#gigi's not only saying come in but also let me in

[pupkashi]

volvi a nacer

gojo feels life start anew now that you’re by his side

a/n: hi hi friends ! this is heavily inspired by this song !! i think it’s so sweet and yeah <3 (unrelated but my bf sent me it i was geeking out for a week ok) ALSO GIGI (@4sat0ruu) I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS SO MUCH MY FELLOW LATINA 🙏🙏🙏; slightly latinx coded reader bc i can !

wordcount - 2,737

masterlist

translations: mi amor // my love, hermoso(a) // beautiful, mi corazon // my heart, cariño // sweetheart

there was time in gojo satoru’s life that he felt his life had essentially ended. he felt isolated, like no one would ever fill the void he felt in his chest.

he didn’t think he had anyone to lean on when he needed it, opting for a façade of cockiness and jokes when anyone asked if he was alright.

you saw through it all. with a concerned frown on your face as you wrapped your arms around him, holding him as tightly as you could and squeezing him.

“i don’t need your hugs, y/n,” he scoffed, hoping you didn’t hear the wobble in his voice, “I’m the strongest, i can take on anything by myself.”

“I’m sure you can, but you don’t have to,” you whispered, not letting go for a second. you heard the tremble in his breath, the hitch in his throat when he heard your next words, “I’m right here, you’ll be okay.”

for a split second satoru saw the world for all its warmth and love rather than its faults and challenges. he felt the love and support he’d only ever imagined, the suns warm rays hitting his skin as you held him tightly.

it faded as you pulled away, and he could hear nobara and yuji yelling in the distance, toge and yuta laughing at something.

“I’ll be here if you need me, okay?” you reassure him, your hand lingers on his shoulder for a bit before you walk away.

you’re only two steps away when you feel satoru gently grab your wrist, letting go not even a second after he did. when you turn to face him he looks shocked, as if he didn’t have control of his own body for a second.

“uh- can-” he stumbles over his words, not knowing exactly what to say and not exactly having the courage to say whatever they were.

“yeah, i can,” you smile softly, taking his hand in yours, “how about we get some food, when’s the last time you had actual food and not take out or sweets?” you question.

satoru rolls his eyes, scoffing before counting the days on his fingers, “it hasn’t been that long,” he mumbles, smiling a bit when you shake your head and laugh at him.

it’s been three years since then, somewhere along the way the line of caring friend and something more had been crossed, pinkies interlinking during movie night, a stolen kiss in a maintenance closet when hiding from an upset yaga.

he’s not exactly sure what’s making him reminisce on that day. maybe he’s recalling the way the sunshine felt on his skin, the way it does now as it pours in through the blinds, landing on his bare chest.

“you didn’t snore this time” you mumble, voice a bit hoarse as you wake up.

satoru grins, “I told you I’d stop,” you can’t help but half laugh, cuddling up to him more, “I’d do anything you ask of me sweets.”

“it’s 9 in the morning and you’re already professing your undying love?” you tease, just barely opening your eyes to look at your lover, who’s already staring right back at you, soft smile adorning his beautiful face.

“would do it all hours of the day if you’d let me,” he replies, not missing a beat. you can only chuckle softly, letting your head rest on his chest. your hair tickles him a bit but he ignores it, focusing on the way your index fingers draws random patterns on his abdomen.

satoru lets his mind wander, he thinks how lucky he is.

how lucky he was to be given a second chance at life, to be able to come back from a place so dark, to now be able to quite literally be bathed in sunlight and tender touches.

“where’d you go?” you whisper, adjusting yourself on your side and letting your arm prop you up. satoru is reeled back in, snowy lashes kissing his cheeks gently as he lays on his side to face you.

“thinking ‘bout how lucky i am,” he mumbles, staring at you for a second before a soft smile overtakes his lips, “I love you.” the words never fail to make you smile, you never miss a beat to respond, “i love you more, angel boy.”

“there isn’t anything i wouldn’t do for you, you know that right?” he’s focusing on the fuzz of the blanket rather than your eyes, looking up only when you hum in response.

“what if you have to fight off the most talented swordsman in the world for me?” you tease, he’s smiling at you as he sits up.

“then I’ll get a sword and do what i have to do to not lose you,” he answers like it’s the most simple thing in the world, “I’ve fought off worse haven’t i?” his cockiness makes you roll your eyes and chuckle, sitting up and kissing his cheek before stretching and finally getting out of bed.

“i guess so, you’re too strong for any of my hypotheticals,” you mumble, the taller man following you into the restroom, brushing your teeth together before heading into the living room.

“what do you want for breakfast?” satoru asks, his hands are already reaching for the ingredients for an omelette, recalling how you’d been craving one since last night but fell asleep as soon as you’d gotten home.

“what’s on the menu today, chef gojo?” you smile, moving from the couch to the kitchen bar, watching as he took out four eggs and various veggies and meats.

“how ‘bout that omelette you were dreaming of yesterday, sweetheart?” he’s grinning as he cracked an egg open with one hand over the bowl, a trick you’d taught him that took him the course of two cartons of eggs.

“you’re too perfect mi amor,” the words make his ears turn bright red, face flushed as he continues his fluid movements in the kitchen.

three years ago had someone told you the satoru gojo could make omelettes and crack eggs with one hand you would’ve laughed in their face, betting your life savings and then some against the snowy haired sorcerer.

yet here you are; three years, lots of broken eggs, burnt food and nights in the restroom later- you watch the love of your life make you an omelette.

the two of you eat breakfast over small talk, telling him of your plans for the day.

“I’ve gotta run some errands today, i hope traffic isn’t too bad” you trail off, mentally checking all the things you had to do.

“i can drive if you want,” he shrugs, chugging down the last bit of orange juice in his cup before grabbing your plate and placing them in the sink. “i don’t have anything else going on.”

you smile at your lover, “you don’t have to drive me around everywhere, you know that right?” satoru knew your distaste for being behind the wheel, he only saw it as an opportunity to pamper you and treat you like the royalty you were.

“i know, but i love driving you everywhere,” he grins, walking next to where you were seated and bending over to kiss your temple, “I’ll be your loyal chauffeur for as long as you’ll have me, hermosa.” the word is foreign on his tongue, it slips past his lips naturally, just the way you’d been teaching him common phrases.

“hermosa? who’d you learn that one from?” fighting the smile off your face was a predestined loss, barely hiding how over the moon you were at the new pet name. your words are teasing as you stand from the kitchen bar, stopping right in front of your lover, looking up at him.

“duolingo was hitting on me, actually,” satoru replies, a dimpled smile on his face when your arms snake around his neck, pulling him downwards so his lips met yours.

“can duo fight?” you laugh between kisses, pressing a softer kiss to the tip of his nose before detaching yourself from him.

satoru is ready before you, sitting on the edge of the bed and watching- no admiring, your every move as you get ready. his mind is filled with a whirlwind of compliments he can’t seem to get out, overcome with an overwhelming sense of love for you.

you’re an aura of warmth, kindness and love, and angel sent for him. a caring soul, who nurtured him back to health; through late night calls that ended with you in his apartment or vice versa, gentle reminders and tight hugs helping him through his toughest nights. through forced outings to fairs and arcades, despite his protests that he has been doing things other than working with his students and going on missions (he hadn’t).

it had taken time, but satoru had healed.

your love had healed him.

“oh i can’t do movie night Friday” you frowned, watching as the second and first years trained.

“oh? why’s that” satoru was caught off guard, you’d never been one to cancel on him.

“i- uh- I’ve got a date, actually” you chuckle, staring at your finger nails before looking at the man next to you.

“a date?” he repeated, heart sinking and stomach falling as you nodded with a smile.

“nanami set me up with them, didn’t know he actually had friends besides us,” you smiled, trying your best to ease the palpable tension.

you’d gotten up and left shortly after that, some lame excuse he can’t remember now. he did remember angrily walking into nanami’s office, accusing him of hating satoru and wanting to see him suffer.

“have you thought of- i don’t know, maybe telling y/n how you feel?” kento sighs, trying his best to focus on the report he was filling out before satoru had barged in.

satoru hadn’t thought of that, but he took his friends advice and marched up to you three hours later, confessing his feelings upfront.

“don’t go on that date, they don’t deserve you,” he began, immediately taking you back, “and maybe i don’t either but just give me one chance and i swear you won’t regret it.”

“what’s up with you today? maybe you shouldn’t drive” your words pull him out of his memory, blinking once, then twice before fully coming back to his senses.

“do you remember when you told me you had that date?” he asks, watching as you furrows your brows, the corners of your lips turning upwards as you recall the memory.

“oh yeah! then you confessed like an hour later” satoru nods, blushing a bit. “what about it?” you ask, moving to sit next to him, taking his larger hand in yours, tracing soothing circles into his skin with your thumb.

“i didn’t even know i liked you then,” he admits, “i just felt this terrible feeling in my stomach and yelled at nanami for wanting to ruin my life.” the revelation makes you smile a bit, “he told me to tell you that i liked you and only then did it dawn upon me that i had romantic feelings for you.” satoru laughs at himself now, looking at you with sparkling blue eyes.

“well, you were- and still are a bit of a dummy” you mumble, pulling his arm so satoru can lean against you, letting you rest your head atop his. “my silly angel boy.”

angel boy.

the first time he heard you say that he quite literally stopped in his tracks, smiling from ear to ear before picking you up and spinning you around. ‘say it again!’ he kept asking, blushing just as hard every time the pet name left your mouth.

satoru loves grocery shopping with you, checking off things as you put them in the cart. he thinks you look angelic against the backdrop of produce, heart fluttering as you look for the best bunch of cilantro.

he could do this for the rest of his life, he thinks to himself. the realization makes him bump against the display, thankful nothing fell over.

satoru gojo wants to marry you.

he wants nothing more in his life than to be with you for as long as he could. he wants to spend his mornings and nights besides you, he wants to make you breakfast and help you cook dinner, he wants to wash the dishes because you hate washing them, he wants to wake up to Cumbia and bachata on Sunday mornings as you clean, joining you and singing in broken Spanish as you serenade him with a broom.

it’s not as romantic as he’d once imagined, he thought the realization would come to him as the wind blew through your hair, or the golden rays of the sun kissed your cheeks.

instead he’s watching you pick out a two pack of steak, looking at him with a wide smile, “the prices dropped!” you grin, giddy as you happily put the meat into the cart, practically skipping down the line of raw meats.

he can hear his heartbeat in his ears as he wonder what to do next, mindlessly following you around the grocery store with the cart, every aisle affirming the fact that you’re the only one for him, especially as you tell him to get one sweet treat for the week as you go and get the milk.

he’s staring lovingly at you as you wait in line at the register, watching with interest as your eyes light up, “cariño can you get the eggs? i completely forgot,” he nods immediately, placing a chaste kiss to your cheek before turning on his heel and heading towards the eggs.

satoru lets the thought of marriage ruminate in his mind, recalling the times you’d talked about marriage, agreeing that you’d want to marry him. what if you’d changed your mind since then?

later that week as satoru is passing you the salt, he asks you the question that’s been eating at his mind. “do you still wanna get married?”

you chalk it up to his usual insecurities, turning around and kissing the tip of his nose and both his dimples. “‘course i do, angel boy” you reply, not missing a beat, “why? everything okay?”

satoru nods, eyes fluttering shut when your lips are pressing against his. “everything’s perfect,” he mumbles against you, smiling and chasing your lips for one more kiss before he passes you the butter.

one month later satoru is under the shade the cherry blossom trees give him, with you staring down at him, mouth still agape from seeing him get down on one knee.

“mi corazon, I’ve loved you more than i thought possible, you’ve breathed life into me when i thought there was no reason to keep living, you bring out the best in me everyday,” he begins, hands shaking slightly as you stare back at him, tears welling in your eyes.

“i want to be by your side for the rest of my life, i want to find you in every crowd, save you a seat next to mine and end my days with you in my arms,” satoru tried to ignore the thumping of his heart in his ears, “i want to be the only one lucky enough to be loved by you, will you marry me?”

you’re nodding quickly, mouth still covered before you’re throwing your arms around the snowy haired man- your now fiancé. “of course, yes!” you laugh, sniffling and wiping the tears that had fallen as you squeeze him tightly. “i love you cariño, i love you so so much” you grin, pressing your lips harshly against his, not caring when your teeth bump against his as you both smile, the spring wind causing pink petals to fall around the two of you.

there was a time in gojo’s life when he thought his life was over. he looks back and smiles, how was he supposed to know the best part of his life was only starting?

the void he once felt in his chest was now overflowing with the love and patience you poured into him; sickeningly sweet pet names and tender touches to ease his mind.

satoru can’t help but smile when he wakes up next to you everyday, grateful beyond belief he decided to be vulnerable that day in the courtyard.

“already staring at me lovingly?” you teased, making satoru grin, dimples on his cheeks as he hummed.

“something like that.”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for letting my dog attack another dog?

Titolo might be a bit dramatic but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that’s why I’m sending this. So a few months ago, my neighbor got a new dog. Cute little guy, Terrier of some kind, idk I never asked. Thing is, he has NEVER had this dog on a leash. Which is whatever if you have a yard for the dog to play in, but he doesn’t! None of us do! It’s a condo! So every time someone has to take their dog out at the same time this unleashed dog is out, they have to deal with this dog going for the fucking ankles of both the human and the other dog. And the whole time, the owner just stands there cracking up. Because haha, small dog is being aggressive, isn’t that funny?

Thing is, I also have a small dog, Gigi. She admittedly has tried to pick fights with dogs bigger than her, but it’s usually only dogs in other condos? I don’t know maybe she can’t tolerate that not all dogs live where she lives. Either way, the big dogs are literally on the other side of the parking lot, so they usually ignore her. Then I use her leash to pull her away, because I know that if you bring a dog outside it should be in a leash.

I say all of that to say that Gigi only picks fights with bigger dogs. She completely ignores dogs her size. Which means that she ignores the Terrier off leash. Which makes it even worse when she’s literally just minding her damn business, and the other dog will bolt over and start trying to attack Gigi. I pull her out of the way and pick her up, but then we have to go back home early, because the dickhead owner will refuse to bring his dog inside after he tries to attack another dog.

The same thing happened tonight- taking the dog out, Terrier was off leash, Terrier starts rushing Gigi. But this time, I was tired of this shit. So instead of pulling Gigi away, I let her fight back. And it turns out, this terrier loves to nip, but doesn’t exactly like being nipped back. The dog yelps and runs back to the owner, who’s coming over to me pissed off. But I pointed out that he was supposed to have his damn dog on a leash in the first place, so he shut up and stormed off.

I felt pretty good about letting Gigi stop being picked on and talking back to someone else, but my mom is saying that I should have just pulled Gigi away like normal, cause now the owner might return the dog or get in trouble. I don’t know, I feel bad for the dog that got nipped, but I can’t work up the energy to feel bad for the owner. AITA?

Also some added pet tax. I have significantly worse pics because this is the least photogenic dog in existence, but I found some decent ones for yall

What are these acronyms?

[f4iry-bell]

BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE

a/n: just some rubbish hehe.

pairing: grayson hawthorne x reader

synopsis: gigi invites a captivating random stranger to an event and she mistakens grayson for someone whom he totally isn't...

taglist: @unnoodles @nqds @alwaysthefangirl @clarissaweasley-10 @benny1989fredd @imaseabear @never-enough-novels @nikolaisprivateer (LMK if you want to be added)

“Can you get me a glass of water?” asked the girl who was wearing a light green tube top and a matching green skirt with fake wings attached to her back, her hair done up as a bun. 

“Excuse me?” Grayson’s eyebrows formed a frown. If this girl is trying to mess with a random stranger at a party, he was not the right person to do this.

“Should I repeat myself?” She asked. 

“I'm Grayson Hawthorne.” He was clearly offended.

“Great. Grayson Hawthorne, can you get me a glass of water, please?” At least she said please this time, but still Grayson wasn't letting this go.

“No, I can't.” His words were sharp.

“Why not? Aren't you paid for this?” Now it was her turn to frown. Clearly confused.

“I'm Grayson Hawthorne.” He repeated again, she gave him a look that says am-I-supposed-to-know-what-that-is?

“I'm not a caterer.” He scoffed.

“Oh.” She said, realisation hitting her slowly taking its fine time. “Oh! I'm sorry! You just…”

“I just what?” He asked, still offended that she mistaken him for the caterer.

“I mean, your outfit.” She pointed at his Armani suit which she probably didn't know that it costs ten times her whole outfit.

“What is wrong with it? Is it not ironed properly?” He asked. He got it ironed just this morning, it was impossible to find a tiny wrinkle.

“No. This is a costume party. Or am I wrong?” She looked around to make sure she didn't imagine people dressing up as ridiculous characters. “I'm not!” She confirmed.

“You're not”

“Then why aren't you in a costume?” 

“I am.”

“Oh? What are you dressed up as?”

“Figure it out yourself.” He wasn't dressed up as anyone, in fact he refused to dress up as anyone but himself. Even with all the begging that Gigi did or threatening that Jameson did couldn't make him change his mind. He was probably the only one who wasn't in a costume.

“You are” she tried to think of a character. “Oh! I know, James Bond!” She exclaimed.

“No.” It was a good guess, he'll give her that.

“Um, Elijah Mikaelson? Aaron Warner? Chuck Bass?” 

He had no idea who these people were.

“I'm sorry. What's your last name?” It was a very weird and specific question.  Yes, this was a costume party, but also a fundraiser. He wanted to know if she is here with an invite or just snuck in.

“Why?”

“Just tell me.”

“But why?”

“Show me your invitation.” He demanded.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Um.” He was right, until she looked around for something or someone and finally pointed at someone. “Her!” She pointed at a short haired girl who was dressed as a star, a literal star with cat ears whom recognised well. It was his half sister Gigi.

“What do you mean?” He was confused. But I had an idea.

“We met last week and she invited me in exchange for a discount.”

“Discount?”

“At the vet slash pet shop.” 

Grayson was confused and disappointed. 

“You know? Vet where you take your pet and pet shop where you buy stuff for your pet.”

“I know what those are.”

“You just seemed lost.”

“I was not”

“Were too.”

“Excuse me, I need to have a word with your “invitation”” With that he walked away to have some serious conversation with Gigi on how she invited a stranger to a charity even for a discount when she's literally rich as hell. 

Part 2...

BONUS

“We need to talk.” Gigi immediately knew that with that phrase, there I'll be a lecture coming up.

“What did I do this time?” She asked, she genuinely had no clue.

“You invited a stranger to a fundraiser.” He went directly to the point, as usual. 

“I- She's not a stranger! She's a friend!” 

“Whom you met a week ago.” He pointed out the fact.

“We're platonic soulmates.” She gave him a cheerful smile hoping it'll ease him down.

But it didn't.

“Juliet, you can't invite random people you've just met to important events like this where she serves no purpose.” He lectured.

“I know! But she was talking about how she makes cute dresses for cats and dogs and for humans too! And then I was like do you like to dress up? And she said yes! And that's why I invited her. She had the costume ready! And it was too pretty to let it go to waste.” She gave her statement.

“That's it? She likes to dress up so you invited her?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Uh huh.�� Gigi was easy to read for Grayson.

“Tell me what you're hiding.”

She sighs giving up. “Fine. Her brother, well they both sometimes switch their shifts at the place where they work. And he's really cute…I thought this might help her give me his number.”

“All this for a boy?”

“A cute boy! Who loves cats!”

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

The Wisdom Saga: My Thoughts

Hey all!!!! Here are my thoughts on the Wisdom Saga from EPIC: The Musical!

Overall it isn’t my favorite (Circe/Thunder my beloveds), but it’s still pretty good imho!

Legendary

Love how upbeat this one is. MICO as Telemachus is VERY good, and I especially liked the little trembles/voice cracks (?) as he sang! Gave Tem a “young” vibe.

also loved that “L-L-L-L-Legendary” lol

ITS THE ANIMATIC FROM THE REFERENCE VIDEO :D

The Suitors’ voices 👌 also ANTINUOUS JUMPSCARE. HOW DARE YOU CALL PENELOPE A TRAMP WHEN YOU’RE THE ONE TRYING TO GET INTO HER BED.

Antinuous’s lines are the perfect ick. The ToA Discord and I were all typing out various amounts of EW, ICKY, GET OUT at his parts.

Fight Little Wolf

This is possibly my favorite from this saga! I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, and I was really excited for it! Athena coming in was brilliant and I love it :3

We’ll Be Fine

ATHENA CALLED ODYSSEUS FRIEND. OWIE.

Anybody else pick up on a similar melody to Open Arms? Because ow.

Love In Paradise

LOVED the flashbacks at the beginning!

The unhingedness Gigi gave Calypso LMAO Zero social interaction does that to you lol

“Last I checked goddesses can’t die!” Stream gets censored

I PANICKED AT THAT LMAO

all I hear are screams…the ptsd is real

“Stay in my open arms” and then IMMEDIATELY triggering an Open Arms reprise. HOW DARE YOU JAY.

NOT ONLY THAT. BUT ALSO EURYLOCUS REPRISING LUCK RUNS OUT AND ANTICLEA’S WAITING. OUCH.

God Games

This is in battle with Little Wolf for favorite Wisdom Saga song lol

THE INTRODUCTION TO THE GODS SLAPPED. WOLFY YOU WONDERFUL WOLF THAT WAS AWESOME.

APOLLO GIVING A LIL BOW AND CASUALLY WAVING TO (us) HIS ADORING FANS (also us)

don’t mind me fangirling he’s my favorite and he was GORGEOUS

Hephaestus being voiced by Jorge’s dad!!!!

I really liked how Luke Holt delivered Ares’s name. Very gritty and perfect I love <3

APOLLO’S LITTLE SMIRK WHEN HE SAYS “GREAT.” I’M DEAD I’VE DIED RIP ALDER

APOLLOOOOOOOOO

his part was sadly short, but honestly? It makes sense why it would be! Apollo really has no beef with Odysseus, and the Sirens are a little out of pocket, like he was assigned to play the game but is throwing Athena an easy thing to counter so he can get back to Orestes and also Athena owes him a solid so EPIC’s explanation for Athena helping Apollo in the Oresteia? 👀 I’m a nerd connecting the dots leave me be

“If that’s true then release him 🙄💅” Apollo has no time for this bullshit he’s like “come on dad why did you pull ME into this?” Lmaoooo

Hephaestus’s part about trust!! I love. Also the lyricism here and in Apollo’s is very very good <3

APHRODITE. Unlike Apollo and Hephaestus, who were rather quick to support Athena, she’s moments away from going “no ♥️💋”

ARES’S ENTRANCE WAS SPETACULAR NO NOTES I LOVE

DISCO HERA!! ANNIFLAMMA THAT WAS SO GOOD AHHHHHHH THE STYLE THE SWAG THE SASS 100/10

THUNDER BRINGER REPRISE AHHHHHH WITH BEAST MODE ZEUS

Also Athena ain’t dead lol she comes back in King isn’t it? Also she’s a GOD. Who CAN’T DIE.

I’ve seen criticism about Zeus attacking Athena, and about how he wouldn’t do that because she’s a favorite…but the thing is, in The Iliad, he does threaten to blast her and Hera off their chariots at one point…plus Apollo’s a favorite too, and he was nearly thrown into Tartarus by Zeus! Being the favorite doesn’t automatically mean you can get away with anything and everything, so I headcanon that Zeus got a bit more peeved than usual because of just how quickly Athena swayed the others (this can connect to the Odyssey then too, because the majority of the gods already agreed that Odysseus had suffered enough and were quite willing to let him go).

I have additional thoughts on God Games, but that’s for another post since it detracts from the actual livestream, but overall I really enjoyed this one! It’s the first livestream I’ve seen in full, though I do think Thunder Saga was more impactful to watch (I watched that livestream too, but came in at the end of No Longer You).

Two sagas to go!! I’ll be updating my tier list sometime soon as well, so stay tuned for that!!

[darlingshane]

Something Crazy

Pairing: Michael Berzatto x F!Reader

Summary: On Natalie's wedding day, life takes an unexpected turn when you learn that your former crush, Michael, might be interested in you.

Content/Warnings: 18+, Explicit, Smut, P in V, Vanilla, Alcohol, Eating, Fluff, Crack, Pet Names, Kissing, Dancing.

Word Count: 4,6k

— You can read below or at AO3.

Today is the big day for your best friend Natalie. She's marrying her long-time boyfriend, Pete, and you've come back to Chicago for only two days to celebrate this lifetime milestone with them.

They've picked a perfect Saturday in the middle of spring to celebrate their union. Flowers are in full bloom, gardens are lush green, wind has calmed, welcoming a balmy weather to allow having a wedding ceremony outdoors.

Bright Sun rays slip like gold ribbons through the sheer fabric of the curtains as you carefully hang Natalie's gown and remove the garment bag. It's a simple but stunning empire dress, strapless, with lace and pearls adorning the corset. Though you've never fantasized about your own wedding before, as your hand slides softly along the skirt, you can't help but imagine yourself as a giddy bride, wearing that same dress.

Tying the knot is not on top of your list right now. Settling with someone? That's more likely to happen. But there's nothing like being chosen as the maid of honor, especially if you're single, to find yourself trapped in that Disney daydream of getting to meet your prince charming and live happily ever after. Hopefully, that unwelcome, sudden longing will vanish after a few drinks at the reception. Until then, your top priority is making sure your best friend's special day is as magical as she planned.

You're in the designated dressing room of the hotel with the rest of the bride's party laughing, sipping rosé, telling stories while the beautician works against the clock, getting all four of you primped and ready.

While you help Natalie get into her dress, Gigi comes back with a tray of pastries to soak the alcohol before anyone gets too drunk.

“You guys gotta see Mikey. He's so fucking hot I could die. I've never seen him all dressed up and clean like that,” she announces loudly, going around the room like a whirling handing croissants and muffins. “I swear to god his pants are so tight, it’s like looking into an x-ray photograph… you can see everything. And I mean everything,” Gigi stares at you, raising an eyebrow, while you stuff part of a croissant into your mouth.

“Ew, that's my brother,” Natalie frowns in disgust.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you say after swallowing part of your pastry.

“She's looking at you like that because, as we all recall, it was you who had a crush on him for the longest time,” the bride sharply indicates.

“She's got a point, babe.”

“I was like fifteen,” your tone pitches a little higher, as if you were still that age. “Why do you always have to bring that up?”

“Cause let's be honest, you were hung up on him for way longer than you said, and your face still lights up every time you see him. Why can't you just admit you're still love-struck?”

You open your mouth to counter her accusation, but words refuse to come out. You can't even lie for dear life cause admittedly, as fucking annoying as they are, they're also right. Michael was one of those crushes that was hard to shake off. Your friends quickly jumped from one infatuation to another, but you pinned for Sugar's cooler, slightly older brother for longer than you should have. And that's probably the reason every time all your friends get together, they use that embarrassing piece of information to tease you. Even if you ever wanted to forget, they'll never let you.

The last time you saw Michael in person was a few weeks ago for only a few minutes when you came to help Natalie with the last details of the wedding and barely exchanged a couple of words. You moved to Detroit for work three years ago, and the few times you've come back here, you haven't crossed paths with him that often. The soon-to-be married couple also forgo the rehearsal dinner altogether to save money, so you didn't get a chance to see him before the ceremony.

“All I'm saying is if you wanna take a stab at that, this is the perfect time. He's single, he has great hair, he's wearing a dope suit, and did I mention hot?” Gigi keeps cajoling. “Hell, I'll hit that, If you don't. So better act fast.”

“He always had great hair,” Samira agrees, downing the rest of her wine.

“And he asked about you the other day when I showed him the pics of our trip,” Sugar adds.

“Oh,” you try not to sound too pleased, cause you doubt he ever paid any attention to you. Why would he start now?

“Yeah, he was definitely checking you out, and loved that video of you at the karaoke bar,” Samira chimes in as she pours another glass.

“Okay, you're making that up. No more wine for you, missy,” you promptly snatch the bottle from your friend and put it away while they all laugh. “Wait… he saw the video of me singing?”

“Uh-hm.”

You file that information for later and once you are all dressed up, you hand Natalie a stunning bouquet of roses before leaving the room.

“Thanks,” she grabs your arm for a second as Gigi and Samira head out. “Sorry for making fun of you… again. You know we love you and that we just want the best for you.”

“I know,” you mumble timidly.

“Sweetie, you don't need my permission, but if you wanted to ask Michael out, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He'd be lucky to have someone like you.”

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because… You've always been like a sister to me, and part of me wanted him to see how amazing you are, so I kept telling him about you. I showed him photos and videos, hoping that he would. And he did! He really loved that one of you vibing to TLC. Thought you were funny.”

“You told him, didn't you?”

“I plead the fifth.”

“I'd stab you if you weren't about to get married,” your serious tone makes her snort.

“Look, you’re not dating anyone. He’s not dating anyone… I could ask him if he's interested before Gigi swipes him up.”

“Nat,” you sigh into a heavy pause, looking into her clear blue eyes. “We’re not in school anymore, you don’t have to play matchmaker. And it's your day! The last thing on my mind is hooking up with someone. Let alone your brother. So drop it.”

“Just saying. It could really be a wedding present for me if you two were to…” you scowl at her, which makes her leave that thought unfinished.

“Okay, that's gross, let’s get you married, so I can kill you right after.”

“Alright, alright. I promise I won’t mention it again.”

In your lavender dress and matching heels, you wait for your cue as the wedding starts. The quartet starts playing. Once the officiant and the groom are in position, groomsmen, and bridesmaids walk down the aisle in pairs. You line up with the bridesmaids by the floral arch on the side of the bride in the lush garden and watch as Natalie walks down the aisle, escorted by both brothers, Carmen and Michael.

She looks radiant, but your stare darts slightly to your former crush. He’s dressed in a dark suit and royal blue shirt, no tie. His fluffy hair pushed back, shining under the sun like black licorice. His features are sharply defined as usual, but there's definitely a certain glow around him that makes him look more handsome than you remember.

Credit where credit's due, Gigi was right. They all were. He still manages to stir those intense feelings and butterflies in your stomach that you thought gone when your eyes meet for a split second as they get closer to the altar. There's also a glimpse of a smile in his lips, directed at you. Or so it looks like. Maybe you're making it up in the chaotic mess that is your mind.

Carmy and Michael kiss either side of Natalie's face when they reach the altar, and then they take their seats on the first row as she stands face to face with Pete.

The quartet stops playing, the officiant starts speaking, and you aim your focus to the ceremony.

Once Natalie and Pete are pronounced husband and wife, there's a time dedicated to take a few pictures of the wedding party in that very same garden before losing the natural light.

Despite promising she was going to let it go, your now-married friend insists on making sure you and Michael end up in several pictures together.

“Mmm… Marcus, is it?” you shake hands with him, pretending to have forgotten his name.

“Michael,” his grip is firm around your hand.

“Oh, sorry, Mario. I have a terrible memory.”

“Don't be cute. I know you remember,” he scoffs, amused, linking one arm around your waist per the photographer's instructions.

You swallow, nervously placing your hand on his firm back, trying to keep your cool. As the photographer takes a series of snapshots, Michael starts humming a familiar song. No scrubs. The one you sang in that famous video your friends filmed.

You press your lips together, and pretend you're not hearing it. It seems like they've all been scheming together against you, or in your favor. You're not sure. You know Sugar wouldn't do anything to make you uncomfortable, but this is getting ridiculous.

“Save me a dance later, would you?” he requests with a wink once the photoshoot session is over.

“I can't, Mitchell. I've already promised that to one of the groomsmen,” lie.

“You're gonna keep that bit the rest of the day?”

You shrug your shoulders, “it's not up to me, Marley.”

“Alright, come find me when you grow up.”

He presses his lips in a tight smile and walks away, leaving you dwelling in that awkwardness that washes over you, and wondering if he's messing with you or if he's suddenly into you. Those are good questions that you can't leave unanswered. If there's a chance that Michael Berzatto likes you, and that's a big IF, you really need to find out. The ball is in your court now. The question is… Do you want to throw it back?

The party moves to the banquet room in the hotel. There's plenty of food, drinks, music, and people in the room, but none of it can't distract you from the presence of Michael. This isn't how you expected to spend the day of your friend's wedding. And it's really going to bother you if you don't at least try to have a nice conversation with him. This is probably your last chance, so right after your heartfelt toast, you wipe your tears, throw back some liquid courage to walk up to his table.

He's nursing a glass of scotch, watching people on the dance floor, when you quietly take the empty chair besides him.

“No Richie today?” you break the ice.

“Oh, you remember his name but not mine?”

“Get over yourself, Michael. You know, I always got a little awkward when I was nervous. And unfortunately, it still happens.”

“Think you're doing pretty good right now.”

“Had a little help,” you tilt your glass in his direction.

“Well, I'm glad you decided to join me,” he nods and points at the bar where Richie is conversing animatedly with your friend Gigi. “I had to convince Sugar to invite him. Hope he behaves for my sake.”

“Oh no, you're a dead man. Nothing good is gonna come out of that.”

“How so?”

“They're both insane, divorced and desperate. That's a dangerous cocktail nobody wants to drink,” you point out.

“Yeah, you're right. I guess I didn't really think it through.”

“You're screwed, Berzatto,” you take a sip of your glass and turn your eyes from the bar to Michael. “You know I was just joshing earlier, right? It surprised me that you were so… Direct.”

“Men aren't usually direct with you?”

“No, I guess I haven’t been very lucky in that department… Or maybe I’m just a bitch with unreachable standards that scares away any potential suitors.”

“That would explain a lot.”

“Gee, thanks!”

“I’m kidding. I’m sure your standards are reasonable. And I don’t think you’re a bitch if that helps.”

“Yet you’re wondering why I came here alone?”

“Not really. I didn't bring a date, either.”

“Yeah? Why is that?”

“I dunno. Maybe I have really high standards, too,” he winks casually at you, knocking you out of your game.

You should have come prepared for this, but you never thought in a million years that Michael Berzatto would ever show any interest in you.

Still trying to figure out if you're picking up the right signals from him, you prop your elbows on the table and let out a sigh as he presses the rim of his glass to his mouth to take a swig.

You bite your lip and watch the guests swaying animatedly on the dance floor.

“So. Do you wanna dance?” he softly taps one of your arms.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“Did your sister put you up to this?”

“Why would she?”

“Don't play dumb. I used to have the biggest crush on you, and if you didn't notice, I'm sure your Sugar has told you.”

His lips draw a lopsided smile. “She might have mentioned something a while ago, but she didn't put me up to this, I swear. This is all me. I only asked you for a dance. I didn't ask you to marry me.”

“I suppose a dance wouldn’t be that bad.”

“I'll take that,” he throws back the rest of his drink in one gulp, stands up, offering his hand up to you, “shall we?”

You were hoping to have some more time to prepare, but his sharp conviction is something you can’t reject. That’s part of Michael Berzatto’s appeal. He’s always been such a bold and outgoing guy, it's daunting. It’s good to see that hasn’t changed at all. The only thing that’s different is that now he’s wasting his charms on you.

With some apprehension, you follow his steps into the dance floor. There’s a mid-tempo song playing that you don’t recognize that makes you forget altogether how to move your body. So you just stand there, three feet away from him, like a deer caught in headlights, bobbing your head, avoiding his eyes.

Michael stares at you, slightly entertained by how uncomfortable you look right now, and throws you a lifeline by stepping closer, picking up your hands and placing them on his shoulders.

“What are you so afraid of, sweetheart?” he asks, planting his palms on your waist, guiding you slowly to move with him.

“I'm afraid that I'm not a very good dancer.”

“I doubt that.”

“Wait till I step on you,” you subconsciously look down at your feet.

“Follow my lead. You'll be fine.”

“Okay, Johnny Castle, but don't make me mambo, salsa, waltz… Or anything that requires taking my feet off the ground.”

“Who the hell is Johnny Castle?”

“Patrick Swayze? Dirty Dancing?” you question, as if it was the most outrageous thing that he hadn’t heard about that film.

“I’m more of a Road House kinda guy.” Of course, he is. “Was that another crush of yours?”

“Oh, big time!”

“Ok, got it, nothing fancy, we're just swaying. See?” His hands guide your body to move side to side, but it's impossible not to feel a little clumsy in your steps.

“Hey, what do you think of Pete?” He asks, using his head to point at the newly-weds.

“Uhh,” you glance to the side to see Pete wrapping an arm around Natalie, “he can be a total douche sometimes, but he's always sweet to her. I guess that's what matters. Why? What do you think about him?”

“Words out of my mouth.”

“Michael?” You glance up to his deep dark eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Be honest, why did you want to dance with me?”

“Do I really need to spell it out for you?”

Your lips pull up on the sides as your head nods.

“Cause I wanted to dance with the prettiest girl I've ever met.”

If this is a dream, you don't wanna wake up to find out that this was just a concoction of your mind. It's not. It feels real. If you weren't holding onto him, you'd fall to your knees after hearing his words roll past his beautiful lips.

There are so many questions you wanna ask, but you can only sigh, and smile wider under the sweet glow of his brown eyes fixed on you.

“You really think that I’m that pretty or interesting?” your mouth opens after a pregnant pause, at the same time the song switches to something incredibly romantic.

“I've always thought that. It just took me a while to realize it.”

“God, you have the perfect answer to everything. That's really annoying.”

“I don't. I swear. You just caught me in a good mood.”

“I don't remember you ever being in a bad mood.”

“I have my moments. Trust me.”

He unexpectedly picks one of your hands from his shoulder, lifts it in the air to have you spinning ungracefully under his elbow before quickly wrapping his opposite arm around your waist to dip you. He grins at the shocked expression on your face for a second before bringing your body upright.

“Please, don't do that again,” you brace your hands to his chest right after.

“Why? That was perfect, sweetheart,” he laughs, “Johnny Castle would be proud.”

Your lips curl softly, letting your palms tentatively slide on his blazer until they're caught on the warm surface of his neck.

“Am I making you nervous?” he dares to ask, knowing pretty much that he's driving you crazy.

“A little,” a lot, actually.

He whispers, – sorry – as you run your fingers at the hair at his nape. You observe up close how he licks his lips, noticing his hands clutching harder to your waist. His head leans closer, and you draw a breath, preparing yourself for having his lips colliding against yours. It feels like the world stops spinning for a second and just about when he's about to kiss you something, someone in this case, crashes against your back making you lose your balance. Michael anchors you to the floor quickly before you can fall, as a slurred-drunk voice apologizes at your back.

“Fucking idiot,” Michael mutters and checks on you, “you okay, sweetheart?”

You're not. The spell is broken, and your dress suddenly feels cold and wet from the drink that was spilled along your hip.

You excuse yourself, and rush out of the dance floor, so you can clean yourself up.

There’s a big surprise in the nearest bathroom you find, and that is your friend Gigi making out with Richie with such passion, they don't even notice you opening and quickly closing the door.

The tiny glimpse that you caught of Richie propping your friend on the sink and sliding his hands under her skirt makes your jaw almost fall to the floor. You wish you could erase that from your memory immediately, but at least it has made you forget momentarily about your dress.

When you turn around, you’re faced with Michael again. You ran out so fast you didn’t notice him following behind.

“What’s wrong?”

“Richie and Gigi,” smacking your lips, you point with your thumb to the door with no further explanation.

“Wow, they didn’t waste any time.”

“That's the thing about weddings. They make people do crazy things.”

“Tell me about it,” Michael looks down for a beat, licks his lips, and steps closer.

He holds your chin between his fingers, tilting your head up. As he leans to capture your mouth, you flinch, “what are you doing?”

“Something crazy,” the corners of his mouth quirk up, making another move, and you jerk your face a second time in reflex. It’s not that you don't wanna kiss him, you absolutely do. You just need another moment to process it.

“Damn, girl. Can you just stay still, so I can kiss you already?” He demands without an ounce of entitlement. Just driven by the desire to taste your lips.

“Alright, okay… just give me a second,” you yield to his craving, letting him slowly guide you, so your back is pressed against the wall.

There’s no escape now, this is the moment you’ve dreamed with many moons ago that seemed like a pipe dream back then. All those thoughts vanish the moment his lips are pressed against yours firmly, before letting them bounce a couple of times together. His alcohol-tainted breath mixes with yours as his lips part wider. He captures your lower lip with a light suck, followed by the tip of his tongue shamelessly drawing the curve of your mouth. It's deliciously sexy and sweet and everything in between. You close your eyes and follow his lead, opening your mouth and letting him slot his lips against yours. His tongue invades past your teeth without resistance. It challenges you to kiss him back. It takes you a moment to respond, but soon enough, you're fully immersed in the depth of his mouth, taking the reins of the kiss.

You haven't been kissed like this in a while. Maybe ever.

When your mouths separate, you realize your hands are anchored to his back, and he's fully pressed against you. His lips are covered in your saliva and vice versa.

“I'm going to change my dress,” you sigh, giving him a little push, so you can put yourself together.

“Oh… Okay,” there's a hint of disappointment in his tone.

You clear your throat and harness an ounce of confidence to ask, “do you wanna come? I might need some help. The zipper is a little tricky in this thing.”

Right.

His expression turns on a dime, eyes wide open, white edge teeth showing behind his slightly parted lips. Speechless by the implication of your proposal, he cleans his lips on his palm before responding, “I… sure.”

Proud of yourself for taking a gamble and hitting the jackpot, you go back inside the banquet hall first to collect your purse from the table and then head up to the elevators with him following closely behind.

A palm lands at the small of your back while you press the button. The anticipation makes your stomach flutter wilder than ever. Who would have thought you'd be taking Michael to your room on this day? It feels surreal. Absolutely bananas.

You don't say a word during the elevator ride up to the fourth floor.

When you reach your door, you notice his palms framing your hips from behind. His touch makes your pulse tremble while using the key card. It takes you a couple of tries to open the door.

There's a strange force, an electricity buzzing, that grows more powerful the second you're inside.

You hit the light switch, drop your purse on the chair and turn to face him.

Following that unstoppable whim, you place your palms on his chest and push back his blazer. He shrugs it off as you move to undo the few buttons he's fastened. Your fingers tremor anxiously as you uncover his defined torso. You want to stick out your tongue and trace those two lines forming a V oh his abdomen that leads to the outline of his cock behind the tight fabric of his dress slacks. It’s too bold of a move for you right now, so you let your fingers do your bidding.

When your hands reach his belt, they proceed to unbuckle it under the lust-filled shadow of that flame of his gaze that could scorch the surface of the earth if he wanted to in a second.

He’s already half hard when you unzip his fly, and that's as far as he allows you to go. Michael's dying to touch you, to undress you and fuck you. He quickly turns you around, making you gasp, and finds the zipper of your dress. Your skin rises into goosebumps when he pulls the tab down. He nibbles at the crook of your neck, pushing the top of your dress down to your waist. You shimmy your legs out of it as his hands invite themselves to your skin.

His all hands and mouth around you as he removes your strapless bra and guides you to lay down on the bed.

The fire that lights up his eyes sears through yours as he slips out of his unbuttoned shirt. He then props a knee on the bed, hovering over you, and lowers his head to kiss your stomach. His tongue darts out and draws a circle around your navel. Your head falls back on the mattress, as he leaves a trail of wet kisses up your torso. He nibbles once more at your neck, increasing your arousal up to eleven.

“Michael, please,” you groan as he presses himself between your legs, grinding slowly behind layers of fabric, coaxing your juices to stain your underwear and growing himself a hard-rock erection that can barely be held by his boxers.

Lifting lifts his head, he props himself on his elbows, and surveys the tortured expression on your face as his hips keep relentlessly moving.

“Fuck, you're goddamn gorgeous, baby,” he exhales, proceeding to swiftly rid you off your panties, and pushing his pants and underwear down.

He drives his hardness inside you with great care, pushing inch after inch of that monumental erection that stretches your slicked walls. You close your eyes as he experiments with his thrusting, molding your opening to its generous size.

“Is this how you imagined this?” he pants against the corner of your mouth.

“No. This is better… Much, much better,” you purr, palming his ass, encouraging him to move faster.

If you had a free hand, you'd pinch yourself to check if this is really happening right now. It still blows your mind thinking that Michael Berzatto is deeply buried inside you, wanting you, claiming every cell of your body for his enjoyment. You gladly surrender to his desires as the cadence of his hips drive you into madness. As much as you try to contain your moans, he does everything in his hand to force every moan, curse, and breath to fly out past your teeth.

He slams into you with passion, bites your skin, grips your tits, devours your mouth, setting every inch ablaze. It’s as mind-blowing as it is fast, but he earns himself a good squeeze of your walls when he brings you to orgasm. He comes undone just merely a second after, releasing a wild grunt that ripples all over your skin, and pouring all his warm seed into the depths of your pussy, having his hips jerking erratically until he’s spilled every drop.

His cum sticks to your walls as he rolls to the side of the mattress with a grunt. Your head is spinning out of its usual axis, overtaken by that powerful boost of endorphins, and your lungs struggle for a deep breath.

For a long minute, you both stare at the ceiling while you regain your breath.

When he composes himself, he turns to the side to look at you, sweetly letting one of his fingers brush your cheek, “do you wanna do this again tomorrow?”

“Can't. I'm leaving, remember?”

“Right.”

“But you can stay the night if you want. And repeat later. And maybe one more time even later. Would you like that?”

“I'd love to, sweetheart.”

[littlemissmentallyunstable]

title: the mysterious blonde (PART 2)

pairing: grayson hawthorne x (first person) reader

synopsis: you are gigi’s best friend and you’re working on a project together… but her mysterious brother grayson hawthorne seems to be around every corner lately, it’s like you can’t avoid him… not that you’re complaining because maybe, just maybe you have a little thing for him…

parts: PART 1 PART 2 PART 3

warnings:

a/n: there is a first part to this story, so if I were you I’d check that one out first… and there is also a third part when you finish this one… this part is also very long, so apologies. thank you for reading :)

tag list: there is not tag list but let me know if you want to be on it :)

Gigi and I work on the project for a couple more hours after dinner but when it was getting a little too late I knew I needed to go.

“You know you can just sleep over,” Gigi says.

“I know but I need to get home tonight, maybe another time,” I reply, gathering my things.

“I have a spare toothbrush if that’s what you’re worried about,” she reassured me, “and it’s not been used at all.”

I laugh, she knows me too well, “no it’s not just that but thanks for letting me know. I promise I’ll stay another night just not tonight.”

“Okay,” she pouts, “but I’ll miss you.”

“I’m literally going to see you tomorrow,” I say.

Gigi gasps holding her heart, “no! Not tomorrow! That’s so long away!”

She falls backwards into her bed and plays dead.

I laugh, “you’ll survive.”

She sits up, her wide eyes looking almost impossible to say no to, “It’ll be difficult.”

“You’ll manage,” I chuckle as together we walk down the stairs.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” she asks one last time.

I nod sadly, then notice Savannah in the living room.

I poke my head in, “bye Savannah, see you soon.”

“Bye Y/N,” she winks at me, blowing me a kiss. I pretend to catch in the air and touch my cheek. She grins widely at me and sends me off with a quick wave. I make my way back towards the door, pulling my shoes on. I’m tying my laces when a voice comes from behind me.

“Are you leaving?”

I turn around and there he is. Grayson.

I nod, standing up straight, “gotta get some sleep.”

“Are you going to be okay on your own? It’s dark out,” he says, sounding almost concerned. It makes me want to kiss him even more.

“Oh yeah I’ll be find don’t worry,” I curse the words leaving my lips and curse myself for saying them

“I don’t mind taking you back, I’m going back to my home anyway,” he offers again.

“I don’t want to be any trouble,” I smiled shyly, tucking the loose strands of hair out of the way.

“You wouldn’t be,” he murmurs quietly, softly. I almost melt right there and then on the spot but pull myself together quickly to give an appropriate reply.

“It’s okay, I’ve done the journey a thousand times, I’m sure I’ll survive,” I assure him.

Now why the hell did I say that? I mentally kick myself for giving up time with that beautiful thing and make sure I have everything, that’s when I realise what I’m missing.

“Oh shoot, I forgot my jumper,” I groan aloud, knowing I’ll have to take my shoes off and put them back on all over again.

“I’ll go and grab it,” Grayson offers.

“It’s okay I can-“

“No I’ve got it, the grey one right?” he makes sure.

My face flushes, he remebers what I wore, “yeah that one.”

I want to jump up and down and do a happy dance but I manage to stop myself. Feeding into my delusions I convince myself that he definitely memorised the colour of my jumper because he’s madly in love with me not just because he’s a regular person who’s seen me in the last two hours who can recollect the colour of jumper. Grayson returns within a few moments holding my jumper. He walks towards me. It’s probably the closest I’ve been to him all night. It’s only now I notice how nice he smells. Not that I was sniffing him but he was naturally giving off the smell of his cologne, how I hoped to be giving off my perfume.

“Thank you so much,” I smile bashfully as he hands he the jumper. Our hands brush for a fraction of a second and I think my heart stops beating. I know this moment will replay non stop in my mind until there is twelve fanfiction and several movies made about the slightest of contact.

“You’re most welcome,” he says, “it was nice to meet you.”

“Yeah you too,” I reply, “… well goodbye, for now.”

“Goodbye for now,” he repeats, retreating to wherever he came.

I wipe the idiotic grin off of my face and turn back to Gigi, who’d I forgotten was standing there the whole time. And I suddenly felt guilty for that but brushed it off to say my goodbyes. It was then she asked me a question.

“So what did you think of my brother?”

“He seemed nice,” I say, except he was a bit more than nice to me. He was a gentleman who was sweet and really hot and irresistibly poetic. I wanted nothing more than to run my fingers through his golden hair and kiss him with the much passion his lips would burn and his eyes would water… but of course I couldn’t tell Gigi that.

“I think he liked you,” she says,

“What?” I exclaim a little too loudly, my eyes wide, my heart racing in anticipation and excitement and maybe even fear,

“I think he thought you were really nice too and he definitely approves of you as my friend,” she adds.

I’d clearly gotten the wrong end of the stick. Now I felt entirely stupid for believing for a second that someone like him could ever like someone like me.

“Oh,” I say trying to stop my sinking heart and to not sound too disappointed, “that’s good then.”

Gigi nods, “same again tomorrow?”

“You got it girl,” I nod.

She hugs me tightly and kisses my forehead, before softly booping my nose, “see you later alligator.”

I do the same to her, replying with, “in a while crocodile.”

***

That night I lay in my bed and I couldn’t stop thinking about Grayson Hawthorne. Everything about him was on my mind. And oh his voice. It replayed over and over like a broken record but I didn’t care. It actually soothed me, made me feel calmer. I could see in my mind every inch of his perfect face. The exact few flecks of blue in his stormcloud eyes when the light hits them right, the way his eyelashes are darker than his golden hair and the fact that he wore a single silver band on his middle finger.

The next few days I’d go to Gigi’s hoping Grayson would be there too. But the next day he wasn’t, much to my disappointment. Gigi and I worked on the project all through the afternoon and evening and yet he failed to make an appearance. I left feeling somewhat unfulfilled and disappointed. Even though I didn’t see him in person though, I did see him that night. I never dreamed vividly but that night I had the most spectacular dream I’ve ever had. It was like I had some obsessive disorder over the guy, I cared so much he was not infecting my sleep. I’d dreamed of us sitting on a sunset beach in each other’s arms, discussing a future that revolved around our love for one another.

When I wake up suddenly and sit up straight in my bed. I come to a realisation. I just might be in love with Grayson Hawthorne.

***

On Friday, I sleep over, just as I had promised Gigi. After finishing the project and then possibly having a dance party in celebration, we feel straight to sleep in her bed. I am awoken by nothing in particular and roll over. Gigi is still asleep, her limbs spread across the entirety of the bed, even my side, snoring in the most adorable way. I smile and then lay back into my back staring up at the plain, empty ceiling. I decide that I need a cup of tea. I’m comfortable enough with everyone in this house to know that I shouldn’t be shy to make myself a cup of tea in the morning. I was often over at Gigi’s house and everyone living here was constantly reminding me to just grab whatever I wanted when I wanted it. I crawl over Gigi’s body, careful not to land on her or wake her. Not that it would be possible, she was such a deep sleeper, I doubted an earthquake could wake her.

Once I’d made my way out of the bed, I pulled a pair of socks on and left the room. I didn’t bother to brush my hair or wash my face, presuming I’d just walk back up after my tea was ready. I yawn, walking down the stairs lazily, in attempts to get to the kitchen. I slowly grab a mug from the cupboard and put the kettle on to boil.

“Good morning.”

The voice is so surprising that I jump out my skin, screaming aloud. I spin around, clutching my chest, breathing heavily to recover from the initial shock. None other than Grayson Hawthorne is standing behind me shirtless… fucking shirtless. It was 6am in the morning and this man looks like some sort of glowing Greek god in contrast to me who has raccoon eyes and a rat’s nest for hair.

“Sorry if I startled you,” he says soothingly.

I let a breath out, “oh, no worries. Just didn’t expect anyone to be here.”

I run my finger through in attempt to tame the knotted mess and quickly brush the sleep from my eyes, suddenly realising I was standing there in my pyjamas. I try and not let my face heat up as I lean on the kitchen side.

“I thought you were only Wednesdays?” I say, tilting my head slightly.

“I wanted to stay for the weekend, my brothers are all off elsewhere and it’s nice to spend some time with my sisters,” he explains.

Suddenly I feel guilty… was I stealing him away from his sisters?

“Sorry if I’m getting in the way,” I say.

“Oh no no no, not like that,” he says quickly, “it’s nice to spend time with you too, I’ve missed so much of their lives so even the little things like getting to know who my sisters friends are, are important moments for me.”

“Oh… thanks…” I reply awkwardly as the kettle finishes boiling, “okay so I’m going to make some tea, care for any?”

“Yes, actually,” he nods, smiling slightly, “I was just going to do that.”

“Do you drink tea a lot?” I ask, trying not to cringe at my own horrible small talk skills.

“A cup every morning,” Grayson replies, “you?”

“Exactly the same,” I smile.

I make the two mugs of tea in silence, feeling his eyes pinned to my every move. It made me nervous that he was staring so intently. I discover that he too only takes a splash of milk in his tea and no sugar. We stand together, leaning on the counters, drinking our cups of tea.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night at dinner,” he says.

“Last night?” I ask, trying to recall the dinner, “oh I’d literally forgotten, it’s okay”

He nods and takes a delicate sip of tea, then begins to say, “Y/N-“

“Morning.”

I turn to see Savannah waking through the door in full sports gear, holding her training bag. Her hair was in a dutch plait the went into a ponytail. She freezes when she sees both me, in my pyjamas, and a shirtless Grayson, standing together drinking tea in her kitchen. Savannah gaze flicks between me and Grayson a few time before narrows her eyes at me. I subtly shake my head, knowing what she was presuming. Her eyebrow quivers upwards but I ignore it.

“Morning,” Grayson replies, “did you sleep okay?”

“Fine,” she says quickly, “I see you two are getting acquainted.”

She stares me down accusingly and I sigh, “yes, well it’s nice to meet my best friends’ brother.”

“Maybe a bit more than nice,” she murmurs under her breath so I can hear but Grayson can’t.

“Not true,” I whisper.

“How long have you been up anyway?” she asks, directing the question at Grayson.

“About half an hour,” he says.

“I’m off to train, see you guys later,” she says, grabbing some food and water before heading out of the door.

Neither me nor Grayson dare to say anything else. Empty space hangs in the air and there’s something we both want to say but are too cowardly to do so.

“She doesn’t like me talking to you,” he says, being the brave one of the two of us.

“Oh?” I question, playing dumb.

“I don’t know why but she doesn’t,” he shrugs.

“Oh that’s a shame,” I say, “does that mean you’re going to stop talking to me?”

“Well I never said that,” Grayson replies, “I’m not someone who does something based on others likes or dislikes and I don’t intend to start today.”

“That’s good then,” I smile, taking another swig of my now lukewarm tea.

He smiles back softly and I hear my heart thumping in my ears. In this moment words aren’t needed, conversation is unnecessary, talking seems silly. Because everything is carried in our eyes and our smiles that we can’t seem to shake. I take in his beauty again and enjoy this silent moment. His eyes and glued to mine and neither of us can seem to physically turn away at this point in time.

Interrupting the moment was a small voice attached to a sleepy face and oversized teddy-bear slippers, “am I the last up?”

Gigi trudged into the kitchen also in her pyjamas, one sleeve falling off of her shoulder. Her loose braids had nearly completely falling out, baby hairs flying everywhere. She looked the most tired out of all of us despite getting the most sleep. Grayson and I immediately turn our eyes away from one another.

“Of course,” I tease her, poking my tongue out.

“Where’s Savannah then?” she counters, arms folded, eyebrows raised.

“At training,” I reply, “you just missed her.”

“Gray? I didn’t realise you were coming so early,” she remarks, finally noticing his presence.

“Savannah let me in,” he says, “I’m going to go and get ready now.”

“Okay, see you later,” she replies, with a lopsided grin.

I watch as he walks out and as he turns back and makes eye contact with me, sending my heart fluttering. Gigi sighs and then picks up a cookbook on the side, “do you know what I’m thinking?”

“Chocolate chip pancakes?”

“You know me so well,” she says, her face breaking out into a wide smile.

“Let’s get cooking,” I say, grabbing the spatula sitting on the side.

***

Gigi and I would like to think of ourselves as somewhat pro chefs when in reality we’d make a mess, have a laugh and produce something somewhat edible. It may not always look edible but it always seemed to taste delicious. This morning our chocolate chip pancakes came out in questionable shapes and sizes but were fluffy and delicious.

“I swear we should enter a cooking show,” Gigi tells me, looking like she’d entered heaven at the first bite.

“And make chocolate chip pancakes?” I chuckle.

“What’s wrong with that? Who doesn’t love choclate chip pancakes,” she replies.

“Judges on cooking shows,” I reply, “besides look how dilapidated they look.”

“But the taste is so good,” she says, her eyes wide, almost bursting with enjoyment.

“That is one thing I can agree with,” I nod, shovelling another forkful of goodness into my mouth.

At that moment Grayson walks in and we pause conversation. He is now dressed in a suit that compliments just about any and every angle of the man. The suit had clearly tailored just to his body type. How could he be so overdressed yet act so casual? As if this were the norm. Maybe it was for him. It certainly was making me and Gigi look very uncouth still in our pyjamas.

“We made pancakes,” Gigi tells him proudly, “you should try them, they’re like eating liquid gold.”

“Liquid gold doesn’t sound all that appetising,” he replies.

Gigi groans, “just try this.”

She stands up and puts a bit of pancake into her brother’s mouth. He has no choice but to try it now. He chews thoughtfully and swallows. And suddenly I’m nervous and I don’t even know why because it’s just a pancake. Just a chocolate chip pancake that I’d baked with my best friend and I was absolutely petrified of what Grayson would think.

“They’re actually really good,” he nods.

I take a breath of relief and feel stupid for feeling so worried over a damn pancake.

“See?” she says.

“I’m going out for a walk,” Grayson tells her, “I’ll be back in in an hour, alright?”

“Okay,” Gigi nods.

“Anyone need anything,” he asks.

“No,” she replies.

“Y/N?”

I startle at my own name and startle even more when I realise he cared enough to ask me.

I look up and smile, praying my blush wasn’t as bold as I felt it was, “no thank you.”

He nods and leaves. I listen as the door shuts and his footsteps fade. When I turn back to Gigi she’s grinning widely and staring right at me.

“What?” I ask her, my tone flat and bored.

“You like him!” she exclaims.

“No I don’t,” I lie.

“How did you know who I was talking about?” she grins, backing me into a corner.

“Because the only ‘him’ around just walked out of this house,” I say, keeping my cool. She could not find out.

“Okay but you like him,” she presses on.

“I don’t Gigi,” I state, more harshly than I’d intended.

“Yes you do!” she tells me.

“Yes I do,” I groan, giving up on keeping this pathetic lie going on any longer.

“Oh my sparkling rainbow gumdrops you like him, you like him, you like him,” she yells, disguarding her beloved pancakes.

“Scream it even louder Gigi I don’t think the aliens Jupiter quite heard you,” I hiss.

“Sorry but this is the biggest piece of news in my life,” she squeals practically bouncing up and down, “my best friend likes my brother.”

“He cannot know,” I warn, my tone sincere and dangerous.

“My lips are sealed,” she grins, miming locking her lips and throwing away the key.

“I mean it Gigi,” I say.

“I know you do,” she says sincerely before she breaks out into a large smile, “you two would actually look so cute together! Oh my flying sea-lions and leprechauns when you guys get married we’ll be sisters!”

“Woah woah woah, slow down,” I say with a nervous laugh. Leave it to Gigi to start envisaging a whole lifetime of us together.

“Can’t,” she tells me, “I’m already picturing the wedding.”

“Gigi!” I exclaim.

“And your children,” she cries, clutching the left side of her chest melodramatically, “oh they’d be so cute,”

“Oh my-“

“I think we should get some coffee and discuss your future,” she says, a bit too seriously for my liking

“You are not going anywhere near coffee espeically not now and there is no future,” I reply, “I like him sure, but nothing will come of it I’m sure. He’s probably got his eye on some pretty, smart, rich girl.”

“I ship you too hard for him to fall for a pretty, smart, rich girl,” she says, “besides why would he rather that than a drop-dead gorgeous, kind and funny girl, he’s really missing out if you ask me.”

“Thanks Gigi, but I don’t think it’s happening,” I sigh

“That’s a shame because I already had so many dress options to show you,” Gigi explains, “there’s literally a whole catalogue upstairs.”

“You are mental,” I laugh.

“But you love me,” she smile sweetly.

“But I love you,” I reply.

a/n: I promise there is way more grayson x reader action in PART 3 but I hope you enjoyed this anyways :)

more fics like this on my TIG masterlist

[kinkandkreep]

𝑨/𝑵: 𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒚'𝒂𝒍𝒍! 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 2 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆! 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.(ᵔ.ᵔ) 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚'𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚❣︎ ᵃˡˢᵒ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵇᵒᵈʸ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ˡᵉᵗ ᵐᵉ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ⁱᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵖᵃⁿⁱˢʰ ᵗᵒʷᵃʳᵈˢ ᵗʰᵉ ᵉⁿᵈ ⁱˢ ᵒᶠᶠ.

♡︎ 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 1 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎

♡︎ 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝙼𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚕 𝙾'𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝚡 𝙵𝚎𝚖!𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

♡︎ 𝙲𝚆: 𝚂𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍/𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚢

♡︎ "__" 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎

.・゜-: ✧ :-.・゜-: ✧ :-.・゜-: ✧ :-.・ ✧ :-.・゜

When you awoke the next morning, it was to the enticing smell of blended spices. You could pick up the basics, like paprika and pepper, but also something more unique, like turmeric and dill. 

You inhaled deeply, a smile curling your lips at the warm, fragrant scent. It was…comforting. 

And then you remembered where you were.

‘Wait, I’m at Gigi’s. He can cook? Well, I suppose he does live alone and would need to know how.’

Shrugging to yourself, you stand, stretching until you hear several small pops sound from your back. With a quiet yawn, you made your way back into the en suite, going once again through your oral hygiene routine and splashing some water on your face to help you wake up. You check to see if Miguel has the room stocked with any facial cleanser, and finding there is none, you grab a clean washcloth and give your face a thorough, albeit gentle scrubbing. 

With that done, you shuffle your way back down the hall and around the corner into the kitchen, pausing at the sight that greets you. 

Miguel stands with his back to you, broad back bare and thick muscles shifting beneath tawny brown skin. He moves about the kitchen with practiced ease, picking and replacing ingredients as he goes. 

You notice there are two plates already set out, each with an empty glass and cutlery to accompany it.

Smiling to yourself at the domesticity of it all, you begin approaching, only to realize that Miguel is apparently speaking to someone. 

“Yeah, she’s here. Showed up last night bruised up pretty badly. Said she got into a fight with some thugs. She suspects they were using Lazarus. Perhaps this epidemic is becoming worse than we originally thought.”

Quietly taking a seat at the island, you continue listening, curious to see what else Miguel might say. 

“I suppose so. We’ll have to be more vigilant.” He’s silent for a moment as the other person speaks. “Alright, well if that’s all then. Let me know of any further developments.”

Once his call has ended, Miguel sighs, pausing in his movements momentarily before turning. 

“Good morning,” he greets, a little grin curving his lips. 

“Good morning,” you respond with a little smile of your own, slightly surprised that he’d apparently heard you.  

“I made omelets. I wasn’t sure how you liked yours, so I just added basic seasonings, cheese and flank steak.” He turns to lift the pan, sliding the steaming omelet out and directly onto your plate.

“I figured the extra protein would do you good. Contributes to accelerated wound healing, and all that.”

He turned back to the stove, speedily cracking six eggs and adding extra ingredients and spices into his own omelet.

You decided to wait until he was finished to begin eating, finding yourself content to just watch him move. As you watched him, your mind began to wonder. 

‘How nice it would be to have this all the time.’

You jerked slightly at the sudden thought. Where had that come from?

The more you thought about it however, the more you leaned into the notion.

How nice it would be indeed, to have a sexy man make you breakfast every morning. 

You giggled at the thought, causing Miguel to hum curiously. 

“Something funny?”

You waved your hand dismissively. “Oh nothing, just had a thought.”

Miguel hummed again, turning to dispense his own finished omelet onto his plate. Just before sitting, he poured himself a cup of freshly pressed coffee.

“Coffee or orange juice?” He presented both options to you. 

“Hmmm…orange juice.”

Nodding, Miguel filled your cup, placing the still mostly full pitcher on the counter in front of you. Taking his seat, the two of you began to eat in comfortable silence. 

The rain had since stopped, and the sky was a little overcast. This high up there weren’t many birds, but you could inevitably still hear the sounds of the city far below. 

“Gigi, can I ask you something?”

The man paused, curiosity swirling in his red irises. He’d stopped mid chew, leaving his cheeks adorably puffed. You laughed yet again at the sight, missing the way Miguel’s expression softened at the sound. 

“Yes?”

Stifling your remaining giggles, you leveled Miguel with a more serious look. 

“About last night-”

“Ok, I’m not sure how much you remember, but I can assure you we didn’t have sex.”

Your eyes widened, blinking once, twice, before collapsing into another fit of raucous laughter. 

“No, I know that Gigi. I was bleeding, not concussed. Thankfully.”

Miguel sighed, setting his fork down on his plate. 

“Ok good. So, what about last night?”

You took a moment, considering your words carefully. You didn’t want to startle Miguel into closing off, but you needed to get a straight answer. 

“Um, well, I heard you talking to Lyla last night.”

Miguel’s eyes began to widen, and you quickly threw up your hands, waving them in front of you. 

“No no no! Just wait. Before you shut down on me just…let me finish, ok?”

Silently, Miguel nodded, gaze still focused in on you. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, you continued. “I heard you say that you didn’t know if I “felt the same way” about something.” 

Meeting Miguel’s eyes, you steeled yourself. “What did you mean by that?”

The man was quiet, almost unnervingly so as he just stared at you. You squirmed almost imperceptibly in your seat, trying not to appear intimidated. 

After quite a few moments, Miguel sighed yet again, and he averted his gaze. 

“Ah mierda. I was really hoping you hadn’t heard us.” His eyes were closed, until they snapped open and he turned to you, narrowed crimson gaze sharp and scrutinizing. 

“You were eavesdropping?”

Having been caught, you looked away, scratching your cheek nervously. “Sorta, yeah. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Rolling his eyes, Miguel turned his body towards you, propping his elbow onto the island and his head onto his now raised hand. 

“Hmm, how do I say this?” Miguel's expression was pensive. 

“After you showed up last night, all injured and bloody, it made me start thinking.”

You listened quietly, the beat of your heart beginning to pick up speed. 

“What we do is dangerous. Being vigilantes- heroes, whatever- does not come without risk. I know I don’t have to tell you this, but this is honestly what was on my mind.”

He paused again, and you took the opportunity to speak. 

“It wasn’t so serious Miguel. Just some contusions and a few scrapes.” You tried to downplay your injuries, but realized that was the wrong move as Miguel’s expression hardened.

“Maybe to you, __. But what if it hadn’t just been some “contusions and scrapes?” What if those thugs had broken your ribs, or given you a serious head injury and left you unconscious or…or worse?”

Though you knew he didn’t mean to sound condescending, a part of you couldn’t help but feel like Miguel doubted your abilities. This irritated you, and you scoffed, arms folded across your chest defensively.

“What, you actually think I would’ve let that happen? Shows just how much faith you have in me huh?”

Miguel’s stare narrowed once more. “You know that’s not what I meant, __.”

“Well that’s what it sounded like, Miguel.” You missed his visible wince at the emphasis you put on his birth name. 

Sighing, you stood, moving to the sink to rinse your dishes, then placing them in the empty dishwasher. Turning back to Miguel, you approached the opposite side of the island where you now stood, leaning your upper body against it. 

“Look Gigi, I understand what you’re getting at. What we do is dangerous. But that’s why we have the abilities we do, right? I can’t say with certainty that last night was a one off occurrence. If I continue down this path, I’m sure there’ll be plenty more fights and injuries and lots more blood to accompany them. But it’s ok. I know better than to get myself killed. And I don’t do this just for the fun of it. It’s my duty to protect. And it’s one I take very seriously.” 

You reached out, placing a comforting hand on Miguel’s shoulder. 

“Besides, I couldn’t leave my favorite guy behind, could I?” You smile brightly at him, eyes slipping closed. Your hand instinctively moves up, gently tussling Miguel’s hair. 

With your eyes closed, you don’t see Miguel’s soft, fond smile, or the way his eyes slightly mist over. 

Your eyes open when you feel him stand to his full height, and you blink up at him questioningly. 

“Gigi?”

He doesn’t respond, instead his breathing begins to pick up, and you worry he’s on the verge of a panic attack. 

“H-hey, Gigi! Are you ok? Do you need-...”

“I love you, __.”

You freeze, your entire body taut with shock. Miguel spoke so calmly, and you can feel heat blooming in your chest. 

“Y-yeah. Love you too,” you playfully punch his arm, tone awkward. “Bro.”

Miguel grabs your hand from his arm before you can move it away, instead bringing it to rest on his chest, right over his heart. 

“No, __. I mean I love you. And I know it’s sudden, but I’ve been contemplating this for quite some time.”

He steps closer to you, releasing your hand. You unconsciously keep it on his chest, feeling the calming rhythm of his heartbeat. 

With both hands free, Miguel lifts them to cradle your cheeks,  staring into your eyes intently. 

“You’re right, I was talking to Lyla about you last night. She was trying to convince me to be honest about my feelings with you. I thought at the time, I didn’t have it in me just yet, and right then wouldn’t have been appropriate anyway. But, I’m sort of glad you did bring it up, because now I can more easily tell you how I truly feel.”

Your lips have been parted this whole time, so entranced you were by Miguel and his words. You finally move your hand, now bringing both yours up to wrap around Miguel’s wrists. 

“Miguel-...”

“Ssshh.” He playfully shushes you, repeating your words back from earlier. “Just let me finish, ok?”

You nod, waiting for him to continue. 

Once he feels you won’t interrupt, Gigi sighs, shaking his head. 

“I may have seemed calm then, but seeing you last night in the state you were in sent me into an internal state of panic I don’t think I’ve felt before. Rage also built up in me, so angry I was at the thought that someone put their hands on you in such a way.” Miguel needed to take a deep breath, as he could feel the anger beginning to creep up again. 

“But I realized it was par for the course of being a hero, and me lashing out and being irrational would do you no good.” 

At this point, Miguel backed away, guiding you towards the couch. You sat facing each other, knees bumping and eyes still locked. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, I know that I love you, __. But I’m so afraid to give my heart to you for fear that you’ll be snatched away from me one day. I don’t think I could handle something like that.” He placed a hand on your thigh, squeezing gently. “It would feel like a part of me was missing.”

The man choked on the last few words, and you were taken aback as tears began slowly trickling down his cheeks. Snapping out of your reverie, you quickly leaned forward, tenderly wiping the tears away with your thumbs. 

“Hey, hey. It’s ok.” You cooed. “Thank you for telling me how you feel.”

Miguel nodded, trying to meet your eyes through his tears. You smiled at him, feeling something warm and fuzzy spread through your chest. 

“To be honest with you Gigi, I…have a little crush on you myself.”

At that, the man perked up, eyes widening. “You do?”

You nodded, feeling a bit bashful now. “I wasn’t going to say anything either, for fear of how you might receive me. But, I’m so glad that now we’ve gotten the opportunity to air everything out.”

You gave him an adorably crooked grin. 

Gigi didn’t respond immediately, his eyes focused on your lips. Without making eye contact, he spoke. 

“I hope this doesn’t seem too forward, but…can I kiss you?”

You were stunned for only a moment, before that grin morphed into a genuine, warm smile. 

“Yes Gigi, you’re welcome to kiss me.”

The end of your sentence was a bit muffled by Miguel’s lips crashing into yours. The kiss was prolonged, a sensual dance of tongue and buried feelings being brought to the surface. Miguel tasted like warm spice, courtesy of his omelet from earlier, but also something dark and sweet. 

You found yourself quickly becoming addicted. 

Lips still entangled, Miguel lifted you by your waist, sliding you into his lap as he rested against the back of the couch. Your hands found themselves tangled in his messy chestnut locks, pulling slightly on instinct. 

You were surprised by the low growl that sounded from Miguel, and for a second you worried you’d done something he didn’t like. 

“Pull my hair more.”

Unwilling to displease your new beau, you did as asked, very pleasantly surprised when the kiss became more intense as a result. 

The two of you stayed that way for quite a few minutes more, each simply savoring the taste of the other. 

Eventually, you were the first to pull away, giggling as Miguel’s lips desperately followed yours. 

“Where’d you learn how to kiss like that?” You lifted a quizzical brow. 

Miguel smirked. “I’d tell you, but then you’d probably want to kill me.”

Laughing, you nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Now sliding off of Miguel’s lap, you curled up next to him, one of his muscular arms moving to cradle you into his side. 

“Soooo…”

He hummed. “So what?”

“We’re officially dating now right?”

Miguel looked at you from the corner of his eye, smiling after a moment. “Yes __, we’re officially dating now.”

You grinned happily, placing a peppy kiss on his cheek. “Good.” 

It was quiet for a bit between you before you spoke again. 

“I love you, Miguel.”

“Yo también te amo, mi cariño.”

[two-braincells-in-total]

SPOILERS FOR THE GRANDEST GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off, I want to say that I liked this more than I expected. I don't usually vibe with spin-offs, I just don't like it when I get attached to characters amd then they become side characters in the next book, but this book surprised me in a good way

Let's unpack the characters:

Lyra: Don't come for me, but I must admit that I expected more from Lyra's character. Don't get me wrong, I still like her, but it was a little disappointing. Maybe a reason for it is that her POV wasn't as packed with action as the other characters' POVs, but either way, she has potential, so I'm having hope for Glorious Rivals. I don't know if I want her to win the game, because on one hand, hse deserves it, but the other hand, I really want Rohan to win

Gigi: her character hit very close to home, but in a good way. I saw myself in her, specifically tye dedication and the way no matter what she does she's never the best, the way she thought she was too much, which is also a reason why I was just as hurt at the end of the book. I was very sad when she got eliminated from the game, she was the third person I was rooting for (the first being Rohan, the second Lyra) and I know she was using the game as a way to prove to herself and the others that she is good enough, and I know from experience the devastation that comes when you fail. I really hope we have her POV in the next book, too, because I NEED to know why they kidnapped specifically her and how she's going to escape

Rohan: I didn't like him in The Brothers Hawthorne, but I LOVE him here. He was flirty and sassy and clever and I really enjoyed reading his perspective. I'm kind of disappointed that we didn't see much about his past, his POV was mostly focused on the game, unlike Gigi and Lyra, who we got to see as teenagers with trauma, but we got some crumbs, so I hope we get to see more of it in the next book. I really want him to win the game, because as much as I dislike the concept of the Mercy, it's the only live he has, he doesn't even have a last name outside of it. I don't know if I want him to decide that such lifestyle isn't good for him and attempt to start over, or deal with it, because the Mercy is a part of him, so for now both options work for me

Grayson: I have to admit, out of the good characters in the other books, he was my least favourite. I believe that there are two kinds of relatable characters - 1) the type that makes you feel seen, so you love them and 2) the type that points out all of your flaws and insecurities, so you dislike them. For me, Grayson is the second kind. In this book, however, it's obvious that character development has been done and I actually liked him. I still don't get why they decided to make him a player, what are they planning with this? And isn't the point of the game to give money to someone who needs it, why would they give him the chance for it and lessen the chances for winning of the other players? I really hope they explain it in the next book

Brady: I felt something was off with him from the very beginning, but I still fell for his lies and everything. It was exactly what Gigi needed to hear, and if I'm being honest, what I needed to hear, so I didn't see the traps. I spent a huge part of the book fighting with myself about him, because some part of me wanted him to be Gigi's love interest, while another part said that he's too good to be true and that's exactly what it was. I felt Gigi's hurt at the end of the book, especially when he accepted to continue the game, even when most of the game was solved by Gigi (who I applaud for the choice to accept her loss, even though I think she should've accepted the extra chance). I figured out that he wasn't what we thought he was around the time of the power cut off, I felt that he was going to betray her, and even though he didn't exactly do that, I still think there's more to him than what we know now and I highly doubt it's good

Knox: I had complicated feelings about him the entire time, up until the end. Part of the negative feelings about him were cause by the comparison with Brady and, now that I know who Brady is, I think the positive feelings overruled. He was just cautious and I think Gigi grew on him at the end. I really hope we see more of him in the next book, there's still a lot of stuff about him left unanswered

Odette: I think she's the only player beside the POV characters and Grayson that I actually trusted and turned out to be right. She was kind of just there, though the whole thing with Tobias was a juicy secret. I'm still caught on the questions she didn't answer though

Savannah (help, it autocorrected it to Satan, I'm dying): She's on thin ice. She already wasn't one of my favourites, but the whole revenge thing isn't doing her good. I admit that I'm biased, Avery is my favourite character in the whole saga. I'm pretty sure that Eve told her (because where else could she find that information? We also know that Eve was planning to contact her in the epilogue of TBH), so she might not know the whole story, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt. She has chances to get on my good side in the next book, but for now I'm 50-50 about her

Avery and the rest of the Hawthornes were iconic as always

The relationships:

Lyra and Grayson: It's definitely a very cute ship and it's going somewhere, but I expected it to be more interesting. I loved the dinamic and banter in the beginning, but things got a little bit boring as the book progressed. Still, it has SO MUCH potential and I hope we see more of them in the next book. For some reason, they didn't feel like the main ship. I don't know why. Maybe because we got multiple POVs and all relationships are kind of main, but I felt like they aren't the main ship, just how Lyra didn't really feel like the protagonist (because, correct me if I'm wrong, the protagonist is one, the character who has the most page time, even if there are multiple main/lead characters). I didn't track how much page time each character/relationship got, but even if they did get them most, it doesn't really feel like it. Honestly, I was expecting them to be more angsty. Maybe part of my expectations for them was the fandom and predictions before it came out (which is still weird ,because I purposely distanced myself from lyrason posts to avoid disappointment but oh well). I'm still not giving up on them, though, I liked them a lot!

Savannah and Rohan: they were probably my favourite ship from this book. THE TENSION!!! I was squealing every time Rohan called her love. Honestly, I was squealing every time Rohan. Period. I was thinking "kiss, kiss, kiss, KISS MFs" the entire time. As of nicknames, I loved "love" and I find "British" cute (even though I've seen many people say they don't like it), but idk what to think about "Savvy". Because, it was fun while he used it to annoy her, but it's kinda cringe when it became an actual nickname. Either way, I LOVE how smitten Rohan was the entire time. Like, they're solving a riddle and he's like "Savannah is another riddle, wait, FOCUS, but Savannah, FOCUS" it was adorable. I really enjoyed watching him lose his shit internally every time they touched. The scene with him brushing her hair is officially my favourite from the whole book, it's embarrassing how much I'm obsessed with it

Gigi and Brady: I spent some time thinking that he was the love interest, but as I said, he was too good to be true. And even before the reveal, I was still doubting it, because Slate was already mentioned and he called her "sunshine", so obviously, I, being a sucker for nicknames, lost it. I spent most of this book rooting for Gigi and Brady, but now I think it's unfair to her. Even if what he said to her about his brain liking A lot and the other stuff, he admits that he still loves Calla (who btw, what is the whole thing with her??? We were teased about it the entire book and we got nothing!), so it's AveryGrayson all over again, but worse, because Brady did it all intentionally. Now, I'm really hoping that I'm correct about Slate being the actual love interest and I hope we see more of Gigi and Slate in the next book, because it sounds promising

The AveryJameson crumbs were SO CUTE

NASH AND LIBBY ARE HAVING TWINS I'M DYING I'M SO HAPPY FOR THEM

Now, some specific plot points:

What was the power cut about??? I'm still confused and concerned about what happened while the power was off

Wtf does Eve want???

The whole thing with Alice is kinda confusing, but so very interesting, I need to know more about it

What's the whole thing with Calla about???

All in all, I enjoyed this book a lot. I'm excited for the next book and I hope my questions get answered

[lees-chaotic-brain]

Hi Lee for the song event

Enchanted by Taylor Swift, Gojo, fluff

WC: 1.6k

CW: mention of beer (no active drinking), college au, reader is very me-coded sorry, reader is a bit of a nerd,

listen to this while reading

note: hi gigi!!!! thank you so much for sending in a request!! this was so cute 🥰 i also feel like this isn't my best work, but i think it's cute and i've spent too much time agonizing over it lmao

Event Guide | Event Masterlist | JJK Masterlist | Blog Navigation

Parties were never really your scene, but your best friend told you that you needed to leave your room from time to time, so here you were, at some random house party. The cool smoothness of the wall you were leaned against seeped through the thin top you were forced into as you chatted with a face you vaguely recognized from one of your lectures. 

Smiling idly, you nodded along to whatever they were saying, trying to block out the pounding music and sour scent of spilled beer. It was easy enough to pretend you were having fun, but internally you just wanted to be in your dorm reading a book or watching a movie. You knew your friends were right and that you did have to get out of your house sometimes, you just didn’t want that time to be now.

There I was again tonight Forcing laughter, faking smiles

It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be social, or make new friends, to the contrary you actually wanted that very much. You just didn’t want to have to put in the work to make new friends because of the stress it caused you. You knew you were different from other people your age; more focused on your studies and happiest when you were alone, and it normally didn’t bother you.

No, it only began to make you feel bad in settings like this, where everyone else was mingling and laughing and you were glued to a wall, not even able to recall the name of the person talking to you. Shifting uncomfortably, you made up an excuse and escaped the train wreck of a conversation you were in, pushing your way through the crowd and out onto the back porch.

Taking a deep breath of night-chilled air, you could feel some of the stress and tension leave your frame. The wooden planks of the deck creaked as you made your way across them to lean against the railing, not noticing the man to your left until he spoke.

“Hello there. Come to steal my hiding spot?” You jumped, letting out a small yelp and clutching your chest. “Oh my god, don’t scare me like that! I…”

You looked up, and your voice trailed off. Vivid blue eyes met yours, a mop of fluffy white hair falling into a finely chiseled face. Of course. Of course you had to stumble across the finest man you had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on in your pursuit for peace and quiet. Because things can never be convenient when it comes to your life.

Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy Vanished when I saw your face

Maybe…maybe bumping into the handsome stranger wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to you tonight. At first when he introduced himself as Gojo Satoru, you didn't have high hopes. You’ve heard about Gojo. Everyone had. The most popular guy on campus, athletically talented with the good looks and effortless charm to match.. Of course you knew about the Gojo Satoru.

However, instead of idolizing him like everyone else, you had assumed he was a bit of an egotistical asshole who enjoyed playing with girls' hearts and thought himself better than all. Which is why you were pleasantly surprised when you found yourself enjoying his company.

For one, he was funny, with a witty sense of humor that had you cracking up more than once. You lost track of how long you stood there, shoulder to shoulder, engaging in humorous debate. But aside from his quick wit, he was also kind. Sure he had a bit of an ego (you weren’t wrong in that assumption) but he wasn’t a bad guy. 

Second of all, he was surprisingly intelligent, engaging you in banter about various academic topics. From analyzing the true meaning of Shakespeare’s plays to debating the nature of dark matter, you found that he was able to keep up with your somewhat nerdy interests. Honestly this might be the most interesting conversation outside of your lecture halls that you’ve had in a long time. Who would’ve expected it to be with your school’s resident pretty boy?

The playful conversation starts Counter all your quick remarks

As the party winds down, Gojo finds himself offering to walk you home. Conversation flows smoothly as you walk, your laughter floating through the crisp air, warming it with your invisible light.

“Look!” You point up at the sky, delight shining in your eyes. “The air is so clear tonight. You can see so many stars!”

And while you may be marveling at the sparking stars scattered across the night’s navy backdrop, or how full the moon was, as cheesy as it was, he found himself admiring you instead.

When he had left the party to get some air and escape the hordes of people whose expectations and demands suffocated him, the last thing he had expected was you. You who had stumbled out onto his back porch, your presence a refreshing breath of fresh air blowing away the stifling needs of others. 

So, yes. As cheesy as it was, he found himself admiring you, with your childlike delight in the mundane. Before tonight, the beauty of the night sky would never have crossed his mind, but now as he watches you, he thinks it must be the most beautiful thing in the world to make you light up like that.

Noticing that he got quiet, you turned to check on him and caught him staring at you. Suddenly shy, both of you quickly avert your eyes, faint pink brushing itself across your faces. You continue walking, this time in a heavy silence that speaks more than your mindless chatter.

By the time you finally let him know that you’ve arrived at your house and bid him goodnight he wishes you lived a little farther away, if only so he could spend a little while longer in your company.

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home

The cracked white plaster of his ceiling looms above him as he lays sprawled on his bed, unable to get you out of his head. Most girls who he talked to merely liked him for his looks, his popularity, or his cocky personality. But you had been interested in him for his mind. His intelligence and quick wit. 

And he can’t get you out of his head. Surely someone like you has a boyfriend. Someone as caring, beautiful, sweet, intelligent, and funny as you must have people falling for you left and right. But if that was the case, why did you spend so much time talking to him tonight? Was it possible that you were single and he had a chance? 

Letting out a loud sigh, he rolled over and closed his eyes, attempting to fall asleep. He had never believed in love at first sight, but meeting you changed him in a fundamental way. Maybe he did believe in love at first sight, because if not, what else could he call the impact meeting you had on him? Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he would be able to see you again in his dreams.

The lingering question kept me up 2 AM, who do you love?

Cuddled into your stack of blankets and surrounded by your many pillows, you were unable to fall asleep, thoughts of Gojo Satoru plaguing you. He was just…not at all like you had expected. He was smart. And funny. And kind. And he actually paid attention to your rambling, responding and expressing interest unlike many others.

And maybe (just maybe you’re neither confirming nor denying it) you find him just a teensy bit attractive. As much as your mind screamed at you that you couldn’t fall for the first guy who shows even a hint of interest in you, your heart felt otherwise, hoping you would see him again.

Despite your assumptions, you had genuinely enjoyed spending time with him, and found yourself hoping that tonight was only the first of many such conversations and the start of a long friendship. Maybe even more than that if you were being honest. If only you were able to tell if he felt the same way…

This is me praying that This was the very first page Not where the story line ends

You start dating a couple weeks after your initial meeting, and several years later finds you laughing about the foolishness and insecurity of your younger selves.

When you bumped into him on campus the day after you met, you assumed it was some stroke of luck and worked up the guts to ask him for his number, not ready to let the opportunity to have him in your life escape you.

Little did you know the only reason he was there was he begged asked one of his friends to find out your schedule. From there your relationship continued similarly, each of you believing you were the only one who felt the pull between the two of you, and that the night you met didn’t hold the same significance for the other.

In fact, it wasn’t until your one year anniversary when you were reminiscing on your first meeting that you truly realized just how enchanted the other had been the first time you met.

I was enchanted to meet you

taglist: @ponderingmoonlight @arlerts-angel @m0k0k0 @pandora-ophelia-blog

[elcpsstuff]

The Summer I Remembered You (C.F) (Part 17)

you broke me more than anyone else could, because you were my friend first.

—

A/N: Hey guys!<3 Hope you all are well and i’m sorry I haven’t been uploading as much. School has started.. Anyways please enjoy I don’t want to write bc I want this series to keep going on 😭

Synopsis: Teenagers doing a bunch of dumb things, and Conrad having horrible timing ;)

—

“You can’t wear that.”

I groan and throw the piece of clothing at Frankies head. “Then what am I supposed to wear? It’s not like i’m impressing anybody.”

“mhm, right.” Frankie starts to go through my clothing racks and then pulls out a baby blue crop top, “this, with white jean shorts.”

“Fine.”

There were a couple moments of silence before Frankie clears her throat, “So, you and Conrad did well today.”

“No thanks to your fake injury.”

She scoffs, “I was very much injured!”

“You told me weeks ago it was perfectly fine, your knee.” I motion to it and she covers her knee when she realizes it looks perfectly fine too. I tilt my head waiting for a response.

She huffs, “Okay, okay! Maybe I wanted you and Conrad to make up but Taylor had the same idea in mind with Jeremiah!”

“You two are a lot more alike then you dare to admit, you know” I don’t even have to look at her to know she’s fuming. Comparing her to Taylor Jewel is the worst thing you can do.

“Don’t even.”

I sit down at my desk and begin straightening my hair, while looking through the mirror to see Frankie laying on the bed. “Hey, you know Belly and Jeremiah hooked up?”

In a second she’s sitting up with her mouth hung open, “Like sex?”

“No!” I feel like throwing up through my eyes because that would just be weird. “It’s Jeremiah and Belly, they wouldn’t just have unhinged sex like that.”

“But you and Conrad can?”

“Fuck off!” I say through gritted teeth but she’s just laughing which only makes me laugh. “They hooked up a couple days ago. I just didn’t know Belly liked him like that.”

“Shouldn’t that be good? Conrad’s all yours now.”

I roll my eyes in response, “I’m over Conrad. I told him today it’s done.”

Now, she’s off the bed and sitting on the ground beside my chair, “How many times have I heard you say that?”

I pull my straightener out the wall and toss it in the corner, “I know, but i’m serious. Apparently Susannah begged him to ask me to the deb ball because I don’t have a date.”

“And did he ask you?”

“He claims he was going to.” I almost gag at my words because the whole interaction from earlier today still plays in my mind. “But that was after he told me to get over my petty feelings for him.”

“That dickhead. I shouldn’t have let him sub in.”

I shrug, finishing applying my last bit of blush. “I’m completely over him. So it doesn’t matter anymore.” I hear Frankie chuckle beneath her breath and I throw my blush on the table, turning to face her. “What is so funny? Why don’t you believe me?”

“Because it’s Conrad, yn. Your seriously telling me if Belly and Conrad hooked up right now you wouldn’t be pissed off?”

“No. I wouldn’t care.”

“mhm, let’s go.” Frankie pats me on the back before making her way to the door.

—

Nicole’s boat, was huge. That’s a fucking understatement.

We were meeting Belly and Taylor at the boat but we were the last ones there. “Damn.”

“That’s.. wow?” Frankie says through a laugh and I nudge her shoulder. Nicole yells at us to come on the boat so we make our way over, slowly.

Belly and Taylor were sitting by Dara and Gigi talking and I saw the vodka bottles and smirked. I shoved Nicole’s shoulder a little bit, “Brought the drinks, huh?”

“You know me well.” Nicole then directs her attention to Frankie, “You must be—”

“Frankie.” She cuts her off. There was a sharp tone in her voice which only meant one thing, she was being protective. That’s also something Frankie and Taylor both do.

“Ah, well nice to meet you.” She signals us to sit down and I make way my over to Belly and Taylor. Frankie sits next to me and eventually Nicole comes and joins us.

The bottles were being passed around and the only person who didn’t take anything was Belly, and I figured Cam must’ve been rubbing off on her. “So Belly, none for you?”

She snorts, “No way your promoting this, mom would kill you.” In turn, I knew she was right but Laurel wasn’t here? What’s the problem in a little fun?

“Yeah yeah whatever.” I ruffle her hair a little bit and she quickly smacks me away, “yn! stop that!”

It felt good to joke with her like this. This summer has been the weirdest by far, even with my relationship with Belly. We haven’t addressed Conrad, but it’s there, lingering in the air.

“So, who’s up for a little truth or dare?” Gigi says through a classic Gigi smirk.

—

“No way in hell!” Belly screams out.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t done it, Belly! It was really nice actually.” Taylor is currently telling how she’s.. you know with a stuffed animal. I obviously didn’t put my finger down, it’s disgusting.

“Alright! Put it a finger down If you’ve had sex.” Gigi, Dara, and Nicole all put fingers down. I can feel belly looking at me but of course I’m not gonna put a finger down. She may know about my little situation with Conrad but that doesn’t mean Nicole has to.

Gigi looks at me and Belly before clearing her throat, “So, your telling me neither of you have hooked up with the Fisher brothers, like ever?”

Belly’s face goes red and I know we can finally switch gears on the situation. I sigh, “Not me, but I don’t know about little Belly over here—”

“Oh my gosh yes yes! Never have I ever made out with Jeremiah fisher!” I could tell Taylor was dying to get those words out, and Belly squeezes her eyes shut before putting down a finger.

“What?! When?” Nicole gushes over the situation and she’s probably just happy it wasn’t Conrad. I laugh at the thought.

“Sorry, Gigi..” Belly awkwardly pushes the words out of her throat before looking back over at Gigi, who is red as a tomato.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Gigi answers but I know she’s dying on the inside. “What about you yn? You sure no fisher brothers?”

I swallow the guilt down my throat as memories of Conrad swirl my mind. If I could, in this moment I would yank them out my head and into the ocean.

I love you, please

I want it to be you, Conrad.

It’s fine, we’re fine.

“Yn?” I’m brought back to reality with Frankie flashing her hand in my face. I move back a little and a small chuckle leaves my lips. “Sorry, I spaced. But uh- no, I haven’t.”

Belly laughs a little before mumbling under her breath, “Yeah right.”

Instead of doing what I wanted to, which was grabbing her and telling her everything. I would say, I’ve loved Conrad for as long as you have, maybe even longer. It was out of love, not what you think. It’s not your right to judge. I love him.

Instead, I ignore Belly and look ahead of me, not daring to respond.

I think Nicole picks up on the situation because the next thing she said totally switches them mood: “Never have I ever been skinny dipping, in hoppers cove?”

Taylor shrieks, “Is that a dare?”

“Fuck it.” Frankie adds on.

So here we are, minutes later naked in the water. In hoppers cove. The water felt cold against my skin but it was relaxing. I hated the idea of this at first but Taylor and Frankie seemed to be getting along so it was fine. Like Conrad says, we were fine.

“This is fucking crazy.” I yell out in the calm of the night. Frankie splashes my face and I splash her right back. 

“Hey wait, who are you taking to the deb ball?” Taylor and Belly soon began quiet and watched my every move. Nicole said she’d be right back because she got a text message from Conrad. Damn Frankie for asking this.

“uhm.. I really don’t know yet.”

“It’s like, tomorrow.” Taylor blurts out.

“I still don’t have a date either.” Belly confesses and Taylor’s eyes widen, “You still haven’t asked Jeremy?!”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.. it’s just, I don’t know where we stand. We got in a disagreement after the Volleyball tournament and—”

I didn’t need to hear the rest. I knew it was about Conrad. Susannah always said Jeremiah was the “golden retriever” but when he got angry, he got angry. Jeremiah was the best at holding grudges but one thing he would never do is be second to someone in a relationship. Especially not to Conrad.

“Oh my God, those fucking idiots!” Frankie motions to the light flashing and I see a car pulling out: Nicole’s car. What the fuck?

“I knew they were bitches!” Taylor exclaims.

Wow, Frankie and Taylor are really similar, I didn’t realize it till now.

Taylor and Frankie begin to swim over to the dock and me and Belly just stare at each other, not knowing what the hells going on.

“uh, yn.. come over here.” Taylor’s voice trails off as she says it and I immediately swallow whatever guilt I know i’ll have to deal with. Me and Belly swim to the dock and sit up right in the water.

“They took everything!” Belly yells.

“Except our phones, and yours yn.” Frankie begins, “which has a very incriminating text from Conrad.”

Oh fuck.

I don’t look at Belly because if I do my mind will start to swirl. With guilt. With every fucking emotion.

“Mhm. It states, ‘I do want you. You know I do.’” Taylor says it with an edge on her voice but deep down I know she wants this, for Belly. She’s always liked Jeremiah better.

I grab the phone from Taylor’s hand and see that the text is very real. Very much there. I groan at the thought because I knew I would have to explain everything to Belly, everything that’s happened. She deserves that.

“Okay, right now we need to focus on how we’re getting home.” I breathe the words out and everyone nods their head.

“Well, what do we do? We can’t just walk home naked!” Taylor says.

“Um, well, there is that?” Belly points to something which grabs all of our attention, and then a groan.

“Fuck me.” Frankie says.

—

Conrad POV:

Right now, all I wanted to do was go home.

Steven convinced me to go to this party, even though Shayla was going. Jere ended up coming though so I’ve been at the stairs occasionally grabbing a drink.

I see Jeremiah look at me and then walk up the stairs to sit next to me. I pat the seat next to me jokingly.

“Hey man.” I say.

“What’s up?” Jeremiah leans against the railing and lets out a big breathe before speaking, “why yn?”

I scoff, “I’m sorry?”

Jeremiah shakes his head, “Don’t do that. Act like you don’t know what i’m talking about, because you do.” I knew what he was talking about, I really did. I just didn’t wanna face that reality. For so many years it was just me and yn, on a little island, until it broke apart and we spread other places.

“Jeremiah—”

“No.”

“What the fuck do you want me to do? Apologize?”

Jeremiah slammed his hand against the railing, “Yes, Conrad! Please do apologize for fucking yn. She’s not just some random girl you met, not like Nicole. She’s yn, our family friend. We’re you just that desperate for a fuck?—”

I felt the blood raise to my head. But I couldn’t move. I knew it in my bones, yn was different. She wasn’t just some girl, some hookup. She was my best friend, and my lover too.

Jeremiah had no right to basically accuse me of taking advantage of her, when that’s so clearly not what happened. He had a lot of crazy opinions lately.

“Shut the fuck up Jere, you have no idea.”

“Right,” He says through a twisted laugh, “So your telling me what? You have feelings for her? Don’t be an idiot, all these years you’ve strung her along, might as well throw Belly in their too. You’ve had yn at your feet for years man. But she wasn’t just yours, she was all of ours.”

I gulped, swallowing the guilt I was feeling. My mom always told me I was protective over yn in different way than I knew. I claimed it was because she was my best friend, but she always said one day I would realize the truth. I just never meant for Jere to feel this way.

“I’m sorry—”

“You’re sorry for what? Fucking her? Taking her virginity all for another one night stand? It’s pathetic.”

What the hell was his problem?

Jeremiah’s phone rings and as he goes to get up, I follow his actions and grab his shoulder. He turns to me, hesitantly.

“I love her, Jere.”

He shrugs my shoulder away before walking down the stairs, but I saw a small frown come over his face. I knew he knew it too.

“Conrad.” A voice takes me out of my sadness and Nicole is standing in front of me, not to happy either. Before I can answer i’m being dragged by the arm out the door. We stop in front of Nicole’s car.

“Nicole, what’s—”

“Save it. I was at Hoppers Cove and I saw your text to yn. That you want her? What the fuck have I been missing?”

My Adams apple bobs up and down in my neck before I can muster a response, and the only thing I can think is i’m such a fucking idiot.

“Nicole i’m sorry, okay? I can explain.”

“Don’t. This whole summer I’ve been trying to figure it out, but, it’s all about yn isn’t it? Every single thing.”

“Yeah.” Is the only thing that comes out of my mouth and the shock on her face isn’t too surprising but the next thing was. A hard smack comes to my face and I groan in agony.

“Fuck you, Conrad.”

“Nicole that’s not how I meant it—”

“No, you know what? You didn’t hurt me, you wasted my time. A lot of people wanna be with me Conrad, and I might take them up on that offer.”

“That’s great..” I cringe at my words but I really don’t know what I’m supposed to say.

She shakes her head and opens the door to her car, reaching in. When she comes out, she tosses a bag at my chest.

“Your girlfriend and her friends might need this.”

When Nicole walks away I process what’s right in front of me. The girls clothes. In a bag. What the fuck?

“Conrad!” I turn around to se Jeremiah running up to me.

“Jere—”

“We have a problem.”

—

A/N: eeeee! Dramaaaa! he finally said it guys. 😭🫶🏻 lemme know what you guys think sorry for taking so long!

tag list: @kkrenae @callsignwidow @drikawinchester @johannelis2302nely @allnrsnz @galaxy13sworld @paytonloiselle @i-think-you-are-gr8 @imaspecialpersonwhoneedshelp @awatt31 @user0440822 @jackierose902109 @chocolatefartstrawberry @whoisjellyellie

[never-enough-novels]

Tgg review

SPOILER

Firstly hats off to jlb for writing another amazing motherfucking book cause WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ RJRJJEJRJRJRKKRKRKRKRKKRKRKRKRKEKEKMKRKDKEKRKDKEKE

Let's go one by one-

At first I must say I actually liked Brady more than Knox but then like what the fuck dude???? Are you fuckinh serious???

I absolutely loveeddddd gigi in the entire book and she's my pookie 🫶🫶 I was sooo mad that she got out of the game but then oh boy the ending cause what the fuck slate i knew you were bad BUT NOT THAT BAD IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO HER IMMA KILL EVERYONE IM NOT EVEN KIDDING

Lyra kane🛐🛐 no words at all cause I'm speechless when it comes to her. Her whole banter with grayson was >>>>> and holy shit respectfully I want her to step on me. The process of her relationship with grayson was amazing and I really hope to see more of her in the next book

Grayson

Davenport

Hawthorne

MY MAN BITCHES PLS HE WAS SO UNEXPECTED IN RHE BOOK CAUSE IVE NEVER SEEN HIM LIKE THIS AND ITS AMAZING ANDI HOPE TO SEE MORE OF HIM. I really liked how in this book he genuinely tried his best to be vulnerable amd it's gotta be hard when your whole life you have tried to only be a picture of perfection.

Savannah grayson and rohan

Ok listen people. I knew what was happening but I also didn't. But damn bro they're freaky af cause what the hell was that 😭😭 not that I'm complaining honestly I was kinda sad that savvanah was hurting this much and the fact that she still doesn't know the full truth. And I think we can agree on the fact that they are gonna be the main part of the divine rivals

And considering how close gigi and savannah were on tbh I don't like how their relationship deteriorated in this book.

Odette was just sus in the entire book bro cause how the fuck does she know literally everything that was happening???

Brady dude I just Hate you no words to that. I understand but still gigi was pookie up didn't have to hurt her like that

MY GIRL AVERY AND JAMESON DJDKJDJDJDNEJR THEY WERE SOOOO CUTE IN THE BOOK (Whatever we could see anyway)

I absolutely loveeeeee xander and gigi's relationship cause it's like sunshine friend with another sunshine

NASH AND LIBBY NASH AND LIBBY NASH AND LIBBY

Bro they had babies I'm soooo happy for them but i really wish we could see more of them😭😭 like we barely had them in tbh and then we get fed with barely any crumbles.

Ok I only wrote what I remember I'll read again and post more<333

[amourkive]

EXPEDITION| MYG

a/n: erm....hit a writers block with this one NGL...and I feel like I made it too long at the end. Also added Jungkook bc of the circumstances of the fic lol, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless !! Stay Gold⁷ -miri

masterlist

/ᐠ• ㅅ •ᐟ\

"Hey, you ready?" Yoongi asked, leaning against his car, hands cradled in the warmth of his hoodie pocket. You had just walked out the house, eyes squinting at the assaulting brightness that your house lacked a few minutes prior.

With a single nod, you dragged your suitcase down the driveway of your house, hauling it into the trunk, as you pushed yoongi away to start the car; it was cold and you didn't care for a "gentleman's gesture" at this moment.

"I'm so tired! I should have chosen a later time to leave." You buckled your seatbelt with a whine as Yoongi let out an amused snort, putting the car in drive, slowly leaving the side of the street.

"that's why I'm here...so you don't have to drive yourself, just close your eyes, I'll wake you up when we arrive at the airport, okay? Let Min Yoongi handle this." He stated, pulling a blanket from the backseat, over your lap.

"....okay, min yoongi. I'm trusting you." you muttered, poking the side of his arm, and with that you lowered the seat, covered yourself better, and went back to dreamland.

"Hey, uhm, baby?..." You heard, and you couldn't tell if it was from your dream or not. "baby..." you heard again, and realized it was yoongi. Which, was alarming.

He only ever called you baby in two conditions:

1. when he really wanted you to do something

2.when he does something that he knows is going to upset you so he tries using the baby card

You opened your eyes, face to face with a sheepish looking yoongi, who had his lip in between his teeth. "you called me baby, what did you do." and he put his head down, with a sigh.

"it wasn't my fault! totally out of my control!" he defended himself immediately, pulling away from you, placing his hands on the steering wheel, "the car broke down." he muttered, and you sighed, leaning back into the seat.

of course it did.

Before you could say anything, Yoongi was already next to you again, head on your shoulder, and you knew he felt bad. "you know how the battery gets when it's winter....i should have asked Hyung for his car like you said, and I'm sorry about that, but- then what would be the point in having our car? I thought it would at least make it to the airp-"

"gigi...nicest way possible, shut up." you spoke softly, placing your hand on his cheek, rubbing it comfortingly. "you didn't know it was gonna break down at this moment...did you call anyone?"

you feel him nod his head, with a sigh, "yeah I called a tow company, and Jungkook-he's the closest so he said he'll take you. I'll have to wait for them here." Even though you figured that much, you still frowned hearing it out loud. Yoongi wasn't going to see you off back home.

"well come on...it's cold, and I'm still tired." you sat up, him moving away from you in the process, watching as you, quite difficulty, went to the back seats, with the blanket. You turned to face him, as he sat in his seat, and rolled your eyes.

"I want cuddles, gigi. C'mon~ before I leave, please?" you griped, holding your arms open, for him. (he was going to whether you asked or not, but he liked the extra effort)

once he made it to the back, like a koala to a tree, you clung to him right in-between his legs, his warmth stopping the cold that lingered. Sighing with satisfaction, you leaned into him more, as he ran his fingers through your hair. It was like you forgot the car broke down and you had to make it to the airport in less than an hour.

"how long are you staying at your parents, baby?" he asked, him trying to keep conversation for he felt a little drowsy now himself. "just a month...maybe less, depending." weakly shrugging, turning to face him,

"are you gonna miss me?" and really, him laughing was not the answer you expected. "of course I'm going to miss you. who else is gonna bother me-" "hey!" "sorry not bother, keep me company! who's gonna keep me company?"

You smiled, "Jungkook."

yoongi tsked, shaking his head, "yeah right. more like he'd keep me up more than I already do." "no, baby, Jungkook's right there." In a swift motion, yoongi turned his head to see Jungkook drawing hearts around his head, and he had to force himself to not roll his eyes.

"oh, yay, how nice of him to arrive." he muttered sarcastically, patting the side of your leg, for you to get up, so he can get out and help.

"hello you two lovebirds! having fun ? I bet you were~" with a smack to the head, he pouted, crossing his arms. "I was just kidding! gosh, can't take jokes anymore? what a loser."

At this point, Jungkook was talking to himself, because yoongi had all his focus on you, clambering out of the backseat, and right into his arms.

"can't Jungkook stay with the car, and you take me? no offense kook-" "none taken, really." "-i just...I really wanted you to be there when I left."

Yoongi pursed his lips, looking down at you, wishing he could. "you know I would if I could...but they're gonna need me for the information. I'm sorry, baby."

you nodded, understandingly, because once again, you knew that. But still the circumstances sucked. "it's okay, I give good hugs too hyung." Jungkook added, with a shrug which made you laugh a little. He was trying to lighten the mood, but you don't think yoongi appreciated it.

"you want to get smacked upside the head a couple more times don't you?" he asked, looking over towards Jungkook, his grip tightening on you. "be nice, gigi... he's only trying to be nice. Plus-" you look down at your phone that you pulled out from your pocket, "I should be going now."

yoongi sighed, "how about I just take you instead? Jungkook give me your keys, I'll be back before they even come." jungkook shook his head, "not possible! it's a 30 minute drive there and back! that's more than an hour! I highly doubt you'll be back before they come."

You nodded in agreement, "he has a point, yoongi. Just do what needs to be done." he frowned, "but if we go now-" "Sorry to interrupt but any of you Min Yoongi?" With a look towards you, Yoongi nodded, walking up to the guy, "yeah. that's me. Just- can you give me a minute?"

Once the guy nodded, Yoongi turned back to you, grabbing your face in his hands. "I'll miss you." You nodded, grabbing onto his sweatshirt, "I'll miss you too...I'll call you when I make it there." He smiled, "I know you will...please be careful. If anything happens to you I will-"

"-be on the first plane to me." you laughed, "I know. you say it all the time. I'll be careful, you know, all that good stuff. So, don't worry so much."

"augh, my sweet girl has to leave, what will I do for the next month?" Yoongi muttered, leaning down placing a kiss on your nose, before placing two on your cheeks. You smiled, relishing in his kisses, giggling as he placed one on your lips.

"you won't have to worry about her leaving if you guys don't finish this goodbye. Sorry to ruin this cute moment of course-" "we were getting there, Jungkook! Read the room sometimes man, just go before I might actually keep her here." Yoongi whined, letting you go with one last kiss.

As you walked with Jungkook to his car, Yoongi kept his eyes on you, until you disappeared in the car. As Jungkook drove past, you blew yoongi a kiss, smiling as he pretended to put it in his pocket, finally turning to face the tow guy.

You sat back in your seat, smiling softly. A month. Then you'll be able to give Yoongi all the kisses you wanted.

[felicitysmoaksx]

Reach for My Hand ('Cause It's Held Out for You)

The residency at Baylor never opened up. Sarah was stuck at Med following the Robert Haywood incident and she was right. After everything, people- all staff alike whispered. About her. Her father and what happened the night he collapsed. She did her best to ignore them though.

Her days were now spent avoiding Dr. Charles unless she had to talk to him. While she also avoided Noah Sexton following her rejection of him. She should have taken April's offer to talk to her brother to get him to ease up. But after the mess with her father, she was reluctant to accept help from anyone.

Her only reprieve was her friends in the ED. They kept her busy most of the time with consults so she didn't have to talk to Dr. Charles often. Months passed and she wasn't happy by any means, but she got used to it. Because it could always be worse.

Instead, her other safety net came in the form of her brother-in-law. Or was it former brother-in-law? Sarah wasn't sure what the terminology was with Nic now gone.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Sarah Reese: big shot resident," Sarah turned at the sound of the familiar voice and Conrad Hawkins' stared back at her with an easy grin.

"What are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were coming when I was facetiming with Gigi last month!" She exclaimed as she turned and wandered closer. Allowing her half-sister's husband to wrap her in a tight hug. Chastain had sent Conrad along to scout out the Hybrid OR.

"Okay," Conrad said, a week after he got there. She had been in line to get a cup of coffee when he appeared behind her. "There are dozens of rumors flying around about you. But I don't care about them because you're going to tell me what's actually going on."

When Sarah glanced back she saw a look that she had only heard about from her big sister. There was a narrowed focus light in his eyes with his mouth turned downward. He wasn't going to let this go.

"Let me get my coffee first." She relented with a heavy sigh. Then with a coffee to warm her hands, she pulled him into a corner. Then she started with her father and his bad heart. From there she moved to his personality disorder and Dr. Charles treating him for it. Everything else that came with Dr. Robert Haywood and the fallout after just came out from there. When she was done explaining everything, Sarah lifted her gaze to look at her half-sister's husband.

"I know Nic's gone, but when everything was happening, I picked up the phone so many times to call her because she would know what to say and what to do." She told him, with a watery catch in her voice.

"Why didn't you call me?" Conrad asked quietly, "Why didn't you let me help you?"

"What could you have done, Conrad? You have Gigi and you just started back at Chastain. You have a lot on your plate. You didn't need me to add to it with my family drama."

"Sarah, you're Nic's little sister. You're Gigi's aunt. You're my family. As for what I would've done, I would've suggested you come home." Conrad pressed, tapping on the table for emphasis.

"To New York? With my mother?" Sarah pulled a face, before she shook her head, "No, thank you."

"Not New York. Georgia."

"Georgia? Why would I go there?"

"Because you'd have family-me and Gigi and a job there."

"A job?"

"At Chastain. One phone call from me and you'd have an interview in no time; you know how much Nic always hated that you moved to Chicago to finish med school."

[jungle-angel]

MARY! I’ve missed the last few of these! 😭 I hope I’m not too late to ask for A big announcement at Thanksgiving dinner with Nat and I also hope you are doing well! ❤️

A reader is never late my dear Sylvie, for they always arrive PRECISELY when they mean to (lol).

The fervor in the dining room was beginning to reach a fever pitch as both yours and Natasha's families had begun to settle in. Her grandfather, Earl, had taken over carving the turkey and had been helping to fill everybody's plate. Once everybody was settled, you and Natasha both rose and everyone fell silent.

"Guys," you began. "Neither of us can thank you enough for being here. I know you all have alot going on, work, families, obligations, whatever. But Nat and I have to thank you. You've given alot for us over the years and.....well.....we feel like we owe you the world."

"Pa, we're especially grateful for you and Gigi," Natasha said to her grandfather and grandmother. "Not only did you raise me for the better part of my existence, but you guys were the first to welcome (y/n) when I brought her home."

"So I just wanna say to everyone here," you announced. "Come this time next year, I'll be (Y/n) Trace."

Everybody gasped and applauded when you held up your left hand to reveal the ring that Natasha had given to you, a gorgeous Norse knot made of silver and a pearl flower in the center.

"I'm proud of you sweetheart," Earl said with his thick Long Island drawl and hugging his granddaughter. "Damn proud of you both."

"Thank you Papa," she croaked.

"Best Thanksgiving ever?"

"You bet your ass it is," she laughed.

You hugged Natasha when she turned back to you. "Love you sweet thing," you whispered.

"I love you too," she croaked again, hugging you as tight as she could and never once letting go.

(Sylvie I'm so sorry this was so short, something told me to stop right there and I couldn't ignore it, lol).

[yourtouchismidas]

blurb idea george let’s gigi bleach his hair because she walks in on matty buzzing and dyeing it for him

omg so cute. i think she is a bit younger for this one. maybe nine or ten and i think they're on tour, you and the babas visiting matty for a leg of it while they're on summer holidays.

everyone is playing outside one morning, having had breakfast in a hotel garden, and matty and george have disappeared back inside after george had been complaining that his hair was too long. he'd got dye a few stops back but they'd barely had a break and then the families and kids arrived.

gigi, coming to her mother for a drink after playing with her sisters, asks for her book that she is reading, needing a break. you tell her you have left it upstairs and she pouts and asks if she can go get it.

"if you're quick and careful," you say, handing her the key card. the hotel is secure and only has one floor and you cant cart all five girls up there to accompany her. besides matty is in there now. so off gigi runs, the hotel dark after being out in the sun.

she lets herself into your family suite, and starts rummaging around on the bed that she has been sharing with valley. she finds the book and she is about to head out when she hears a laugh from the bathroom. then she notices a buzzing, that has been going on the whole time, but she has just registered.

"dad?" she says, opening the door. there she sees matty leant over george, who is wrapped in a big towel, his long limbs poking out from it. matty has stripped down to a bare chest.

"oh hey baby," he says.

"what are you doing to uncle george?"

"i'm fixing his shitty hair," matty says and george goes to hit him but matty goes "ah ah ah razor" holding the buzzing thing closer to this head to warn him to be careful. he settles.

"can i do it?" gigi says, her eyes widening.

"no," matty says, "it's sharp."

"aw let her do it man," george says, when gigi's little face falls.

"no mate. you dont have kids. so you dont know what its like when one gets a boo boo. especially if it is your fault and then their mum yells at you."

gigi perches on the bathtub and watches for a bit, while george winks at her and pulls faces to make her giggle. matty tells him to stay still.

"right, wheres the bleach you got?" matty asks when he is done.

"what are you doing now?" gigi asks.

"dying it," george says, "gotta make me all bright again. like the sun."

"can i do that?" gigi says.

george looks at matty. matty shrugs.

"dont see why not?"

when gigi doesn't return, you ask charli to keep an eye on the little girls while you run up and find her, your heart fluttering slightly at the idea of her being in a different country and a famous persons kid and having not returned yet.

when you hear her laughter from the hotel room, your heart calms. of course matty has distracted her with something. the main bedrooms are empty. you follow gigi's chatter to the bathroom, where george is leant over the bath tub, gigi is holding the shower, and all over them are sopping.

"mum!" gigi yells, wiping water out her face and curls. she is also wearing those thin plastic gloves you get with box dyes. "i'm making georges hair bright! like the sun!"

"spray her!" matty yells.

"yeah spray her," george mumbles from over the bath.

"dont you dare miss gigi!" you say, already laughing. because you know, when her father is involved. she will dare. and she does. but then, she turns it back on him.

[randommusingsstuff]

Devi, Ben, and the Power of Happy Endings

Never Have I Ever is about to go down in the history books as one of the most thematically rich coming of age stories produced in the streaming era.

While the thought of parting from my beloved, Devi Vishwakumar, makes me want to curl into a fetal position, I’ve been struck with the sudden inspiration to document my predictions. Every wild, outrageous opinion.

Maybe this post will be nothing more than fodder for your morning coffee Tumblr scroll, but my hope is that it will convey a sense of optimism. Not only do I think that Never Have I Ever will have an explicitly romantic ending for Ben and Devi, I think that it fundamentally has to. But we still have a long journey ahead.

1. Devi: T-minus 5 Seconds to Heartbreak

This is Devi Vishwakumar, walking into school for her first day of senior year, smiling like the lovestruck nerd that she is, having finally figured out that she wants to be with Ben. 

I mean, just look at her gloat! This is the gloat of someone who is ready to join forces with her soulmate so they can terrorize the school with their combined obnoxiousness! 

Only to walk in and see this:

Oh Ben... To quote the great Logan Echolls, “no one writes songs about the ones that come easy”.

2. To boink, or not to boink?

I’m not convinced that Ben and Devi had sex.

Now, hold on-

Let me first caveat and say that Never Have I Ever always manages to surprise me. While I can pick out the broad narrative strokes and character arcs they are aiming for, they manage to awe and delight me with the details.

I think that following through on the “one free boink” scene is the more interesting route, but it also makes the writers’ jobs much, much harder.

I cannot fathom Ben and Devi having sex and then Ben immediately rebounding to Margot. That level of womanizing would make Paxton Hall-Yoshida tremble in his tiny swim shorts. In order to keep the audience on Ben’s side, the writers would have to spend a considerable amount of time unpacking his trauma and explaining his perspective. It’s not impossible, but I’m dubious.

The show never rewards Devi for making a decision based on her own insecurities. She wants to have sex with Ben, but her catalyst for getting there is the sext Fabiola accidently sends to her instead of Addison (i.e Devi is insecure about being the only virgin in her friend group left).

Maitreyi confirmed that season 4 would pick up immediately where season 3 left off. Do I think we’re getting play-by-play? An under-the-cover post boink scene? Them starting to make-out then something happening? I’m betting on the latter.

3. The Ben Problem

Picture this:

Mid make-out, Devi casually lets slip that she is staying at Sherman Oaks for senior year. Suddenly, sex with the love of his life is an actual relationship that he has to contend with. All the trauma and pain from season 2 comes flooding back. And it’s important to remember that Ben was deeply traumatized from the events of season 2.

His actual brain catches up with his er… primal instincts, and they agree to see where things go. It's just vague enough that Devi thinks they’re going to be together, but Ben is scared. Scared of being more in love with her than he already is and scared of being hurt again. He goes with the safer option of neglecting his feelings, because his arc of vulnerability has yet to be fully actualized.

This manages to set up the same conflict and angst between Ben and Devi and give Ben a starting point to make amends without having him abandon Devi right after she has sex for the first time.

It’s a much more palatable fallout for the “one free boink scene”, but I digress.

4. Never Have I Ever... Been a Wallflower

We catch up with Paxton in episode 3, narrated by Gigi Hadid, and he’s kind of shy?

He has always used his popularity as a crutch and now has to grapple with his new identity. Much like Devi and Ben, Paxton’s insecurities are an ongoing battle, as he realizes that his choice to go to college was partially defined by his desire to escape the “dumb jock” label. Tucked away in his dorm room, watching life pass him by, he realizes that he doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone else. He can pursue his athletic aspirations and still defy the labels that people have placed on him. By the end of the episode, Paxton makes the decision to come back to Sherman Oaks as a swim coach assistant.

I’ll admit, I think it’s a strange choice to reignite Devi and Paxton’s romance by making him a faculty member at the school. The writers might as well hold up a big red sign that says, “The only reason we can think of for Devi and Paxton to interact is if they are stuck in high school together”. 

But I want to make one thing clear: I do not think this undoes his arc from season 3. To realize that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to is a very natural extension of gaining personal liberty.

And I, for one, am proud of him.

Also, I’m getting season 2 vibes from this scene.

Devi and Paxton fans can probably expect callbacks, sweet moments, a kiss, and an emphasis on how important they have been to each other's personal growth.

5. Where are Ben and Devi?

Hidden behind a Michael Cimino-sized red herring. They are going to give us as little as they possibly can about Ben and Devi during promo season. The same way they have in *checks notes* every single season prior.

I’ve written about this before, but it is integral to their individual arcs that they are honest about their love for each other. It is the bedrock of the story. But between Michael Cimino’s washboard abs and closing out Paxton and Devi’s arc in a way that feels satisfying and emotionally resonant, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Ben and Devi’s domestic bliss phase.

Put another way: The love triangle and push-and-pull romance is not a side story, it’s a source of narrative conflict that’s integral to the plot. Would you resolve the final battle in a fantasy series three episodes before the finale? Resolving the Ben and Devi plot early would be like sucking all of the tension out of the story. It would not give us the euphoric high of Ben and Devi blurting out that they love each other at the eleventh hour after trying to suppress their feelings. The show has always saved these big moments for finales, and this season will be no different.

But for anyone worried that Ben and Devi will be fighting the entire season, I think we’re in for our most Benvi-centric season yet, filled with great moments and their trademark banter.

They go to New York to visit colleges. Neither of them admits it, but they are relieved to know that they will remain constants in each others’ lives. 

They study for finals together while bantering, skirting around the topic of prom, and just generally being the only two idiots who don’t know they are in love. *Buries self under 10 pounds of cement*

This time, Ben asks her to dance. The angst, unspoken feelings and tension are palpable.

They fight over valedictorian and it’s practically foreplay. Devi wins, and Ben is proud of her, underscoring his growth and ability to put aside his competitive nature to be supportive.

And that is just a fraction of what’s in store for our obnoxious, loveable nerds.

6. 🎶 It's the circle of life 🎶

“Hey, gods. It's Devi Vishwakumar, your favorite Hindu girl in the San Fernando Valley. What's a-poppin'? It's the first day of school, and I thought we should have a check in. I think we can all agree that last year sucked for a number of reasons. So I thought of a few ways you guys can make it up to me.”

“One: I'd like to be invited to a party with alcohol and hard drugs. I'm not gonna do them. I'd just like the opportunity to say: ‘No cocaine for me, thanks. I'm good.’”

John Mcenroe Voice: Devi, you seem a little drunk.

“Two: I'd love for my arm hair to thin out. I know it's an Indian thing, but my forearms look like the frigging floor of a barber shop.”

The mehndi on her hands symbolizes her love for her family and heritage. Juxtaposed with her western clothes, it signifies her acceptance of her intersectionality.

“And lastly, most importantly, I'd really, really like a boyfriend, but not some nerd from one of AP classes.”

The picture that I want to get my hands on is currently stashed away in Netflix’s top-secret headquarters, but I’ll settle for this one of Ben’s adorable, dopey smile.

7. The Finale: Why Devi and Ben Must Have an Unambiguously Happy Ending

For the longest time, I believed that Never Have I Ever would go the way of its spiritual successor Crazy-Ex Girlfriend and give Devi the “I choose myself” ending” with hints of her ending up with Ben in the future.

It was only when watching the season 3 finale that I realized how wrong I was. In fact, I was so fundamentally wrong that I overlooked the obvious: Never Have I Ever has never done anything halfway. The writers of Never Have I Ever know something about the audience that we often fail to recognize ourselves, which is that we desperately want a happy ending.

Season one could have ended with Devi’s heartfelt goodbye to her father and reconciliation with her mother. What do we get instead? A sweeping, romantic shot of Malibu while Devi and Ben share their first kiss.

In the season 2 finale, Devi proclaims that she will not settle for “some weird secret thing behind closed doors” and that she wants to be “someone's public girlfriend.” And what does she get? Exactly what she wants.

But it’s only in season 3 when this pattern becomes apparent. The season could have easily ended with her deciding to stay at Sherman Oaks. We had already said our farewell to Paxton, and gotten this chemistry-choked, almost-love-confession between our favourite dorks:

And we think that maybe, just maybe, the season will end with Devi single and ready for her senior year. But the show says “subtlety be damned”. It demands a triumphant ending, with Devi showing up at Ben’s door, leading to what will certainly be one of the most intimate moments in the entire show.

Tonally, the story makes bold choices, and the reaction from fans is always electric. In a world of being told “no” and being conditioned to temper our expectations, Never Have I Ever is like a warm hug reminding us that even the most broken people can heal and find love.

And this brings us back to “the Ben problem”, the idea is that he must overcome his fear and confess his love to Devi. And Devi, in turn, must love herself before being able to embrace her narrative mirror.

On a show that prides itself on big endings, escapism, and romance it seems unfathomable, and almost cruel, for Devi and Ben to be in love and not be together.

The writers do not want people finishing the show, shrugging, and saying “that was a realistic ending.” They want us to watch the finale with grins too big for our faces, our hearts bursting with excitement. They want us to know that all of Ben and Devi’s suffering over the past four seasons meant something, that when Devi finally makes the right decisions, she “will find someone who loves her exactly as she is.”

Love, unvarnished and without fear. That is the true narrative promise of Never Have I Ever.