancy exercises with you to make sure you’re both ready

He’s such a devoted father <3

Kiri is def the godfather

Katsuki insists on that part

Overall tho you have a little feisty househusband now <3

400 notes • Posted 2021-07-23 13:36:49 GMT

So, I love the idea of Hawks mating for life. And all of the other bird-like tendencies he may do! If this is too similar to the other things you’ve written for him, just ignore this. But he finds her, his ‘one.’ Realizes he wants to make her his. Would he be fluffing/flaring his wings to show off to her? Bring her to his ‘nest’ (apartment/house) to impress her? Ya know. Bird stuff. 😆

~🌹

I would never dare ignore this!! I love your requests rose anon!! I'm just gonna rant about Hawks acting like an actual hawk on accident

hawks being a bird brain

he would wiggle his wings and make like a little mating dance lol

you would be so confused cuz he's just kinda looking at you and bobbing his head and flapping his wings to an invisible rhythm and you just??

and that's not all- he brings you little shiny things and snacks all.the.time.

plus he hugs you way more when he knows you're 'the one' (it's to get his scent on you)

he would fly around if you were ever walking around together to try to impress you - like instead of walking he would just hover near you or fly in occasional circles around you

i totally subscribe to the idea that hawks has a feather necklace for you to wear at all times so that he can stay with you and guard what's his

he waits until he finds his one to build the nest with them though <3

467 notes • Posted 2021-07-16 18:00:06 GMT

Could I request Kite, Illumi, and Chrollo reacting to finding out their s/o is pregnant? Maybe like if theyre not married vs if they are already if thats okay?

I'm gonna go with reader and ___ being married already. I hope that's alright! <3

becoming a dad - their reaction

Kite

the most wholesome moment in your relationship by far

and i mean you never thought you would see him teary eyed, but here he is, cradling your face with a blank expression, cheeks streaked with salty tears

"... Are you serious?"

he says it in the softest voice

and when you nod with a grin on your face he just melts completely

he holds you in his arms, cradling you and petting your hair while he whispers sweet nothings in his ear<3

Illumi

he tilts his head when you tell him and gives you the most quizzical look

"You're certain?" "Yes, Illu, I'm certain." "Oh."

and he walks over and puts his hand over yours

and he moves them so that you're both holding your stomach

and he's looking down at your hands and he gives the most satisfied and blissful smile you've ever seen from him

and for once those eyes of his aren't void, but they're twinkling with pride and you can tell that he's so proud <3

Chrollo

as usual, he was just looking through his book and there was about nothing you could do to get his attention

and you were gonna have this heartfelt conversation but after he tells you he's very busy for the fourth time you just blurt it out

and his face splits into this beaming smile as he looks up at you, shutting the book and putting it down

he walks over and holds your hands, pressing his forehead to yours

"That's so wonderful, darling. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

you two hold each other for a while before he leans down and presses feather-light kisses on your stomach

531 notes • Posted 2021-07-27 15:39:33 GMT

Could I get some HC’s about Hawks and Aizawa becoming fathers, please? 🥺 (I feel like I am always blowing up your askbox, I’m so sorry. I just love your writing so much!!!)

~🌹

I LOVE THIS REQUEST rose anon seriously I am so happy that you’re in my inbox because I need the fluff prompts. I need them. Thank you!!

Papa Bird and Dadzawa

Keigo

He’s more than ready to have kids

Fill up the nest y’know??

He screeches when he sees the positive test and he should be embarrassed but he doesn’t even care he just swoops you up and spins you around, happy tears rolling down his smiling face <3

He’s an enabler for cravings during the entire pregnancy. If you want it, you have it in your hands within the next three minutes.

Definitely gives you massages and practices breathing exercises with you

He’s a tummy talker 100%

He outright gets on his knees and has full conversations with your stomach

When it’s finally time to deliver he insists on flying you to the hospital because he says it’s fast and safe but you have anxiety about that so since he hates cars so much he gets an actual ambulance to take you to the hospital and flies above it to track you

Definitely cries when he sees your beautiful child/children and doesn’t ever want to let them go <3

He is such a committed and loving dad. He takes his family really seriously and you couldn’t ask for a better father. <3

Shouta

I’m gonna include zero I’m this so here’s some bonus Big Sis Eri content too <3

You decide to order matching cat hoodies for everyone :)

They’re gray and soft with little pink ears

Except yours has extra ears on the stomach

Aizawa knows immediately and goes from a genuine heart-melting grin to panic mode in .57 seconds

Eri on the other hand.. you have to explain

Meanwhile Aizawa is basking in your words- your explanation proving that this happy moment is real

He and Eri take such good care of you <3

Zawa runs you nice baths and Eri asks is your back is hurting and if you want a stuffy to make it all better 🥺🥺

You all bake little treats together to appease cravings and Zawa always tucks you in sooo well I mean there are so many pillows

He’s there doing breathing exercises with you during the birth and letting you squeeze his hand as hard as you need to

He cuddles that baby like they’re about to be taken away

You four have a little cuddle pile every now and then and it’s the definition of wholesome (if there’s an artist reading this there’s a sketch idea... jk... unless👀🤪🙈)

See the full post

552 notes • Posted 2021-07-17 07:25:34 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

41 notes · View notes

penaltbox · 4 years

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flights, fate, and football games (4+1) - quinn hughes

*or 4 times you were in the same place and didn’t know it + 1 time you were in the same place on purpose*

if you like it let me know :) reblog it, send me a message, leave your thoughts in the tags. thanks in advance!

word count: ~3k

Same restaurant/Post playoffs

You wave at your two best friends as soon as you enter the restaurant, surprisingly being the one who was late this time. You hit more traffic than you expected, but Pop’s was not to be missed.

The little Ferndale restaurant was one of your favorites and you needed the time to wind down after the crazy week you’d had. You hear a guy’s voice behind you talking to the suddenly excited hostess as you walk past her to get to your table, but never glance back at who it might have been.

“Wow, for once we aren’t the late ones,” Abby smiles, nudging Hannah with her elbow.

“Oh, aren’t you guys funny,” you roll your eyes playfully, but take a seat with them, “it wasn’t my fault though. Traffic was insane on the highway. It’s like everyone forgot how to drive at once.”

“I hit some traffic too, no worries,” Hannah smiles, glancing over your shoulder, “did you somehow miss those super cute boys that came in behind you though? The one was so your type.”

Your eyes widen a little as you turn around to quickly survey the area you’d just come from. There’s no one waiting at the front of the restaurant though, so you turn back with a frown.

“I mean, I heard a guy’s voice as I walked in but I didn’t think to look back at him. Why? Was he really that cute?” You ask, looking around the restaurant to see if you could find who she was talking about.

Abby sighs, “I can’t see where they went either but Hannah and I noticed them as soon as you got here. We should have got you to turn around somehow.”

You shrug, checking over the menu and deciding between a pizza or the bolognese instead, “I guess if I was supposed to have seen him then I would have.”

You would have looked around for him more but the waiter showed up and you were dying to get your hands on a glass of wine to start your weekend off.

...

“Quinn, I swear if you don’t start talking to cute girls when you see them I’ll end your career,” Will points across the table.

Josh holds his hands up and laughs, “guys, come on. We all know Quinn isn’t smooth enough to seal the deal anyways.”

This gets the other two laughing, but Quinn doesn’t find it as humorous. He rolls his eyes and tries to fight off a smile. He opts for focusing his attention extra carefully on the menu rather than fueling the fire that was already started.

“Hey, by the end of summer you never know. Maybe you’ll be able to land a girl. It might take a small miracle, but we’ll help you out if we can,” Will grins, thinking it’s the funniest thing in the world.

“Great,” Quinn nods, thinking matchmaker Will sounded like a living nightmare, “I’m sure that would go well.”

He tries to brush it off, but the thought lingers a little longer. He’d find someone one of these days. His mom always told him he shouldn’t rush a good thing. It would happen when it was supposed to.

Your brother’s hockey practice/Early June

“I swear to god, Adam, you need to get moving,” you mumble, watching your brother get beat in yet another drill.

The air inside USA arena was definitely colder than outside and you were wondering how you’d managed to get stuck picking him up that night. He seemed off though so maybe he’d asked your mom if you’d get him. Sometimes he needed to talk, and definitely not to your parents.

The whistle blows loudly and you watch your little brother skate off with his head down. He’d been lucky to make the U17’s but you could tell he was struggling. It made your heart hurt and you knew the drive home would involve the long route that day.

You wait in the lobby, responding to your group chat that had somehow blown up while you watched the end of the practice. You’re in the middle of a message when an oddly familiar voice catches your attention.

You pick up your head and look around just as a group of guys head down the stairs to the locker rooms. You don’t manage to see any of them but something about the voice you’d heard seemed to catch your attention for some reason. Where had you heard that voice before?

Adam comes barreling out of the doors, an annoyed look on his face, “let’s go.”

“Hi to you too, asshole,” you scoff, but the look on his face matches the tone he’d given you. Something was wrong.

You grab your keys and walk out of the arena, glancing over at your only sibling, “Adam, what’s wrong? Wasn’t there another practice after that you wanted to watch or something?”

“No, some alumni guys rented the ice next and pushed the 18’s back an hour,” he mumbles, his hands dug down in his pockets.

You reach over and ruffle his hair, despite the fact he’s well taller than you now, “come on, we’re getting ice cream before we get home. And you can tell me what’s got you so worked up on the way.”

A smile takes over his face finally as he reaches your car, “okay fine. So there’s this girl in my chem class but she’s dating a football player.”

“Ew,” you laugh, playing along with the story, “also if you’re playing like shit because you’re mad that a girl you like is taken then I’m kicking your ass”.

“Hey, it was one bad practice. Just don’t tell dad,” he looks over, “surprised you didn’t want to stay and watch the next practice though. You know it’s the guys who went on to play college and pros and stuff right?”

You almost smack him when you see how smug he looks, but you hold off for once, “the last thing I need is some trouble maker hockey player to deal with. I already have you.”

“Suit yourself. Every girl I know loves Hughes though,” he shrugs.

The name sounds familiar but you don’t think twice about it for some reason. Of course you wanted a boyfriend but you weren’t sure you wanted your younger brother setting that up for you.

…

“Try not to suck tonight, okay?” Jack laughs, shrugging his bag a little higher on his shoulder as he picks on his older brother.

Quinn laughs and shoves him sideways, “try not to get run over. Are you gonna put any weight on this summer, bud?”

“You’re both getting lapped,” Alex interjects, walking between the two and entering the arena first.

Quinn notices you leaning against the wall in the lobby and does a double take. Had he seen you before? Why did you seem so familiar? You had to be waiting for someone if you were there, he knew the 17’s had the ice, so maybe you were younger than he thought.

He shakes off the odd feeling he gets from seeing you and turns to find his brother grinning. Quinn knows he’s been caught staring and he immediately bumps Jack into the wall.

“Don’t even think about it!” He says, hurrying down the stairs as Alex holds the door.

“I’m just saying!” Jack yells after his older brother, “I could go play wingman for you!”

Quinn thinks that sounds like the worst thing ever, if he’s being honest. The last thing he needs is to rely on his brother to set him up. He could see that going wrong in a million different ways.

The airport/pre-4th of July

You sigh, slouching down in your seat a little further as you take a sip of your coffee. You wish your anxiety didn’t have you at the airport almost two hours before takeoff, but here you were.

You watch a few planes take off, ignoring your surroundings for a little while as you wonder where the people might be going and why. You respond to a text from your aunt in Boston, who you were going to visit, and quickly get lost in your thoughts again.

You let your eyes start to wander after a bit and they land on a cute boy a few rows over. He’s sitting with a few other boys around his age and you glance over at their gate. New Hampshire? What was even in New Hampshire?

You watch him for a few more minutes, but shake your head before looking back out the window. You certainly weren’t brave enough to go talk to him and you didn’t want to get caught staring. Something about him seemed so familiar but you brush it off, figuring you were just imagining things.

…

Quinn drops his backpack and sits heavily into the creaky airport chair, arguing with Luke about what they’d do first when they got to the cabin. There was no winning the argument but Luke liked to be a pest and Quinn had learned from being gone so much that sometimes he just needed to let his little brother bug him while he could.

Airports were so boring and he’d luckily stalled enough that his parents didn’t have them all there three hours early for once. Quinn lets Luke “win” the argument finally, agreeing that they’ll go on the boat as soon as they get there.

Quinn’s attention wanders and he looks around the airport, his eyes seeming to focus on the gate heading for Boston. His eyebrows pull together as he tries to squint and see the line of people boarding. He swears he sees a familiar face but he’s not so sure.

There’s no way it was the same person he saw at the arena a few weeks ago, right? He blinks hard and suddenly he’s hit with a water bottle in the chest.

“Dude are you good?” Jack questions him, waving a hand in front of the older boy’s face.

Quinn looks at his brother quickly before checking where you’d been standing, only to find you’d already boarded the plane, “yeah, knock it off. Can’t you leave me alone for like five minutes ever?”

Quinn is mildly annoyed that his brother pulled the stunt when he did and he’d lost sight of you before he could be sure. Maybe you were from Boston and you were headed home. That wouldn’t explain why you were at USA arena unless your brother played there, too.

He turns to Luke then, elbowing the youngest Hughes to get his attention, “do you play with any kids from Boston?”

Ann Arbor/football game/late August

You laugh as you try and keep up with Abby and Hannah, excited for one last year at the school that held your heart. You were convinced you could never leave Ann Arbor and luckily for one more year you didn’t have to.

The weather was perfect that night as the first football game was set to kickoff in no time but the three of you had left a pregame a bit later than you planned for. You’re being rushed through the crowd by Hannah, who has a tight hold on your hand, when Abby suddenly veers off.

“Hold on, I need to say hi to him!” She yells over her shoulder, causing Hannah to stop in her tracks and you to slam into her back.

The two of you stumble a little but fix yourself, standing and watching where Abby had run off to. She moves to a group of guys and your stomach turns a little with worry, hoping she actually knew who these people were.

You’re about to march over when you see the boy. The one from the airport. You shake your head a little, trying to make sure you weren’t imagining what you were seeing, but he really is there. Abby is talking to his friends and he’s got a soft smile that makes you want to know more about him. He’s not as outspoken as his friends and his hands are stuffed in his pockets like he’s not sure what else to do with them.

Hannah catches you staring and laughs, “that’s Quinn by the way. I know you’re looking. Abby met those boys a couple months ago while she did her classes on campus. Can you believe they’re the ones we saw at Pop’s at the beginning of the summer?”

“They’re who?” You ask, your brain speeding through the memories, but all that keeps coming up is Quinn.

Pop’s, the airport, and now here. Was he the guy from the rink too? Was that the voice you’d recognized. There was no way you’d been in all the same places for the last three months and never talked to each other or actually truly met. What kind of fate was playing around with you two?

You glance back over at Quinn only to find him looking at you, too. Your cheeks feel instantly hot and you bite your lip, looking away quickly. You hated that you reacted so quickly to something so simple. Maybe he was looking at Hannah, you tried to reason with yourself. Or maybe he recognized you too.

…

Quinn is shocked when a bouncy little blonde runs up to Josh and says hello to him. She’s happy as can be and Quinn would be lying if he said she wasn’t cute. She quickly introduces herself and motions back at her friends, talking a mile a minute, when Quinn realizes he’d definitely met her earlier that summer.

Her and her friends were going to the game but if the boys wanted to hang out after they’d be having a small party at their place and they were more than welcome to come. Quinn gives Josh a little nod when the taller boy checks with him for plans and Josh smiles at the girl he’d been talking about for weeks now.

Quinn looks around the crowd of maize and blue, looking for the friends she’d mentioned, and his eyes freeze on one in particular. You’re so familiar in that moment and suddenly you’re the prettiest girl he sees there. It was the same feeling as the rink, the airport, and now here in Ann Arbor. What were the chances that he’d ran into you this many times but never talked to you?

He sees you and your friend watching in their direction and he catches your eye. You blush and bite your lip, making him smile right away. That had to be the cutest thing he’d seen in a long time. He forgets that Abby has mentioned her friends and he’s about to walk over and talk to you when Josh grabs his arm.

“Come on, we have to go this way to get to the field,” Josh says, nodding in the opposite direction of the girls.

Quinn is about to argue, but sighs instead, “yeah, okay. Did you say we’re seeing them again later?”

+1 Your friends set you up/late August/post football game

“You wouldn’t stop staring at him. Don’t even try and lie about it now!” Hannah accuses, pointing her finger at you.

You feel like you’re dying of embarrassment and Abby can’t stand up straight because of how hard she’s laughing over the situation. You were being bullied by your best friends and none of you could contain your laughter over it all. There were more than a few people watching the scene as you made your way around the field, trying to find which section your tickets were for.

“Stop, I don’t even know him!” You say, though it’s only a partial lie.

Abby snorts a little and carefully wipes a tear away from the corner of her eye, “holy shit, my stomach hurts from laughing so hard. Yeah, Quinn is awkward as hell but I think you two would be amazing so you’re definitely meeting him tonight.”

She’s quick to pull out her phone and text Josh, already making a plan with him to get you and Quinn cornered in the same area. You can’t fight her on this. Once Abby set her mind to something it was going to happen so you were just along for the ride at this point.

The football game goes by too fast considering it was the last first game of the season you’d ever get as an undergrad, but the three of you are in such good moods that you hardly have time to be sad about it.

You leave the game a few minutes early to try and beat some of the crowds as you head back for the house you all shared. You almost forget the boys are coming over as you head to the kitchen and grab a drink. You figured you had a little while before they’d show anyways.

Popping the top of your can, you take a big drink and sigh. You hear Abby’s little giggle behind you and you whip around confused. You’re suddenly face to face with Quinn and you immediately blush in embarrassment.

“Uh, hi,” you stutter, giving him a little smile even though you wish the ground would open up and swallow you whole.

“Hi,” he says, and you know immediately that he was the one you’d almost run into so many times that summer.

His smile is just as nervous as yours and you get why Abby had called him awkward before. He fidgets with his hands as he stands in front of you but it’s endearing somehow. He’s not overly cocky or trying to impress you somehow and yet you’re completely on board with getting to know him.

He’s a stranger, technically, but he feels so familiar that you laugh a little. Quinn’s eyebrows furrow over the noise but he doesn’t actually ask.

“Sorry, it’s just… did you want a drink or something?” you offer, trying to keep yourself from getting giddy over having him in front of you after all the months of fate making sure you dodged each other.

His smile gets bigger then and he seems to relax, “yeah, that sounds good. Maybe I could steal you too and get to know you? If you want anyways.”

You nod, not hiding your smile anymore, “I think I’d really like that. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

#quinn hughes #my writing #mine #vancouver canucks #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine #jack hughes

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thelightofthingshopedfor · 3 years

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lol okay so I dashed off most of this the day of and then kept not posting it because I kept thinking I needed to add stuff, but then I ended up adding more stuff mostly in reblogs instead (should all be under the “my meta” tag if anyone’s curious) and now episode 2 is technically coming out tomorrow night in my time zone so obviously I need to just post this. bullet points of disconnected thoughts, some of which are probably at least slightly outdated by now but whatever, here you go

seems very possible Mobius left the tape with him on purpose because he figured Loki wouldn’t be able to resist looking at it

would have to check the timing but I’m pretty sure he started looking terrified as soon as Thanos came onscreen without really knowing the context (aside from the very basic outline of “it’s been several years and he reconciled with Thor”), which at least underscores that they weren’t buddies--Loki knew something awful was about to happen the second Thanos showed up sadly this is not true, the clip he sees first is him trying to stab Thanos, so...yeah it stands to reason that he’d know it was about to end badly no matter what

other people have mentioned this but I love that we got to see Loki just like...existing?? like I know he’s never been the protagonist before and seeing him as the protagonist has always been one of the things that’s excited me most about the show, but now that it’s here I’m just kind of struck by how HE’S THE PROTAGONIST so we’re getting all these emotions and little gestures and moments when he’s alone that we only got in tiny, sadly easy-to-overlook snatches before (and it also occurred to me that I don’t think we’ve ever seen Loki eat anything, which is something else that might change)

also his projection is fascinating, and so is the fact that he explicitly turned it around on himself, which seems relevant to all the theories about a lot of his other statements (”freedom is life’s great lie,” most of what he said to Natasha, etc.) being things that were drummed into him on Sanctuary rather than stuff he just came up with on his own, so that seems to cover a lot of the stuff he says in Avengers and here

on the other hand it seems unlikely we’re ever going to get confirmation that Bad Stuff happened to him on Sanctuary aside from what we already saw in Avengers, which is frustrating, although to be fair I also wasn’t expecting to see Loki crying about his family in the first episode (and the most I’m really hoping for, still, is that nothing will explicitly contradict the idea, so...we’re good on that thus far, I guess)

so the first half of the episode was...ehhh, I don’t know, but the second half was amazing. I know some people didn’t like that part either, but I felt like...okay, I don’t love him being humiliated so I would’ve preferred different framing for some of this BUT a lot of casual viewers still see Loki as a cackling caricature without having picked up on any of the stuff that very clearly showed otherwise, and this show wants to treat Loki as a person, someone worthy of audience sympathy, so they kind of had to go in hard and fast on that aspect to get everyone up to speed. like, yes, fans who’ve been paying attention know that Loki’s a person, that he’s wounded, that he doesn’t hurt people just because it’s fun for him, that he feels things very deeply, that he loves his family, but somehow the mainstream perception of him has missed like 85% of that, and the show’s just not going to have much impact unless it gets everybody on board with those very basic ideas. in terms of story structure it probably doesn’t make sense for this to be his lowest point, but starting from the bottom and eventually getting somewhere better is fairly standard, so at this point I can imagine tons of ways things could improve for him

yeah I do hate the whole Sacred Timeline thing, see also my posts about how much I loved that Endgame canonically (I thought) established multiple timelines where everything was fine, so yeah I’m pissed about that because it means those timelines were canonically pruned

like I don’t...hate it as a storytelling device? I just hate it for fandom reasons, and I’ve hated it in other fandoms when canon did something that seemed to open things up to all this incredible possibility and then went “actually no, we’re boxing it up again into this one specific Way That Things Happened” and for fanwork purposes it doesn’t matter all that much, I don’t think it’s actually that much harder to do AUs or go “okay well in this universe the TVA doesn’t exist, whatever” (in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if AO3 quickly develops a new canonical “not TVA compliant” tag for basically all Loki fic), but it is annoying that it’s now like “canonically, every AU is Not Allowed”, and if that ends up sticking as the status quo with the TVA considered good guys or at least a necessary evil then yeah, I’m going to be annoyed

HOWEVER

I don’t think that’s inevitable for a variety of reasons

this whole show is going to deal with multiverse shenanigans and so will Dr. Strange 2, so it seems completely possible that the end result could be a status quo of “there’s a multiverse actually and that’s fine” (...although yes, I’ll be doubly annoyed if the end result of this show is a restored multiverse of some kind and the end result of Dr. Strange 2 is condensing it back down to a single timeline)

the multiverse is a long-running comics tradition, which still seems to be the case even after...whatever event it was that collided a bunch of them and tried for a Highlander thing, look I wasn’t really following it and I know some characters ended up in other universes from where they started but I’m pretty sure we still have a multiverse of some kind

almost all the recent Loki-centric comics have focused on questions of fate and agency

Agent of Asgard in particular was about Loki eventually going “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me” and forging a new path (and, okay, it does seem like runs other than AoA have been the most influential here but again we’ve only seen one episode)

Loki, specifically, is an agent of chaos and change, like that’s his whole thing going way back to mythology, because sometimes stagnancy is death and chaos is healthy, and of course myth!Loki (and earlier versions of comics!Loki) is always responsible for triggering Ragnarok, which isn’t just the end of the world but is also a natural, crucial part of a cycle of renewal, and yes the MCU already did Ragnarok but that doesn’t at all mean they can’t play more with those ideas

Tom Hiddleston has brought up this specific point several times in recent interviews, that sometimes chaos is the one thing that's really needed

also, on Jimmy Kimmel the day of the episode, he kind of...planted a seed about the TVA maybe not being uncomplicated good guys because seriously what gives them the right to make these decisions for literally everyone

so at the very least I think it’s completely possible that things aren’t quite what they seem, and that for instance we’re supposed to discover that Mobius is consciously manipulating him to turn him into the type of tool the TVA wants him to be

also “the timeline wants to break free” shows up on a lot of merch, which does seem to indicate a free will vs. predestination theme

I’m not at all familiar with comics!TVA, although I understand they’re considered villains (although to be fair, so were the Skrulls, and at least thus far that’s been inverted for the MCU), but their whole thing reminded me of a few other entities in a way that could be relevant:

the tape running out was like the Norns cutting the thread of somebody’s life

Those Who Sit Above In Shadow in AoA (and also maybe whatever was below the God Quarry in Infinity Wars although I’m less familiar with that)

the gods in Cabin In The Woods, who were also kind of audience proxies in that they really just cared about the sacrifice being entertaining, which kinda seems like the only logical reason for the Timekeepers to prefer any given series of events over another

my personal hope for the series: the Timekeepers are ultimately the Big Bad and the rogue Loki variant is ultimately right in trying to wipe out the TVA (because sure I realize it’s maybe dumb of me but I still don’t want any Loki to be completely a bad guy!!); the major named TVA characters realize they’re the baddies actually and team up with a whole army of Lokis to take them down and GIVE US BACK OUR MULTIVERSE

#meta #my meta #loki meta #loki spoilers #loki series spoilers #loki show spoilers #loki show #loki #marvel cinematic universe

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detectivejay-chuckles-halstead · 4 years

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Thanks // Jay Halstead x Reader // Pt 3

Description: Y/N finds out just a little more about Jay

Words: 1555

Warnings: Slight character whump

Pairing: Jay x Reader (eventual), Reader x Mouse!Platonic, Jay x Mouse!Platonic

A/N: 2 Updates in one day? Who am I? In all seriousness though, thank you all for the support with this story. It means a lot to me. Even the replies that are just a heart emoji mean a lot to me, as do all the likes and reblogs. I hope you all enjoy as always!

Part 1 Part 2

This careful dance went on for weeks. Once a week, Jay would be there, always towards the weekend. The three of you would sit outside, watch the birds. Mouse talked more when you were around, surprising the staff when they’d overhear. You were just glad that he seemed to like you, enjoyed having you around.

You were at work, your boss talking to you about one of your cases. It was days like this that you really enjoyed your job, getting to work under some of the best psychologists in Chicago. And the community at Chicago Med was fantastic.

“I have a patient in the ER that I want you to try and talk to. He’s the brother of one of the ER doctors, Will,” Daniel told you when his pager went off. “I haven’t been able to get through to him before, but maybe you’ll be able to?”

“Of course. I’ll head down there right now,” you assured him with a smile, turning and walking to the elevator. It was definitely one of those days that you enjoyed your job. As soon as you hit the ER, you were greeted with familiar faces. Despite primarily working in the Psychiatric Unit, you were still a staple in the ER.

“Dr Y/L/N!” Maggie exclaimed when you walked up to her, embracing you in a tight hug. “Daniel let you loose I see?”

“He specifically sent me. I’m here to talk to Dr Halstead’s brother. Could you point me in his direction?”

“Exam 7.” You nodded, walking down and counting the numbers as you went until you hit seven. The curtains were drawn, but you could hear Will talking -- or more yelling -- at his brother.

“Are you stupid? I mean you just got shot! And now you’re wanting to leave AMA? I mean, first! You got shot! Which can mess up your ability to wear…” You walked in with a knock, not letting him finish his sentence as he turned to look at the intruder.

“I’m sorry to interrupt. Daniel wanted me to come down and talk…” You looked at the man in the bed, surprised. “Jay?”

“You told them to make me talk to a psychiatrist?” Jay spat, glaring at his brother. This obviously was a surprise to him, and to you as well. You didn’t expect Jay to be Will’s brother, and you weren’t expecting to be called down to talk to Mouse’s friend.

“It’s procedure, you know that, Jay! This isn’t the first time you’ve gotten shot on the job!” Will reminded him, but you cut them off before more yelling could occur.

“That’s enough Dr Halstead!” you snapped. “I understand that this is a difficult situation for both of you, but I’m here to do my job. And you have patients to see as well Will, so let me do my job and go do yours.”

Will’s brow furrowed in frustration, Adam’s Apple bobbing harshly in his throat as he looked like he wanted to say something. “Now, Will,” you stated again, letting him walk out of his own accord.

“Look, I’m fine,” Jay assured you, sitting up and crossing his legs under the blanket.

“I believe you, but I still have to come down here and talk to you. Clear you so to speak. If you want, I could tell Daniel that we know each other and that you would be more comfortable with a different psychiatrist if you’d like?” You didn’t want to hand him off to somebody else, but you wanted to make sure he was comfortable with it all.

“No...it’s...you’re fine,” he sighed. You took the opportunity to take a seat in one of the plastic chairs. “So, how’s this going to go?”

“I just want you to tell me about today. What led up to you getting shot. What you were thinking, feeling. That’s it,” you answered with a smile, setting the ipad down on the table. You weren’t going to take notes on this, wanted to keep his trust intact.

“We were on day three of this case. It was a tough one,” he began, eyes glancing back and forth between you and the wall. “We’d found our guy, went to raid his house. I was with my partner Hailey, and it was going like any other bust. We breached the front door, and then I heard the distinct ‘pop’ of a gun, and then just searing pain in my thigh.”

“And what were you thinking when it happened?” You kept your voice soft and low, soothing even.

“Not again,” he chuckled, but there was no humor in it. Just sadness. “That’s what I was thinking. Not again. Because I’ve been shot before. In Chicago. In Afghanistan. Accidents. On purpose. And all I thought was not again.”

“What was Will talking about when he was talking to you? Getting shot would affect your ability to wear something?” You weren’t sure if it was pertinent or not, but seeing as Will was yelling about it, you figured that it probably was.

“I don’t want to talk about that.”

“Outside of these walls, I can be your friend Jay. And I won’t push you to talk about things you don’t want to. But right now, I’m trying to assess if you need therapy sessions and if you’re going to be cleared to go back to work,” you reminded him. “So, I need you to answer my questions. And whatever we talk about in here, I won’t bring up out there unless you do. Deal?”

It took a minute for him to speak, sighing before leaning back against the pillows.

“Had I gotten shot just a few inches lower, I wouldn’t have to be here. They wouldn’t have had to pull a bullet out of my flesh.” He bit the inside of his cheek, chewing on it gently as he swallowed hard. “I would have been able to go back to the district and get probably Adam or Kevin to help me get the bullet out.”

“Okay?” you said, not sure if you were understanding him. He still would have gotten shot.

“Mouse and I, when were in Afghanistan. We hit an IED. He ended up with a traumatic brain injury. And I ended up as an amputee. Right side, above the knee. Will was so kindly reminding me that additional damage to the remaining muscle of my leg could make it to where I can’t wear my prosthesis. I mean, I’m gonna be without it for a few weeks to let the wound heal. The, physical therapy with the prosthesis. I’m gonna be on desk duty for a few months at least.” He looked at you, rolling his eyes with another smile with no happiness behind it. “That what you wanted to hear?”

“I didn’t know what to expect. You and Mouse are definitely two people that are hard for me to read. But I mean, it doesn’t change anything about you,” you shrugged. “I’m going to be honest with you, it wouldn’t hurt to talk to somebody. I don’t think you overly need to by any means, but trauma can bring things back up, things we try to push away.”

“I know. But it’s always the same. I’ve learned to live with the triggers, the emotions and flashbacks. I just...I won’t be able to see Mouse for a while, which pisses me off.”

“Because you won’t be able to drive?”

“Yeah. And when I see him again, I think he’ll understand. But it’s hard for him. I’ve seen some of the staff treat him like he’s a child. Or that he’s not entirely there, but he is. I’ve seen it. He’s in there, it’s just his brain doesn’t work right anymore. He gets frustrated so easily now. Watching the birds is really the one thing that keeps him calm all the time. So, he’s going to be frustrated that I’m not there, even if I call and tell him why. He’s not going to fully understand,” he explained to you, letting you see just a little more than usual when it came to both of them.

“If you want, I can drive you Jay. I know we usually show up on the same day later in the week, but I can adjust my schedule to make sure you get down there.”

“You would?” He seemed genuinely surprised, eyes wide with excitement instead of sadness.

“Of course. He means something to you, and you obviously mean something to him. So, why wouldn’t I? It’s not like I don’t go down there frequently anyway? Is there anything else you want to talk about?” you asked, knowing you needed to go back upstairs soon.

“No. Thank you, Y/N. This means a lot to me,” he answered as you stood up, fishing around in your pocket for your business card before scribbling your personal phone number on the back.

“What are friends for? Call me or text me if you need anything. And I do mean anything, Jay. And we’ll set up a schedule to get you down to see Mouse.” You handed the card to him, his hand loosely grabbing your wrist for a moment as he smiled up at you. You nodded, understanding the unspoken thanks he was sending you. “I’ll see you soon.”

Tag List: @yzas-stuff @gemmafountainloves @ceiliesla @corebore123 @annaallicce @fullwattpadmusictree @bethii1 @thevelvetseries @mich-lynne3 @itmejado @music-is-my-escape71 @not-onlyedmlyrics @supergirl000983 @mandybug39 @okiegirl24 @haileymatthewss @httphiddlestan @capmanranger @ahhh0ahhh @bookgiver @daenerys-targaryes @galacticsmoon @beachfan412 @wearesodrica @danielacastellon @genericcaner @halsteadsway @theskytraveler @miranda0102 @amyarondottir @onechicago18 @lovecatystuff @doramstr @itsdesiree86 @raveenasblog

#jay halstead #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead x reader #fanfiction #mouse chicago pd

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bethhxrmon · 4 years

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passed down like folksongs, chapter thirteen- steve x reader

[gif credit to @flyingrichardgrayson]

chapter thirteen- i didn’t know if you’d care if i came back

series summary: Living in Hawkins was never easy for anyone. However, it becomes ten times more difficult than usual when you catch feelings for one Steve Harrington. What should be a simple schoolgirl crush ends up being complicated by your step-brother, Tommy Hagan, and the mysterious goings on in the town of Hawkins. [masterlist]

pairing: steve harrington x female! hagan! reader

chapter summary: The summer of ‘85 takes a turn for the worst when Steve helps investigate a Russian Base within the mall. Though, it does leave him realizing a thing or two about his own feelings.

warnings: swearing, ANGST, season 3 shenanigans

word count: 2.5k

a/n: Sooo this is mostly a Steve-centric chapter, really hope that y’all enjoy and that this goes in the steeb tag because it’s the main way that I get more readers. Though, reblogs also help a lot!!

~*~*~*~

The only major thing left in Steve’s high school career after prom was graduation. Somehow, he managed to get through it. If he was being honest, he firmly believed that you were the main reason he got through that last month of school. You would have insisted that he was the one who pulled it off. If anything, you were just the person who helped him get ready for his finals.

No, he wasn’t going off to college like Tommy was, but he made it out of high school. Steve wasn’t sure what he would have done if he flunked. At least he didn’t have to wonder about that anymore. Instead, he had to get on with the rest of his life. Whatever that was supposed to entail

College was out of the question for the next year. He got a job at Scoops Ahoy in the new mall, but after even the first day of slinging ice cream, he knew that he wanted nothing to do with that. It was advantageous to the kids since they used his position to get to the movies for free, but it didn’t have much for him. Not unless he moved up, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be anything more than where he was at. Otherwise, that kind of implied he was going to be stuck there for a long time.

There were two pastimes that Steve didn’t mind so much. One was flirting with girls so Robin could have some kind of entertainment, and the other was talking to you whenever you showed up to the mall. Funnily enough, that was rather often.

You didn’t get a summer job, and that meant you spent most of the season bored. All you could do was either garden or go to the mall. Especially since Steve was working so often. Though, you were sure it would feel like a normal amount once you were busy with school for most of the day again.

For reasons you couldn’t quite explain, you knew that you were glad that Steve was going to be in Hawkins for just a while longer. It meant you didn’t lose your closest friend. Though, Robin would regularly tease the two of you whenever you stuck around to chat. It was nice getting to hang out with her too.

While there was still a glimmer of what you once felt for Steve two years ago, you were content with the way things were. You liked hanging out with Steve after he got done with work. Nothing was ever going to happen and you finally made peace with that. If anything, you dared Steve to ask out and flirt with his customers. Mostly because he always struck out and it was hilarious.

There was still a part of you that wanted Steve to say things like that to you again, but maybe it was for the best that nothing happened. The friendship you both had was so good.

One summer afternoon you found yourself in Scoops Ahoy and Steve was at the counter like he normally was. He always gave you a discount if he didn’t just let you take the ice cream.

“Hey, I’m gonna have to raincheck on hanging out tonight,” he said as you stood at the counter, “My parents are having some family over and they wanted to see me since they didn’t make it to my graduation.”

You frowned a bit and then nodded, “Okay, well, then you have fun with that. Oh! Speaking of family shit, there’s gonna be a Fourth of July party at my house. Would you wanna come?”

“Depends on if we sneak off to go to that carnival,” Steve replied.

You grinned, “Obviously, I need a buddy to sneak off with, though, so what do you say?”

“I’ll be there,” he said.

Steve hated lying to you and what he hated even more was how easily it slipped out of his mouth. Once again, there was something he just couldn’t tell you. Even though you were probably someone who would want to help with sneaking into a Russian Base, he knew Dustin would have a cow if anyone else knew what was going on. Regardless of the fact that Steve knew he could trust you with his life.

Though, it wasn’t like getting into the base would be anything that could possibly take the literal days before the fourth. You’d never know what happened and it would be fine. He really wished he could tell you everything, though.

Having Robin right there with him as they snuck into the storage space with the kids was nice, but he really couldn’t help but imagine that you were there with him. It was an emotion that was only multiplied at the realization he was far too deep into this ordeal.

Getting stuck at the bottom of a Russian elevator with no hope of getting back up wasn’t something he put into the equation. Though, a part of him was glad he didn’t tell you anything because the less people having to experience this, the better. And maybe he would tell you about it this time around. This whole thing with the Russians wasn’t like everything else with the government. He could talk to you about this. Although, he was sure that you would have a hard time believing him.

Still, he knew that thinking about telling you all this stuff was more and more of a stretch in the first place. Mainly because that involved getting out of the elevator without dying. If some Russians spotted them, he knew for a fact that they were done for.

That night in the elevator was easily one of the worst nights ever. The only relief was that Robin was there to try and talk with him about the situation. A situation that had no solution.

“Do you think we could end up getting ourselves killed?” Robin asked in a low voice just in case Dustin or Erica happened to be awake.

Steve shook his head, “Nah, we’ll get out of this. It’ll be okay.”

Though, now that Robin mentioned it, the more he couldn’t help but wish that he told you everything. How he truly felt about you and what happened to him in all that time. You deserved to know.

Then he realized another reason as to why he had to get out of this okay. If he died, you wouldn’t have anyone who you were nearly as close to. No, you wouldn’t be as isolated as you had been after Barb died, but he knew it would hurt you. He knew what you were like when you lost someone you were so close to. And worse, if everyone just said he disappeared? You would go looking and you would probably never stop.

He had to get out at any cost. If not for himself and the kids and Robin, then for you at the very least. Not even to tell you everything in his head, but just so you wouldn’t have to be alone. So you could have someone to go to that silly carnival with. There wasn’t any other option.

The main priority was to stick together and find a key to get out and use the elevator. Then, they were home free and could do whatever they decided to do. Maybe telling someone like Hopper was a good place to start, but he didn’t want to get ahead of himself. Getting out was the goal.

For the first bit of it, Steve had a cautious optimism about the whole situation. They didn’t get caught in the elevator. If they could just keep up that same trajectory, surely they would be able to get out. Then, they would be home free and there would be nothing to worry about. He would feel silly for even thinking that it was possible he wouldn’t make it out. It was silly. After everything he had been through already, this was almost nothing.

While a Russian Base as a concept was petrifyingly scary, it wasn’t anywhere near as awful as those tunnels. The base was going to be filled with people, and while they could cause a lot of harm, it wasn’t nearly as much of a death sentence as a hoard of man-eating monsters. Besides, if worse came to worse, he just wouldn’t lose the next fight he got stuck in the middle of.

Steve wasn’t sure how well sneaking around would continue to work as they got closer to where all the Russians were. The only Russian any of them knew was what was on that code, but if someone asked him to repeat it, he wouldn’t have been able to.

Still, they made it all the way in what had to be the comms room. Or something like that, Steve wasn’t sure what any of the rooms in this place could be called. Not that it mattered because they were all face-to-face with a Russian. He couldn't figure out who was more surprised to see who. Probably the Russian who was starting to pull out his gun.

Well, he promised himself he would win the next fight he was in. So naturally, Steve started off by screaming at the guy. Then, he just went for it. His heartbeat was through the roof and he hardly recognized just what he was doing as he punched the guy and tackled him. He barely realized he smacked the guy with the phone until Dustin’s voice kicked in.

“Dude, you just won a fight!” Dustin exclaimed.

They needed that key, but Robin seemed to be focused on something at the top of a staircase. Steve and Dustin went up to see what was there. He felt his heart sink to his stomach when he realized just what they were looking at.

Both of them specifically agreed that it couldn’t be this again. Yet there it was staring them in the face. Why in the world would the Russians want anything to do with the Upside Down? It was only going to get everyone killed. Now they had more of a problem on their hands than ever before.

He had to tell you, though. That was the important thing. The last thing he wanted to do was continue lying to you for the rest of his life. Though, that would have to wait as Erica noted that the Russian had left the room.

Almost on cue, more Russians came in. This wasn’t a fight he was going to be able to win. Not when all he had was himself. He wished that he had thought to bring his stupid bat. Instead, he thought fast and moved to get the kids in front of him. If anyone needed to get out, it was them.

As for Robin and himself? Well, he wasn’t too sure about getting out now.

It wasn’t that Steve gave up all hope, but he knew that he couldn’t count on anyone saving him as soon as he got taken by the Russians. All he had with him was Robin, though he supposed being alone would have been worse. He was pretty glad he didn’t tell you about any of this, though.

That was the only thing that kept him sane as he was punched across the face by one of the Russians. It didn’t matter what he said. He told a half-truth. Sure, he sort of knew what he was getting himself into, but he wasn’t involved with the US government. If he were, then he probably would’ve gone about this in a smarter way. Probably.

All that mattered to him was that Robin was okay. As long as there was no mention of Dustin and Erica, he was sure that was a good sign. Robin was still very much alive. There had to be some way to ensure they got out, but Steve had no idea.

Sure, the implied plan was for the kids to get out and get help, but he wasn’t sure how that was going to work. Although, it didn’t take long for any feelings of concern to subside. Whatever drugs the Russians had up their sleeves were, he couldn’t deny just how great they felt. It was just like the times he did weed with Tommy, only it was better.

Everything went by in such a blur that Steve could hardly describe what was going on. Hell, he barely registered what he was saying by the time Dustin burst into the room. If Steve thought everything was strange before, he knew that he was about to eat his words as he was swung through the whole base.

He couldn’t remember a whole lot before the high came crashing down around him and he was vomiting in the bathroom of the movie theater. At least, that was where he was pretty sure he was.

The only reassuring thing was that he wasn’t the only one puking his guts out. There was something nice about having an actual friend next to him as all this happened. Not that you weren’t his friend, but it was different.

“Have you ever been in love before?” Robin asked.

While the question took him by surprise, what caught him even more off guard was when he talked about Nancy. And sure, he had loved her at one time, but he was starting to realize that he had been in love more than once before.

“Wait, you don’t love me, do you?” he asked.

Robin was silent until Steve slid under the stall to see her. It seemed like she was almost in a different place entirely.

She shook her head, starting to explain that she was never in love with him. Instead, when she claimed to be obsessed with him it was because he had been the object of Tammy Thompson’s affections. Someone Robin had hoped to win over somehow.

Suddenly everything made a lot more sense and he almost felt a wave of relief. Even if learning the truth about Robin was a bit surprising. So he did what he did best, made light of everything with Tammy Thompson. Which only reminded him of the girl he actually wanted to be with.

He felt his face fall, “Shit! I was supposed to go to Y/N’s party!”

“What? Steve, it’s just a party-”

“But she doesn’t wanna be there, we were supposed to go to the carnival together. And I- I don't wanna leave her alone there.”

Robin nodded slowly, “I think I was supposed to be there with the marching band… wait, Steve?”

“Hm?”

“Are you sure you don’t love Y/N?”

Steve shook his head, “What? No, o- of course not! Even if I did, I’ve screwed it up so many times there’s no way she would ever be able to love me back and I know that.”

Maybe he did love you.

“The worst she can do is say no,” Robin pointed out.

He laughed, “Nah, she’d tell me to go fuck myself and I wouldn’t blame her.”

“You didn’t just get out of a Russian Base to not take a chance with Y/N. Come on, there’s no way she comes by almost every day just because she likes the ice cream. There’s gotta be something there.”

Dustin barged into the room and Steve couldn’t quite comprehend what the kid was saying. What he could comprehend was that he needed to finish this and quickly if he was going to get to your party.

taglist: @flyingrichardgrayson @stonersteve @scooprtroopr @insideafictionaluniverse @l0ve-0f-my-life

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #folklore fic

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mizmatched · 3 years

Text

I posted 4,633 times in 2021

287 posts created (6%)

4346 posts reblogged (94%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 15.1 posts.

I added 584 tags in 2021

#dream smp - 170 posts

#tommyinnit - 80 posts

#miz speaks - 73 posts

#mcyt - 54 posts

#fav - 47 posts

#/rp - 36 posts

#ranboo - 36 posts

#tubbo - 31 posts

#technoblade - 30 posts

#jack manifold - 27 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#all of these points are 10000% and i can think of many other instances of really shitty reactions to mental health that a lot of the fandom

My Top Posts in 2021

wilbur soot really watched sadists passerine animatic and thought "damn okay fanfiction is cool now" and then made our lives hell.

2913 notes • Posted 2021-07-21 15:35:27 GMT

sad-ist's tommy character design is just getting progressively softer and here is the proof:

2992 notes • Posted 2021-04-03 19:06:07 GMT

this has probably been done before

3382 notes • Posted 2021-02-24 03:48:30 GMT

We are very happy to have you here! Twitter is the Worst so make sure to take care of yourselves.

Some Tumblr etiquette:

Please remember to reblog posts you like especially art! Its the only way that post is going to get attention!

TW and CW's go in the tags. You can add them at the top of your post, but please make sure you also put them in the tags! You can block tags in settings, so you never have to see a post with that content.

Please do not tag your mcyt or dream smp stuff with "minecraft" "mineblr" or even "philza minecraft" Anything with minecraft will show up in the minecraft tags and the poor mineblr community trying to vibe with their really cool builds and aesthetic photos will have to deal with it. just keep it out of your tags please!

I don't think sending asks or submitting posts is a thing on twitter? but you can do that! There should be a little section under a blogs bio to send asks. You have the option to send asks anonymously (unless the blog owner has turned off their anon) in case you're a bit shy.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANON HATE, OR HATE OF ANY KIND!! Don't be weird or gross! Just block the person and move on!

4371 notes • Posted 2021-04-15 16:57:49 GMT

you know what? fuck you

*clingys your duo*

6179 notes • Posted 2021-06-30 19:55:55 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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snowdice · 4 years

Text

Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 29]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

I’m giving myself the night off schoolwork and going to catch up on some editing and other stuff. So, let’s have fun with the babies!

Over the course of the next three days of Virgil’s captivity, Virgil would come to the conclusion that his captors were idiots.

This thought flickered to life once again as Logan leaned into the closet to point out another constellation on the ceiling, tottering unstably on his knees as his weight shifted forward and distracted by his enthusiasm.

They were alone in the prince’s room. Patton had left only a few minutes before to help his mother in the kitchen (less because she needed help and more to not make her suspicious about why he’d spent so much time away in the last few days).

He wouldn’t be back for a while and Virgil had full mobility in the closet. With Logan leaning over the threshold like that, it would be easy to kill him or even just incapacitate him. One rough yank on his arm would have him completely in the closet. Virgil had no question that he could pin him down so he couldn’t activate the restraints, and even if he managed to do so, he’d have been drawn close enough that Virgil could use his legs. He could either force him to take off the cuffs or, since they automatically went to the second setting when he left the closet, just deal with it until he managed to get away.

It would just be so easy. Yet, he did not. He just watched Logan as he leaned stupidly over an assassin while info dumping about stars.

This was the first day that he hadn’t felt at all tired when he’d drank the provided nutrition and healing potion, though it had never affected him quite as much as it had the first day. Logan said that meant that his injuries must be healed. It was a weird feeling. He didn’t remember when the last time was that he wasn’t damaged in some way. Even before his grueling training, there’d always been bullies at the orphanage and he’d been the youngest and smallest in his age group.

He was also more well rested and fed than he had been in as long as he could remember. He felt better then he knew was possible today, and he suspected that he would only feel better after a bit more time under their care.

He told himself that is why he didn’t lash out now. He was waiting until he was as strong as possible to make sure his escape went as well as it could, even if it was a risk. They’d mentioned that the king would be gone for three weeks. After he returned, Virgil would surely be turned over to people much more capable of actually keeping him well trapped and less likely to feed him well, give him a nice place to sleep, and leave him without injury. It was a gamble to stay, because it was possible that he wouldn’t find another opportunity in time and would get handed over to his fate. Really, if he was being reasonable, he should get out now while he felt good and had a secured opportunity.

Still, he did not. He had not any of the times they’d given him the opportunity in the last few days. Logan finished his sentence and leaned back out of the closet to safety. He still was speaking though in that soft happy tone. Logan liked the stars. He liked to talk about the stars, and Virgil found he liked to listen to him. They tended to end up in this position whenever Patton was away, just talking as Virgil laid in his closet.

Eventually, Logan’s latest story tapered out. There was silence then for a few moments. Virgil stared up at the fake stars on the ceiling. The stars that Logan had made for him when he really did not have to. Virgil had not been expecting lights in the closet, let alone ones so beautiful and thoughtful. Not ones with stories behind them. Just days ago, if someone had told Virgil the prince would be keeping him in his closet for the next few weeks, Virgil wouldn’t have expected a blanket let alone all of this.

He turned his head to look at Logan. “What?” Logan asked.

“Your magic’s very beautiful,” Virgil said.

Logan seemed pleased by the complement, lighting up almost as much as the stars he made. “Well, it’s just a basic light spell,” he said, “though I did make some adjustments to them and the dimmer was a bit more difficult. Anyone could do it with practice.”

Virgil shook his head. “They’re special, I think,” he said. “Your magic’s different than most people.”

“How so?” Logan asked curiously.

“It’s gentle,” he said. “Gentle and warm, like eating the warm soup you fed me a couple of days ago.”

“And other people’s magic feels different?” he asked.

Virgil nodded. “I’ve met a lot of magic users, but it always felt bad. Usually it hurts or makes you feel sick or just makes you uncomfortable. Even healing magic always felt like bugs nibbling at my skin, but the potion you’ve been having me drink in the morning feels… safe. It doesn’t hurt or make me want to cry. It’s just good.”

“Magic often has much to do with the caster’s intentions,” Logan said.

“I think you could poison me gently.”

Logan made an odd expression. “That…” he said, nose scrunched. “That is a strange thing to say.”

Virgil cocked his head. “Is it?”

“Yes!” Logan said, shaking his head. “You are far too comfortable with the concept of death for your age.”

“I’m fourteen,” Virgil argued. “That’s old enough to be sent on missions without a blood compulsion!”

“…A what?” Logan asked.

“A blood compulsion,” Virgil said. “You know, with a multrum.” Logan was frowning at him. “One works in your gardens and you’re a prince. You had to at least have seen one or two. They take a bit of blood and multrums process it into a little bead. Then you’ve got to do what your told or it hurts a lot.”

“I know what a blood compulsion is,” Logan said. “I am simply wondering who would put one on a fourteen-year-old.”

“They don’t,” Virgil said. “They stop putting them on people when they turn fourteen.”

“And exactly what is the age range for it?” Logan asked. Virgil was almost startled by the way his tone was quickly hardening. He’d never heard him be that harsh even when he’d first woken up in his custody. It made Virgil tense up.

“They take kids usually when they’re about 8 and it’s a year of training before your sent on a mission so 9-13,” he said.

“That’s horrible,” Logan spat so violently that Virgil flinched. Logan didn’t seem to notice. “They force children to kill under a blood compulsion?”

“Well, no one really wants to do it without one when they’re that little. They get scared, and usually try to chicken out so…”

“So, they torture them unless they kill someone.”

“I mean… it’s not. They have to agree to the deal.”

“And if they don’t agree to it?” Logan asked.

Virgil thought back to the second time they’d made him get a blood compulsion. It had been with the multrum before Janus, a girl by the name of Alina. He’d made the mistake of hesitating on his first kill and faced the consequences before finally giving in and doing the job. When the second mission had come around, Virgil hadn’t wanted to accept the blood compulsion.

That had been the first time they’d made him drink a binding potion. Logan seemed to be able to get an idea about it by the look on his face.

“So, your options were to be tortured, be tortured in a different way, or murder someone.” Logan looked at him. “You said your fourteen. Have you ever even killed of your own volition?”

“I… no,” he admitted, but quickly added, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t. I know what I’m doing.”

“That explains a lot about your personality and reactions so far.”

Virgil rankled at that for some reason. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Logan just stared at him for a long moment. “What they did, what they are doing isn’t right you know?” he said.

Virgil blinked at him but said nothing. He became more and more uncomfortable in the silence that ensued.

“Would you like to learn more about magic?” he asked. “There are many uses other then to hurt. I can teach you a few basics if you like.”

Virgil was confused about the topic change but was relieved about it. “Uh,” he thought. “Sure. That would be… interesting.”

Logan smiled at him. “I’ll set up something and we can work with it in the next few days. What would you like to learn?”

“Um, I have no idea. What is there?”

Logan considered it for a moment. “We could do a hair color changing potion. Or perhaps a small protection charm or I can teach you to make fire shapes.”

“Protection charm,” Virgil said without hesitation.

Logan gave him a sad smile. “Of course. I’ll start showing you how to make them tomorrow and we can actually make some the next day.”

“Okay,” Virgil agreed.

“Would you like to hear more about the stars?” he asked. Virgil nodded. He once again leaned into the closet to point and Virgil once again did not move to attack. Nor did he attack when that afternoon Patton turned his back on Virgil for far too long when they were alone. Nor did he when they settled him to bed once again in the closet. He told himself it was strategic, but he knew it wasn’t.

Chapter 12

Logan had needed to spend some time performing royal duties today which left Patton and Virgil alone after breakfast. Patton had started out trying to teach Virgil different board games. He’d seemed intrigued at first, but after a few games of checkers seemed to grow bored. Patton had gotten a blank stare when he’d asked if Virgil had any ideas about what to do for fun, so now he was trying to figure out something else they could do. He cast his eyes around at what Logan had in his bedroom.

“How about I read you a book?” he suggested.

Virgil seemed very intrigued by that idea. “Sure,” he said.

“Okay!” Patton said cheerfully. “He popped to his feet and glanced through the small shelf of fiction books Logan kept in his room. He decided to choose one of the lighter ones that Logan and he had liked to read when they were younger. “This one is called The Never-ending Garden,” Patton said. “It’s about a group of four children and their adventures in a garden. It’s full of magic and adventure and friendship! Is that alright with you?”

“It sounds good,” Virgil answered.

Patton happily walked back over to sit next to him. “It is!” he said.

First, he showed Virgil the picture on the cover of a wild looking garden with four kids roaming through it. One of the children was in a little red wagon being pulled by another one wearing a fancy hat. One of the others was walking, looking at a map while the last had a wooden sword. After giving Virgil a couple of moments too look at the picture, Patton cracked it open.

“We start with Lydia’s perspective,” Patton said. “She’s one of my favorites!” He pointed to a picture of a girl in a raincoat at the beginning of the chapter and Virgil leaned slightly closer to see. Then, Patton cleared his voice.

“It had been raining that day,” Patton began, “but Lydia had been so bored that she still begged her father to go out and play when the storm lightened into a sprinkle. He made her change from the yellow dress she had been wearing into the one she often used to help him garden because he knew she was certain to get herself muddy. Her younger brother Marcus asked if he could come too and though part of her wanted to say no because she wanted to explore on her own without her baby brother slowing her down, her father had taught her to be a good big sister, so she agreed to let him come.”

Patton watched Virgil out of the corner of his eye as he read about Lydia meeting up with the neighbor boy, Al, and the three children started to explore the garden in Lydia’s backyard. Virgil leaned in slightly to look at the pictures and listen to the story intently as the three children traveled deeper and deeper into the garden, but never made it to the back fence. They’d just made it to the part where they heard rustling behind the blackberry bush which Patton knew was the last main character, Melly, when Patton felt the need to adjust his posture a bit. Virgil moved in kind and ended up leaning further into Patton.

Without even really thinking about it, Patton brought his arm around to touch the top of his head. Virgil flinched the second Patton made content and Patton drew the hand away immediately. “Sorry,” he said with a wince. Patton was a naturally touching person and he’d been having trouble battling his instincts to cuddle everyone and everything while around Virgil, but he knew most touch was not welcome. The poor thing startled every time Patton went to touch him unannounced and even sometimes when he’d said something before doing it.

“I-it’s okay,” Virgil said.

Patton gave him a tight lipped smiled and turned back to the book.

He stilled a second later when Virgil leaned back in and their shoulders brushed. He blinked over at him. “Oh,” he said softly. “Do… do you want me to touch your hair?”

Virgil curled up into himself a little bit but then nodded.

“Okay,” Patton said. “I’m going to put my arm around you and do that then, okay?” He drew upon his years and years of convincing easily startled cats to allow him to give them pats as he slowly moved his arm back to where it had been before and gently touched the side of his head. He tensed, but didn’t startle this time, and so Patton gently ran his fingers through the hair a couple of times. Eventually, the tension bled out of him and he sort of slumped against Patton’s shoulder. Patton just barely restrained a coo before going back to reading. He continued to stroke the side of Virgil’s hair as he described the gang meeting up with Melly and them being told she was a fairy that lived in the garden.

He'd only gotten to the part about them finding the wagon when Virgil started to shift a bit uncomfortably, his neck craned in an awkward angle. Patton kept reading as he brought the hand in his hair down to his shoulder and pushed lightly. There was the slightest bit of resistance as Virgil didn’t know what he was trying to do, but then he allowed Patton to move him. Patton leaned back a bit and picked the book up off his lap before continuing to push him down. Virgil did not help at all, seeming confused about what was going on.

Patton had to poke him around until he was on his back laying across Patton’s lap. He grinned down at the boy who was looking at him in blatant bewilderment and propped the book up on his chest. He held it there with one of his hands and stretched the other out to resume messing with his hair. Virgil relaxed into the new position after a few minutes of reading, eyes shutting as he enjoyed the attention. His eyes would flicker open every time Patton moved to show him a picture, but other than that, he seemed content to not move.

Eventually, he stopped responding when Patton moved to show him the pictures.

“Are you asleep?” he asked quietly. When he didn’t get a response, he bookmarked the last picture Virgil had responded to, and then continued reading to himself.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door. It was the one he and Logan had decided on to tell the other one that it was just them and not to panic when the door opened. The door opened to Logan a moment later.

He paused, taking in the sight of the assassin sprawled across Patton’s lap like a sleepy kitten. He shook his head fondly and walked over to them on silent feet. He bent and pressed a hand to the top of Virgil’s hand. Virgil stirred just barely, but didn’t open his eyes, pressing into the touch a bit.

Logan smiled. “He wanted to learn how to make protection charms today. I assume you’d like to join us?” Patton perked up and nodded happily, making Logan chuckle softly. “I will go set it up then. Would you like another book for the time being?”

“Just the one I was reading last night would be nice,” Patton said.

“Of course.” Logan stepped away to grab it and handed it to him. Then, he disappeared into his potion’s lab. Patton smiled down at Virgil’s sleeping face and settled the new book onto his chest to replace the children’s book. He didn’t even stir.

Chapter 13

Logan was able to quickly set up the station for making protection charms. Patton had always liked making them, though he often used his more as fun accessories than for protection. The one he was going to show Virgil how to make was a very simple low level one used for little more than to keep bugs off of yourself and, in the event of a well made one, alert one to imminent danger by changing temperature. It was a nice thing to hold in the middle of the night if one was frightened by real or imagined threats. It would be warm to the touch when your environment was safe; he thought Virgil might appreciate it.

He and Patton decided to wait until Virgil woke up naturally which only took about 30 minutes. Then, Logan brought him to his set up supplies. He explained briefly the process for making a protection charm. “I will be the one performing the enchantment for today,” he told Virgil. “I will show you how to make your own later, but I thought seeing how to make them would help with the learning process.”

“Plus, it’s fun!” Patton said.

Logan flashed a smile at him. “And that as well. I’ve prepared a small number of possible pendants for you to choose from. You can choose the shape and color, then we will put on a custom engraving, as well as decorations.”

“Glitter! Glitter! Glitter! Glitter!”

“Yes, Patton, everyone knows you’re going to choose glitter,” Logan said, amused, “but why don’t we let Virgil decide for his own pendant?”

“Fine,” Patton said, “but mine will be glitter.”

Logan grabbed the box of blank pendants and offered it to Virgil. “Choose whichever one feels right,” he suggested. Virgil moved forward and looked over the box. “You can touch them,” Logan said. “In fact, I would suggest it as it is meant to be held when it’s done and you may as well get a feel for it.”

At his prompting, Virgil did. He reached into the box and shifted a few to the side. Eventually, he started picking a few up. “I like the crescent shape for holding the most he said,” holding a blue one up, but I don’t know.”

“What’s your favorite color?” Patton asked.

“Oh, um,” he mumbled. “I dunno.”

“Well here,” Patton said, reaching for the box. He dug through it and pulled out every single crescent moon shaped pendant and lined them up. “What do you fancy?”

Virgil considered them all for a long moment and then tentatively pointed the purple one out.

“Great!” Patton said. “Then, we’ll use that one.”

Virgil nodded and Patton picked up the pendant to drop it into his hands. His fingers curled over the shape and he seemed satisfied by the choice, so Logan turned to Patton. “Your turn,” he said.

Patton happily grabbed out a heart shaped blue one, but then paused and exchanged it for a purple one. “We match!” he said.

Virgil smiled slightly at his enthusiasm, and Logan dug out a blue crescent moon shape for himself. “Now that you have your base, you get to choose the engraving.” He opened up the instruction book to the correct page and showed it to him.

Virgil looked over the two pages of designs with carful focus. He wavered between the spiral sun and the flames for a moment, but eventually settled on the flames. Patton chose the interlocking hearts design as anticipated; it was his favorite, and Logan chose the spiral sun design for himself.

“Now, I’m going to engrave this design onto yours,” Logan said getting out the thin pen like instrument and dipping it into the slightly glowing bottle of potion he’d set out. “In the meantime, Patton will show you what we have for decorations.”

He was careful to get the symbol as perfect as he could and then started on Patton’s. Patton apparently managed to corrupt the boy because both of them came back with brushes and glitter to add as decoration.

Logan shook his head and handed them their freshly engraved pendants. “Apply the glitter how you like,” Logan said, moving on to his own engraving. Once he was finished, he selected some glow in the dark paint to decorate his own.

Once he’d finished decorating his own pendant, Logan looked up. “Are you finished?” he asked.

“Yep!” Patton said, shoving his pendant at Logan while Virgil nodded. Virgil had been far less enthusiastic than Patton, having carefully brushed glitter into the flame design only whereas Patton had haphazardly covered his own all over with glitter. Logan took both pendants.

“This,” Logan said, bringing over a different potion, “is used to make sure the decorations never fall off. It basically allows the other substances to become a part of the stone. “It isn’t too dangerous, but I’d suggest you stand back for the moment.”

Virgil stepped back farther back than was strictly necessary and gave the potion bottle a wary look. Logan moved all three pendants to the prepared surface (else they ran the risk of also getting stuck to the table) and put on gloves, having learned that magically gluing rocks to ones hands was not fun years ago. Then, he carefully drizzled a bit of the potion onto each rock. The rocks fizzled loudly, and Virgil gave off a startled yelp before toppling over flat on his face with his wrist glued to his sides.

“Oh no, honey,” Patton said immediately crouching next to him. “I’m sorry. We should have warned you about the noise.”

Logan wasn’t sure what type of action he’d tried to take when the sound started up, but whatever it was, it had caused him to move his arms fast enough that he’d activated the binding potion and it snapped his wrists to his side, overbalancing him.

Patton’s hands hovered over the startled boy, but he didn’t touch. After a few moments, it was clear that the magic keeping Virgil’s hands at his side released because his hands slowly crept forward to push himself up, so his face wasn’t planted against the ground. His eyes still looked incredibly startled.

“Are you alright?” Patton asked.

Virgil blinked. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said.

Logan took his words as permission to move without risking startling him more. Virgil’s eyes bopped back and forth between him and Patton a few times as he crossed to his wall of potions and grabbed one.

He also selected a clean cloth from a basket on his way over to them. “A light healing potion,” Logan explained as he knelt in front of Virgil. He uncorked it. “May I?”

“I’m fine,” Virgil said with a frown. “I’m not even bleeding. It’s barely anything.”

“Which is why it’s a light healing potion,” Logan said. “You are sure to bruise with the way you hit. This will prevent it and make it stop hurting.”

“Okay,” Virgil agreed after a moment. Logan dribbled a bit out onto the rag. After a moment of thought, he touched the damp part of the cloth with his own finger, just to quash any fears that it would harm him.

“It will tingle slightly,” Logan warned. Virgil tilted his face to let him dab it onto his nose and the light scrape on his face. His nose scrunched up and he moved to rub the sensation away quickly only to have his arms slam back to his sides.

Patton caught him so the sudden involuntary movement didn’t cause him to fall back, and then giggled when Virgil titled his head to what could only be described as pout back at him.

“Aw, poor thing,” Patton cooed, reaching forward to rub a hand across the top of his nose and then his forehead where the potion had been applied for him.

“Better?” Patton asked.

“You’re really bad at this being captors thing,” Virgil commenting, willingly leaning back into Patton. Patton just smiled happily.

Logan took the bottle and got to his feet, before returning it, and then glanced at the pendants as Patton helped Virgil to his feet. The pendants had stopped fizzing, so Logan felt okay reaching in and grabbing them all.

He handed both Patton and Virgil their pendants when they walked closer to the table.

“And now for the actual enchantment,” Logan said. “For today, I already prepared the potion up to the last step as it has to sit for a few hours, but I will show you the last step and eventually teach you everything if you are still interested.”

Virgil nodded, but said. “No more noises?”

Logan smiled. “No more noises,” he confirmed. Then he pushed forward all of the ingredients he was about to put in the pot for Virgil to study one by one before putting them each in it in the correct order. Then he demonstrated how to stir it correctly and told him how many times, though he doubted he’d be able to retain all of the information from this one demonstration. “There,” he said, setting down his spoon. “Now we just all put our pendants into the pot, and they should be ready in 25 minutes.”

Logan showed Virgil around his potion’s lab while they waited, explaining what certain pieces of equipment did and a bit about his organization system. Virgil followed him around, looking at the things he pointed out curiously. He, however, got very distracted when Logan showed him one of the experiments he’d concocted. It was a thick liquid that was super attracted to itself and would form a small ball that could be disturbed by touching it. He seemed to like the sensation of squishing it down onto a table… over and over and over again.

“We should get him a ball of yarn,” Patton said out of the corner of his mouth. He may have been enjoying watching Virgil play with the substance more than Virgil was enjoying playing with it himself. And that was saying something.

21984

Eventually, however, the pendants were finished, and he dragged Virgil away from his new toy to show him the finished product.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“Is it supposed to be warm?” Virgil inquired.

“Yes,” Logan replied. “It’s temperature changes based on if the magic on it senses a threat or not. Warmer temperatures mean you are safe.

“Oh,” Virgil said softly, hand squeezing around it. “I like it.”

Logan found himself smiling. “I’m glad. It’s yours.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“If you would like, I’m sure Patton has some suggestions if you’d desire a way to keep it attached to your person. He in particular likes to make them into necklaces or clip them to his clothing.”

Virgil looked over at Patton and nodded shyly. Patton immediately perked up. “I’ll go get some supplies!” he said.

Chapter 14

“So then,” Patton was saying. “We ran to the stables.”

“We went to gazebo first,” Logan cut in.

“Right, we tried to go to the gazebo first,” Patton corrected, “but Mr. Deknis was over there tending to the tomatoes, and we knew he’d tell Mama the second he saw us. So, then we turned around and went to the stables.”

Virgil tilted his head, listening to the story Patton was telling. Patton was not the best storyteller. He tended to get lost in the middle and embellish, though Logan always corrected him. It was still very entertaining to watch though because he got incredibly animated. He’d even toppled himself over in excitement a couple of times.

Virgil squeezed the small pillow he had in his lap. He… wasn’t 100% sure what was going on. Logan and Patton had settled him on the blanket covered ground near Logan’s bed and proceeded to feed him snacks and talk about a lot of different things. It had started with them talking about what they’d done that day, and when Patton had made reference to something Virgil hadn’t understood, the two of them ended up talking about things from their childhood.

Virgil found himself entranced by their stories about playing in and running around the castle. It was all so different from what Virgil had experienced.

“…but, right as we were about to get to the ladder to climb up into the hay loft, Logan tripped!” Patton said, arms whipping around him. “He fell into a container of grain for the horses and it spilled all over the place. He tried to get up but grabbed the edge of the water trough and apparently it wasn’t very secure because it fell over and soaked him. So, then he was wet and covered in grain. He looked hilarious.”

“I did not!” Logan protested, but it did not sound like all of the other times he’d corrected Patton’s stories that night.

Patton looked over at him. “You did! You woke up the cute stable hand and he laughed himself silly at you, and by the time we got you even partially cleaned up, your dad had already found us. That’s how we got caught.”

“I have no recollection of these events,” Logan clearly lied, his cheeks a bit flushed.

“Liar,” Patton claimed. “You complained about picking grain out of your sheets for weeks.”

“No,” Logan growled.

“Yes! It’s okay. It was a good laugh.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed on him, and he looked pissed, but a second later, his expression lightened up. “You know what else was a ‘good laugh’?” he asked.

There was a second of silence before…

“Don’t you dare Logan.”

Logan looked him directly in the eye. “Patton was thirteen,” Logan started, but was interrupted the next moment when Patton lobbed a pillow at his head. Logan grabbed the pillow and leaned forward to smack Patton back with it. “He was thirteen and had just ‘discovered boys’ as his mother and my father called it when they attempted to explain his behavior to me. The focus of said ‘discovering’ at the time was the son of an ambassador from Lamir” who was staying for the summer, a seventeen-year-old boy by the name Bernardo.”

Virgil flinched back as Patton suddenly threw himself across the semicircle they’d made with their bodies to tackle Logan to the ground. He watched as they ineffectually wrestled on the ground for a few seconds before Logan, voice strained continued to speak, while battling Patton’s hands away from his mouth.

“Patton’s only knowledge about flirting… ow… at that point was laughing at everything someone said and touching their arms and shoulders.” Logan managed to flip himself onto his stomach which was a horrible move as far as Virgil was concerned. It put him at a disadvantage to get out of the pin. However, Patton just kept reaching for his mouth and didn’t bare down on his neck to try to cut off his oxygen like Virgil expected. So, perhaps it was a rational move. “Our parents were speaking leaving Patton, Bernardo, and I in the garden,” Logan mumbled into the ground. “Bernardo said something ‘funny’ and Patton went to slap his shoulder while laughing, but shoved too hard… Patton did you just lick my face?!”

“And I’ll do it again if you don’t shut up!” Patton threatened. That was a… weird fighting strategy.

Logan paused to consider his options. “He shoved Bernardo into the fountain and when Bernardo asked him why he did that, he ran away and wouldn’t talk to him the rest of the summer!” Logan rushed out.

Patton reached over and grabbed the nearest pillow, proceeding to whack him viciously in the back of the head. Logan was lucky the nearest object was a pillow and not something any sturdier. “It’s not funny!” Patton yelled, smacking him even more, which was when Virgil realized Logan was laughing despite the pinning and pillow pummeling. “It’s not!” Patton said. “I really liked him!!”

“He was seventeen!” Logan said. “It was never going to happen!”

Patton groaned and rolled off of Logan to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling. “But he had so many muscles,” Patton said. “He probably could have thrown me 10 yards.”

“And that is… a benefit?” Logan asked, rolling over onto his side to face him.

“You don’t. Get me.” Patton tilted his head to look at Virgil. “Anyway,” he said. “That is the story of how I died at 13.”

Virgil stared at him, and Patton’s forehead crinkled looking at him.

“Is something wrong, honey?” he asked.

“What was that?” Virgil asked.

“What was what?”

Virgil just blinked at him. Patton seemed to think for a moment.

“Oh, did you think we were fighting?” Patton asked. “Like, really fighting?”

“You weren’t fighting?” Virgil asked.

“No, sweetie,” Patton said. “We were just playing.” He popped up into a sitting position. “Well, play fighting, but emphasis on play!”

Virgil looked over at Logan for confirmation. “No one is harmed nor was there any intention to harm each other,” he assured.

Patton grabbed the pillow he’d been smacking Logan with. “Like this!” he said. “Bap.” Unlike how he’d smacked Logan ruthlessly, he basically just touched Virgil’s shoulder with it.

Virgil squinted at him.

“Bap!” Patton said again, smacking him again, this time with a little bit more force and on the cheek. Virgil’s nose scrunched up. “Pillow fight!”

“Pillow fight?”

“You try,” he said, pointing to the pillow in Virgil’s lap.

Virgil glanced down at the bands around his wrist. “Um…” he said. “I don’t think I can?”

“Oh, right,” Patton said with a frown. He bit his lip and glanced over at Logan. “Maybe…”

“Ill-advisable,” Logan said.

“But…” Patton said. “Pillow fight.”

“We would have to be very cautious and make sure there were no weapons in the area.”

“No weapons but pillows!”

“Fine,” Logan relented to whatever was going on. “Let’s clear the area.” Virgil watched them with mounting confusion as they removed everything within a few meters radius of him except for pillows and blankets.

“There!” Patton said after a minute. “All done!”

“What are you doing?” Virgil said.

“We’re going to have a pillow fight,” Patton said.

“But I…”

“We’ll temporarily allow your restraints to be in the third setting like when you’re in the closet.”

Were they serious? Were they stupid? Virgil could have killed them dozens of times with the second setting and now they were giving him even more range of motion?

“You have to promise not to try to hurt anyone though,” Patton said. Virgil stared at him dumbly, as Patton held out his pinky finger. “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise?”

Patton nodded solemnly. “We lock pinky fingers and make a promise. It’s the most binding promise in the universe.”

Virgil looked at his finger, confused. He’d never heard of that type of deal. “What kind of magic is it?”

“No magic,” Patton said. “Just friendship.” Virgil tilted his head but brought his hand up so Patton could twine their fingers together. “Now, promise you won’t hurt anyone.”

“I promise I won’t hurt anyone,” he said.

“It’s a deal!” said Patton, squeezing Virgil’s finger with his own briefly before drawing away. “I trust you.” Virgil felt a rush of something that was no type of magic he’d ever come into contact before but was definitely far more powerful.

Logan came over to them and waved his hand over the restraints on Virgil. They buzzed slightly and Virgil looked between them. “So, I just hit you with pillows?”

“Try not to hit too hard near the face, and Lo and I should probably take off our glasses before we start, but yeah,” Patton said, taking his glasses off as he said it. It was yet another foolish move on his part. “It’s fun, and it doesn’t hurt.”

“Okay…” Virgil said.

“I will demonstrate,” Logan said as he took a pillow and smacked Patton in the stomach.

“Hey! No fair!” Patton giggled. “We haven’t started yet!” This did not deter Logan however, as he continued to smack Patton with a pillow.

“On the contrary,” he said. “It has started, and we’re getting you first.”

“No,” Patton whined, but the way he crumpled to the ground under the onslaught seemed far too staged to make Virgil worry. He didn’t even try to curl up into a ball or to protect his head, just taking the hits and giggling.

Logan looked up at Virgil and motioned with his head. Virgil inched over and looked down at Patton. Logan slowed for a few moments. “Go on,” he urged.

Virgil bit his lip and reached forward to smack Patton lightly with his pillow which seemed to do nothing to him but renew his peels of giggles. From there, it was easy to continue. Logan picked up the pace of his strikes and he and Virgil proceeded to ‘fight’ Patton until he couldn’t breath through his laughter and pushed the pillows away, curling up on his side to recover.

23897

“No what?” Virgil asked when Patton sat up.

“Now I get vengeance!” Patton said, popping to his feet and smacking Logan in the face. “Help me Virgil!” So, Virgil turned on Logan and he and Patton gave the prince the same treatment. Then, because it was only fair, it was Virgil’s turn, though they were a lot more careful with him then they’d been with each other, and really Patton spent more of the time checking in on Virgil then actually hitting him with the pillow. It was nice. Fun. And when Virgil pushed them away, they pulled back. Then, it was Patton’s turn again and they went around teaming up on each other and sometimes just smacking at each other at random.

Eventually, they slowed, and all ended up laying near each other on the floor.

“Well, that made me hungry,” Patton said, sitting up and stretching. “I asked Mama to make us a bunch of mini sandwiches with different flavors. I’ll go get them.”

He hopped to his feet to walk over to where they’d stored the food earlier in those little glowing magical balls Logan had for food preservation.

Logan and Virgil sat up too, and Virgil offered him his wrists.

“Right,” Logan said with a blink. He made a motion and Virgil could feel the magic weighing down his hands once again. He’d almost forgotten, Virgil thought with an internal sigh. They’d given an assassin free range of motion, had a pillow fight with him, and almost forgotten to restrain him again. What was Virgil going to do with these idiots?

Chapter 15

Patton strolled up to the doors to the royal wing, his arms crossed casually around his middle.

Kalani raised an eyebrow as he approached and gave her the most innocent expression he could. “Whatcha got there, Pat?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he asked, as his sweater squirmed. “What do you mean?”

She considered him for a moment. “Well, I see nothing suspicious here,” she said. “Do you Owen?”

“Nothing,” he replied without hesitation.

Patton grinned at them both.

Kalani leaned in like she was going to tell him a secret. “Who is it?”

Patton made a show of glanced around like he was hiding it from anyone passing by. Then he shifted around to pull up just the bottom of his sweater.

A small black paw reached out from the depths of his sweater and swatted at the air.

“Ah, I see,” Kalani said, reaching out to touch the little paw. “Hello, Mittens.”

Patton giggled as Owen poked the cat’s stomach gently through the sweater, making her wiggle a bit and try to bite him.

“Well,” Patton said. “I better be off with my totally normal sweater.”

Kalani nodded and stepped to the side, and Patton was free to head down the hallway to Logan’s room. Patton knocked on the door with their new extra secret knock and Logan all but ripped open the door. “I’m late. I have to go,” he said, darting past Patton.

Patton smiled, happy that his plan to be running a little late to come watch Virgil had worked so well, even though he felt a little bit guilty about it. He hoped Logan wasn’t late to his meeting, but he also knew that if Logan had noticed Mittens, he wouldn’t have let her into the room.

Virgil was already out of the closet, sitting on one of the chairs. Patton came in and smiled at him. Unlike Logan, Virgil’s attention was immediately drawn to the oddly shaped lump in Patton’s sweater.

“You’re not very good at hiding things,” Virgil said.

“It worked on Logan,” Patton defended himself.

“Logan was about to rocket into space if you didn’t show up in 5 seconds,” Virgil pointed out. Patton just shrugged, and Virgil tilted his head. “What do you have?”

Patton grinned wide and carefully pulled Mittens out of his sweater. She did not resist this maneuver at all, simply purring. He held her up for Virgil to see. “Ta da!”

“A cat?” Virgil said.

“This is Mittens,” Patton said. He then turned to Mittens. “Mittens, this is Virgil. I thought I’d introduce the two of you!”

Virgil blinked at the cat. Mittens blinked back. Patton thought maybe he should have let them sniff each other from under a door before doing this.

He didn’t need to worry though, as Mittens started purring after a moment. “You can pet her,” Patton offered. Virgil looked up at him. “Just…” he said.

“She likes chin scratchies!” Patton prompted.

Virgil reached out a hand to scratch under her chin and that was the end of it. Mittens stretched out her chin happy to get the attention and Virgil’s eyes widened at how soft her fur was. It was a work of minutes before Virgil was sitting down on the floor and Mittens was happily kneading his thighs and spinning around in circles to make sure he pet every inch of her.

“I did not understand why people like cats,” Virgil commented. “All I’ve seen of cats is people coming back with bloody scratches from trying to pet them, so I never even tried.”

“Well,” Patton said. “Cats are just like people. If you’re nice to them, they’re more likely to be nice to you.”

Virgil’s hand paused briefly on the cat’s head, but then continued with the petting a moment later. Patton wondered what he was thinking about, but didn’t press.

“She seems to like you,” Patton said.

“Don’t know why.”

“Hey, don’t be mean.” Patton scolded.

Virgil hands jerked away from the cat he’d been petting and then were forced abruptly to his side in reaction. Mittens meowed, seemed very unhappy with the jostling as well as the sudden lack of petting.

“Sorry,” Virgil said, eyes wide. “What did I do wrong. I didn’t mean to be mean to her.”

It took Patton a moment to sus out what he was talking about and felt a pang in his chest when he did. “Oh, no honey. You didn’t do anything wrong. I meant don’t be mean to yourself.”

Virgil gave him a confused look. Mittens bumped her head against his chin and with a blink, he cautiously went back to petting her.

“Of course, she likes you sweetie, you’re a good boy.”

“I came here to kill the king. I’ve killed before.”

Patton smiled sadly. “I don’t think you ever wanted to,” he said. Virgil seemed to grow very interested in mitten’s ears. Patton scooted over so he was sitting beside him and carefully brought a hand up to touch the top of his head. Virgil sort of curled into him, pressing his face against Patton’s shoulder, but continuing to pet the cat.

“It’s fine. You’re going to be okay now,” Patton said softly.

Virgil shook his head against Patton’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Patton insisted. “You’ll be okay. You won’t have to go back.”

Virgil didn’t respond for a long moment. “You can’t keep me in Logan’s closet forever,” he said softly. “When his dad comes back, you’re going to have to turn me in.”

Well, that was true, but… “It’ll be okay. No one will hurt you.”

“The kings would be assassin?” Virgil asked skeptically.

“Thomas is nice. He’ll understand.”

“He’s nice to you. He’s nice to Logan. Maybe he’s even nice to the people he rules over, but what am I? An enemy assassin who would have slit his throat if I hadn’t gotten the wrong room.”

It…it did sound bad when he put it like that, but, but… “Thomas will understand,” he promised, hugging him tight. “He will, and we’ll keep you safe and I’ll introduce you to every single cat in the castle. In fact, we’ll get you a cat to keep as a pet if you want and he or she can snuggle you as much as you want. I’ll show you all around the gardens and introduce you to Mama and help you figure out what your favorite type of cookie is. You’ll never have to hurt anyone again and no one will ever hurt you again.”

Virgil drew away a bit and shot him a half smile. He clearly didn’t believe him, and it made Patton’s stomach twist a bit. Patton knew. He knew Thomas would be nice. There was no way he’d hurt Virgil. Virgil was just a kid and with Logan and Patton on his side, there was no way anything bad would happen to him. He could see it from Virgil’s perspective though.

“I like her feet,” Virgil said, touching Mittens’ little black paw that contrasted her otherwise white coat. Mittens purred and began kneading his legs again with those paws. “I’m guessing that’s why she’s named Mittens?”

“Yeah,” said Patton softly. “‘Cause she looks like she’s wearing mittens.” Virgil leaned forward to kiss her little head and that little action made Patton’s heart ache for him. He deserved so many kitten kisses. So many.

Patton was determined to make sure he got them.

#proofread stories #not writing

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pitubea1910 · 4 years

Text

Watermelon Sugar

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Words: 6k

Warnings: -

Tags: -

Request: -

Notes: this was writen in 3rd person because I found it easier to write :) it’s been a while since I wrote for Mr Styles but when WS video came out I had to write something. I hope you like it! Leave a comment and/or reblog!

Masterlist

She opened the door of her apartment and walked in, breathing heavily and all sweaty. The weather in L.A. had been quite hot the last few days, which had made her morning jogs a bit more challenging. All she could think about was the cold bottle of water she had in the fridge and the shower she was about to get.

(Y/N) had lived in Los Angeles for six years. She moved from San Diego when she decided to pursue her dream as an actress and, to be honest, she wasn’t doing as bad as her mother told her she could do. She hadn’t been in any big production, but her agent kept on telling her that she was in the right track.

She had been in several ads, some music videos and even as an extra in a couple of TV shows. She knew her big chance would come and just had to be patient. Sadly, patience didn’t pay the bills, so she was also working as a waitress. It hadn’t been easy to find a job where they would allow her to take a random day off for an audition or to film something, but her friend Kelly worked there as well and had put a great word for her. She would always be thankful.

(Y/N) checked the time and sighed when she saw that she had less than an hour and a half to get to work. She drunk the water she was craving and hurried to get to the shower. Twenty minutes later, she was already drying her hair and got dressed with some dark jeans and a sweater. She would change into her work uniform when she got to the restaurant, so she didn’t pay too much attention to what she was wearing.

She heard the familiar ding of her phone, telling her she had a text message. It was probably Kelly.

I’ll be there in 10. Be ready, xx

Kelly picked her up almost every single day to go to work, which (Y/N) deeply appreciated. Even though she had her license, she couldn’t afford to buy a car and having someone driving her was way more comfortable than using the public transport. Running around her one-room apartment, (Y/N) collected the few things she would need: wallet, phone and charger. She threw everything into her black bag and hurried out of the door, locked it and went downstairs.

Her shift went by as usual. Since it was Tuesday, a work and a school day, there weren’t many clients. Weekends were another story. She used to do extra hours due to the number of customers they had. Not that day. She finished her shift at 4 p.m., as usual, and waited for Kelly to finish changing so she would drive (Y/N) home.

She was patiently waiting, scrolling down her Instagram feed, when she saw a photo of Gemma and Anne. She smiled sweetly and liked it. She didn’t talk to Gemma as much as they did when (Y/N) was dating Harry, but they still were in touch and talked from time to time. They had connected the very first moment Harry introduced them almost two years ago, short after they got together and the last time they had seen each other was four months ago, a month before the breakup.

Their relationship had been one of the best (Y/N) had ever had. Harry was the sweetest and most caring guy she had ever met. He had always been there for her, making sure she was okay, even spoiling her when she allowed it. And even when she didn’t. Everyone in their inner circle kept on saying that they were the perfect match for each other. Harry was the calm that (Y/N) needed and she was the light in his lonely life.

At least until she wasn’t.

(Y/N) shook her head, pushing the thoughts away and got out of the app. She was about to lock it when it started to buzz. The name of her agent appeared on the screen, which made (Y/N)’s heart stop for a second. Maya would only call if there was a job for her. Immediately she picked it up.

“Hey there, girl”, (Y/N) said trying to sound chilled, although she was biting her nails. A nasty habit she couldn’t shake.

“How’s my favourite future Hollywood princess?” Maya said on the other side, making (Y/N) laugh.

“She just left the castle where she’s held by the evil stepmother”, she said looking at the door of the restaurant.

“Joanna was in today?” Maya asked, referring to (Y/N)’s manager.

Joanna was a forty-years old woman who happened to be one of (Y/N)’s manager. It could be said that their relationship wasn’t the best.

“Yeah”, (Y/N) sighed. “She made it impossible, as usual. But I’m used to her by now.”

“Well, I have something that will cheer your whole day up”, she said, not wasting anymore time.

“I’m all ears”, (Y/N) said with a big smile.

“Music video. In two days. Malibu”, Maya said.

“I love music videos!”

And she did. They were so much fun to film and it was an easy to make money. There wasn’t much acting involved, but she had always met the most decent people in those crews. Plus, she had got to meet some really big celebrities.

“I know you do, girl, that’s why I thought of you the moment this came to my table”, Maya said. “You want it?”

“Who’s the singer?” (Y/N) asked.

“They haven’t said it”, Maya said, which made (Y/N) sigh in annoyance. “I know, but you know how some of them are with their privacy and secrecy.”

“Yeah, yeah”, she said. “I just like knowing who I work for, you know?”

“All I got is that is a guy and I only know it because they referred him as ‘him’”, Maya said. “So…?”

“I’ll be there, no problem”, (Y/N) said anyway. Even if she would rather know who her employer was, she still needed the money.

“Perfect. Come by the office tomorrow morning so we can get the paperwork done, okay?” Maya said.

“10 a.m.?”

“Make it 11. I have a meeting at 9 that looks like a long one”, Maya said.

“Okay, got it. Tomorrow at 11 a.m. Thanks, Maya. You’re a lifesaver”, (Y/N) said just when Kelly walked out of the restaurant. She looked pissed and (Y/N) didn’t even need to ask why.

“I love you too. See you tomorrow!”

“Okay, bye!” (Y/N) hung up, locked the phone and put it into her bag. “What happened?” She asked.

“Joanna happened”, she sighed. “She came to me complaining about the state of some tables! I wasn’t even in charge of that area. Roger was”, she explained as they started making their way to the car. “But of course, dear Roger will never get scolded.”

“How can they be so obvious?” (Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“I hate favouritisms”, Kelly said. “Anyway, who were you talking to?”

“Maya”, (Y/N) smiled. “She got a job for me. Music video in Malibu on Thursday.”

“Great!” Kelly exclaimed. “Who’s the singer?”

“No idea. Maya said they wanted to keep it a secret”, she shrugged. “Seriously, it’s so annoying when they do that. I know they want to avoid anyone talking and ending up with fans at the set but c’mon. We’re adults here.”

“Not everyone is an adult”, Kelly said, still angry at Joanna.

“Good point”, (Y/N) sighed. “I took it, of course. I need the money. But still.”

“It will be okay”, Kelly said unlocking the car. “Do you mind going to Target for a minute? I need to get some stuff.”

“No problem.”

***

“I don’t understand how you always talk me into this”, Kelly said before taking the straw in her mouth again.

After going to Target (Y/N) had casually mentioned how she was craving something sweet. As usual, Kelly said she was on a diet but, to be honest, she had been on a diet ever since they met. It didn’t take too much convincing to get to Cocobella Creamary. Kelly ordered a banana and strawberry smoothie and (Y/N) ordered an Oreo Frappuccino.

“You didn’t have to order anything”, (Y/N) shrugged.

“It’s weird if I just sit here without anything”, Kelly said.

“I’ve done it sometimes”, (Y/N) said.

“Weird I said”, Kelly said, making (Y/N) laugh and nod. “You know what I was thinking?”

“Strike me.”

“Who the singer of the video might be”, Kelly said with her eyes narrowed.

“Some diva probably. Those are the ones who don’t want to say who they are in my experience”, (Y/N) said.

“I think it might be Harry.”

(Y/N) almost choked on her Frappuccino when Kelly said that. She coughed, covering her mouth, until her eyes got all watery. Kelly was quick to ask for some water to the waitress who came back running to the table. Thankful, she took the glass and drank a little.

“Thanks”, she told the girl, who looked relieved to see that a customer wasn’t going to die on her shift. When she walked away, (Y/N) looked at Kelly who was obviously almost laughing. “Not funny.”

“I just said his name”, she said with a funny smile.

“Unexpected. That’s all”, (Y/N) sighed. “And it’s not his video.”

“He’s in town and there are rumours he will make a video for Watermelon Sugar”, Kelly shrugged.

“Unrelated”, (Y/N) shrugged. Kelly looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “It’s not him. And I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay, fine. But that doesn’t make the chance go away”, Kelly said.

(Y/N) glared at her friend but decided not to say anything. Instead, she drank from her Frappuccino while looking out of the window. She didn’t even know Harry was in town. It wasn’t a surprise since he spent so much time there. Honestly, she had been to London in the time they were together and she couldn’t understand why he preferred Los Angeles. Yes, the weather was way better, but there was something much more appealing about England. However, Harry had always loved the west coast.

Actually, she knew that if it wasn’t because of how fond Harry was of L.A. they would have never met. Although since they broke up, she wished he wasn’t around so often. It wasn’t like they had ever run into each other at a party or anything -she avoided those unless she had a reason to be there- but knowing that he was in Los Angeles made her feel anxious. She wasn’t ready to see him again.

When Kelly dropped her off in front of her apartment, (Y/N) felt exhausted. So she went straight to the her couch, laid down and turned on the TV as she silenced her phone. She needed a bit of quite time every time she came back from work. The restaurant got so loud sometimes that it could be too much, so she loved the quietness that her apartment offered.

Next morning, when she went by her agent’s office to sign the contract, she looked for any sign that would tell her who the artist was but there was nothing. Maya knew nothing. (Y/N) would be lying if she said she hadn’t been thinking about what Kelly had said, but she refused to believe that it was Harry. It would be too much of a coincidence.

Knowing that racking her brain wouldn’t help, she decided to just forget about it. There was no way of knowing who the singer was if he or she didn’t want anyone to know, so she decided to take the day to relax and be ready for the video.

Maya texted her that night to tell her that she had to be on set at 10 a.m., so she would send a car at 9.15 a.m. so make sure she was on time. (Y/N) laughed a little. Maya and her had been working together long enough to know that punctuality wasn’t (Y/N)’s strongest suit.

Thanks to that, she managed to get to set fifteen minutes before ten, which gave her plenty of time to order a coffee at the Caffe Luxxe. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, it was a bit windy but not enough to make it uncomfortable, it was warm but not hot. It was perfect.

Once her order was given to her, she crossed the road towards where all the crew trailers were. If she had been paying attention to her surroundings, she would have seen the small group of nervous girls who looked like they were waiting for someone, but she was focused on her phone, answering a text from Kelly who was wishing her good luck.

She looked around the beach and smiled. She had always loved the ocean. Her father was a great surfer, even though she had never been able to even stand on the board, and he used to take her to the ocean every day he went to train. She had basically grown up in the water and all she knew was that, no matter where she lived, she needed the ocean nearby.

“May I help you?”

(Y/N) turned around, startled, to the man who had talked to her. He was in his late thirties probably and was carrying a binder with a pair of headphones on top of it. He was probably part of the crew.

“Hi! My name is (Y/N)”, she said, quickly looking in her bag for the identification badge that Maya had given her the previous day. Try to find it while she was holding the coffee was tricky. “I’m in the video.”

“Do you have any sort of…?”

“Here!” She finally said, taking it out of a small pocket. She handed it to him with a big smile.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N)”, he said and opened the binder. “Here you are”, he nodded. “You need to go to trailer number 2 to get ready. We’ll start as soon as possible.”

“Okay, thank you”, she said taking the badge back from him. “Where’s the trailer?”

“That one”, he said pointing to one of the trailers that were parked next to the road.

“Thank you”, (Y/N) said again. “Will we be shooting here the whole day?” She asked, out of curiosity.

“Half of it. Then we will move to another location”, he informed her.

“Good”, she nodded. “Thanks again.”

(Y/N) hooked the identification on her bag, in case someone else asked for it, and made her way to the trailer.

“Coming through!”

She stopped on her tracks to let a man pushing a cart full of watermelons walk in front of her. What the hell? She chuckled to herself, wondering what the music would even be about, and walked towards the trailer. Since the door was opened, she just walked in while she sipped on her coffee. There were six chair lined up in there, with four of them already occupied by other girls who immediately looked at her.

“Hi”, (Y/N) smiled nicely. “I hope I’m not late”, she added.

“Hello there!” A red-headed woman said, hurrying over her. “Not at all, darling”, she said with a thick British accent. “I’m Martha, I’m in charge of make up and hair”, she introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you”, (Y/N) said, shaking Martha’s hand.

“Come and sit right here and one of my girls will be with you in a second”, she said pointing to one of the chairs. “We’re right on schedule but the faster to get to it, the sooner the show can start.”

(Y/N) decided she liked Martha. She looked like an easy-going person who loved her job. It was obvious she didn’t spend much time out of the UK because of her accent and the lack of tan on her skin, so probably she had come all the way to the States because of the video. (Y/N) wondered why the singer had made someone come all the way from Europe. The thought that Kelly had put in her head appeared again, but she pushed it down.

Once (Y/N) was settled, she finally looked at the rest of the girls to introduce herself, although she didn’t expect them to be already staring at her like they already knew her.

“Um… hi”, (Y/N) said, waving awkwardly. “I’m (Y/N).”

“We know”, one of the girls said. “You’re his ex.”

“Excuse me?” (Y/N) chuckled.

“Good morning, everyone!”

That voice made (Y/N) freeze. She would recognize that deep voice and that accent anywhere in the world even when she hadn’t listened to it in three months. When she looked at the door of the trailer, her heart started speeding and her stomach twisted when she saw Harry Styles walking in, wearing that dimpled smile he would always have.

She would have loved to go unnoticed, but suddenly she dropped her cup of coffee, spilling it everywhere and becoming the centre of attention.

“Damn it”, she said getting up, since she was now covered in the black liquid.

“(Y/N)?”

She gulped. She had always loved the way he said her name and it looked like it hadn’t changed. She still felt goose bumps. Taking a deep breath, (Y/N) looked up to meet those green eyes that, even in the distance that separated them, made her feel like he was looking into her soul.

“Hi”, was all she was able to say.

***

Harry thought he was having visions.

He had woken up that day full of energy, excited to shoot the video for Watermelon Sugar. It had the potential to be his favourite video yet and he couldn’t wait to see the result, although it would still be some time before it was released it.

As usual, he had been involved in the whole process: from choosing the location, the people in the video, the storyline, everything. That’s why he was so shocked to see his ex in that trailer. He hadn’t chosen her, so what was she doing there?

He was completely blank, but he could feel all eyes on both of them, which was only making the situation worse. He looked at the rest of the girls, whose eyes were going from him to (Y/N), like they were waiting for some kind of drama to explode. Harry couldn’t let that happen.

So he took a deep breath and forced himself to smile again and greet everyone, acting like (Y/N) wasn’t there. Luckily, she was seated on the last chair, so when he had welcomed and introduced himself to everyone, he faced her again.

Since Harry started saying hello to everyone, (Y/N) just sat on her chair, her face burning and fighting the urge to run away. Every single time he talked, she shivered, remembering all those times he would whisper sweet secrets in her ear at night. She could feel him approaching and yet, she couldn’t look up. Not until she knew she had to.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up to find him looking straight at her through the mirror. She gulped and looked up, to see him directly.

“Can we talk?” He asked. “Outside.”

“Yeah”, she nodded and got up. It wasn’t like she had anywhere to hide.

(Y/N) was first to walk out of the trailer and she breathed deeply, letting the air get into her lungs like she had been holding her breath for minutes. She heard Harry walking out as well before he grabbed her wrist.

“Come with me, please”, he asked her.

Harry let go of her wrist, feeling his hand burning at the contact, and started walking towards his own trailer. It was the only place where they could talk without being seen by some busybody paparazzi. He didn’t even have to look back to know if she was following. He could feel her presence. When they got to Harry’s trailer, he opened the door and let her walk in first.

“What are you doing here?” He asked straight.

“What do you think I’m doing here?” She asked back. “Same thing you do. Working.”

“But I… I didn’t pick you.”

(Y/N) clenched her jaw at that, to try and act like it hadn’t hurt her. She knew what he meant by that, but it still wasn’t a nice thing to say. It wasn’t the first time Harry hadn’t picked her and the memory still stung.

“I figured”, she sighed, blinking away the tears that threated to come out. “My agent called me yesterday and told me about this.”

“And you said yes? Knowing it was me?” He asked frowning.

“I didn’t know it was you, smartass. She didn’t know either”, she said. “Trust me, I wouldn’t have come if I knew.”

Harry looked away at that. Even when he knew how mad she was, knowing it hurt.

“That’s nice”, he chuckled.

“Excuse me? You’re the one who didn’t pick me and I’m the nice one here?”

“Did you want me to pick you?”

I wanted you to do it when it mattered, she thought.

“I didn’t even know you were in the States!” She exclaimed. “Don’t blame me on this, Harry. Maybe some of your picked ones got sick or couldn’t make it and they called me. What were the chances of me being your ex-girlfriend?”

Harry didn’t want to admit how it still hurt to think of her as that, even though he knew it was his fault. He messed up and she broke up with him. He couldn’t deny it, but it still hurt.

He took a deep breath with his hands on his hips and he looked down. He couldn’t send her away, of course, but he couldn’t picture working with her for a whole day. Not when he knew he wasn’t over her. Not even a bit. However, he had to keep things professional like he had always done.

“Okay”, he sighed. “You’re here and there’s nothing we can do.”

“Exactly”, she nodded.

“We’ll just do our jobs and…”, he shrugged. “Move on at the end of the day.”

“Sounds like a plan”, she nodded, trying not to show how his words were hurting her.

“Good”, he said quietly.

“I gotta get ready”, she said and walked to the door, but she stopped when she remembered something. “Why so many watermelons?”

“Oh… the song is Watermelon Sugar and the concept is…well…”, he blushed a little. “I told you the concept when I wrote the song.”

(Y/N) blushed immediately as memories came to her head. Memories of an afternoon in Italy, in a yacht rented by Harry. Memories of Harry in between her legs, claiming how good she tasted. Later that day, (Y/N) had found Harry writing the song.

“Oh…”, was all she was able to say.

(Y/N) hurried out of his trailer and went back to number two, where she had to face the looks of the other girls again. Only this time she barely paid attention to them, she was busy trying to control the beast that had gotten lose in her stomach. A feeling that only Harry had ever managed to cause in her.

Harry took a deep breath when (Y/N) left his trailer. He knew he wasn’t over her, but he would have never imagined how much seeing her would affect him. And now they had to spend a whole day together doing this video. Precisely… this video. He knew it was going to drive him crazy, but he had to keep it together and be professional, like he always was.

Soon after, Harry started filming the solo parts of the video. Although there weren’t many of them, it still took a couple of hours before the girls were called on set. He tried to act natural, but he couldn’t help looking for (Y/N) and, once he saw her his jaw fell. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts with the top of a pinkish bikini. On top of her head, were a couple of heart-shaped sunglasses.

“First, thank you all for coming!” The director said when they were all gathered around him. “You all know the concept of the video since I’ve explained earlier.”

(Y/N) gulped and looked at Harry carefully. She couldn’t believe she had been chosen to be a part of this video. She was going to have to touch him, kiss his cheek, being closer to him than what she expected. There was no way she would have been prepared for it even if she knew what she was getting into.

The director explained what scenes they were going to do at the moment and they all went to their positions. However, when (Y/N) was walking towards the rest of the girls, Harry blocked her way.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked looking down at her. She sighed and looked at the crew, who was looking at them.

“We have to”, she shrugged. “It’s our job.”

Harry nodded and took a deep breath before stepping aside. They had to do this. He watched her while she joined the rest of the crew who were already lying down on the sand, on the towels they had been given. Before he joined them, they had to do some parts of them alone, so he just stood there watching. Watching her.

He smiled a little when he saw her taking a watermelon and playfully putting in between her open legs, a gesture that brought so many memories to his head. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her acting. He had always loved how carefree she was when she was in front of a camera. It was obvious how happy that made her.

“Okay, Harry, come here!” Brad, one of the directors said. “Lay there in that towel, in the middle of everyone.”

Harry nodded and walked to the towel, noticing just before laying down that it was (Y/N) who was just next to him. She was wearing that glasses and he saw how juicy her lips looked due to the watermelon slice she was eating. He tried to keep his thoughts away from that, but it was so damn hard when she looked so beautiful.

“Nice glasses”, he said when she caught him looking. A small smile appeared on her lips.

“Thanks”, she said. “Here, take them”, she said, taking them off and going closer to him.

He hadn’t even noticed the music playing again nor the camera rolling. All he could see and think about was (Y/N) putting the glasses on for him. He gulped and smiled a little.

“Looking good, Styles”, she said with a smile.

“Thanks, (Y/L/N)”, he winked.

Another girl, named Cassy if he remembered correctly, touched his shoulder and offered him a piece of watermelon, which he took immediately with a smirk. (Y/N) chuckled a little and kept on doing what she had been told: flirting and teasing. It was obvious that the whole idea of the video came from Harry. He was a flirt and a tease himself.

After doing some shots like that, they were told to come closer together to have some images of everyone together. The chances weren’t high but (Y/N) ended up just next to Harry. She gulped when she saw how good he was looking. Just then he looked at her, with that naughty grin that always drove her crazy.

“I don’t know if I could ever go without…”, he mouthed along with the song, looking at her.

Without even thinking about it, she placed a hand on his other cheek and planted a slow and sensual kiss on his cheek that made his grin go even bigger. Then she took the sunglasses from him and put them on. Immediately, he tried to take them back but she moved away, now that they were all separated again, and winked again.

(Y/N) loved these kind of music videos. The ones without actual choreography where they could just do as they pleased while the music was on. Although this time she wasn’t even noticing the effect it was having on her. She would have never imagined how happy she would feel for messing around with Harry like nothing ever happened. She couldn’t deny how she felt every time they touched or every time he looked at her. Harry had always made her feel like she was the only girl in the room with just one look and he was doing it again.

“Are you okay?” He asked when they were taking a break after being in the water goofing around.

“Yeah”, she nodded. “Although I don’t know if I can eat any more watermelons”, she joked, making him laugh.

“Maybe I went a bit too far with that”, he nodded.

“Are you okay?” (Y/N) asked after a few moments of silence.

“Better than I’ve been in a while”, he honestly said, looking at her. “You’re doing great, by the way”, he added. “And you look great.”

“Thanks”, she smiled a little and looked down. He took that moment to take the glasses from her head. “Hey!”

“Sorry, they’re too good”, he said and put them on. “And I look great in them.”

“I found them!” She laughed and tried to take them from him.

Harry was taller than her, so it wasn’t hard for him to keep (Y/N) from taking the glasses. However, keeping balance on the sand wasn’t easy, so the moment he tried to take a step back, he tripped over and fell down on his back, laughing out loud and bringing her with him since he was holding her hand to keep her away from the glasses.

“Damn it”, she laughed, laying next to him. “Give them back.”

“Take them”, he challenged her with a smile.

(Y/N) bit her lip when their eyes met. There was that childish humour in his eyes that made her feel like everything was possible. Not saying anything, she took the glasses from him and put them on her head, using them to keep her hair back. Harry sighed and, slowly, placed a hand on her cheek.

“I missed you”, he whispered. (Y/N) closed her eyes with his touch. “I missed this”, he added before leaning closer.

“Don’t…”, she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder gently.

“Please, (Y/N)”, he said.

“You hurt me, Harry”, she said, taking his hand. “You said you couldn’t make it here for my birthday and the day before I found you in that club with Camille?”

“I know I fucked up”, he said. “But we never did anything, I wouldn’t do that. Not to you. Ever.”

“It really looked like you had done it”, (Y/N) said sitting up as memories came to her head.

“I know”, he said doing the same. “But I swear I didn’t do it.”

“Then what were you doing there with her after telling me you couldn’t even come from London?” She asked.

“I…”, he sighed and looked down at his hands. “I wanted to surprise you for your birthday. I arrived in the States two days before but the plan was to appear on your door the morning of your birthday, so I stayed at James’. Camille called and she told me to have dinner with her. You know we’re friends so I said yes, and then she asked me to stop by a friend’s party. It was going to be just five minutes and it was. And that’s where you saw me.”

(Y/N) was speechless. When they broke up, he never explained any of this to her. He just let her think the worse of him and went away. Now that she knew what had really happened, she didn’t know if she could believe him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me”, he shrugged. “I saw in your face that you had already made up your mind.”

“So you decided not to fight for us? For what we had?”

“Would you have listened?” He asked, looking at her.

“Yes”, she immediately said, but she knew it wasn’t true. And he knew it too, judging by the look he gave her. “Eventually at least”, she sighed. “I had the right to know.”

Harry sighed and placed his arms on his knees, picking on the nail polish he was using. He knew she was right. He should’ve explained everything to her, but he had been so angry at her for not trusting him that he thought there was no point on even trying. Of course, he regretted it the moment he set foot back in England. By then, it was already too late and (Y/N) wouldn’t even answer the phone.

“Will you even consider us again?” He asked, not daring to look at her.

“I don’t know. And I can’t think about it right now, Harry”, she said. “We still have work to do and, maybe, when we’re done… I’ll think about what you’ve said.”

Harry nodded but didn’t look at her. He heard her getting up and walking away from her, so he finally looked up to see her walking away. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He had been such an idiot. He should’ve talked sooner. Instead, he had lost the best thing that ever happened to him. Idiot.

(Y/N) tried to ignore the looks she was receiving and just walked into the trailer she had been assigned to that morning. She didn’t know what to think about what Harry had just told her. She wished she had known sooner. It would have changed everything. Maybe they would still be together. Or maybe not. But she had the right to know. Instead, he had chosen to go away without a fight. Did that mean that he didn’t care enough? Didn’t love her enough? (Y/N) didn’t know the answers to those questions. All she knew was that she wasn’t ready to think about it and she still had work to do that day.

The spent another hour filming at the beach before they moved to another location. Nobody, except for the filming team and Harry, knew where they were heading and definitely no one expected where they appeared. When (Y/N) recognised the house, another whole lot of memories hit her like a rock.

“We’ll be filming in the backyard!” Pablo, the other director, said when they all walked into the propriety. “So, please, follow Brad around the house and you’ll be given instructions.”

How many days had she spent in this place? How many nights? She couldn’t believe Harry had actually offered his own place to make a music video, given how private he was with his life. It actually made her think that he had acquired a new place, which wouldn’t be surprising at all. She looked at the door and sighed, remembering the last time she walked out of there.

They didn’t have to do much filming there. Actually, it was barely two hours before Pablo gave the final cut after they took a group photo in which (Y/N) managed to be as far from Harry as possible. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Harry had previously confessed and all she could think about was how much she had missed him and how happy he used to make her. If he was being honest and nothing happened with Camille… did he still love her? Would she be willing to give him another chance?

“Thank you so much everybody for joining me today!” Harry was saying. (Y/N) forced herself to focus. “It was great having you, you’ve been amazing and you’ve done an awesome job. Thank you for making this idea come true and thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Just like he had done at the beginning of the day, he went one by one thanking and saying goodbye to everyone. (Y/N) was tempted to just leave, but it would have been rude.

“Your house, huh?” She asked when he finally reached her.

“It has great views”, he shrugged. “And no one knows I live here, so…”

“No one?” She said with an eyebrow raised.

“Except you”, he nodded and crossed his arms. “Thank you for staying after you found out it was my video.”

“It’s my job”, she shrugged with a small smile. “And I had a really great time, so thank you for not kicking me out.”

“I’d never do that”, he said, making her smile. “Will I ever see you again?”

(Y/N) took a deep breath and looked away, not really knowing what to say. Well… she did know, but she didn’t know if it was right. She took the heart-shaped sunglasses from her head and looked at him. She had missed him so much and she knew he deserved the chance he should’ve gotten if he had been honest from the beginning.

She didn’t believe in signs or in destiny, but maybe getting that call from Maya was a sign of what was right.

“Here”, she said, offering them to him.

“They’re yours”, he frowned.

“Consider them a lend”, she smiled a little. “Plus, you can pull them off better than I do.”

“A lend?” He asked, taking the item from her hands with a small smile.

“Yeah”, she shrugged. “That way, you’ll have to give them back at some point.”

“Really?” He asked, his smile bigger now.

“Of course”, she said, smiling too. “Maybe tomorrow at 7? When I finish my shift?”

Harry felt his chest getting lighter with what she said. He took a deep breath and let out a loud relieved laughter. He nodded and bit his lip.

“I’ll be there”, he nodded.

“Be punctual”, she said before she started walking away.

“I’m British”, he shrugged, making her laugh. “(Y/N)!” He exclaimed. She stopped and turn around to see him looking at her with that smile that he had only for her. “I won’t let you down.”

(Y/N) bit her lip to fight a smile, but it was impossible. She felt happy, like everything was in place again. They could work it out.

“I know.”

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