#got back together and they had a little party in the moonlight with songs and slow dancing and there was even an engagement

[buckleydiazmp4]

david jenkins knows that good queer rep is a relationship with highs and lows so intense that everyone in a fifty-mile radius suffers for it

[bubbleberrypunch]

I want a young Shanks running himself into circles wondering what the heck is going on with him all of a sudden, why does Buggy look different nowadays? Why has his hair gotten prettier? Why are his eyes literally sparkling? Why does Shanks get upset whenever he sees other people their age hanging out with Buggy? Why does Shanks's chest squeeze all of the time, especially when he thinks about his best friend? And why is his face on fire when Buggy is a hair too close? He feels shocks of electricity wherever Buggy is touching him.

What? A crush? Feelings? Like Lady Toki and Oden? No way, absolutely not! That has got to be the LAST thing that Shanks would ever feel towards the fellow cabin boy. He definitely doesn't like Buggy like that, just couldn't be possible. But he does end up hiding all of Buggy's beanies, pulling on his ponytail, tripping him just to catch him. Catches himself staring at Buggy across the ship's deck, finds himself giddy at seeing Buggy's feral grin when they're about to get into mischief. It means nothing.

It means nothing at all when they sneak some alcohol and drink together under the moonlight. Shanks doesn't like Buggy when they're at an island festival and he drags the other boy out to participate. Or when they go undercover in a kingdom at a fancy party to gather information. Okay, maybe Shanks needs to rethink some things.

They're at a masquerade party and Buggy is all dressed up like a young noble (so is he), but there's just something about Buggy being all dolled up that's got his heart racing. They're supposed to be making nice with the prince and gaining info, but for some reason the prince is only paying attention to Buggy. And alright, maybe Shanks wasn't exactly listening to what the party was for because there's suddenly an announcement for...something about to happen and the prince is asking Buggy to dance, and Shanks just- the prince is holding his hand out and right at Buggy is about to take it, Shanks rushes in between and steals Buggy away. That's when the lights in the room turn to red and some kind of eery lullaby type of song is playing, and now Shanks and Buggy are waltzing together across the floor with a spotlight coming from the roof(?) shining down on them. And eyes are all on them, Buggy's eyes are on him. Shanks has no idea what he's just done, but he can't really find it in himself to regret it when he's got a hand on Buggy's waist.

Even through the mask, Buggy's eyes are shining as they gaze up at him. Shanks feels like he's been caught in a trance. Their little dance ends sooner than he'd like, but that's when he notices that the prince has been fuming the entire time. And Shanks takes that as their cue to get out of there, hoping to all the gods that Buggy managed to actually do their task. He hears the prince yelling something about how that dance was his and was supposed to find his match, but no time for that.

They're back at the ship, the crew able to finish their mission. Buggy had been able to sweet talk useful information out of that prince, Shanks is ever grateful. But Buggy has been a bit off ever since they've returned, so Shanks decides to bite and ask what that whole dance thing was about.

Well, uh, it turns out that the masquerade ball had been a big event surrounding this local phenomenon where two people are shown to be soulmates or whatever, and it's a pretty big tradition. And it doesn't happen very often. Shanks feels his eyes widen at the soulmates part. Does this mean that him and Buggy are...? How is he supposed to bring that up? Buggy certainly doesn't look like he's gonna talk about it. This doesn't make pretending that he doesn't have feelings for Buggy any easier.

God, I'm gonna stop. 😭

[theostrophywife]

azriel x bff!reader who make out randomly. not just once. like repeatedly. they make out during parties when they find a dark corner. when the ic is busy doing something and they find it boring. sometimes the ic finds them randomly making out. like full on make out sessions. but if asked they're like "we just friends, friends who kiss" or something like that.

just friends.

a/n: oh my god. listen this awakened something feral within me. hot steamy makeout sessions with az any time you want? god, could you imagine 😩 song inspiration: keep me on by noah guy.

you and azriel were friends—just friends, but that didn’t mean that you couldn’t kiss sometimes.

especially when the shadowsinger was so good at it.

you couldn’t even remember how it started. maybe during a night out at rita’s when you and az drank a little too much, danced a little too close, and got a little too flirty. you couldn’t recall who dragged who out of the pleasure hall for a breath of fresh air, but it didn’t matter.

as the warm, balmy breeze flowed through your hair, you’d leaned against the red brick wall, cheeks flushed and lips tingling with the sting of tequila, and azriel had come closer, caging you in.

maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the way the moonlight kissed azriel’s golden brown skin, but you couldn’t stop staring at his mouth. those pouty, seductive lips that had been pressed against your ear for most of the night, whispering sarcastic retorts and flirty remarks. gods, you really wanted to know what azriel tasted like.

“don’t do that,” az said, his voice rough and smoky. he was looking down at you, the first few buttons of his black shirt left open so you could admire the intricate tattoos swirling through the hard planes of his chest.

“do what?” you asked innocently, fluttering your lashes up at the shadowsinger.

swirls of brown and green flecked with gold seemed to pull you in as azriel’s gaze flickered over your face. "that," he tilted your chin up and you tried not to shiver as his rough, calloused hands brushed against your soft skin. “look at me like you want to kiss me.”

“so what if i do?” you bit your lip, meeting those glowing golden eyes. a small smirk graced your face as azriel took a sharp breath. “what are you gonna do about it, az?”

really, you should’ve known better than to tease the shadowsinger. within the blink of an eye, azriel’s lips were crashing into yours, soft yet firm, passionate yet gentle, dominant but still yielding as you twined your fingers through his hair to taste more, more, more.

your best friend hiked you up against the wall and the brick was a shock of cold against your skin as you pressed up against it, but you didn’t even care. you were too busy wrapping your legs around azriel’s trim waist to notice. you kissed and kissed, not once breaking away from each other even as the cement scratched at your exposed back.

and gods, when azriel teased his tongue between your parted lips, you completely lost it. he tasted like warm whiskey and spun sugar and you could barely keep up as your tongues danced together.

there was so much to explore—his mouth, his throat, his neck. you drank all of it in, peppering kisses where you could, getting your fill and more of the shadowsinger. it might've been minutes or hours later when you two finally peeled yourself off of each other, eyes wild and chests heaving as you explored this entirely new territory of your friendship.

since then, making out with azriel had become a regular occurrence. the two of you just couldn’t help yourselves.

azriel was a good fucking kisser and you loved making out with him every chance you got.

you and the shadowsinger were completely shameless about it too. it wasn’t unheard of for you to sneak off during an inner circle party to find some dark corner and completely devour each other.

one particular time during game night, you’d gotten bored of playing cards. as usual, azriel was wiping the floor with your friends. he was reclined in his seat with a slight smirk on his face and you fondly rolled your eyes across from him. while you were usually a good sport, your mind started wandering to other activities you’d much rather be doing with the shadowsinger. and so you’d dragged your foot along his leg, keeping a straight face as you pretended to be engrossed in the cards in your hands.

azriel nearly knocked his knee against the top of the table and cassian looked over at him with a raised brow. "you okay there, brother?"

the shadowsinger composed himself, his heated gaze flickering over to you before he gave cas a small nod. "all this winning is making me a little parched," he said with a smirk. "i say we break into rhysand's good wine. y/n, care to join me?"

you nodded, taking azriel's hand as he led you to the door leading to the wine cellar. nesta shot you a knowing look while cassian grinned beside her. "don't take too long or else i won't be able to resist the temptation of peeking at your hand, az," the illyrian general teased.

"we'll be right back," you assured your friends with a smile.

that turned out to be a complete lie.

you hadn't even taken two steps into the wine cellar before azriel was pulling you to his chest, lips pressing against yours. you sighed in satisfaction against his mouth as your best friend chuckled.

"really couldn't wait, huh?" az's voice was low and husky as he nuzzled his nose against your skin, peppering kisses against the hollow of your throat. "are you that eager for me, pretty girl?"

"i got bored of playing cards," you said, eyes rolling back as azriel sucked at your collarbone. "i wanted to play with you instead."

"yeah?" the shadowsinger teased, tilting your head back to allow him easier access to your neck. "you like it when i kiss you here?" azriel grazed the sensitive spot below your right ear with his lips, teasing and taunting. "or maybe here?" his lips moved across your jawline, tongue flicking wickedly as you took a sharp breath.

"az," you rasped, letting out a breathy moan. "stop teasing and fucking kiss me already."

azriel smirked in satisfaction, but obliged you all the same. he kissed you, rough and demanding, teeth clashing and tongues dancing as his hands roamed underneath your knit sweater. it felt intoxicating and no matter how many times you kissed him, it still didn't feel like enough.

you were absolutely greedy with it too, tugging at his hair, nipping at his neck, tracing the tattoos on his golden brown skin with your tongue while azriel groaned and shifted you to the side, nearly knocking over a rack full of expensive wine. you giggled as the glass clinked together, echoing through the spacious cellar.

"and you said i was eager," you taunted, pressing a hand against azriel's chest. "keep it down, az. unless you want the whole godsdamned house to hear us."

the shadowsinger only shrugged, pecking at your cheek. "why bother? it's not like they don't already know what we're doing down here."

that much was true. your friends had caught you in a compromising position more than once. in a coat closet. under a dark alcove. even tucked away in the kitchen pantry. at this point, they'd stopped acting surprised when they walked in on you.

you chuckled. "fair point."

azriel smiled and dipped his head lower, brushing his nose against yours. "now where were we, angel?"

his scarred hand wrapped around the side of your neck and he gave no warning as he slipped his tongue into your mouth, prodding and teasing, smiling against you when he heard your little gasp of surprise.

azriel loved how responsive you were. relished every breath and moan and sigh. savored the push and pull. adored the tugging and nipping and roaming. it was addicting and so were you.

he couldn't focus on anything else when you were in the room. even his shadows quieted, content to swirl through your wrists and ankles and hair. they were entirely distracted by you, which explained why azriel hadn't heard the footsteps or seen the light streaming in from the cellar door until lucien came into view.

the male hovered over the first step, confused and flustered as realization flooded his features. "sorry—they sent me down here to get more wine."

you grabbed the wine bottle closest to you and tossed it at the male. lucien caught it, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "that should do."

"thanks," he managed to stutter out.

azriel cut him a withering glare, his wing cloaking over you protectively. "do you fucking mind?"

the redhaired male shook his head and bounded up the stairs, carefully shutting the door behind him.

when you were sure lucien was out of earshot, you swatted azriel's arm. "did you have to be so rude?"

"no," az said nonchalantly. "that was purely for my enjoyment."

you rolled your eyes. "you illyrians and your possessiveness," you mumbled, latching your lips onto his neck. "don't worry, az. you'll always be my favorite."

the shadowsinger smirked in satisfaction. "damn right, angel."

an hour later, you and azriel emerged from the wine cellar with ruffled hair and swollen lips. and you'd forgotten to fetch the damned wine that you went down to the cellar for in the first place.

you walked into the living room just in time to hear lucien murmuring to elain, "i thought they were friends."

you snorted, making lucien flinch. "we are," you confirmed as azriel plopped down onto the couch, pulling you into his lap. "best friends." the shadowsinger grinned as you kissed his cheek. "that doesn't mean we can't kiss a little."

lucien looked utterly confused. he glanced around the room, meeting cassian's amused gaze. "trust me, it's better if you don't ask. i stopped trying to understand a long time ago."

you childishly stuck your tongue out at the illyrian general. "you're just cranky because az was kicking your ass at cards."

cassian raised a brow. "before you distracted him with your feminine wiles and gave vanserra over here a show."

azriel rested his chin on the crook of your neck, wrapping his arms around your waist. "lucien is free to watch," the shadowsinger said smoothly. "as long as that's all he does."

lucien choked on his wine as the rest of your friends laughed.

[h-didanart]

Hello hello, welcome back everyone to the Sunrise Arc Theatre au!

Now, for today’s batch of doodles we have some stuff from the Sunset and Moonlight Musical, brought to you by me going into a four(?) hour long YouTube binge for songs from musicals and stuff to add to both plays. It’s still pretty barebones compared to Get in Losers but it’s slowly gaining shape.

The first thing to show you all will actually be parts of a performance by the main villain of the play!

Thanks to all the chaos Moonlight and Sunset managed to set themselves with, Phantom Lunar was able to get the star with little difficulties. It was only natural for the little devil to then proceed to rub it in everyone’s faces, It’s Gonna Get Weird is the closing number for this arc of the play.

Featuring black lights and a harness (that’s what the thing that makes people fly on stage is called, yes?), this song is a chaotically fun performance truly brought to life by Haunting’s cheery delivery and bone-chilling demeanor. They have shown to love this choreography, often adding his own little dance moves to their different on stage performances, though at first he was reluctant to even try it due to the flying sections, they’ve never been a fan of heights. It definitely didn’t help that the worker in charge of him apparently teased them for it. The worker did not deny having said something about it when asked. Regardless of past fears, Haunting enjoys this song a lot and very often can be seen mindlessly practicing the moves.

And now, you will all get the chance to see some small sneak peaks into some of the songs in this play’s lineup, and get some exclusive commentary from the actors! Let’s get to it!

What was a casual hangout in the Alternate Lunar’s dimension soon turned into an awkward situation for the young Eclipse. He hadn’t known he’d step into a touchy subject with that small joke! Luckily the Alternate Lunar seemed more preoccupied with making a point about stuffing your face with sweet icy treats rather than guilting the solar bot about his mistake. Upgrades.

“I try to make the same face I made the first time I heard that line, but like, there’s something about the shock from that statement that just manages to get me to pull that expression even if I’m not trying to. It’s useful but oh my god is it awkward” —Clipsy Corona Galaxia

“I find it very funny honestly, that whole musical is just my sense of humor really! Though it does mean that I have to play it cool when I’m mentally cackling like a hyena at this guy’s reaction” —Umbra Blaze

Short lived but well remembered, an unlikely duo terrorizes the twins, dropping by randomly and demanding to play tea party. Moonlight and Protostar would wave them off had Phantom Lunar not had the powers of a God and basically be able to puppeteer anyone at any point they so desired. This was a party they could not decline the invitation to

“I like to sing this one! It’s very fun, and upbeat, and then it turns into a horror movie! What more could you ever want?” —Haunting Lune Aurora

“Yes, yes, this one is wondrous, quite charming really. Shame we do not get more appearances together, but alas, we got one semi-duet and that feels right for the characters and play” —Ruin Eclair Baker

“Moving as if you were a puppet is a lot more difficult than it appears, would not recommend” —Morning Star Galaxia

Having struggled to put himself in the right path, Moonlight finds himself frustrated with his twin’s lack of communication. It wouldn’t come as a surprise that he’d reciprocate the treatment, going through his own routes to ensure his family’s safety. Surely it will all work out in the end.

“I love this song. I know it’s a villain song but honestly that just makes it better, it’s just so cool! And way better than what I was gonna sing originally, I still think they switched my and Sunrise’s scripts or something” —Waning Moonlight Galaxia

“We did not switch their scripts, Get in Losers had already had a few runs before we even started auditions for Sunset and Moonlight. We just saw that the song would fit someone over here more than over there” —Herald Shadow Art, Head of Writing

It went wrong. It all went so wrong. It couldn’t have gone worse.

“I’m just gonna say it first, this is a completely safe thing to do. Yes there’s props that can catch on fire around, but me and some of our special effects guys have already thought that through. The only thing that’s gonna get burned is gonna be my clothes and that’s for a very cool quick change that probably won’t hurt me, so it’s all fine and good” —Waning Moonlight Galaxia

“It’s special fire produced by a specific mix of magically rooted powders, it looks like a tough flame but it can barely light a scrap of paper on fire” —Moonstone Crystal, Special Effects Department

“Finding a textile that would burn with such little heat was fucking hell, so no, there’s no danger in these stunts” —Eclipse Solar Macabro, Head of Costuming

[eddieschains]

Oh boy! I am here to ask for some Joe angst if possible?

“it hurts loving someone who doesn’t love you back...”

Like two idiots in love... everyone can see she has a thing for him, only Joe is being clueless about it. Some serious pining and then he can ask why she's not dating anyone or something. I mean, you get the creative freedom.. I don't know, no pressure. Love you! x

for some reason i was having a really hard time trying to write this but then i listened to Linger by The Cranberries and it hurt so good so this is loosely based off that song

hope you like it babes!! 🤍

It Hurts Loving Someone Who Doesn’t Love You Back

You’d known Joe for years, even before he started thinking about acting. You went to school together and had all the same friends. Although you would never admit it, you always had a crush on him even then.

Your own girlfriends knew about your feelings, but also knew you would most likely never act on them. You sat on the sidelines watching as he got girlfriend after girlfriend, pushing your feelings to the side.

Then, one time after high school when all your friends had a party before everyone went off to college, he kissed you. He got a little too drunk and while you two were sitting on the couch talking, he grabbed your face and kissed you. If you didn’t have feelings for him before that, you definitely did afterwards.

Your friends all hooted and hollered while they watched, but you were silent. You knew that was the furthest you could or would ever go with him and it hurt you even more.

He went off to acting school and managed to stay in touch as much as he could, but you were honestly glad you fell apart. Seeing him more often would just bring you more pain.

A few years went by, and you hadn’t heard from him much. You moved on with your life and tried to move on from him. You dated a couple guys but never made it past the first few months. None of them were Joe, and you just couldn’t bring yourself to continue with them while you were in love with someone else.

Your birthday was coming up, and all your friends decided to throw you a big party. Not being much of a party person after that experience with Joe years before, you reluctantly agreed. You decided it might be nice to get out for once instead of sulking about what could’ve been and hey, maybe finding a good fuck would be all you needed to get out of your head once and for all.

Your best friend rented a big house on the water, and all your closest friends were there. Of course Joe was friends with them too, but luckily he wasn’t here. You didn’t know how you would react if he showed up.

You were all drinking, dancing, and catching up when you heard a loud commotion at the door. You looked over to see what all the fuss was about when the very thing you dreaded happening, happened.

“Hey big actor man is here!” One of your friends shouted, ushering him through the crowd.

Joe was smiling and saying hi to everyone he hadn’t seen in a while before heading to the kitchen for a drink. He looked good. So good. He wasn’t the scrappy little 18 year old anymore, and he was aging like fine fucking wine.

You tried hiding from him on the balcony, but it being your birthday and all, it was a bit hard.

“Hey birthday girl.” His voice rang through your ears as his fingers pierced the skin on your bare shoulders.

You take a deep breath in, before putting on your fakest smile and turning to look at him. “Hey movie star.” You envelop him in a hug, not too tight and not too long in fear you would break down at that very moment. “How are you?”

“Oh i’m good you know, just working. Trying to get this acting thing going.” He chuckles, taking a sip of his beer.

“Yeah I heard you just got a part in a movie, what’s it called again?”

“Make up. It’s like this thriller love story type thing. Can’t really say too much without spoiling it.” He’s giving you the most intense eye contact you’ve ever received before. His brown eyes glistening in the bright moonlight, so much prettier than you remembered. “But how are you? You been doing okay?”

“Yeah no i’m good. Just finished dental school so i’m gonna start digging in peoples mouths here pretty soon.” You giggle, breaking eye contact to sip on your cup of various mixed alcohol.

“Yeah how’s mine look? Good?” He opens his mouth wide, and you jokingly examine him.

“Oh I don’t know Joe, might wanna get that one checked out.” He laughs, slapping your hand away.

He moves over to one of the chairs set outside and you join him. Enjoying the evening sky and the quiet away from the party.

“So what’s new with your love life? I heard you were dating that guy from history class.”

“Jake.”

“Jake! Yeah he always seemed pretty cool.”

“Yeah he was alright. Uh I broke up with him about a month ago.” You look down at your feet, trying not to fall into his eyes.

“Oh i’m sorry. What happened?” He leans forward, and you feel his eyes on you once again.

“Just wasn’t feeling it I guess.”

“You do that a lot you know?” He chuckles. You look up at him, furrowing your brows.

“Do what?” You question.

“You go out with a guy for like a couple months and then dump him. You don’t even give them a chance Y/N.” He laughs, and you feel anger boiling in your cheeks. If he only knew. “Have you ever even been in love?”

“Well it hurts loving someone who doesn’t love you back.” You look away, trying not to let your tears fall from your eyes

“What are you talking about? Jake didn’t love you?” You can hear the concern in his voice.

“No he loved me.” You continue, not moving your head from the other side of your body.

“Then who do you love that doesn’t love you back?” You set your drink down on the table beside you, before jumping out of your seat.

“You! You Joe! It’s always been you. I’ve loved you since we were 16, did you know that?” He sits in awe, jaw practically in his lap as you’re hovering above him confessing what you’ve felt for the past 10 years. “And to watch you move from girl to girl wishing it was me? Do you know how hard that is? Have you ever felt something like that?”

“Y/N, I-“

“No I don’t want to hear what you have to say right now. I have sat on the sidelines for years, YEARS Joe, just wishing and waiting for my turn. Waiting for you to finally notice the way I look at you. The way I focus on your mouth whenever you talk to me, the way my cheeks immediately turn red when you walk towards me, the way my eyes go wide when you take your hoodie off and your shirt comes up with it. How have you not noticed? And for you to waltz in here on my birthday after ignoring me for the past 3 years and act like we’re best friends again? I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend that you’re just my friend anymore because you’ve always been so, so much more.”

For once Joe isn’t looking at you. His eyes are focused on his lap, fiddling with his hands as he takes in what you just said.

“God, i’ve waited years to say that you. And now that that’s done, we can both move on with our lives and go back to pretending like the other doesn’t exist. Thank you for coming to my birthday, it was great seeing you, but honestly I hope I never have to see you again.”

You grab your cup from the table and start to walk towards the door.

“Have a great night Joe. Catch up with your friends, and drink to your hearts content. I’m leaving.”

You storm through the house, tears streaming down your face. Passing by as people ask what’s wrong before grabbing your purse and slamming the door behind you. What a fucking night.

[ab4eva]

‘Twin Flame Bruise’ (part 2)

Summary: Austin sees reader, his ex, when he’s least expecting it and is shocked to see how much she’s changed.

Warnings: angst

Part 1: Here & Part 3: Here

Tag list: @jelliedonut @do-youseeme

-

It’s true Austin had been the driving force behind their relationship. When he met her, he felt as if he had come home. There’s a line in a old Tracy Chapman song that he’d always loved, “It would feel so good to be, in your arms, where all my journeys end.” That’s what being with her had made him feel - safe, whole, complete. Someone to share this crazy life with.

She had resisted at first. She was older than him - ready to settle down, get married, have a family. He was on the verge of fame, a soon-to-be breakout star in a Hollywood blockbuster. She had been attracted to him of course, had fallen for him instantly. But she resisted giving herself completely over in the beginning. She’d been in Hollywood a long time, knew many actors, had seen behind the curtain.

She kept telling him she didn’t think she could survive it, if they got together and it didn’t last. Didn’t he want the freedom to be young, handsome, famous and unattached? But all he wanted was her. A freight train couldn’t have kept them apart. It was destined to be, for better or worse. And now here they were, an ill-fated pair of crossed stars, crashing into one another yet again.

—-

The lumberjack helped Austin get her into an Uber and gave him her address. When had she moved to Nashville? So much had happened in such a short time, Austin felt off-balance, as if he might teeter off the edge of a cliff if he wasn’t careful.

She was in and out of consciousness on the drive home, mostly out, and it gave Austin time alone with his thoughts. They turned, inevitably, to that day in May, after they had returned from Cannes, when everything fell apart in the most spectacular way.

Why had Austin let himself be persuaded, by one of his oldest and dearest friends no less? It had started innocently enough, this friend dropping little comments here and there about how Y/N was nice and all, but Austin wasn’t ready to settle down, was he? He was getting more famous by the day, paparazzi following his every move. Invitations to parties and premieres and film offers from his favorite directors. It would be so much easier, so much more fun, without being attached, his friend had said.

And what about all of the upcoming projects Austin had that required him to be away for months at a time - in Budapest, in Ohio, and after that, who knows? Y/N had a full-time job at a studio in LA that required her to stay there, meeting with directors and actors, supervising film productions. She couldn’t pick up and travel with Austin. In fact, she had been quietly house-hunting for a place the two of them could call their own. Something about that got under Austin’s skin, an itch he couldn’t quite scratch.

Then, right before Cannes, his friend struck the final blow. Austin had been in love once before, he reasoned, and look how that turned out.

“I watched it nearly destroy you, man. It took you two years, three women and the other side of the world to get through it. What if things don’t work out with Y/N? Do you really want to go down that path again, so soon?”

Austin was torn from his thoughts as the Uber pulled up to a brownstone apartment in East Nashville. He gently shook her awake and she blinked blearily.

“Where am I?” she asked groggily.

“You’re with me, baby, I’m taking you home,” Austin murmured quietly, his voice a raspy hum, a protective arm around her shoulder.

He got her out of the car, up the stairs and into her apartment, rummaging in her purse for the keys. In the moonlight, he could see the apartment she had made her own. He felt a catch in his throat…she would have made them such a beautiful home together.

But that dream was dead. He knew there was no going back, no matter how much he wanted to. He had thought about reaching out to her once he came to his senses, realized his mistake. His life felt so cold without her constant warmth. But he was paralyzed by guilt and regret, unable to make the first move. And now he could see that she was completely broken, unrecognizable after what she’d been through. A soldier returning half her weight.

Austin practically carried her to the bedroom, gently laying her down in the bed, taking off her cowboys boots (he smiled to himself, he never thought he’d see the day), and covered her with a blanket. He sat down on the bed beside her, gently placing his hand on her cheek, stoking her eyebrow softly with his thumb. A little quirk of hers, she had always loved it when Austin did that, it made her feel safe and cared for and loved.

She opened her eyes then, and looked at him, pain and recognition written on her face. A tear slipped down her cheek before she moved her head from his grasp, and turned away from him.

[plethora-of-imagines]

Plethora's Pleasant-mas Advent Calendar: Day 18

Words: 735

Warnings: None

Sipping your drink to hide your fond smile as one of your favorite co-workers stumbled away from you and Steven to join the mass of bodies all tangled together on the dance floor. The fancy glimmering ballroom your work had rented out for the company holiday party was massive. In your mind it was a little bit overkill. Almost everyone was far too drunk to enjoy it properly, and would scarcely remember it. But it wasn’t your money.

You had loved the chance to dress up in a fancy dress for once. And it was even better to get to see Steven in a suit. He had chosen one that reminded him of his moon knight suit but was different enough to avoid dangerous comparisons. The cream color of the suit, suiting his skin. The tight fit showing off his well maintained body. Overall he looked better than you did! No matter how much he claimed otherwise. 

The two of you had mainly come for the excuse to dress up, and the free fancy food. Which due to the founder of your company being vegan had been mainly vegan. Basically the two of you had treated it like a fancy date night where you were going to run into a bunch of people you knew. 

While your coworkers got plastered, the two of you had savored the fancy cocktails and decadent desserts. Just enjoying each other’s company. Humoring the drunk conversations of your peers while the two of you talked- in the moments of time you got to yourselves- about the new project Steven had started at the university he had become a professor at this past year.

The music choice had gotten more and more subdued as time went on, the DJ trying to encourage people to leave to start moving to the pubs as time ran out on the venue. The last several songs being slow dances that people were growing tired of trying to grind to. 

Smiling at Steven you teased, “I think the DJ is trying to tell us to slow dance at least once tonight Steven.”

“I- ummm, don’t really know how to dance. Might be best not to, I know that all your fancy coworkers are plastered but I don’t wanna embarrass you...”

“You wouldn’t,” you assured him. “But it’s fine if you don’t want to.”

Steven’s face changed, brows furrowing and lips tightening.

“Oh, he wants to, he just isn’t going to take the initiative.”

Marc’s rough American accent had you relaxing. You had feared that his tightened expression had been due to Khonshu coming to put an end to your relaxing evening. Marc gave you a small smile as he brushed the curls Steven had carefully styled back. Pulling at the suit trying to get comfortable in it.

“It’s odd seeing you in Steven’s suit,” you admitted.

“Yeah, I’m just much more of a mummy suit guy, aren’t I,” Marc snarked back.

Grabbing your hand and pulling you towards the dance floor against what you assumed were mental protests from Steven. Marc smoothly guided you into a slow dancing position, fondly rolling his eyes at the music that started playing.

“What don’t want to dance with me in the moonlight Marc,” you teased as you both swayed.

“Nah, much rather dance in here, you’d freeze out there.”

Laughing at his comment as you laid your head against his shoulder and enjoyed the gentle sway. You had not expected to see Marc tonight, he had claimed that work parties were not his thing.

“Steven is actually a better dancer than me, he actually knows ballroom dance. Of course he’s never actually danced with a partner so he’s too nervous to show off,” Marc slowly explained his earlier fronting. “He’s backseat judging my dancing right now in fact.”

With a playful wink Marc silently told you that he was being bad on purpose, helping to encourage Steven to take control. He was getting you, your dance. A shutter went through the body before Steven took back control. Fixing both your postures subtly and starting to lead you into a simple waltz.

“Can’t let Marc keep almost stepping on your toes. LIke a bull in a china shop on purpose I swear!”

You laughter filled the air as Steven and you danced the rest of the night away together until the venue came to kick the rest of you out.

[evermoresversion]

MOONLIGHT, JJ MAYBANK.

PAIRING JJ Maybank x fem!reader.

TW/TAGS Angst but fluff at the end.

SUMMARY You and JJ started having a friends-with-benefits kind of relationship secretly from the others. But JJ ended up falling in love with you even though apparently you don't feel the same way, or so he thought.

SONG Moonlight by Chase Atlantic.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN | JJ'S MASTERLIST | MASTERLIST

You and JJ had been lifelong friends along with John B.

Your group over time grew bigger, adding Kiara, Pope and Sarah. Everyone was together, parties, sleepless summer nights having a good time, drinking, loud music and dancing, what could go wrong?

Sure, you had to fall in love with your stupid, but cute, blonde best friend.

There was one particular night in which everything changed, the dynamic you both had up until then also did, ending up with you in his bed completely naked.

The two of you kept your "relationship" secret in the eyes of the others in the group because of the rule you had made not to ruin the friendship of the group with this kind of thing. Which you and JJ disobeyed.

JJ was in the room he had claimed as his at the Chateau, lying on his bed not knowing what to do, until an idea crossed his mind.

He took his phone opening your chat.

Cupcake ❤

JJ: Heey, wassup, any plan for today?

He waited patiently for your response, biting on his thumbnail, feeling his heart skip a beat when he saw that you were typing.

Cupcake ❤: Hii, yeah, in fact I have some things to do, sorry ):

He immediately felt disappointment fill his entire being and he wrote again.

JJ: I see, aaand tomorrow are you free?

Once again he waited anxiously for your answer, he hasn't seen you for days.

Cupcake ❤: I promised mom that I would go shopping with her

JJ: Well let me know when I'm back in your life

He knew he was being dramatic, unfair even, but he knew you'd had time to see the others. Everyone but him.

He turned off his cell phone and got out of bed to go to the yard to repair his motorcycle.

An hour after the last conversation you and JJ had he was still in the yard and then he heard your voice.

"Hi, Jay." You greeted cautiously, you didn't know how angry or upset he was with you.

"Didn't you have more important things to do?" He asked sarcastically, the venom in his voice could be heard, so you deduced that he was still upset.

"I made a place for you in my schedule." You decided to tease to lighten the mood but it didn't seem to work as he moved away from you to walk into the house. "JJ, I'm sorry, okay?"

He stood still, staring at how he cleaned his own hands with a rag. You approached him, taking his arm carefully, but he didn't seem to care. So you kept talking.

"I'm sorry." you moved so that you were in front of him, his blue eyes were still lost in his hands so you took him by the chin so he could look at you. He finally looked into your eyes and it wasn't long enough for him to lean in to kiss you slowly.

When you both broke from the kiss you offered him a gentle smile.

"Let's have a good time, shall we?"

"'kay."

It was an understatement that you had him wrapped around your finger like a ring.

He could never tell you no.

So like you said, you guys had a good time until the moonlight fell on the two of you as you both sat on your surfboards in the calm part of the sea.

The day ended well, you both ended up sleeping on the sofa-bed that was in the Chateau. John B. showed up a couple of hours later, letting you sleep peacefully. The brunette didn't find it strange to see you sleep together since you always had since you were little due to the constant nightmares you used to have.

The next day JJ felt the cold beat against his body and tried to reach your body to snuggle up next to him but when he didn't feel anyone he opened his eyes suddenly.

He sighed when he saw that you were nowhere to be found.

A few hours later he tried to call you this time but you never answered. He decided to let it go for that day, the next he tried again and nothing, he let it go again and the next and the next and the next until finally it was two weeks that he decided to give you your space.

John B. was arriving at the Chateau when he had barely hung up the phone.

"Where have you been?" the blonde asked with genuine interest, doing himself a sandwich.

"Uh..." he hesitated to say it and JJ looked at Pope who was also behind him. "We were with..."

"John B." Pope warned, looking at him.

"Hey JJ, what's going on between you and y/n, she has told us that she doesn't want to see you but she hasn't said why and..."

"What?" JJ asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, she..." JJ interrupted his best friend, walking towards him.

"Were you with her?" JJ asked looking at him and John B raised his hands in surrender.

"I do not know anything." He walked towards the kitchen to put away the food they had bought and the blond looked at Pope.

"She is outside." Pope sighed walking over to John B.

JJ hurried to go out to the porch that had the house, when you realized the presence of the blonde you cursed under your breath and began to walk towards your car.

"y/n!" he yelled running towards you. Surrendered, you turned around to look at him.

"I can't do this, I can't, sorry." You raised your hands surrendered, covering your face.

"What are you talking about? You can't do what? The fact of seeing me? Is that it?" he asked feeling his chest tighten.

"Shouldn't you help the boys?" you asked trying to cover up the fact that you didn't want to answer his questions.

"You're getting off topic." he quickly realized it and you sighed once more.

"JJ I can't go on with what we have, I'm not going to let myself ruin the best thing I've ever had, that's why I haven't responded to all your calls and texts."

"That day you came to see me you said you were in love with me." he muttered looking at you and tears threatened to spill out of his eyes, making them look bluer than they were.

"Please don't make it harder than it is." You begged him with your eyes and he denied without looking at you.

"You fall in and out of love as sunset passes, and I just want to know if you're in love now so I can risk everything for you." He declared staring into your eyes, leaving you speechless. Letting him speak again. "You only want to talk during the daytime and I want it all when the time's right." He denied with a sarcastic smile kicking a little stone. "This is the third time you say you're in love with me and then you want to end it all with a snap."

"Jay..." he cut you off before you could speak.

"Maybe I thought you would notice how in love I'm with you, because everyones seems to see it but you."

"JJ, listen to me." You moved closer to him to put your hand in front of his chest, where you could feel how fast his heart was at his confession. "I'm in love with you, but I don't want this to ruin the group." You looked at his eyes which strayed from yours. "You understand me, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded away from you and you pulled him closer to you by the shirt.

"I'm not done yet." He looked at you curiously and your gaze stayed where your hand was. "I want to risk it." You murmured and then looked into his eyes. "I want to bet it on us."

After that he leaned in to kiss you. Putting his hand on your neck to deepen the kiss.

"I'm so in love with you."

"And I of you."

disclaimer ── evermoresversion © 2023.

[generic-cleric]

Session 44

Session doc

Folder

*Spoiler warning for the D&D campaign Curse of Strahd*

Dancing in the Moonlight

We begin our session in the crypts. They had just pocketed Ilona’s thighbone and they’re discussing their next move. 

Ireena and Jander have a hushed and panicked conversation and then ask the party if they would sabotage their crypts. They didn’t want to end up trapped like Sasha, Lyssa, or Patrina. The party said they would, of course, figure something out.

Night was approaching and Vondal had decided that he would be spacing out his wolfsbane tinctures so he was not planning on taking one tonight. Ireena refused to drink any tinctures gifted by Strahd, so she was kind of following Vondal’s lead. 

Jander notices Ireena’s panicky vibes and offers to get her out of the castle for some fresh night air and to blow off some steam. She doesn’t know what that is, and Jander is baffled. He also extends an invitation to Vondal, they can go out and be wolves in the woods for the night. Vondal and Ireena both accept.

The party heads back to the rooms to ready themselves for their respective evenings. Jander helps Vondal and Ireena sneak out of the castle while Bedlam and Veledrel make their way around to speak with the Brides before the soiree. Since Okin’s player was gone this session, we decided that Okrin would stay in the room incase Pidlwick II returned. At this point, I had everyone roll initiative and plugged everyone into a combat tracker, even all the NPCs. I then used that to make sure everyone got a turn and to organize the perspective changes. Honestly? Worked out great.

Bedlam and Veledrel visit Ludmilla in the study where they find her reading a book about something called “Science”. Something they had only heard of once before when Jander was describing “something worse than the darkest magics”. They talk a little bit about it and she explains it as giving the power to reanimate bodies with electricity and such. She also mentions that the woman in Krezk is phenomenal at it. Bedlam notices that the portrait of Tatyana hanging over the fireplace now appears as a portrait of Ludmilla due to a minor illusion spell that had been cast on it. He compliments it and asks if he could have one sent to his room. He also asks her where he might be able to find everyone to better investigate this traitor situation. Ludmilla gives him the run down of which area everyone likes to hang out in, though doesn’t tell him how to get there. 

Jander, Ireena, and Vondal make their way out of the castle, across a rickety drawbridge and into the woods surrounding Castle Ravenloft. Jander supervises and comforts them as they transform. Both of them decide to give into their curse tonight, giving them more control. The small wolfpack of three bound down the hillside together, into the cold, dark night. 

Veledrel calls for Helga and asks if she would escort him to the overlook where Escher likes to hang out. He eventually finds him and coaxes him out from brooding under the balcony. It takes Veledrel a little while to get Escher to open up, but he eventually does. They talk about music and bard life and stuff. Veledrel asks some questions about his father and Escher tells him that he freed his dad from the prison because he’s using him to raise the dead with music. They had some more casual conversation until finally, Veledrel asked if Escher wanted to walk to the party together. So off they went!

Bedlam arrives at the audience hall early. Anastrasya is there commanding the skeletons and ghosts around as they set up the room for the evening. Bedlam pulls out his fancy new Doss Lute and begins playing, casting protection from good and evil as he approaches her:

“Anastrasya... You are a beauty rare and true...

Anastrasya... I'd kill a man for you...

Anastrasya... You bleed the village people dry...

Anastrasya... You make small children cry...

Anastrasya... You are the wife that I pursue”

By the end of the song, he had made his way up to her. He leans forward and kisses her on the mouth. She doesn’t reject the kiss, though she is tight-lipped and rather unresponsive. She tells him that she liked the song and asks if he would sing in front of everyone at the get-together. He asks if her kiss would be more enthusiastic, and she asks if instead of kissing, could she bite him? He laughs and says “No..” He then begins information gathering. He asks if the skeletons had ever carried things away or misplaced things? She tells him no, not really. He asks if things had ever gone missing and she tells him no to that as well. He rolled an insight check and rolled extremely poorly. Anatraya seems very very busy with prepping for the party, so Bedlam couldn’t get a good read. 

Ireena leads the pack to the outskirts of the Village of Barovia. They prowl around together and seat themselves on the edge of Burgomaster Kolyanovich’s property. One of the windows of the dark home is illuminated by the golden light of a candle. Ismark’s silhouette comes into view and the candle is extinguished. They pass by the church and the windows are darkened. There is really no indicator as to what is going on inside. They continue on their way.

The party actually begins in the entryway. The front doors are swung wide open to welcome the march of the dead. A parade of ghosts of adventurers past. Strahd, Gertruda, Anastrasya, Escher, Ludmilla, Volenta, and Sasha all mingle and watch as the ghosts disappear right as they reach the doors of the castle. As the last stragglers of the parade make their way to the doors, the group makes their way upstairs to the audience hall. 

Veledrel makes a big entrance, showing off his date with a polite twirl so Escher can flaunt his “sick drip”. Bedlam also makes a big show of his date, Anastrasya, as they make their royal entrance. They begin dancing, and it becomes almost immediately clear that there is some sort of rivalry between Anastrasya and Escher. Ludmilla, Sasha, Volenta, Strahd, and Gertruda all mingle when they aren’t dancing with each other. 

The wolf pack hears the sounds of children crying for help. Vondal isn’t sure what to do and waits for Jander and Ireena’s reaction. Jander and Ireena, who are pretty partial to saving children, follow the sound to check things out. They are led to a farmer’s pumpkin patch. After looking around and finding nothing, Vondal via wolf speak, asks Jander if pumpkin is safe for wolves to eat because he’s about to go to town on some pumpkins. While they ponder this, two of the pumpkins animate, becoming jack-o-lanterns and shooting seedbullets. A battle ensues.

Veledrel takes some time to dance with Volenta. She ends up taking quite a liking to him and begins telling him about her art project in the hall of bones that she and Cyrus have been working on and asks if he would like to go see it. He reluctantly agrees and she drags him off into the depths of the castle. She takes him to the hall of bones, which is exactly that. A very morbid ossuary, the cherry on top being a giant dragon skull. Veledrel is dying to know if it's the dragon from the book, Volenta, unfortunately is unable to confirm or deny this. She would much rather discuss what it feels like for Veledrel to use his fire magic to burn someone’s skin off. They get around to talking about stealing faces, though I don’t remember how the conversation could have led there. She mentions that she could help him get a face easy if he’d go with her tomorrow night. He really didn’t want to, but he agrees because it’s something that they’re in the market for to help out his mom. Eventually, they make their way back to the audience hall.

Bedlam flits about the dance floor, dancing with every bride there. He was happy to dance with Ludmilla. When he danced with Sasha, he tried his damnedest to wingman for Okrin. He even talked to Volenta about their joint-custody son Pidlwick II while he danced with her. He got a little more information about the people that reside within the castle, and found out about a mysterious accountant figure named Lief. 

The pumpkin pals were easily smashed by the wolves. As Vondal celebrates his victory with a maw full of pumpkin, things begin moving among the vines. Gourds and pumpkins pile atop each other, vines writhing around them like tendons, creating a Shambling… Gourdon! Out of his carved jack-o-lantern mouth, a cone of fire bursts forth and with a big pumpkin hand he craters the ground with a squash attack. Because of the way that I had the board set up when the combat started, Ireena and Vondal ended up tanking most of the physical damage dealt by Gourdon. Since this monster was a plant, and Jander has his Black Thumb curse, he was dealing quite a bit of damage with his bite attacks. Two more pumpkin pals were summoned during the fight, but when Gourdon went down, so did they.

The party boys danced into the night until their feet and hooves were sore. Eventually the festivities came to an end. The music died, and the sky began to lighten. The undead make their way to their chambers while Strahd personally escorts Gertruda to the king’s chambers (collective shudder from the party). As Veledrel and Bedlam pass through the entry hall, Jander, Ireena and Vondal meet them as they come in from their night out. Jander seems fine, other than continually spitting out pumpkin seeds. Vondal and Ireena are a little roughed up and wearing only their cloaks. All having enjoyed their night out. Ireena having the vibes of someone coming out of a mosh pit for the first time and absolutely loving it. Together they make their way to the guest rooms where they recuperate and share stories of their experiences. They hang out and kill time until they can take their long rest which ends as a new evening begins.

We decided that was a good place to end the session for the day!

[number1mingyustan]

Moonlight ☾

bandmate!taehyun x fem!reader

Genre: famous!au, fwb!au, smut

Warnings: oral (f.), fingering (f.), brief handjob, protected sex

Summary: You and your bandmate help each other out from time to time.

Word Count: 1.4k

(a/n: no not proofread but for this one imagine txt🤝chase atlantic. also this took so long to write bc i kept changing the plot sorry im indecisive and i still don’t know if i like it 🫡)

“Y/n, for track 6 you and Tae are gonna lead vocals together,” Yeonjun tells you as he hands you a beer.

“What?” you question. “I’ve done backup like twice, why am I lead?”

You’re all seated in Yeonjun’s apartment. You and Beomgyu are seated on the floor in front of the couch. Kai Yeonjun and Taehyun are all on the couch as the 6 of you watch a movie.

“The song needs a female voice and you’re the only girl. So you and Taehyun need to figure out a schedule to rehearse and record or whatever because the managers want it by next Wednesday.”

You turn around, facing Taehyun who’s seated behind you. He gives you a quick glance and a not, mouthing “it’ll be fine.”

You turn back quickly, training your eyes on the screen in front of you. Maybe it really won’t be that bad.

_______________

It ended up being worse than you thought. It was Friday night and you and Taehyun had spent the last hour and a half in his apartment trying to figure out this song.

You had little experience with singing and it was so hard for you to just ‘let go.’ In the band, Kai played drums, Yeonjun on Guitar, Beomgyu on Bass and you on the keys. Taehyun was the lead singer who occasionally played the strings with Yeonjun.

You’d done some backup vocals on songs before, but they were mostly hidden, which was very different than what you were facing now.

It was getting late and you were still struggling. They gave you an entire verse to sing by yourself. You didn’t necessarily sound bad, you simply lacked the confidence and it was reflecting in your performance.

“Hello?” Taehyun snapped his fingers. “Earth to Y/n.”

“Oh,” you say, snapping out of your thoughts. “Sorry.”

Aside from the singing itself, Taehyun’s presence was also making it difficult for you to concentrate. What no one else knew (including your own band mates) was that you and Taehyun had established a relationship that was more than the facade of friendship you two posed.

At least 3 times a week for the last few months you and Taehyun had been hooking up. Your relationship was no strings attached, and purely sexual after one extremely intoxicated night.

Your band had just released your second album and it changed everything. Unexpectedly you guys had blown up literally overnight. Per Yeonjun’s idea a huge party was thrown to celebrate your guys’ new found success. Thus an unnecessary amount of alcohol and drugs consumed, leading to you spending the night with one of your band mates.

With being insanely attractive and now famous, Taehyun alongside the rest of the group started to have fans. And unlike the other members, Taehyun never sought relief in groupies after that night at the party. Because he had you.

Well, partially. Taehyun’s never been the ‘hook up with strangers’ type. He liked familiarity and at least somewhat of a connections with the people he was sleeping with. And when you walked right into his bed, he knew this wasn’t something he wanted to let go of.

Granted, neither of you were looking for a commited relationship of the sort. But the sex was good and you two were comfortable with each other inside and outside of the bedroom.

He kept coming back. What started off as a one night mistake turned into an addiction. The two of you simply couldn’t keep your hands off one another.

“Alright,” he says getting up and walking to the kitchen. He comes back with two waters, handing you one of them. “Think we need a little break.”

You sigh out of exhaustion. “No it’s fine,” you protest. “We can try it one more time, I got it.”

He raises an eyebrow. “It’s getting late, just stay the night and we’ll work on it more tomorrow. You’re clearly exhausted so let’s just get some sleep yeah?”

You fake a gasp. “You really must want me in your bed Mr.Kang.”

He rolls his eyes at you playfully. “Last time I checked it wasn’t difficult to get you there anyway.”

You push him playfully. Your actions take him by surprise, causing him to stumble back. He catches himself, returning the favor and pushing you back. You let out another dramatic gasp, hitting him.

The two of you go back and forth, hitting and shoving one another until you find yourself pinned down on the floor of his apartment. His hands are intertwined with yours as he hovers over your body.

You wriggle beneath him, trying to free yourself of his grasp. Realizing this is a battle you won’t win, you attempt to change the subject.

“Tae,” you breathe. “We have to work on the song.”

He lets out a low chuckle. “Now you wanna work on the song?”

He’s amused nonetheless. He can see right through you.

“Sure you don’t wanna go to bed?” he asks.

Oh shit.

____________________

“Shit Tae,” you hiss.

His face is buried between your thighs. You grip his bedsheets desperately in an attempt to keep yourself grounded. You know how much he hates it when you move around when he’s working his tongue on you.

His tongue is wrapped around your clit, sucking on the sensitive bud as his fingers work wonders on you. He relishes in your taste, overwhelmed with satisfaction from the sheer amount of arousal spilling out of you in such a short amount of time.

You tug at his platinum hair frantically, letting out pleas and whimpers. “More- Fuck I’m so close.”

He looks up at at you, acknowledging your needs with a small smile. He picks up the pace of his fingers, pumping inside of your needy hole just the way you like it. He mumbles a “anything for you.”

Despite carrying the vocals of the group, Taehyun’s knowledge of the stringed instrument came in handy at times like this. Literally.

He allows you to ride out your high on his skillful tongue and fingers. You cry out as the pleasure washed through your body. Your eyes roll back into your head, back arching off the bed as he takes you to another place.

Your eyes flutter open once you finally come down from your high, only to be met with Taehyun’s. He’s hovering over you, ridding himself of his shirt.

“You okay?” he licks his lips.

You nod at him, pulling his face down to meet yours in a needy kiss. He’s quick to reciprocate, kissing you back just as hastily. You reach your hands down, pulling his boxers down enough to let his length spring free.

“Fuck,” he cusses against your lips.

You pump him slowly with an outstretched hand without breaking the kiss. He groans against your lips. His hand taps the dresser adjacent to you, opening it and pulling out a box with minimal movement.

He pulls out a wrapper, finally sitting up and breaking your heated kiss. You lay there breathlessly as he rips open the package and slides the latex down his length.

You feel him slip in, slowly stretching out your insides. Your hands grip his bare body tightly as you feel him full you up.

His body hovers over yours, and it’s not long before you feel him moving inside of you. His thrusts start off slow, gradually picking up in pace.

You were a mess under his touch. Whimpering and moaning incessantly as he fucked you. The moonlight beamed from the uncovered windows, illuminating his skin.

The air around you were crisp and cool, but your body felt like it was on fire. You were particularly sensitive. Every small touch and movement brought you closer to the blissful feeling you so desperately craved.

He groans into your neck, hips faltering in rhythm. You know he’s close too.

It’s not long before you’re crying out his name and squirming beneath him as you ride out your high. Your hips push into his and he feels you tighten around him.

Your movements quickly send him over the edge too. The two of you moan in unison as your orgasms shock waves of pleasure through your bodies simultaneously.

He pecks a kiss on your forehead before getting up to dispose of the now very full condom. He plops down onto the bed next to you, pulling your body into his.

Your fingers find his dyed hair, raking through his soft locs. It’s pretty unusual for you two to be so soft and touchy after sex. It’s rare that either of you have ever bothered to do so much as stay the night.

But for some reason you’re finding an inexplicable amount of comfort from him. It’s quiet, but not awkward. The two of you sinfully enjoy one another’s presence until you fall asleep under the moonlight.

_______________________________________________

© number1mingyustan - Do not repost without permission.

[chrisbitchtree]

For @memes-saved-me, whose post about post-S2 Harringrove inspired this!

***

Tap tap tap. Steve wakes from an uneasy sleep to the sound of pebbles hitting glass. He rolls over and looks at the clock. 2am. The smile on his face grows as he pushes up off the bed and makes his way to the window. He opens the blinds to find Billy standing on the ground, two floor down, grinning up at him. He opens his window, sticking his head out.

“Hey, pretty boy,” Billy calls, softly, his voice carrying in the quiet of the night. “You gonna let me in, or are you coming out?”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Steve replies, before racing to grab a hoodie and some shorts, shaking his head fondly. He and Billy have been fucking around for six months now. Once they’d both apologized to each other for their part in the fight at the Byers, they’d started circling each other, the tension becoming palpable. Just after Christmas, they’d spent a night talking in the Camaro, Steve’s dad’s good whiskey in hand, and Billy had finally made a move.

It had been casual at first, meeting up every once in a while to fuck in the back of one of their cars at the quarry, or the bathroom of a party if they happened to meat there, but now that they made things official three months ago, they can’t stand to be apart. It would be a little gross even for Steve, the sap that he is, if he wasn’t part of it.

Every spare moment is spent together, talking out on Steve’s patio, watching the stars out by Lover’s Lake, or sneaking into the showers at the Hawkins Community Pool once it’s closed for the night. That’s where they were tonight, Steve hanging around the sign in desk, waiting for Heather to go home, before Steve took his time taking Billy apart under the hot shower water.

They parted with promises to see each other tomorrow, but Billy clearly can’t wait that long, and Steve’s happy that he can’t. He slips on his sandals and opens the front door, Billy standing there waiting for him. They usually wouldn’t take a risk like this, but with it being so late, they take their chances, Billy pinning him up against the front door and kissing him until they’re both breathless. From the desperate feel of it, you’d think they’ve been apart for years, not hours, but here they are, three hours after saying goodbye.

“Couldn’t wait any longer to see you, pretty boy. Had to come,” Billy says, nuzzling Steve’s neck. It tickles, and Steve lets out a gleeful little giggle. He can’t remember the last time he giggled before he got together with Billy, but the other boy just brings that out in him, that carefree, happy, gleeful side.

Steve wraps his arms around him, pulling him impossibly closer, and whispering in his ear. “I’m so happy that you did.” He pulls back to look at the other boy, his sleep messed golden curls framing his face, his blue eyes bright in the moonlight.

“Wanna go for a drive?”, Billy asks, pulling out his car keys.

Steve nods, pulling on his hoodie and taking Billy’s hand. They walk down the driveway and out into the street to the Camaro, that’s parked, as always, two blocks away. Billy doesn’t want to park in the driveway, less a passerby put two and two together, and Steve doesn’t blame him. It’s hard to keep their relationship under wraps when he wants to shout about how much he loves Billy from the rooftops, but Hawkins isn’t exactly accepting of their kind, so it’s all longing glances and late-night meetups until they can get out of here. Hopefully soon, and together.

They get in the car and drive, Steve rooting around under his seat until he fishes out his own Bruce Springsteen tape and pops it into the tape player. He’s the only one that’s allowed to touch the stereo besides Billy and knowing that makes him feel a little giddy. Born to Run starts up as they reach the edge of town, and Billy rolls the windows down, speeding up as they start to shout, “tramps like us, baby, we were born to run”.

When they first started going for drives together, singing this song felt desperate and sad, and made Steve’s heartache, thinking of having to run away from everything he’s ever known, just to be with Billy, but now, it makes him feel happy and hopeful for his future. He doesn’t have to run, he gets to run, to a brighter, better day. He takes Billy’s hand in his own, holding on for the ride. It doesn’t matter where they’re going, as long as they’re together.

[ewitsren]

OMG I LOVED THE MARRIED LIFE WITH CHIFUYU AND BAJI, COULD YOU DO THAT WITH DRAKEN AND MIKEY PLEASE <33 THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

wedding w mitsuya, mikey, draken !!

pairings: mitsuya takashi x fem!reader, sano manjiro x fem!reader, ryuguji ken x fem!reader

cw/tw ⚠️: fluff, mentions of food and alcohol, kissing

requested: yes

barrista's note ☕: another also asked for mitsuya version so here's all together! i hope you guys will like it ♡ i literally cried while writing mitsuya's part i'm so in love with him :(

#MITSUYA

this boy... i stg i'm gonna cry he's the best </3

okay, his proposal is a little bit similar to chifuyu's; the rooftop and stargazing again but this boy had made your favorite food for dinner, set the table up on the roof and decorated the place with colorful string lights, your favorite flowers and scented candles. you were laying on mitsuya's lap, looking at the stars while humming a song, you two had finished eating and started stargazing. one of mitsuya's hands was wandering around in your hair as the other one was playing with your fingers. mitsuya got up, fiddled with his phone for a minute and gently took your hand, pulled you to himself to get you up as the melody of the night we met by lord huron spread into the night from the speakers. wrapping his arms around your waist, mitsuya guided you left and right; back and forth, initiating a slow dance. he placed the ring on your ring finger as your fingers interlocked when the song was over, giving you the warmest smile on earth you can ever receive.

"y/n, you're my moonlight. you're the calm, soothing part of my life and i love it. you make me feel at ease, you make me feel vulnerable, warm... i don't ever wanna let you go, i wanna wake up next to you everyday, i wanna watch you read every night, i want you to stay by my side. i love you, i love you so much more than you can imagine and i'll always be there with you even if you try to get rid of me. i'll be your shoulder to lean on when you feel like giving up, i'll be the one kissing your tears away when you cry, i'll be the one dry your hair when you're too lazy to do it." mitsuya chuckled. "will you marry me?"

YEAH MAN BIG YES I'M MARRYING YOU

beach wedding!! you guys say your vovs and kiss each other on the edge of the jetty while the sun's setting, painting the sky and the ocean to a reddish golden

guestlist includes toman boys (mikey, draken, baji, kazu, chifuyu, kawata twins, hakkai, inui, peh-yan, pah-chin, takemichi) + emma, yuzuha, hina, your friends

wedding menu consists of sea food and soft cocktails like margarita, mojito etc.

mitsuya made both your clothes for the wedding, i don't accept anything said in otherwise.

his suit is black and white as accustomed. and your wedding dress is an off-shoulder white one with tulle arm-sleeves between a lil bit upper part from your elbow and again a bit upper part from your wrist (multiple layers), chest/stomach part of the dress is similar to corset and it has ball gown type of lower part (I'M SORRY THIS WAS JUST TOO HARD TO DESCRIBE BUT I HAD TO I'M PLANNING MY OWN WEDDING RN AKGSJEGDNX)

poor boy almost cries when he sees you walking towards him, he looks at you like you make the stars shine

mana and luna flower girls!!

mitsuya's bestman is 100% hakkai ♡

after party with the toman crew is so fun!! y'all swim and play drinking games, run on the sand after everyone leaves

hakkai cries and talks about how happy he is for you two

domestic life with mitsuya is the cutest thing ever 😭

you guys would either get a dog or cat if you wanted a pet

mitsuya always helps you with chores, you guys do them alternately

grocery shopping is always done together bc mitsuya loves shopping with you

he makes sure you rest well when you're tired and takes care of everything on his own

mana and luna often hang out with you two, they're almost your kids </3

you guys binge watch a lot of anime and tv series with them

i wanna marry him just pls

#MIKEY

he puts the ring in a dorayaki

draken told him not to but mikey did it anyways

I'M SORRY IF U SWALLOW THE RING IT'S NOT MY FAULT IT'S ON MIKEY

seriously tho i can't see him proposing to his s/o in a romantic way sorry

"i'll make you dorayaki every morning if you marry me~" *wink wink*

"y/n-cchi!! i love you so much and i wanna spend the rest of my life with you. i'll always be there for you if you let me and i want you to be there for me too. so will you marry me?"

again, i don't see mikey planning the most romantic and the cutest wedding. he'll book a big restaurant with a beautiful view of tokyo. (kinda like taiju's restaurant you know with big aquariums and lowkey fancy stuff like that)

he's the top dog of toman and it's a big part of his life so probably the whole gang is in the guestlist

his bestman is draken!!

wedding menu consists of traditional japanese food and all kind of alcohol (like the one baji chose for his wedding)

he's breathtaken when he sees you in your wedding dress, he smiles (you know that smile we rarely see in the manga, when he looks like he's truly happy) while listening to your vov and can't help it but to peck all over your face in front of everyone

after party is with founder 6 and the other ones mikey's close with

mikey hates doing chores, probably you'll be dealing with all of them bcos he pouts when you ask him to do chores.

or he'll hire a cleaner so you won't have to do all that stuff on your own

mikey is often busy with toman but he always makes it up to you with romantic gestures (you better thank god for having draken around lol)

good luck spending your whole life with mikey, he's a man child 😭

#DRAKEN

THIS MAN I STG

his proposal is not a big thing but he looks at you like you're the most beautiful thing he's ever seen with a soft smile on his face for the whole night

ahem, this man's proposal is the most simple one out of everyone's. he books a table from a restaurant with a beautiful ocean view, he closes the restaurant for a whole night so it'll be just the two of you, gets down on his knee and asks you to marry him.

"y/n, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. you accept me for who i am, you accept me with all the dangerous shit i have in my life and i love you so much. i can't think of anyone else to spend the rest of my life with, it has to be you. will you marry me?"

a calm, peaceful outdoor botanical garden wedding!

guestlist includes the toman crew, his and your family and your friends. wedding menu is mostly based on italian cuisine and beverages are soft alcohol like shampagne etc

his bestman is mikey!!

he gives you the longest and the most loving kiss after you two read your vovs

after party of this wedding is calm, it's just mostly you guys talking about all your past memories with each other and everyone saying how happy they are for you two

domestic life with ken is so easy and peaceful

you guys share the chores!

you'd most likely to get one or two cats

your house is always crowded! (in a good meaning) mikey and the founder 6 comes over for dinner every week ♡

@ewitsren 's work, do not translate/repost on other apps and platforms.

[wingardiumiku]

dancing in the moonlight | pjo snippet

percy jackson × sabrina garcia (daughter of hecate!oc)

summary : it has been a long journey, a tiring battle. acquaintances were made, friends were lost and and sabrina somehow has gray hair now. boy did she need this party and also a little closure.

Masterlist

The music was blaring, the light shining magnificently off the golden tidbits in the building. Sabrina wouldn't lie, after three consecutive summers filled with quests, then jumping back to being a normal teenager, endless hours spent rushing through homework (and cursing her godly lineage because a brain hardwired for ancient greek certainly didn’t help), she deserved a little unwinding.

The room was filled with godlings and she got the chance to meet some of her half siblings, the immortal ones. The meeting with Zeus and the Olympians was nerve-wracking to say the least. And no, it didn't help one bit that her mama was staring her down like a hawk, all the while Sabrina couldn't move, didn't dare to, and only fidgeted with her dirt-covered attire, one hand linked with Percy's.

Speaking of Percy. . .

She was sure if she came up with a thousand words to describe him, they would still fall short. Sabrina had crossed paths with him during her first year at Yancy Academy. Of course, she was fresh meat around the block, yet to be fitted into some stereotypical bunch. That was when Chiron had contacted her, notifying her about Grover shifting to her school to keep tabs on a demigod.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was defeating a Minotaur, being claimed by Poseidon and confirmed to be the only child of Big Three, getting accused of stealing Zeus' lighting bolt, going on a quest to acquire it and miraculously surviving. Oh, did she mention the part where she was dragged along for a free ride?

Spending three years together tended to do things to people. Through Medusa's garden, through the Sea of Monsters and through holding the literal sky on their back, they had stuck together. And demigod or not, she was but a teenager with plenty of moodswings and wilding hormones. Just her luck, crushing on the guy with the most baggage.

And if falling for the greek counterpart of Harry Potter wasn't enough, Percy also gave new meaning to the word 'oblivious'. But he was adorable so she supposed she could let that little detail pass.

If she could find him, that is.

Making her way through the chattering crowd, Sabrina made a beeline for the daughter of Athena in the far corner of the room who was talking animatedly with few who reciprocated her interest in the hall's architecture.

Sabrina tapped the girl's shoulder, covering her ears to shield them from a song Apollo had composed and given bgm to all in the matter of two minutes. "Where's Percy!"

Annabeth scrunched her brows, red in the face from talking too fast. "I saw him with his dad like an hour ago! Look outside!"

At the mention of the Sea god, Sabrina pursed her lips. Talking to her mother was more than enough, especially with the interrogation she had to endure: 'Are you sure you are alright?' 'Have you taken some nectar and ambrosia? Here, this potions works wonders on sprains', 'I need to have a nice chat with Atlas', 'What is your relationship with Poseidon's kid?', 'Aren't you a bit too young to indulge in such relationships?'

Yeah, one encounter with an immortal was more than enough.

Sabrina tiptoed towards the exit of the palace, trying her best to avoid any and every conversation.

"Percy?" Her voice had dropped to barely a whisper as she peeked into the dark hallway, a startling contrast to the lively celebration inside.

Even deserted and bathed in shadows, the gold managed to shine through, just like every other part of Mt. Olympus. She wondered how much she would earn if she nicked a tiny peice from the ceiling and sold it back home.

Worn out high tops clacking against the shimmering marble floor, her eyes followed the moon as she peered into what was possibly the most well kept garden she had ever seen.

Finding a familiar figure at the end of the path, Sabrina managed a small smile. Percy was standing by a clear pond, staring blankly at the koi fish playing tag.

She slipped outside, sneaking up behind him as her arms circled his shoulder. "Boo!"

"What the Hades!" His hands came to rest on the underside of her thighs, steadying them from toppling into the water. A chuckle was ripped from him, "Don't do that. You'll end up sending someone to the afterlife in a second."

Sabrina hummed quietly, relishing in the chirping of crickets mixed with steady ripples drawn on the surface of the pond, their faces reflected in it as though it was a massive mirror.

With a dry gulp, Percy started, "I was thinking—"

"Don't hurt yourself."

"As I was saying, before I was very rudely interrupted", he glared.

If it was up to her, Sabrina could spend an entire lifetime staring at his green, green eyes.

"What if Luke isn't really the bad guy?"

His words snapped her out of her stupor and she scowled hard. "What makes you say that?"

His thumbs twiddling, Percy clutched the hem of his shirt, a clear sign of hesitancy. "I don't know. It's just. . ."

A pregnant silence reigned over the two. "I didn't ask for any of this to happen."

Sabrina jumped down from her perch on his back, tugging at his hand to make him sit beside her on the concrete that encircled the small body of water.

"Dont you think it's a little unfair how the gods get to sit here and enjoy a feast, sleep around and whatever while their children have to fight their battles for them?"

Percy's eyes looked anywhere else but her as he took in a shaky breath. "Being a demigod, the one supposed to save Olympus. . .I don't think I'm cut out for it. It's not me, it can’t be me."

It was quiet for a long time as she observed the subtle shade of red around the waterline of his eyes.

She could fathom what he meant, to some extent. They didn't get a say while being thrusted into a life with danger in every step of the way. Some let it get to their head and some didn't live to see a year past the acknowledgement of their status.

"You're right", she muttered finally, playing with his fingers. "It's not fair; never been and never will be. But what Luke is doing, that's just blowing it humongously out of proportion."

"But it's okay for people to die in vain when our parents can easily fight this war on their own? Why did Bianca have to die? What will Nico say when we get back to camp without his sister, huh? She was his only family left!" Percy snapped before his voice broke. "I gave him my word."

Sabrina flinched but her gaze softened as he sulked beside her, reaching out to pat his back. "It isn't okay. But what can we do? At the end of the day, we're just kids."

Percy rolled his eyes. "And that makes it so much better."

She let out a laugh. "Nope. It just goes to show that we can't do everything on our own."

Sabrina continued, unfurling her legs from where she sat crisscross, dipping them in the pond. "Percy, its true that we can't bring Bianca back but we can give Nico a family. Or a spot in whatever royally messed up dysfunctional group we are."

Percy glanced at her, finding her crystal blue eyes directed to the fish who came by to say hello. They didn't appreciate her making their home a pedicure spot but he thought better than to tell her that, lest she threatened to turn him into a stingray again.

Under the undisturbed rays of the moon, her crimson tresses seemed to glow. Come to think of it, she always had that certain aura around her—one that was willing to listen without judging hastily, always sharing her honest opinion but in a way that made insults sound like compliments.

People said it was easy to talk to her. He couldn't understand how. All he felt was his heart performing somersaults whenever she was near.

Heat rushed to his face as he remembered the day he had accidentally spoken out loud, questioning if she was an angel. Grover had nudged him with his elbow, the satyr wriggling his brows while Annabeth gave him one of her infamous smirks.

Faced with Sabrina's teasing smile, Percy had vehemently claimed that it was a joke. But as he sat wondering the same thing now, the butterflies that lived in his stomach went feral.

Sabrina blinked when Percy stood up suddenly, a hand outstretched towards her. She took it gingerly, without a question.

"What's on your mind?" She said when he laced their fingers together.

Relieving a breath he didn't know he was holding, Percy shut his eyes momentarily. Opening them again, he found himself staring at endless pools of ultramarine. Oh, right. It was her fault that he searched for that exact shade of blue in everything.

"Westover Hall", he managed meekly, "We were interrupted. I think I owe you a dance."

A smile curled on her lips. Giggles fell from her mouth at his attempt of managing them into a slowdancing stance. "Alright, merman. Just don't get cold feet, okay?"

One of the melodies playing inside, muffled but still decipherable, floated in the air.

 I found a love, for me

Darling, just dive right in and follow my lead

Her hands came up to his waist, his breath hitching when she stepped closer to him. In his too bold of an attempt, he had disregard the fact that he had two left feet.

Noticing his dilemma, Sabrina chuckled. "Relax. Nobody's watching. I won't judge, I promise."

Well, I found a girl, beautiful and sweet

Oh, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me

Their first meeting, a simple exchange of pleasantries in the dean's office was stuck on replay in his head.

Her coming to check up on him when he had cooped himself in his cabin—too spacious and vacant a place—after the eventful Capture the Flag, something she wasn't obligated to do, her blasting Matt Sloan on his butt after obliterating a Laistrygonian, willingly taking half of the weight of the sky onto herself to spare him the agony, those were memories he wanted to cherish forever.

'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love

Not knowing what it was

Despite her calm facade, the previously minuscule nagging voice inside her head had morphed into hollering cheers.

It was a sight for sore eyes—two teens fumbling in the dark, neither having a clue what the correct steps were supposed to be but they danced still, to a faded serenade.

And it was fine. As long as they were accompanied by each other's presence, the random comments made that kept them laughing through the whole thing, it didn't matter if they were flawed.

To fall in love with the other's imperfections was a lesson they were glad to have learned.

I will not give you up this time

But darling, just kiss me slow

She wasn't sure how it happened. In the spur of the moment, she had lifted her head from the crook on his neck, yanking him down by the front of his shirt.

The moment she pressed her lips to his, she knew epiphany. Growing up reading cheesy romance novels to pass time, cheating the sequence to skip to the 'first kiss' scenes, always envisioning what it'd feel, Sabrina could now surely say, it was euphoric.

No, there weren't fireworks magically exploding in the sky but the warmth that spread through her was immeasurable. Like downing a whole mug of hot cocoa on a cold December night.

Her heart was working overtime, senses clouded with the scent of ocean waves and a hint of peppermint, to the point he was all she could think about.

Your heart is all I own

And in your eyes, you're holding mine

It was short, a fleeting moment of bliss that left remnants of it behind as it went. His ears were burning and his legs felt like jelly. Percy thought Sabrina was blushing too.

"I—"

"Wow. . ." Whatever she was going to say was cut off by his awestruck exclamation.

Percy felt goosebumps shoot up his spine. He was sure he was shortcircuiting right then and there. With his heart hammering inside his chest, he flashed a lopsided grin.

"Can I- Can I hug you, please?"

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark

With you between my arms

Two demigods who didn't know any better, at a place that was more than likely out of bounds, content with just being in each other's embrace. These little things, Sabrina was starting to understand, were the reason they fought so hard for.

Sure, tackling troubles that no normal kid should, fighting monsters from myths and facing loss everyday wasn't a choice they made for themselves. But it was either they could keep complaining or make the most of the time they had together.

Barefoot on the grass

Listening to our favourite song

"Annabeth! What are you doing outside with a camera? They're serving—"

"Shh!"

". . .Is that. . .Seaweed Brain and Scarlet Witch?"

"Yeah. Took them long enough. I thought I would die without seeing Percina happen."

When you said you looked a mess

I whispered underneath my breath

But you heard it

Darling, you look perfect tonight

[mildkleptomaniac]

off his mind— john b routledge x reader

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭:  nope! this is not requested. i listened to this song and it’s based off of it. i gave it my own little spin i suppose. highly recommend this song.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.6k

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: the feels, mentions cancer, alludes to....cheating behavior, underage drinking, weed

𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆:.....look, this song is a bop and i had to write it for someone. john b also fit this song i thought. some of the events of season 1 happened in this, but some didn’t. john b and sarah are together in this piece. y/n comes back after disappearing and her and john b catch up....and things happen. buckle up. it’s along piece.

While you go get another drink, I think of ways to tell you I'm fine. One more vodka soda then you'll never even know that I'm lying. I used to wonder why you never said goodbye, but now you're off my mind.

John B Routledge stood in the Boneyard; eyes glued on her. It’s been a year since he had last seen her, her family moved away and now she’s back in the Outer Banks, standing in front of him. His first girlfriend and first ex. He tried convincing himself he had been drinking too much, but once she turned around and searched the crowd, her eyes landed on him. She flashed him a smile and a small wave. She turned back to her group of friends, people he actually got along with that weren't the Pogues and dismissed her. 

Across the beach, he watched his beautiful ex walk towards him. The moonlight lit her face perfectly, along with the bonfire in the middle. She walked with such ease, such confidence. God, she was always out of my league, he thought. He even knew that then when they first started dating. JJ, Pope, and Kiara had no hesitance holding that fact back. She had that kind of smile that would calm a storm, the kind that made him forget about all the hectic things in his life. 

He hadn’t thought about her in quite some time, honestly. 

“Oh shit, is that Y/N L/N?” JJ nudged John B, spotting her last. 

“Yea, dude. It sure is.” John B couldn’t remove his gaze off of hers. 

“Bad night to wear a stained shirt. Good luck buddy.” He patted his back before dashing off to find some girl to keep his night preoccupied, similar to how Y/N would for John B. 

It felt like an eternity, the last time he saw her. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “John B. Routledge--how’re you doing stranger?” Y/N asked, genuinely happy to see him. A year can change a lot, but she seemed to remain the same. The only new thing he noticed was her hair grew and she had a small scar across her neck. 

“I’m--I’m great. Wow--Y/N. I didn’t expect to see you, when did you get back?” John B stumbled over her words, which caused her to smile even more. 

“I got back yesterday. My family missed it here too much and... we’re back. I heard by some random Tourons there would be a party at the Boneyard. It’s been what, a year since I’ve been to one of these parties? Thought I would come by and see what’s changed. By the looks of it...you just got taller? Maybe you finally decided to get a haircut. You’re lookin’ good, John B.” Her eyes raked over his body, trying to notice if anything was new. “I’m gonna grab another drink, do you want a cup? Maybe we can catch up?” She offered. 

John B looked at her and nodded his head. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to her, what could he say? She had been gone for a year. She left right before his father did, two significant people in his life disappeared. Y/N never gave a reason why she was leaving, but one day she was living in the Outer Banks and the next, her house was empty. She didn’t say goodbye to him, but she said when the time is right, she’ll tell him. 

And it never happened. 

But maybe tonight would be different. 

“Yea, sure--need help with the keg?” He asked, glancing over at it. Maybe another drink will help him with his lying, not saying he missed her at all. 

She laughed, shaking her head, “No thanks, John B. I’m a big girl, I can handle it myself. I’ll be back.” Y/N walked away towards the keg. John B kept his eye on her. He noticed all the heads turning when she walked past them, nothing had changed. 

Y/N had been off his mind. 

Got myself another lover, god I love her I'll never stop. Take her out and drive around and show her all of our favorite spots.  I used to sit and cry, I felt like I could die. But now you're off my mind

Y/N handed him a red solo cup and they sat down on a broken branch of driftwood away from the party, not too far out of sight. She sipped on her beverage, making a face at how strong it was. John B smiled at the sight, god, she hadn’t changed a bit.  

“So, you’re back now in Outer Banks? Like for a while?” He asked as they stared off into the ocean. 

“Yea...I’d say so.” She didn’t sound too confident, but it didn’t matter. John B hadn’t thought about her in a bit, but now there she was. Snapping out of the tone, she looked at him. “Tell me, John B, what’s going on in your life. How’s school? The Pogues? Your dad? Did he ever find the Royal Merchant? I miss everyone.” 

John B bit the inside of his cheek, wondering where to start. He began to explain how school went, the same and nothing new for him. He still wasn’t a scholar like Pope, that was expected.  He went on telling her about how the Pogues were--Pope finally got the scholarship after a makeup interview. When he talked about his dad, she sensed she asked a bad question. 

He explained that he went missing and that he was actually dead. Gone. Y/N’s heart broke and wrapped her arm around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. She didn’t say much, she never did, but her touch was comforting to him. “I’m sorry for your loss, JB. I know your dad...your dad loved you a lot. I know you’d be making him proud, without a doubt.” She comforted him even more. He heard it all before, but it sounded different from her. 

“What about you? You just disappeared. What, take a vacation from paradise on earth?” John B teased. They both remained leaning on each other. 

“I wish. I disappeared for a good reason.” She defended, but not followed through with anything else. 

“Can you tell me why you just left? It reall--” John B lifted his head off of her, pulling away and looking at her. Her leaving him was brutal. He cried most times, punched some trees, and spent countless nights staring at his ceiling thinking of Y/N. He missed the feeling of her beside him in bed, the way she would show up on his doorstep with a toothy grin holding a cooler for a day out on the HMS Pogue. 

“John B! There you, I’ve been searching everywhere for you.” A familiar voice shouted, causing the two on the branch to look over their shoulders. Sarah Cameron, John B’s girlfriend after Y/N--he loves her, but also Y/N. “Holy shit, Y/N--is that you?” Sarah stood several feet away, surprised at the sight. 

He wasn’t quite sure how Sarah would feel about him being alone with Y/N, but it wasn’t like they were doing anything bad. They were catching up. John B told Sarah all about how Y/N broke his heart--but unintentionally. After everything Sarah went through with Topper, he shared his piece about Y/N. 

Sarah was neutral about Y/N, but the sight of them two together made her stomach churn. 

“Sarah, hey! Long time no see. I really love what you’re wearing, you look beautiful. How have you been?” God, Y/N was too sweet for anyone to hate. She sounded genuine and sincere; Sarah felt jealousy bubble in her stomach. She could see why John B was in love with her. 

“Thanks, Y/N. I’m good, I was just looking to see where my boyfriend went, but now that I know where he is--I can go.” She jutted her thumb out. 

“You can stay, if you want?” Y/N suggested, looking between Sarah and John B. Both had unreadable looks on their faces. 

“Uh...Sure.” Sarah reluctantly agreed before approaching the two. 

All three began to catch up with each other. Y/N began asking questions about their relationship. She was surprised that John B managed to land the Kook Princess, but she held no hard feelings. Why should she? She was the one that left John B behind. Y/N listened intently as Sarah and John B talked about their relationship. 

John B didn’t want to talk about him, he didn’t want to talk about Sarah, he wanted to talk about Y/N. 

Sarah would mention places that John B would use to take Y/N. Most of it was their secret and favorite spots. John B watched his ex as she handled the information: she was collected. Another thing John B fell in love with, she was great at listening and the least judgmental person he had in his life.

Sarah mentioned the light house. 

John B and Y/N would run away to the lighthouse on nights where her parents would be mad with her. He would grab her hand and they would just run. Laughter would fill the air; the humidity would stick to their skin and make her hair frizzy. John B didn’t care. He would pick her up and throw her over his shoulder as they went to their secret spot. They hung a hammock there and had a few chairs sitting out. It was nothing fancy, just something her and him would enjoy. They had each other and honestly, that’s all that mattered to them. 

Her parents wouldn’t be able to find them there and not a soul could spot them. They would smoke and drink, they would dance together in each other’s arms, they would even fall asleep in the hammock together. 

Sarah mentioned the hole-in-the-wall bakery and how they would eat this delicious cake.

Y/N would save her money and buy him a tres leches cake. She would show up to his house, holding the cake with a cherry on top. They would share a fork as they sat on the dock and enjoyed the view of the marsh. John B wasn’t quite sure why Y/N ever picked that cake, but he never questioned it. It became their thing every Sunday morning. 

Sarah mentioned the abandoned swimming pool. 

John B and Y/N would skate in the abandoned pool. God, she was awful at skateboarding, but that never stopped her. John B admired that about her, nothing scared her, and she took everything as it hit her. John B would laugh and help her learn how to skate. Eventually, she thrifted roller skates and that was more his speed. They would lay at the bottom of the swimming pool, talking about their future together. One day they’ll have a swimming pool with actual water. It’d be a small house on the Marsh, and they will have each other. John B liked the sound of that.

John B would go to all those places once she left. God, everything got worse once she left. 

But getting to know Sarah, Y/N was off his mind. 

 And we'll be better by the summer, you'll come out from underneath your coat. 

After Y/N and the couple caught up. The night ended and they all went home respectfully. Sarah and the Pogues headed to the Twinkie, but John B yelled he’ll be there in a moment. 

He stood in front of his ex, his hurt aching and hoping to get the answer why she disappeared. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair and looked down at her. She fixed the collar of his button up Hawaiian shirt.  

“Will this be the last time I see you?” He asked, looking at her. He wanted answers. He wanted her. 

“I’ll give you my number and... you decide what you want to do with it. I’ll be around John B.” 

The two exchanged numbers and she left him walking towards her car. She waved goodbye to John B and everyone in the Twinkie. 

He remembered why he wanted her off his mind.

 I still put my hand around the headrest in my Honda Accord. But no one's there to hold onto the wheel, while I let go anymore. You're every car that passes by, everybody in the corner of my eye. But now you're off my mind

A week later, John B texted Y/N. She quickly responded and now there they were. 

Y/N sat beside him in the Twinkie. She kicked her feet up out the window, her yellow vans hanging out. She smiled at him. If someone told him Y/N would be sitting in his passenger seat again, he would be damned. He would say impossible. She’s no longer in his life. Her hair blew in the wind, another sight he missed. 

John B drove her around town, back to all their favorite and secret spots. He remembered after he left, how lonely he felt without her by his side. 

“You still put your hand around the headrest? I’m sure Pope loves it when you do that.” Y/N teased, looking over at John B as he drove. It was a habit he picked up with Y/N in his car. He could vividly recall her saying she found it hot and attractive, and he kept doing it. Even when she was no longer around. But if you were to ask any of the Pogues, John B had never done that with them--or even Sarah. 

“Yea, what can I say. Pope and I are like glue.” He’s voice trailed off, caught off guard by her question and his realization. She looked at him briefly, before slipping her hand under his arm and held onto his forearm. She felt him stiffen and she let go of him. 

“Sorry,” She mumbled. 

“Don’t be,” He looked at her. 

She chewed on her lip and held onto his arm once more as they listened to the radio. She always found the hula dancers amusing on the dashboard. John B and her sat in silence as they drove to the lighthouse. The canopy of trees captured her in awe. 

John B never liked driving alone once Y/N disappeared. Every car that would pass him by, he could’ve sworn it was her. He could have glimpses of her hair blowing around in the wind, the smile, how she would flick people off if they cut in front of her. Even when he would run errands or work for Ward, every person passing on the dock looked like her.

He swore. 

He would see glimpses of her shoes, he could hear her laughter, the print of her favorite bikinis. She was everywhere, but no one was close by at once. 

Something stole John B’s attention as they were driving, and Y/N’s hands grabbed the wheel. He was getting a text from Sarah. She held the wheel and kept it straight for him as he texted her back. Another thing he missed about Y/N--she would hold the wheel when he needed to do something. The only person willing to do it was JJ--but the rest agreed it was reckless. 

But overall, he just stopped the habit. Especially when she was off his mind. 

You went to fight off your genetics and you heard the west coast had the cure. 

As they pulled into the lighthouse parking lot, John B led her into the shrubbery. He held onto her hand tightly and made sure she was watching her step as they went back to their secret location. He missed holding her hand, but they felt foreign after all this time. That’s how he felt holding Sarah’s hand for the first time, it didn’t feel right. But this did. 

Y/N’s face lit up as she saw the familiar area, running in front of John B and now dragging his hand. “Oh my god, I missed it here.” She looked around the area before turning to face John B. He hovered over her--but everything was mixed with his morals. 

He would never cheat on Sarah. He loved her. 

But he also loved Y/N. 

“It’s been lonely without you here,” He commented, averting his eyes away from her. 

“Bold of you to say that when you bring your girlfriend here.” She rolled her eyes before sitting down in the hammock. John B stood there, hands slipping into his pockets. 

“Sorry--but, Y/N--can you tell me why you left? It’s been killing me. You left--just...god. It was awful.” John B expressed. 

She stared at him for a few moments before nodding her head. “Fine, John B. If you want to talk about it, we can.” She took a deep breath and clasped her hands together. She stayed silent for a bit, trying to find the words to say. 

“I had thyroid cancer and no doctors here would take care of it. My mom couldn’t afford it. So, we moved. She found a rich man--which was awful. We stayed there and helped with treating it. It wasn’t as serious as we thought it was, but then my mom was stuck in this new marriage. She used him and...it was obvious. But she convinced him to move back here...and here we are.” She confessed. 

“You had cancer? And what about your dad?”

“My dad left right when he found out. My mom didn’t want to be reminded of him and that’s another reason why we moved. I couldn’t tell you this because none of it made sense for me. My life felt like it was collapsing and... I couldn’t do that to you. It was better if you didn’t know, John B.” She explained and rubbed her face. 

The scar on her neck. 

It all made sense. He remembered all the nights of her having a cold that never went away. The nights she would sneak out and spend the nights at his place not feeling good. Always having trouble breathing. It all clicked. Obviously, he wasn’t a doctor. But for some reason he felt like he had more pieces to the uncompleted puzzle.

John B walked over to her and she made room for him on the hammock. They shuffled around and she laid in between his legs. They sat there in silence, enjoying each other’s company. All of it felt too familiar, having her in his arms once more. 

“Y/N?”

“Yea, John B?” She asked.

“I love you.” He confessed. 

“I love you too.” 

He kissed the behind of her head. They swayed for hours, continuing to talk about what it was like for her to go through all of that. He understood parts of it. John B remembered the first time he laid in this hammock without her. 

That’s when she was off his mind. 

 You used to be so sure but now you never know, but it's okay. Yeah, it's alright cause I'm too far from you to fall in love tonight. 

Ever since she confessed what happened, John B had been bringing her around the Pogues more and even his girlfriend. Everyone was unsure about it at first, even Y/N. When she seemed hesitant to start hanging out with them again, that’s when it caught his attention. Y/N was always sure about everything, full of confidence. 

“Are you sure?” She asked, looking at John B. 

“Positive! They all loved you before, why wouldn’t they now?”

“Because...I’m an ex? Sarah is there and...as much as she seemed cool that one night, I don’t think she wants me around.” She tried to explain, glancing over her shoulder, and seeing everyone on the porch talking. 

John B knew she had a point. Sarah told John B that hanging out with his ex made her uncomfortable. Sarah around Y/N was pure jealousy. She saw the way her boyfriend would look at Y/N--and it wasn’t how he looked at her. 

Not even close. 

“Just...hang out with us this one time, please. It would mean the world to me, Y/N.” He practically begged. Reluctantly, she agreed. 

Everyone hung around each other with ease, no awkward moments or tension. As the day went on, they lit another fire. He watched as the fire lit her face, casting shadows in all the perfect spots to capture her beauty. 

JJ tossed an arm around Y/N’s shoulder and she was laughing beside him. Almost as they never left. John B had his arm wrapped around his girlfriend, who was comfortably snuggled into his side. He watched her from across the fire.

There was no doubt that he was still in love with her. But for tonight, they were too far away from him to fall in love with her again. Sarah underneath his arm, he focused on her. But Y/N couldn’t notice he kept stealing glances at her. 

JJ and she smoked the night way. 

Sarah left for the night; John B drove her home. Sarah being intoxicated, she started a small argument about Y/N. 

Once he came back, he found Y/N sitting on the couch waiting for John B to come back home. She looked beautiful sitting there and minding her business. He missed her and this sight. He held his hand out and she took it. He led her back to his room, and they laid beside each other. 

She was officially no longer off his mind. 

 taglist: @taylathornton​

[wthtorke]

Incandescent (Kofi commission)

Kofi one shot commission by  Insta is day_of_mayhem! 

(I might have gone off on this one lmao Enjoy!)

Incandescent. 

The night had been quiet, the trees softly hustling against one another as the wind blew. First, it was the strange noise.

From your little house in the woods, a sharp noise rattled through your bed, making you jump up in surprise.  Running to the window, you saw what could only be described as a falling star, coming quickly towards your house.

You could barely brace yourself against the windowsill as the star ripped through the clouds, falling far into the woods. Panting and scared, you looked for any signs of it. Any burning trees, smoke, noise coming from the general direction where it fell. You found none. 

From the window, you caught sight of your truck, still parked in the driveway. Grunting to yourself, you made your decision as you grabbed a coat and the wooden axe from the fireplace, running to your car, hoping to find the fallen star before anyone else did.

Gripping the steering wheel hard enough your knuckles turned white, you drove through the path in the forest, stopping when even more strange noises reached your ears.

Stopping your car, you tilted your head slightly, trying to catch it again. Seconds passed before a sudden blast made you jump, looking into the direction a flash of light also happened. Leaving the car, you held the axe close to your chest as you slowly walked towards the noise, breathing quickly as you did.

From the trees behind you, a slick, black ridged tail moved quietly as its owner's drool fell onto the tree branches, slowly stalking towards you. 

'Hssssssss..' 

Eyes widening, you turned around in time to see a black creature jumping from the tree, arms outstretched and claws ready to tear into you. 

Falling to the ground, the creature landed heavily on you, claws grappling your axe handle as you barely had time to process its weight before shiny, sharp fangs closed itself repeatedly before your face. 

You only realized you were screaming when the creature shifted its weight to your chest, cutting your air as it reeled back to strike one final time to kill you.

Closing your eyes in fear, you could only open them again as an animalistic roar reached your ears, and then the crushing weight wasn't there anymore, a screech and a heavy, wooden thud following suit. The creature had been rammed from on top of you, instead hitting the tree it jumped from hard in its back, falling to the ground, briefly shaken. 

You took your chance to get up as well and dart between the trees, out of the creature's way. You only bothered looking for whatever had knocked it out of you when the black creature hissed into another direction, and you realized there was absolutely nothing there. 

Still, under the dim moonlight, the creature leaped into nothingness, surprisingly landing on the thin air, snapping and hissing, swinging its tail around. You watched as it tried to hit something with its piercing tail. With a roar, you jerked back as it seemed to hit its goal, whatever was beneath it started zapping and glowing with failing electrical power, soon revealing what the thing was perched on as it didn't stop its struggles for one second. 

At this point, you had come to the conclusion that they were indeed aliens, and the star was no star but probably a ship that crash landed, even if you had no idea where it was now. The stream of roaring and screaming snapped you out of your thoughts, the massive humanoid alien trying to shake the creature from it’s back as best as it could, while still trying to dodge its deadly tail.

You looked around, your fight or flight instincts screaming at you to do something, anything. Looking at the dark forest behind you, you had no idea if there were other alien serpents around or more alien warriors to help this one. It was when the serpent's tail pierced the warrior's arm and you saw bright green blood explode everywhere that you took action.

Running towards both of them with your axe in hand. 

Your decision was made as the blade of your weapon sunk into the black creature’s back, it’s startled shrill making your ears ring as it’s tail hit you hard in the chest, both making you fly a few feet back and thankfully escape it’s weird fizzing blood that you’d later come to know was pure acid. 

You shook your head as you tried to breathe again, all the air knocked out from your lungs as you landed on your back. Your vision threatened to darken as you sat up, trying to spot where the aliens were.

Slowly your ears started focusing again as did your eyes, permitting you to see that not only was the black serpent not on top of the alien warrior anymore as said warrior was about to jam it’s blades into the serpent’s throat. The most intense occurrence of all your life didn’t last more than 5 minutes it seemed.

Getting up on your wobbly feet, you noticed just about how much blood there was around the ground. You watched as the warrior clutched his side, chest rising and falling as he stared at you, and while he could absolutely kill you if he so wanted, he didn’t.

Not that you were opposed to that, of course.

You felt the adrenaline die down in your blood, the cold air finally making you shiver a bit. You looked at who you supposed was a ‘he’ and back towards the general direction of your car. If his ship had truly crashed, he was stranded. Hurt and stranded.

“Safe,” You said, pointing back where your car was, “Together…?” You questioned, montioning between you and him with your less hurt hand. He took a few moments to analyze the situation before making his decision. He was hurt, more so than he’d like to admit, but less than he’d be if you hadn’t shown up. He nods, slowly, unsure, later following you to the truck, all but hauling himself up the back of the pickup truck. ‘I’ll definitely need to hose that down in the morning.’ You thought as you saw the green blood streaks as you got into the driver's seat.

The drive back was smooth, no longer fueled by raw fear and adrenaline. You felt tired, maybe because of the bruises forming where you got hit or well, the fact that this was more action than you had since….Well, ever. Getting home, you didn’t really know why you snuck him through the garage door, you had no neighbors and no family living with you but somehow it seemed the right thing to do, he was an alien after all.

He seemed to know the concept of showering, at least. He washed all the dirt and grime off of his body and you were more than a little upset at yourself that you didn’t see him take off his mask, only noticing your mistake when he got out of the bathroom and the metal was so clean it was sparkling. 

You watched as he sat in your living room and started patching himself up. While he wasn’t bleeding profusely anymore, the roaring surely gave you chills down your spine as he plunged some kind of needle into his thigh, pumping the syringe’s contents into his system before sewing his wound shut.

You pointed at the couch and told him to make himself at home, as far as that could go, anyway. You passed out as soon as you hit the pillow, your body paying no mind to the huge alien downstairs.

The next morning, he was gone.

 As much as you were expecting it, it still felt...odd. Like some kind of fever dream. Only you knew it happened by the state of your house and garage. If you didn’t know it was an alien, you’d have thought a wild bear had wrecked your house. The floor was muddy, some things were out of place or straight up on the floor while some you couldn’t tell if they were touched at all. 

Sighing, you gathered the broom, mop and trash bags to start your new mission; Cleaning the house. 

Cleaning was usually boring, but this time it just felt restless. Even as your favorite songs played in the background. Of course, no alien could just have a slumber party in some human’s house but still, much had happened yesterday. You wondered when the government’s men were going to burst through your window and shoot a sedative up your arm because you’ve had alien interaction. 

You were cleaning the kitchen cupboards when a reflection that very much wasn't your own caught your attention in the mirror. Squinting a bit, you jumped back when your eyes focused and revealed your guest's reflection, only his position was right behind you. "FUCK-” You turned around quickly, hitting your knee in the process, ”When did you get here?! God-," You started coughing a bit from the sudden intake of air.

You looked back at him when you heard strange noises coming from his helmet, almost like someone was tuning a radio before the words became clear, recordings.

"No-, trails."

You blinked in confusion for a second before realizing what he meant, slight dread setting in your gut at the prospect that an alien could speak, or well, play recordings of english to you. "Trails-, in the forest? Wow..that’s, that’s very nice, actually, hadn’t thought of that,” you thought over your next words, taking in his huge form as you did, “You’re headed home now, I suppose?”

He shook his head, motioning to his still tender wounds from yesterday’s battle against the serpent.

The serpent.

“Oh, Um-, That thing is dead, right?”

He nodded, “Exterminated. Contained.”

Contained.

“Great, great-, well, if you’re not planning to kill me and take over my house, you’re um...very welcome to stay?” You said, a bit unsure.

He nodded, walking over silently towards your garage door, you heard rummaging around, following to see him picking up after a broken vase you didn’t remember was there.

He was a considerate roommate, you could say. Wherever this alien came from, he knew of common sense, or just had a very strict mama as he helped in the chores he could. You suspected he didn’t trust you to clean his trails properly, but you weren’t complaining of free help.

Another thing you could tell is that he learned fast. Very fast. 

He’d been skeptical of you, at first. You’d never catch him sleeping or eating, always the same passive expression of his mask looking back at you. You couldn’t blame him, but even then, it was hard not to speculate what was underneath it. Did he look like Davy Jones? The Shape? He didn’t seem to be aquatic. Maybe a lizard? His skin was mottled like one, at least. 

3 months passed by before you both had that feeling. He’d been here for too long. His wounds were beyond healed, no one had shown up for him, no government, no other aliens, nothing. You’d seen him mess with his wrist gauntlet a few times, seen him test the cloaking device he had, it worked. 

So, why was he still here?

  It was on a similar night that you met him that you mustered the courage to ask.

The stars were bright, as was the moonlight. The breeze was soft, you both sat outside for a bit, looking into the forest. He told you he feared they’d come at night. You guessed he spoke of other humans, the kind that would want to study him alive, in the name of ‘science’, and he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Are you waiting for your people to come get you? Have you sent a signal yet?”

“Yes.”

Your breath hitched a bit, the cold air around you prickling at your skin. “Oh-, well...have they replied?”

“Yes.”

You nodded, “So, I guess they’ll be coming soon, right?”

You waited for another robotic ‘Yes’ to hit your ears, to shatter your fantasy of living a nice life with him, somehow.

“No.”

“No?” You asked, lifting your head to look at him, “Why not?”

He turns to look at you for a second, at least you could assume he was looking at you behind the mask.

With that, he lifted his hands to the object of your speculation during the last 3 months, fingers slowly snapping off tubes that connected it to the rest of his armor with an audible ‘Fzzzzz’.

You held your breath as he hooked his fingers around the mask, snapping it off as well. He hovered the mask for a second before slowly lowering it away from his face.

You could feel your pupils dilate as you took in the sight of him, the spiky crown around his forehead, the mottling, so similar to the rest of his body, going down to his eyes, you lingered there for a moment, taking in how yellow they looked, and how they were staring directly into your own.

You gulped as you kept lowering your gaze, spotting the fangs, the tusks, the strong jaws that could very much clamp around your neck right now, if he so wanted. Everything about him screamed predator before, but now, having the last piece of the puzzle, you could only think of one word to describe him.

Perfect.

You let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding when his hand touched yours, so tender, mindful of his talons, yet still enveloping your cold ones in warmth. You looked up at him, fingers slowly squeezing his own, an attempt to show him you weren’t afraid, just stunned.

“Stay.” He said, in a much deeper voice than any he’d ever played for you before. His voice.

You only realized you were crying when the tears caught in between the crinkles of your smile, stopping their journey straight down your face, giving them a shortcut to falling down your chin, to where his other hand was raising up, gently tipping your face up, as he lowered his own, pressing your foreheads together.

“Stay.” You repeated, in a much quieter, shakier voice than his, but with every bit of intention behind it, still smiling as he squeezed your hand again.

Suddenly, the night didn’t feel nearly as cold anymore, nor did it feel as lonely as it once did.

[moralesispunk]

By His Side

Summary: Frankie gets you tickets to your favourite band for your birthday and in doing so has to face one of his biggest anxieties since retiring.

Warnings: this deals with Frankie’s anxiety, especially to do with crowded spaces. Also mentions of alcohol. 

Word Count: 2k

“Ready, babe?”

“Coming!”

You gave yourself a once over in the mirror, lifting earrings that you had left on the counter and slipping them on as you headed out from your bedroom to the top of the stairs.

Frankie was waiting at the bottom, hands resting on the wall and banister at the side of the stairs with one leg crossed loosely over the other. You could make out the curls that were peeking out from beneath his cap, the plaid shirt he had on left unbuttoned to show the faded band t-shirt underneath that was tucked into his jeans with the belt buckle on show. His head tilted up to watch you walk down the stairs, a dreamy smile on his face as he pushed off from the wall and held a hand out to help you down the last of the stairs. He let out a slow whistle once you were standing in front of him, hands resting on your hips as he took you in. You playfully rolled your eyes as he nuzzled into your neck, his patchy beard tickling the skin there.

“You look beautiful.”

“I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt.”

“And?”

The cheeky smile that was pressed against your skin made you chuckle, your hands reaching up to tug gently on the curls at the base of his neck so he would lift his head. He lifted it just enough for you to place a kiss against his lips, only standing to full height when you stepped back.

“Excited?” He asked.

You nodded, biting back the full grin to hide just how excited so as not to influence the answer to the question you were about to ask.

“Are you positive you want to do this Frankie. I understand if you don’t, we can go next time they’re in town.”

Frankie nodded his head. “I want to.”

Your favourite band was playing in a nearby venue tonight and Frankie had managed to get you tickets to it for your birthday a few months ago. While you were excited, throwing your arms around Frankie’s shoulders and peppering his face with kisses when he pulled them from his back pocket, you were nervous for him. Ever since officially retiring, Frankie had become nervous about busy spaces. He didn’t like going to the mall on weekends and the both of you had become accustomed to showing up to birthday parties just long enough to show face, before it got too much for him. It was the idea of being in a crowd with so many uncertainties that made him anxious; an unknown body of people, no control over the security, compromised exits.

The night of your birthday, when the lights were off and there was only a trickle of moonlight sneaking through the gap in the curtains to light his eyes a little, you turned to him in bed and asked if he wanted to come, since he liked the band too, or if you should ask a friend. You left it up to him but he was certain he wanted to go; it was two months away and he could work up to it.

So here you are, the night of the concert, driving to it in Frankie’s truck. It wasn’t a long drive to the gig, a small place in the middle of the town that was more like a bar than a concert venue, but still your hand never left his and you filled the nervous silence with conversation about what you thought their setlist would be and how you hope they would play your favorite song even though it wasn’t one of their most well known numbers and from an older album. Frankie was thankful for it, the conversation taking his mind off of what was making him anxious about tonight and directing him to what he was looking forward to.

It was still quiet when you arrived, just like you had planned. It meant that you wouldn’t have to push through too many bodies to get to where you wanted to stand. Once the engine was off you reached across and gave his hand a squeeze.

“Remember if you want to leave or take a step outside we can do that.”

Frankie let out a breath, turning to face the venue before nodding his head and squeezing your hand back. He lifted your hand to kiss the back of it and turned to you with a more confident smile on his face. You let one another’s hands go for long enough to get out of the truck and meet each other at the front, taking your hands together again. 

You let Frankie take the lead, his eyes landing on the bar first where you both went to buy a beer, before walking to a spot at the opposite side of the room. It wasn’t an overly large room, still bare of the bodies that would be filling the crowd soon. You stood near the back at the opposite side from the bar but still with a perfect view of the stage.

As the room filled, you slowly sipped on your beers and spoke about your day at work. Soon it was as full as it would get; not as packed as some of the concerts you had been to with more than enough room between you and anyone else. The lights on the ceiling going out had the crowd switching from a loud chatter to claps and cheers as a spotlight shone on the middle of the stage.

Frankie’s grip tightened in yours momentarily, so quick you almost missed it, and so you stepped closer into his side to rest your head against his shoulder as the first strum of guitars and bang of drums filled the room. Within a few songs your cups and been thrown in a bin and you were standing in front of Frankie, an arm around your waist and your bodies swaying in time with the music.

There was a sudden bump into Frankie’s side breaking him from the calmness you had created together and he could feel the safety crack down the middle. A cold splash of beer covering his shoulder was the start of the lights becoming just that little bit too erratic, the drums and crowd singing mixing together in an unfriendly way, the voice of the drunk guy whose arm was now slung around Frankie’s shoulder as he shouted an apology in his ear too loud. He hadn’t noticed that his eyes had squeezed shut or that his grip around you was too tight until he felt your body struggle slightly to turn in his arms.

“Frankie? Francisco, honey?”

Your soft hands reached up to rest on either side of his face, tilting it down so that when he opened his eyes all he could see was you. His hands were gripping tight into your hips, holding on for dear life as he tried to focus on your voice.

“You’re okay, Frankie. Just breathe for me, okay?” 

He let out a breath in time with your chest rising and falling, his hand reaching up to hold yours that was still resting on his cheek. His fingers twisted and pulled and the cold band that was on your finger, the one he had placed there himself a little over a year ago.

Looking at you and listening to your voice was slowly gluing the crack back together again; the lights weren’t feeling as bright, the noise of the room was now drowning out to a manageable level, and the man was stepping back to give you both space.

“I’m okay,” he nodded his head, waiting until his breathing was completely settled before turning to the man who had bumped into him and offered an awkward smile.

“Do you want to go?”

He stood for a minute, really thinking about how he felt. It was just an accident; there’s nothing wrong. Frankie shook his head and he watched as you scanned his eyes to make sure he was telling the truth and not just saying that for your sake. You slowly nodded, your hands leaving his face and one reaching down to hold his before you both faced the stage again.

Your own fingers were now playing with his matching ring, spinning it slowly as you both began to sway to the music again. He kept your hand in his, lifting it over your head to wrap it around your waist and pull you against him.

“You’ve been a great crowd! This is our last song!”

The crowd cheered and within the first beat of music you had turned your head up to face him, a knowing smile in place as your favourite song began to play through the speakers. Frankie smiled back, nosing the side of your cheek to turn back to the stage before pressing a kiss to your temple. He sang along with you but more watched you than the band.

It had been a hard night for Frankie and there was no denying that but watching you now was enough reason to be glad that he pushed through it. The same smile that he fell in love with all those years ago never left your face as you sang along loudly, your hips swaying and head bobbing along. He could feel you shiver as his own voice singing along close to your ear sent goosebumps down your spine and he chuckled, pressing a kiss behind your ear.

Once the song was finished he let go to clap the band out, stopping when you turned to face him and pulled him back into the corner as the lights came up.

“What are you doing?” His eyebrows pulled together as he let you lead him away.

“We can wait here until it gets quieter,” you pointed over to the bottleneck of people trying to squeeze through the small door.

“I love you,” the words slipped past his lips so quietly he was surprised you managed to hear it.

“I love you.” You stood on your toes, your lips pressing gently to his before resting your head on his chest. “I’m really proud of you, you know that?”

Your head tilted up so your chin was resting on his chest, a bright look in your eyes.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” his hand came up to push a strand of hair behind your ear, his lips pressing against your forehead.

“You could have,” your voice was muffled against his t-shirt, “but I’m glad I was here to help. I’ll always be by your side.”

When you looked up at Frankie again his eyes were glassy and a small smile was on his face. You stood on your toes, pressing a soft kiss to the part of his jaw where his beard just didn’t want to fill in, and took his hand in yours.

“It’s quiet enough now, I think.”

He let you lead him out of the room, his hand never leaving yours until you were seated in the car and he had to let go to close the door behind you. It had been a long night for Frankie, a lot of energy had been spent on fighting off the anxious feeling that was bubbling beneath the surface, but he was proud of himself. 

When you both got home your bodies moved quickly and quietly to get ready for bed and slide under the covers. You cuddled into his chest, his arms wrapping tight around you and holding you close against him. The sound of the concert was still playing loudly in your ears but you could still make out the sound of his heartbeat and you smiled against his skin.

Before tonight, Frankie didn’t know if he would have been able to do something like this again. He felt silly when he said it out loud because it was a feeling that didn’t really make sense to anyone who hasn't experienced the same but you never invalidated any of his feelings. You were by his side as he worked on conquering each of his fears that had slowly crept up over time and you seemed to know exactly what he needed even before he did. Frankie knew that so long as you where beside him, he would be able to take on the world.

//

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