#he left to do Jake a huge favor

[cosmictheo]

𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 | 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲

gif credits to @peace--n--love

— summary: after neteyam saved you from an attack that almost ended your life, you are determined and devoted to return the favor no matter what, and for that, neteyam has a few very good ideas for you to do it. — pairing: neteyam x female!na'vi!reader — word count: 4.5 k (wow) — warnings: some near-death moments, but there's neteyam ready to save you (as he should), slight post-trauma, smut; explicit sexual scenes, explicit sexual language, oral sex (female receiving), p in v sex, neteyam being the king of consent, mating, pure fluff and comfort, completely head-over-heels in love with the reader!neteyam. minors please do not interact and read under your own responsibility. ✧ Neteyam is aged up, of course, for this specific one shot, he is 19 years old

neteyam's playlist i made for inspo

➯ request by anonymous: ❝ smut, in wich Neteyam saved the reader somehow and it’s the whole “how can i repay you” sorta thing, and one thing leads to another ? ❞

writer's note: english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!

Everything had happened fast, too fast. In a moment you were flying alone with Tsu, your Ikran, all the sky was yours... and in another moment, the metal bird appeared, a helicopter, you guessed, because it was quite similar to the ones Jake had drawn to show you once, warning you of how dangerous and lethal were the weapons they brought, and that they left nothing but ash and destruction in their path.

And you were good at flying with Tsu, you knew how to fly very well, but not well enough, for it had you cornered; the enemy rider was better, much better and more dangerous than any animal you had ever known. You were terrified, because you had never faced anything like this before, you could practically perceive their thirst for blood, for death and for your eventual defeat.

“Fly, Tsu!” You thought as you manibriated through the branches of the lush forest trees, still with the helicopter basically above you, shooting at everything it could, but at least, your Ikran was the fastest in the clan. “We almost lose it.”

But without you expecting it, you found yourself face to face against a corner with no way out, being literally against the sword and the wall.

You were paralyzed, your body didn't show any signs of reacting, your instincts failed you completely, you had no sense of direction to follow, you had never faced a situation like this before, you didn't know what to do, you felt like your heart was going to burst out of your chest.

With Tsu's alert screeching sounding as if it were miles away from you, behind great walls, you thought you had lost everything, that this was the way you would pass to the afterlife, that you would be with Eywa at any second now.

Your whole life began to flash before your eyes, your sight blurring and unfocusing, Neteyam's eyes appeared on the spotlight inside your head and your heart froze, thinking of him, thinking that you would never see him again. You were going to loose him.

But suddenly, if your ears didn't fail you, everything went silent, the metallic wings of the helicopter stopped and then there was a big explosion; the enemy had been shot down, but how? Had Eywa heard your prayers? Or were you dead? You were dying?

And as an answer to the million questions that were going through your head, Neteyam's Ikran appeared next to you, with it's owner mounting it, of course, his eyes were huge and disoriented, he was carrying his bow in hand and his hair was swaying with the wind and the sudden movement his Ikran made once it landed next to yours on the huge branch of the tree.

Your heart was pounding, like never before and your mind was spinning, vision even blurred from the adrenaline shooting through your body, you barely managed to formulate questions or words.

“Neteyam, what are you doing here, how did you―” Your mouth half opened, beginning to caress yourself with your hands, your eyes widening, face bathing in disbelief, pure shock. “Am I― Am I dead?”

The Ikrans greeted each other, nuzzling the other's head and purring a little, immediately recognizing each other as the close friends they were, it had always been apparent that the two of them held a special connection.

“Hey, (Y/N). Shh…” Neteyam shook his head, ears ducking, his expression quickly shifting to one of pure concern. He proceeded to lean over his Ikran, reaching out to stop your hand movements and bringing your attention to him. “You're not― You're not dead, okay?” His fingers brushed your hands gently, careful not to let his touch and closeness unsettle you any more than you already were. But, his closeness was always the anchor that brought you back to yourself, back to him. “You're here, you're with me.” He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, noticing how truly anxious and out of yourself you were. “Let's go back, you need to rest. Can you fly, sevin?”

You simply nodded your head, brain focusing on the delicacy of his voice, the softness in his eyes and the nickname he used, making your senses thrill and begin to orbit around him, as they usually did.

Tsu purred under you, feeling directly the effect Neteyam had on you and then flapped his wings, jerking and shaking the tension and fear out of him with the movement.

Neteyam gave your hand a gentle squeeze, bending slightly to meet your gaze. “Talk to me, (Y/N). Can you follow me?”

“Always.” You promised him and he smiled softly, nodding his head before having his Ikran spread it's wings and take flight, Tsu truly did not hesitate for a moment to follow them, as faithfully as ever, flying alongside his good friend back home.

. . .

A couple of days had passed since the attack and Jake was furious, for the sky people had appeared again in the territory and with them, they brought no good news at all, on the contrary, their reappearance only confirmed that the war was still going on and that it would probably never end, since they kept coming, as bloodthirsty as ever. Jake hated them and now you understood why.

But now you were better, you felt full of energy again, angry, furious, because days ago you had been paralyzed at the probability of your death, you had not even fought back, you had not even tried and because of that, you felt frustrated with yourself. Tsu had also seemed to come back to himself, you hadn't flown with him since that day, you didn't want to force him into anything, but now he seemed happier, much less anxious.

“I'm glad to see you better.” Neteyam commented, once he found you, in that special spot he knew you liked so much, your little hideout, the Tree of Souls.

When you turned to see him, you found him with a beautiful smile plastered on his lips, his bright hair falling delightfully down his shoulders and his tail swaying daintily behind his back.

As he made his way towards you, you returned the smile. “Truth be told, I'm angry now that I didn't do anything at the time.”

He shook his head once he was beside you, looking down at you with his glowing gaze, reflecting the beautiful natural glow of the tree in front of him, watching you intently. “Anyone would have done the same in your position, it was a complicated situation.”

Seeing how you were linked to one of the tree's connections, he lifted his braid, pulling it closer as well. His pupils dilated and his smile widened as he heard the voices of his ancestors inside his head, listening as the memories passed through him, hearing the laughter and chanting, hearing the past.

Your eyes lowered for a moment before raising it again to meet his. “But you were there and you did what I could not, Neteyam. You killed them.” You disconnected your bond from the memories so you could return to the present, holding his gaze. “And you saved my life.”

The smile faded from his face, but a sparkle passed through his big, beautiful eyes as he shook his head and disconnected his bond from the tree. “Anyone would have―”

You rushed to interrupt him, raising your hand to his cheek, hesitating to rest it on his skin. “No. You saved me.”

Neteyam smiled at you again and without even hesitating for a second, he lifted your hand and cradled yours, drawing it over his cheek, leaning his head into it, longing to be closer to your touch, to be close to you. “I would do anything to keep you safe, (Y/N). I want you safe.” Now his hand brought yours to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to your palm. “I don't want to lose you.”

“What can I do to thank you for what you've done for me?” you dared to ask him, in a delicate whisper, tilting your head slightly, observing as he placed a tender kiss on your knuckles now.

He half-opened his lips, letting out a soft breath before speaking, also in a whisper, his eyes seeming to glow as bright as the moons, luring you to fall into them, like a bottomless pit, a pit you would happily throw yourself into deliberately. “You know what…”

You moved a little closer to him, ears lowered. “But... you really want me? There are great women in the clan, strong and beautiful enough to be the next Tsahik.” Your gaze dropped to your feet, blushing slightly under his watchful gaze. “And to be your mate…”

Neteyam smiled once more as he leaned closer to you, brushing a lock of hair behind your ear. “I've already chosen who I want as my mate. I've known for as long as I can remember.” He then cradled your jaw against his hand, causing you to lift your chin towards him as he noticed how you had lowered your gaze. “It's you. It's always been you. You're all I can think of, the strongest, most beautiful, smartest, bravest in the clan. Perfect.”

Your smile twisted into a sadder one. “But Neteyam, you have a duty, as the next leader of the clan…”

“Love is the death of duty... I would break every rule that binds me to duty for you.” His nose brushed against yours affectionately, but, still, he stopped right there and searched your eyes with his. “Can I kiss you?”

“Please, do whatever you want with me.” You whispered against his lips.

Both of his hands cradled your face as he joined his mouth to yours in the sweetest, softest kiss you had ever been given. Your hands were immediately drawn to his body, like a magnet, sinking into his warmth, his essence, sinking into him.

And if that day you were attacked you hadn't gotten to be with Eywa, now the feeling felt closer than ever, as if the gates of paradise were opening right in front of you, inviting you in, flooding you with the most beautiful, indulgent feeling you had ever felt even a glimpse of them. That was Neteyam's effect on you, the power he had over you.

“You… you taste so good.” He murmured before giving you a couple more short kisses and then, he pulled away a few inches, watching you with a raised eyebrow and a curved little smile at the corner of his lips. “Your face is purple, are you okay?”

“Shut up.” You mumbled letting out a silly giggle, rolling your eyes, before joining your lips with his in a kiss again, now becoming more passionate and desirous, pretentious even. His hands now ran down your neck, caressing your shoulders and arms, until settling on the curve of your waist, fitting there as if missing pieces of a long forgotten puzzle were. As if his hands were made for your body, as if he was made for you. Maybe he was.

He pressed you against him and quickly you were both on the ground, sitting facing each other on the smooth leaves and grass that Eywa provided around the Tree of Souls, glowing with its bioluminescence, the night falling deliciously at your backs.

Neteyam's eyes seemed to dazzle you as they looked at you once more, reflecting all the light he had around him.

“Do you want this too?” He asked tenderly, fingers so meekly and delicately caressing the skin of your cheeks, cheekbones and jaw, as if you were the most delicate flower in all of Pandora, looking at you as the most beautiful and perfect creation Eywa had ever provided.

You could barely nod your head, stunned by all the emotions coursing through you and he smiled affectionately at this, brushing his thumb across your lower lip now, tracing the delicate skin.

“Words,” he whispered, warm breath brushing against your mouth, eyes admiring you affectionately, “I need words, baby. Talk to me.”

The nickname and his voice had an immediate effect on your body, that fluttering in your stomach seemed to intensify you and the heat between your legs shot through your whole body, shooting shivers up your neck.

“I want you― I want this, Neteyam.” You finally answered him, breathless and he smiled once more, leaving a small kiss on your lips. “I want no one but you, nothing else.”

“There's my smart girl.” One more kiss, as he complimented you in a soft, proud tone, and then he bent his head, leaving wet kisses across your jaw, down your neck. “I'll take very good care of you, don't worry. I'll make you feel good.”

You gave him more access to your skin, twisting your head to the side and closing your eyes, completely pleased, feeling each time how your body wanted more of him in you, you were on the verge of madness.

“Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?”

“Okay.” You affirmed, nodding your head slowly, still with your eyes closed.

“Good girl.” He complimented you, you managed to hear the smile on his lips as he spoke and then he planted a kiss on your closed eyelids before he started kissing your collarbone, moving down between your breasts, moving lower and lower. “You are so beautiful. The most beautiful.”

“Yours, I am yours.” You promised in a whisper.

“You will be.”

You swallowed saliva as you felt his hot breath against your pelvis. “Please don't stop.”

His soft lips followed a path he was making for himself across the inside of your thighs, which, you had opened, of course, allowing him to have more access to you, to the most sensitive part of your body, the part that most longed to have him close. His proximity had obvious effects on you, an effect that did not go unnoticed by Neteyam, as he let out a gasp as he sensed the warmth felt between your legs.

His eyes lifted, to look at you once again and you noticed immediately how dilated his pupils were now, his expression had also changed, blinded by desire, passion, longing to have you so close, intoxicated by your scent and warmth.

And even though, verbally and physically you had conveyed to him that you were completely at his mercy, he questioned in a soft tone. “Can I kiss you here?”

Your heart wanted to pound out of your chest as you nodded your head, biting your lip lightly before answering him between shaky breaths. “Yes, 'Teyam, please.”

He kissed your thighs one last time before his hands reached for your clothes, fingers hooking into the fabrics to pull them out of his way, he pulled the tie at the side of your hip and the thin fabric slipped off, sliding down your hips and falling to the floor on the side. And from one moment to the next, you were completely naked in front of him, on full display for his observant eyes, which didn't stop looking at your body for a second. He looked stunned, speechless, as if he was looking at the brightest star in the sky.

And when you felt his lips landing on your heat, you did feel like you were flying, like your body began to levitate and simply orbit around him, around his soft lips, his tongue and how he made you feel. It was a feeling you had never even imagined yourself feeling, you were sure you would see Eywa any moment now, within your closed eyes.

Your back arched involuntarily, body reacting to the wave of pleasure that succumbed against you and you swore you felt him smile against you as your whimpers began to invade the place and reached his ears.

Your hand sought his head, sinking into his silky hair at the same time as one of his ran up your stomach, fingers shooting shivers down his path across your skin and you moaned as his tongue traced a path through your folds and then sucked gently.

“You taste so good, (Y/N).” He whispered against you, wet noises that made you blush even more were heard as he kissed tenderly and so laboriously. Neteyam moaned with delight, as if he was feasting on the most delicious food he had ever savored. “You are the finest meal I have ever tasted.”

At his words and the way his tongue moved against you, your legs felt weak, fingers tugging at his hair. “N―Neteyam…”

As you moaned, your thighs pressed against his head and he seemed to almost purr in contentment, completely thrilled at the way you were crumbling under his mouth, which he withdrew, leaving light kisses on the inside of your thighs, noticing how you were beginning to speedily head towards your climax and all because of his doings.

He smiled as he saw a pout form in your mouth at the lack of friction, dark eyes, dilt pupils, trembling legs, you really were a sight to see. Beautiful, he thought.

“Relax, baby, I want you to let go when I'm inside you, okay? Don't be eager now. I want us to do it together…”

You weren't used to hear such obscene words coming out of Neteyam's mouth, moreover, with luck sometimes you managed to hear him say a couple of curse words, taken from Jake's vocabulary, but, hearing him say all that and with that tone of voice that, it seemed, was reserved for your ears only, turned out to be something so exciting and uncommon that you immediately felt yourself blushing, as your body was scandalized, just for him.

But it was when he followed an imaginary wet path of kisses across your stomach and raised his head, that you saw how his lips and surroundings were totally soaked by your own wetness, glistening against the bioluminescence. At that sight, you felt that knot that was being pulled and tugged with each passing second in his proximity tighten fiercely.

He gave you a small kiss and the taste of your own flavor on his lips shot shivers through your body.

Neteyam took your chin and made you look directly at him. “You're doing so good, baby.” He pressed a small kiss to your nose as he gave you a warm soft smile. “Now I want you to hop up on my lap, okay? Come here.”

And who were you to even think of doubting his commands?

With the support of both of his hands passing around your waist and giving your ass a squeeze, you jumped onto his lap, immediately embracing his neck and attacking his lips with your own, feeling his fangs nibble on your lower lip delicately. You let out a ticklish giggle as he descended his kisses down your neck once more, hands caressing everything they could touch within reach, molding your curves, grabbing and massaging every inch of skin on your body, leaving you breathless and craving for more, you always desired more, you could never get enough of him.

Then, his hand took your braid, while the other caressed the side of your thigh and he smiled at how you had so quickly gotten his idea, when you delicately took the longest braid of his, bringing it closer to yours held in his hand, ready to link up with each other.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Neteyam asked once more, caressing your face now with his unoccupied hand and dragging his gaze from your bonds to your eyes, which softened, giving you the last chance to take back this decision, the last chance to run away from him, the last chance to not spend the rest of your life by his side.

You simply looked at him affectionately and lifted up slightly to give him a gentle kiss, at last joining your bond with his. You both trembled and breathed shakily, pupils dilated, ears ducking.

And so, under the glow of the stars, before the eye of Eywa and all of Pandora, you mated for life. It was done. And none of you seemed to regret it for a second.

“I see you, (Y/N).” He murmured against your lips, forehead pressed against yours, eyes closed, for even so, he could see you, he could feel you, he could admire your gorgeousness, your very soul, through more than just his eyes. Your soul danced next to his and his spirit connected to yours. He was yours, always had been.

“I see you, Neteyam.”

You smiled, feeling his warmth envelop you, his essence, his soul, sink into you and fill you with a feeling you knew only he was capable of making you feel. It was Neteyam after all, your Neteyam

“Please, I need you.” You begged against his lips. “So bad, my love.”

Neteyam lets out a shaky breath, feeling as if his heart would explode, of love, of desire, of pure euphoria. Holding you against him tightly, he lined the head of his cock up against your soaked folds, almost feeling your insides clenching on nothing, longing to hold him inside.

You both moaned simultaneously when he was finally inside you, feeling as he made his way through your tight gummy walls.

“O-Oh, shit, baby.” Neteyam groaned shakily against your ear, from the pleasure, the feeling of being wrapped up by you, from your nails scratching his back, your small, broken little whimpers against him. It all felt so good, so heavenly.

Your body seemed to almost collapse from feeling so full of it, legs trembling.

Neteyam hid his face against your neck, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, trembling lips brushing against your sensitive skin, letting himself fall into how your walls squeezed him so deliciously, how he fit perfectly between them, as if you were made for him.

“So tight…” He murmured between kisses and little nibbles at the base of your neck. “You feel like heaven.”

He had heard stories from his father telling of how religion was back in his world, of how people worshipped a god, a god who lived beyond the sky, in a place called heaven, which was paradise, the highest place anyone could reach, a place of pure splendor, magnificence and harmony. Neteyam was sure that god did not feel as good in his heaven as he did in his, in you.

“Neteyam...” You managed to call out to him, breath coming in ragged gasps and voice trembling. Your voice only makes Neteyam feel higher, more elated than ever, and he responds to it immediately, coming out of hiding so he can look directly at you, noticing how your eyes held tears, cheeks flushed, hands trembling behind his back.

He proceeded to kiss you affectionately, letting out a shuddering breath, as he caressed your waist, ass, back, everything possibly within his reach. “Can I move?”

It took a couple of seconds before you managed to nod your head, starting to feel how, slowly, your body began to get used to him, to his filling, how your warm walls molded to his size.

He left a couple of delicate kisses on your nose and forehead as he began to move, dragging his cock with his movements and begin to slowly fuck inside of you, having to bite his lip to keep from letting out the most animalistic growl ever heard.

At the sudden movement inside you, you gasped, fiercely tightening your grip on his back, making him moan against your lips each time you scratched his skin.

“'Te-Teyam―” You cried out his name and he silenced you with a kiss, so deeply intimate that you felt, amidst all the pleasure and excitement, that you would sob any minute now.

“It's all right, my love. I got you.” He whispered between moans against your mouth, giving you a slightly harder thrust upwards, causing your mouth to slightly half-open, moaning in between breaths. “I got you...”

Neteyam pressed you against his body, bringing you with him once he lay down on the ground, leaving you sitting on his cock, hands around your waist to support you and help you move over him.

The new position made you both groan, feeling closer than ever.

Your back arched every time you moved on him, up and down, circling, whatever you did, it had Neteyam completely spellbound, lips quivering, eyes closed, hands squeezing tightly on your hips.

Your linked braids swayed with the movements, brushing against your hands on Neteyam's chest.

“You do it so well,” He blubbered this time, half-opening his eyes to look up at you, seeing you glowing above him. “oh Great Mother, shit, fuck― (Y/N)”

You could feel his lower abs tensing with every little movement you made on his cock, his hands went down to your ass, grabbing as much skin as they possibly could.

“Oh shit.” You groan, closing your eyes, feeling the head of his cock rub against that spot with every thrust inside you, pushing you over the edge quickly.

From one moment to the next and locked beneath the strength of his arms, you were now under his body, cock filling all the way to the brim, as one hand lifted one of your legs against him, knee on his waist, allowing him to reach where he had not been able to before, which had you basically gasping for air.

“You've been so good, let me fill you up, yes?” Neteyam whispered huskily, forehead resting against yours, eyes looking at you affectionately, but as dark as you've ever seen them. “Let me fill you with my seed, you deserve it, you've been such a good girl to me, let go, let go with me…”

“Yes please.” You managed to plead between whimpers, eyesight blurred from tears, hands sinking through his hair, nose brushing against his before giving him a kiss. “Oeyä Neteyam―”

Your words and voice was what threw him off the edge and growling so animalistic against your lips, his thrust trembled, hips quivering against yours as he felt your walls tighten in a death grip around his cock, barely allowing him to move as he painted your walls his color, shooting his hot seed into your womb. Face hiding again in your neck, sinking into your skin and scent, body pressing against yours, so soft and warm.

You are both barely breathing, slowly feeling yourselves coming back to reality, the world crawling back to you, heartbeat normalizing. You felt how your throat was dry, body feeling so heavy and tired now.

All was silent, your fingers began to stroke and comb through his hair, ears, cheeks, nape of his neck and back.

But Neteyam didn't want to come back to reality, he wanted to stay right there, sunk into you, inside you, forever. His cock softened inside you and promptly, the adrenaline and euphoria stopped coursing through his veins, feeling nothing but love now, drowning love, feeling only you.

“Thank you, baby―” He whispered, choking back a sob.

Your brow furrowed slightly and you rested your hands on his cheeks, forcing him to pull away from you so you could look at him. His eyes were crystallized with tears, but you could see nothing but love and warmth in them, you saw nothing but his soul reflecting yours.

“Thank you, for saving me.” You whispered against his mouth, giving him a small kiss and then, kissing his nose, and eyelids, once he closed them, blinded by your affection.

“No,” Neteyam answered you, opening his eyes, your thumb wiping away a tear that managed to escape, preventing it from wetting his already sweaty cheeks. “You saved me, yawnetu.”

You just kissed him, over and over again.

sevin: pretty.

oeyä: my, mine.

yawnetu: loved one, beloved, lover, beloved person.

[srjlvr]

SEVEN ROYALTIES

7 brothers. 7 new kings. 7 new thrones. 7 love stories.

note. im a bit early to do this, but we’re getting closer to 1.5k followers so i decided to drop it! i cant believe i am able to reach this amount of followers honestly! this is a special series to show you how thankful i am. i wouldn’t be here without y’all.

THE seven brothers of hybe’s kingdom will be getting each a new throne and kingdom of their own to rule, and each one gets a love story of his own too.

GENREs will be included in each member’s story and so are the WARNINGS and WORD-COUNTS.

TAG-LIST ; i’ll consider this tag-list to all members, send me an ask or comment on this post if you’d like to join.

PERM TAG-LIST ; @sungwhoonz , @ohdudehesflirting

lee heeseung x fem!reader genre: strangers to lovers , commoner and a royal , fluff , angst ! warnings: loads of curse words.

you always knew your short temper will be a disadvantage, but you never thought that moment will happen when it came to a royal blood.

“watch where you’re going!” you yelled at the person who just bumped into you, “my apologies madam, perhaps i can offer you some sweet cookies as an apology?” he smiled.

you laughed at the nickname and the cute offer, “people don’t offer here cookies just because they want to apologize, are you new in town?”

he then shook his head, “you keep your things to yourself if you don’t want people to keep asking you for favors”

you ran before the person could even reply, “didn’t she realize who is she talking to?”

STATUS posted!

park jay x fem!reader genre: arranged marriage , one sided love at first , angst , fluff ! warnings: curse words , mentions of food (nothing serious, just dinner breakfast and all) , uhh dunno if it’s really a warning but just a rude behavior.

it’s been a few months since your huge wedding held in the castle, “i’ve married to you only because of the fact that i need to marry off to someone to get the throne” your newly husband groaned.

he’s been telling you the same sentence each time you remind him that you’re actually a married couple.

you’ve been taking care of him when he got sick, made him meals and even did most of the laundry, regardless of the fact that you have tons of servants.

jay has been ignoring you all day and all night ever since you first met, even ordered that you must have separated rooms.

but all it took for him to understand that he so longed for you, is to see you walk away. now, he’s determined to bring you back and love you all over again.

STATUS posted!

sim jake x fem!reader genre: strangers to lovers , fake relationship , he fell first but she fell harder , runaway royals , fluff , angst ! warnings: mentions of pregnancy(nothing serious i promise trust me) , mentions of food (not specifically, just meals).

your beauty is beyond compare, and you know that. your parents knows that too. which is why they’ve been forcing you to go on dates with filthy princes who wants nothing but to use you and your beauty as a trophy.

you hate that, being treated as an object in the eyes of other people. so you ran away. where? you didn’t know, but you packed your bag and left the house in the late late hours.

what you didn’t expect however, was to get caught by another runaway prince.

“who are you?” you suspiciously asked. “i’m sorry madam, let me introduce myself, i’m sim jake, hybe’s-“

“hybe’s prince” you gasped, “and you are?” he shrugged off the fact that you just cut him in the middle of the sentence.

“i’m l/n y/n—“ “the runaway princess?”

STATUS posted!

park sunghoon x fem!reader genre: childhood friends to enemies to lovers , one sided love somewhere into the story , heavy angst , fluff ! warnings: character’s death (not a main character) , curse words.

sunghoon has everything, wealth, power, a throne. but none of these matters when he can’t have you by his side.

“i hate you, park sunghoon” you spit out, nothing but hate is in your fierce glance at him. he just chuckled, “you don’t mean that”

“oh i do,” you nodded, “and i’m only doing it because i promised her it’ll happen”

“looking back at that promise, i realize why you used to believe that promises are stupid” you added.

“i’m sorry” he apologized, “sorry isn’t going to change anything, is it?”

STATUS posted!

kim sunoo x fem!reader genre: mistakenly falling in love , strangers to lovers , fluff , a bit of angst ! warnings: none atm.

the ballroom was full with young royals who are there the celebrate ni-ki’s birthday, the youngest out of the seven brothers.

it was a NO ADULTS party and therefore, the king and the queen ( aka the parents ) tried to describe him who is he going to marry. it was a pretty obvious force marriage.

“you’ll know it when you see her, she’s awfully pretty” they said.

“i’m l/n y/n” you introduced yourself with a curtsy, sunoo took your hand and kissed the back of it, “you look awfully pretty, y/n”

“oh! her name is minju!” right after the party, the queen and the king reminded sunoo that the girl he’s off to marry is named minju.

STATUS posted!

yang jungwon x fem!reader genre: childhood friends to lovers , promised to marry , fluff , angst ! warnings: mentions of food , pregnancy i think , maybe curse words (do lmk if i missed something!!)

you’ve known jungwon ever since you can remember. his castle is considered your second home and your castle is considered his second home.

you were pretty confident in your friendship, until you became teenagers and things started to fade away between you two.

he knows you’re promised to him, so why was he so unconfident about it when he saw you talking to other princes?

and you know he’s promised to you, so why do you feel like crying when he’s being introduced to other princesses as well?

STATUS posted!

nishimura riki x fem!reader genre: troublemakers falling in love , strangers to lovers , dumb and dumber relationship , fluff , angst ! warnings: none atm.

you were some kind of the black sheep in your family, always breaking rules and doing what you’re clearly not supposed to do. you love your freedom.

you heard about a prince who’s just exactly as you are, and you’re more than eager to meet him.

“are you…?” in one of your usual sneak outs, you bumped into a familiar face, “am i…?” he mocked.

“never mind” you shrugged, “i thought you were nishimura riki”

“i thought you’re l/n y/n” he chuckled, it was too dark for the both of you to see each other. “so who are you?” you asked, “nishimura riki, you?”

“l/n y/n”

STATUS coming soon!!

••• copyright © srjlvr all rights are reserved.

[chvoswxtch]

just started the punisher & absolutely in love with how you write frank castle. i’m already a huge simp and NEED a bodyguard!frank x reader fic where the reader gets a lil tipsy & likes to run away from him? ofc she runs into trouble with other guys at the bar and immediately regrets losing frank but he comes in at the right time?

if not i totally understand and will continue to binge all of your fics!!

-thor ✨🥰

thor!!! my sweet sparkly angel baby god of thunder!!! ✨

you're so PRECIOUS. thank you so much, and thank you so much for the request. I can't believe I hadn't thought of bodyguard!frank before like...you're a genius. I left this one kinda open ended bc I wasn't sure exactly what kind of relationship we were going for between frankie & reader, so I kept it subtle BUT as always, if you want more just let me know. 😏 ❤️

warning: contains violence and mentions of blood (frankie is the punisher after all), swearing, mentions of alcohol, & mentions of harassment (if this makes you uncomfortable, please feel free to skip!) word count: 3k

it's my job.

[next chapter] | [series masterlist]

You should’ve listened. He told you to stay close. He told you not to have that sixth drink. He told you to stay where he could see you. But you didn’t listen.

Why hadn’t you fucking listened?

Because he frustrated you. Because he was all stone cold gazes and silence. Because he ignored you like he was paid to do that instead of protecting you. Because his eyes were always over you or around you, but never on you.

Because you had a school girl crush on your body guard and you couldn’t figure out why. 

Well, you knew part of that why. He was incredibly handsome in a rugged way. He was big and broad and looked like he could snap you in half with his bare hands if he wanted. You’d seen him crack a smile once, not at you of course, but another one of the guys that was assigned to you, and God was it beautiful. It softened his face in a way that made you stupid, and that was probably why you had made the dumbass decision that you had.

You weren’t a damsel in distress by any means, but you’d certainly play the part if it meant Frank Castle was coming to your rescue. 

The plan was simple. Slip away from Frank at the bar, find a random guy to flirt with, wait for Frank to find you, and finally be his center of attention. Simple, right?

Wrong. Very wrong.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Frank had turned his head for one second, and you were gone, giggling to yourself as you pictured the pissed off look on his face. Were you being a brat? Absolutely. But as pretty as Frank was, he was also a huge dick most of the time. It was only fair to return the favor considering he had been driving you crazy for months now. Tipsy you had completely justified your actions, and you agreed with her. 

It didn’t take long to find an unsuspecting player in your little game. He had a godawful smirk on his face that definitely wasn’t as attractive as he thought it was, and clearly screamed ‘no one’s ever told me no in my entire life’. That should’ve been red flag number one. His overconfidence was as nauseating as the sound of his voice, but you reminded yourself you had a game to win. You subtly kept glancing around for Frank, wondering what the hell was taking so long. All of a sudden, Jason…Jake…whatever the hell his name was-decided to invite his entire frat house apparently to crash your little party. 

That was when the chaos started.

They all crowded around you in a corner in the back, completely blocking your view from the rest of the bar. You started to feel a little nervous, realizing that if you couldn’t see Frank, he couldn’t see you. That thought, along with the ravenous gaze in each of the men’s eyes, completely sobered you up. You didn’t like their lingering stares. You didn’t like how close they all were. This wasn’t fun anymore. It wasn’t a game. It was a mistake. 

“I-I think I should go find my friend. Excuse me.”

“Whoa, where you going, princess? I thought we were your friends?”

The ringleader didn’t hide the path of his eyes as they traveled down your body, and it made you feel sick. His friends snickered as they moved in closer towards you, not bothering to hide their shameless gazes either.

“What, you don’t like us anymore?”

Think. Think. Think.

Don’t piss them off. 

Play along.

Be smart.

You attempted your best polite smile, shaking your head slowly as you tried to find a gap between their bodies.

“Just wanna make sure no one sends a search party and ruins the fun. I’ll be right back.”

You tried not to move too quickly as you went to step between two of them, but a tight grip on your wrist yanked you backwards against an uncomfortable chest.

“Why don’t you just text them later. C’mon, don’t be difficult.”

There was a fear bubbling up in your chest and your throat felt tight. God why hadn’t you just fucking listened to Frank? Where the hell was he? You just wanted to go home. You sent a silent prayer up to whoever was listening that you’d never do anything stupid like this again if you could just go home.

“You’re hurting me.”

You winced, not from the weakness in your own voice, but from the harsh orchestra of laughter at your words. You felt like a lamb trapped in a circle of wolves. The horrid feeling of the man’s hand caressing your face caused your fingers to tremble, whimpering slightly as his hand gripped your jaw tightly when you tried to turn away from his touch.

“What’s the matter, princess? Don’t like it rough?”

“Frank?!”

If he couldn’t see you, maybe he could at least hear you.

“That’s not my name, baby. Don’t worry, we can practice you screaming it later. I promise, it’ll be the only one you remember after I-”

A high pitched yelp rang loudly in your ears and it took a couple of seconds to realize that it came from the man that was grabbing you. Blinking a few times, you stared dumbfounded as you realized Frank had pinned his arm behind his back in a very painful looking position and had slammed his face into the closest wall.

“You put this fuckin’ hand where it don’t belong again, and I’m gonna break it. You got that?”

Frank must have done something to prove his point, because the man cried out as he furiously tried to nod his head that was trapped against the wall.

“Fuck…y-yeah, yeah I got it! Just fucking let go!”

As Frank released him and took a step backwards, the man fervently turned around, ready to strike until he took in the look on Frank’s face. There was pure fear in that man’s eyes, and you could’ve sworn you saw him gulp as he quickly took a step backwards. He looked comically small compared to Frank. It fueled something within you to see him look so small and fragile. Frank turned his head slightly to shoot a warning look to the others, one they quickly responded to by taking a step back and holding their hands up in surrender.

Shooting one last glare to the ring leader, Frank finally turned around to face you. A shiver tumbled down your spine at the fury burning in his eyes. He was pissed. 

“You alright?”

The tone of his voice was so harsh and gruff it almost hurt your ears, having the complete opposite effect it normally did. You brought your trembling hand up and held your wrist against your chest, trying to ignore the sting of pain you felt as you cast your eyes downward and nodded.

You jumped slightly when you felt the warm weight of Frank’s palm on your arm, noticing the way his face fell ever so slightly as he recognized the terror in your eyes. He gave your arm a gentle squeeze, nodding his head towards your wrist.

“Lemme see.”

If Frank was pissed before, he was fucking enraged now. Allowing him to hold out your wrist to inspect it, his jaw immediately hardened when he saw the faint outline of fingerprints blooming on your skin in light shades of maroon. 

“Fuckin’ piece of shit.”

Before you had a chance to stop him, Frank’s fist was colliding with the man’s jaw, causing you to wince as you heard it crack like thunder across the sky in a violent storm. You could hear one of his ribs shattering like glass as Frank landed a powerful blow to his chest, grunting as he dragged him back up by his collar.

“Thought you liked it rough, huh? You pussyin’ out on me now?”

The man feebly tried to push at Frank’s chest to create some distance. He would’ve had better luck trying to knock down a brick wall with his bare hands. His friends stood stunned in place by Frank’s wrath, paralyzed with horror as their fearless leader sobbed and pleaded for mercy. 

“You like putin’ your hands on women, yeah? That make you feel big? Make you feel like a man?”

Frank’s voice boomed in your ears the louder he got. There was a frenzied look in his eyes, and you’d lost count of how many times his fist had collided with various parts of the man’s body. 

“Frank, please.”

Frank’s unrelenting fist paused midair at the sound of your voice, head snapping in your direction. He wasn’t going to stop unless you begged him to. You could see it in his eyes.

“I wanna go home. Please, Frank. Please take me home.”

A muscle feathered in his jaw as he glanced between you and the man whose bloodied face was now unrecognizable. Grabbing onto his jaw roughly, the man whimpered as a fresh stream of blood leaked from his mouth. Frank leaned in close, staring directly into the eye that wasn’t swollen shut as he growled lowly.

“You ever come near her again, or I hear anythin' ‘bout you putin’ your hands on another woman, I’ll fuckin’ make you scream. And it’ll be the last goddamn thing you do. You got that?”

Frank didn’t wait for an answer. He swiftly guided you out with his hand on your lower back, ignoring the horrified looks from everyone as they parted for him like the red sea. The slam of the passenger door caused you to jump, buckling yourself in with trembling hands as Frank sped out of the parking lot like a madman. 

You couldn’t look at him. You couldn’t face the rage on his face and the disappointment in his eyes. One glance in his direction had you immediately turning away. His fist was coated in the man’s blood as it gripped onto the steering wheel, crimson almost gleaming under the moonlight as it dripped down his wrist. You pushed it too far. You pushed him too far.

The entire drive home was silent. You desperately wanted to get out and get away from him. How were you ever supposed to look at him again? He was probably going to quit after what you did. How could you have been so reckless? So stupid? You stared at your reflection in the side mirror.

Well, you got what you wanted.

As soon as his truck pulled into the driveway you were unbuckling yourself and dashing out towards the front door. Your fingers trembled as you struggled with the lock, heart thrashing in your ribcage hearing Frank’s heavy boots pounding angrily against the concrete. He silently reached around you to grab the keys, turning the lock and shoving the door open angrily as you rushed through the threshold. 

His large hand caught your arm before you could disappear into your bedroom, spinning you around quickly as he stared down at you furiously.

“Why do you gotta always be so goddamn difficult? Why can’t you just do what the fuck I ask, when I ask it?”

“Frank-”

“You are a fuckin’ relentless pain in my ass, you know that? You got any idea what coulda happened to you? What they woulda done? Is that what you want?”

“No, I-”

“Because that woulda been on me. Somethin’ happens to you, it’s on me. It don’t matter that you’re a goddamn spoiled brat that can’t fuckin’ listen to save her fuckin’ life, it’s my ass. You get that? Or are you so goddamn selfish, you can’t see past yourself?”

He was right. You knew he was right. You had been selfish. You could’ve gotten yourself seriously hurt, or worse. You could’ve gotten Frank hurt or worse. And for what? Because he did his job too well? Because he wouldn’t entertain your bullshit? A lump of regret caught in your throat and you could feel guilt brimming along your waterline. You were a selfish, spoiled brat to him. That’s all he saw you as, and would ever see you as, because that was all you had proven to him. He probably hated you, and that thought alone is what finally broke you.

“I’m sorry, Frank. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-I wasn’t thinking. I was being stupid. I…I was being selfish. If you hadn’t been there…I don’t…I can’t…”

You shuddered as you thought about how that sentence would end. You didn’t even wanna think about it. You realized in that moment how complacent you had gotten because of Frank. He was always there. The thought of someone getting past him never even occurred to you. There was never a chance for anyone to get too close to you until you created one.

Frank paused his irritated pacing, his face softening as he heard the remorse that cracked through your voice. Your hands were trembling as you choked words out through your heavy tears, and for the first time that night he thought about how scared you must have been. He glanced at the bruises that marked your wrist and let out a deep exhale through his nose. You were a pain in the ass, but he knew you hadn’t intended for tonight to happen. You could be careless sometimes, but not enough to put yourself in that situation.

Frank took a few cautious steps forward, placing his hands delicately on your shoulders.

“Hey, breathe. Everythin’s alright, yeah? You’re home. You’re alright. Just…breathe for me, sweetheart.”

“I’m so sorry, Frank-”

Frank let out another deep sigh as he pulled you in close, hugging your head against his chest as he gently rubbed your back.

“Hey…hey, I know. I know you didn’t mean for it to happen. Look, it’s over, yeah? Don’t matter anymore. Just focus on breathin’ for me.”

“You could’ve gotten hurt, and I-”

Frank pulled back slightly as he cupped your jaw delicately, searching your eyes with confusion knit between his dark brows. It felt drastically different than when that man had grabbed your face earlier. Frank’s fingers were rough, but they were soft as they touched you. Frank would never hurt you. His full lips were pursed in almost a pout as he searched your eyes, and it was the first time you were able to look at them so closely. They were a breathtaking shade of chocolate brown, and looked so different when he wasn’t angry. His entire face was different when he let that brooding mask slip. 

After a beat of silence, the edge of his mouth curved in the tiniest of smirks as his eyes lit up with mischief.

“The hell you worryin’ ‘bout me for? I’m the one protectin’ you, ya’know.”

“I don’t make that easy.”

“No, you don’t.”

There was a somewhat playful tone to the normal edge of his voice. He was trying to make you feel better, but you didn’t feel like you deserved it.

“And I could’ve gotten us both hurt because of it.”

Frank had expected you to banter back with him. You always had some smartass comeback ready to fire, and he secretly enjoyed it. But the dejection in your voice made him worry he’d been too hard on you earlier. A bigger part of him was nervous that he’d scared you in the bar, and that gnawed at the pit of his stomach.

“Have I ever let a single thing happen to you?”

“No, but-”

“Do you think I ever would?”

“No, but Frank-”

“Good. My job is to protect you. I don’t need you worryin’ ‘bout me, sweetheart. I can take a lot more than you give me credit for. What I do need is you to worry ‘bout yourself, and listen. I don’t tell you shit to be a hardass or try to control you. It’s to keep you safe. You got that?”

“Yes, Frank.”

“So, we understand each other now? You gonna start listenin’?”

“I will, I promise.”

“Attagirl.”

Frank granted you a miniscule smile as he wiped a stray tear away from your cheek, and a tiny surge of pride flowed through you at his praise. You wanted more of that. You gently wrapped your hand around his wrist, finding yourself unable to break his mesmerizing gaze.

“I don’t ever want anything like tonight to happen again.”

“That makes two of us.”

“I was really scared, Frank.”

“Did I scare you?”

Frank’s voice was quieter as he voiced his inquisition, and you could hear the vulnerability laced in it. You quickly shook your head, holding onto his wrist a little tighter.

“I wasn’t scared of you, Frank. I never have been. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to find you. That you wouldn’t be able to find me. That I…might never see you again.”

“I’ll always find you, sweetheart. I promise.”

You thought you liked how your name sounded coming from Frank’s mouth, and God you did, but sweetheart…yeah you liked that much better.

“Frank-”

“Go get some sleep. We’ll talk in the mornin’.”

“Are you leaving?”

Frank quirked one of his brows as he looked at you, a smile ghosting over his mouth so fast you had to convince yourself you hadn’t imagined it.

“Kinda defeats the purpose of body guardin’ if I ain’t here to guard your body, yeah? And since someone can’t manage to keep herself outta trouble, can’t really take any chances.”

Something about that sentence had heat violently spreading across your cheeks, and traveled very far downwards. You nodded your head quickly, trying to will your brain to remember how to speak as you cleared your throat.

“Right…um…guest room is-”

“Across from yours, I remember.”

“Um…goodnight, Frank.”

“Night, sweetheart.”

You flashed him a tight lipped smile, trying to gather yourself as you turned around and headed towards your bedroom. What a fucking night. As you opened your bedroom door, you paused for a second and turned around, only to find Frank still in the same spot you had left him, watching you closely. He turned his body to face you expectantly, cocking his head slightly to the side in question.

“Thank you.”

Frank’s hand twitched slightly as his side, giving you a slight nod.

“It’s my job, sweetheart.”

[sacredthethreadgvf]

Sunshine On My Shoulders | Josh Kiszka x Reader

Warnings: SMUT!!! MINORS DNI! Josh being an asshole sorry, mentions of fearing thunderstorms, smoking the herb, fluff and angst..(if I missed any let me know)

Word Count: 11k+ get cozy friends

A/N: Hello. Hi. It has been SO long since I have had the motivation to sit down and write a fic but I wanted to share this little piece with you all. Who doesn't love a good friends to lovers trope with some spice in the mix? Go easy on me though, like I said it's been a little while since I have posted anything like this and it is so terribly edited…

Huge shoutout to @streamingcolors-gvf and @myfriendtheghost. Without either of you, I don't think this would have made it out of the dusty drafts in my google docs. I appreciate you both so very much. 

Enjoy.

******************************************************************

The squeaky wheels of the shopping cart you were pushing were beginning to annoy you. The dull beep of items being scanned tuned out in your ears as a white noise to the god awful rattle of this stupid cart you had. How did you always manage to get the one cart with the broken wheel every time you went to the store? You hate grocery shopping. Too much noise, too many people all scrambling around to load up carts with fresh produce and frozen dinners for their families, and the gaudy white lights, ugh! You figured since you loved people watching so much you would enjoy being nosey and stare into people's carts to see what they had, I mean you may have missed something good back in the bakery aisle for all you knew. But you hated being here. You would rather instacart your groceries, or have curbside pick up than to venture into a store if you didn't have to. 

But today was a last minute circumstance. A last minute circumstance for your best friend Josh. He had called you in a panic from a hotel room many states away a few days ago informing you that he had re hurt his already busted eardrum, and he had hurt it badly this time. Bad enough that he was coming home sooner than anticipated.He expressed to you over facetime how he felt he was helpless to take care of himself at times and for once, did not want to be left alone. So, he had asked you a favor. Deeming it the biggest favor he would ever ask of you and that he would pay you back at a later date to which you insisted against since it is what friends do for each other. Josh had asked you to come spend a few days with him so he could get settled back in at home. He had requested that you went to pick up some food for him on top of his medications that he needed to take for his ear. He had told you everything over the phone while you stood in your apartment and you tried your best to write everything down while he was rattling off specific ingredients for certain recipes. You had offered to make him his favorite soup for him that he had been complaining he missed so much these last few weeks on the road. He had swore it could cure all pain in an instant and you were determined to make it for him.

You two were going to be staying in the boy's vacation home, a nice little cabin in the hills of Tennessee so he could ‘get away from Jake and his amps’ for a while and immerse himself in nature. You of course happily obliged to his every request. Secretly pining on him for months now, you'd take any chance to spend time with him while he was home. 

So this is how you ended up where you currently were, one of your least favorite places on the face of the planet earth. But if it was for him, you'd suck it up any day of the week.

With your car full of grocery bags and a packed duffle bag you began your trek to the hills of Tennessee outside of the bustling city of Nashville that you have been able to call home for the last couple of years. The drive was peaceful. You had made it a few times before after having the pleasure of being invited to a small weekend getaway with the boys and their lovers. Many memories were made in that cabin with your friends. 

Pulling down the little dirt road that led to the cabin you weren't sure if you were giddy with excitement or if it was your brain trying its best to cover up your anxiousness. You were going to be spending the next few days with Josh alone. You've never had the chance to spend one on one time without Josh's brothers hanging out nearby or even just other people in general hanging around.

Seeing the cabin coming into view through the trees you saw Josh's Jeep already parked out front. “Hey Siri? Call Josh.” Even with the cabin being tucked away in the woods you were thankful cell service was still decently strong.

The phone rang a few times over the speakers in your car, “Hello?” 

“Hey! I have arrived!” You announced as you put your car into park. 

“Okay, the front door is unlocked. Need any help?”

“I got it Josh, dont worry about it!” You reached over your front seat to grab your purse and water bottle, preparing yourself to load up your arms with groceries and such. 

“Okay, see you soon Sunny.”

Sunny..

Josh had given you the nickname Sunshine shortly after you two met and it had been shortened to Sunny after a while. He had told you that you reminded him of the warm sun on the first day of spring after the weather broke from a cold winter. That you lit up a room so effortlessly when you were around and had the ability to make everyone around you happy. And that's when you knew that you were in trouble. Your heart belonged to him but it felt so unrequited at times. His little touches he would graze over your skin when he thought no one was looking, the winks he would shoot your direction after he made a joke that caused you to laugh wildly, the blush you could swear would paint his cheeks when you would make flirty remarks..

And yet, whenever you felt like the line between friends would be crossed, he would pull away. The touches would become more sparse and you noticed he wouldn't look in your direction as often as he used to. But then he would jump right back in a few days later as if nothing happened. As if his cold behavior was just a minor occurrence. It confused you wildly. So you settled for pining after him and keeping him as close as he could be to you, as friends. As long as he was in your life, you didn't care.

You gathered up the grocery bags along your arms, clearly hurting yourself slightly in the process but you'll be damned if you had to make another trip. Unfortunately for you, you had abandoned your duffel bag back in the car and only realized it as you were pushing the front door of the house open. Josh had been spread out on the couch, writing furiously away in his journal as he had finally been able to put some finishing touches on the lyrics to a new song when he heard you. He saw you through the little archway in between the foyer, kitchen and living room. 

“Sunny!” He beamed. “Oh my gosh, hang on, let me help you!” 

Your arms were beginning to weaken at the heaviness of the bags but you shook your head wildly as he came bounding towards you.

‘You will do no such thing mister! Go sit back down!” 

You tried to pull away from Josh's fingers grasping at the handles of the bags leaving red marks on your arms but didn't succeed as he pulled a few of them away from you.

“Sunny, don't be so stubborn, I feel okay right now!” He smiled widely at you, his dimple making an appearance on his cheek. You tried not to stare as you felt yourself redden in the face. Had you forgotten how he was so cute while he was away? How is it even possible that he came home more attractive..

You walked with him the short distance to the kitchen and after unloading the bags from your arms Josh walked towards you and gave you a side hug. “Thanks again for doing this for me Sunny.”

“Of course.” You smiled up at him.

“Did you hear about the storms that are supposed to happen tonight?” He asked, back turned towards you while you both started unloading the groceries.

“I did, yes! Are you prepared? I heard the wind might be bad and the power will go out because of that.”

Josh stopped and threw a cheeky smile over his shoulder at you. “And who said the power was going to go out?”

“Me! This cabin is in the middle of nowhere, I will give you $100 if the power does not go out.”

“Deal Sunny!” He smirked. 

His smirk quickly diminished on his face as he felt a pain radiating through his ear to his jaw, you watched as he winced slightly.

“You okay?” You softly asked.

“Yeah..I mean, no. But it's okay.”

Josh turned his attention back towards the grocery bags and you. You were beating yourself up mentally for not really being able to carry on or start a conversation with him now that you two were alone together. There was easily so much you two could talk about right now. You were trying to rack your brain on whether or not you wanted to ask him about tour so soon because it was such a touchy subject right now. Or even bring up the state of his ear, deciding against that as well as it might add insult to injury. Just as you were about to ask him how his trip home was, Josh broke the silence in the room.

“Chicken broth?” 

“Huh?” You responded.

“You got chicken broth?” Josh raised his voice slightly at you causing you to shrink back. Your eyes go wide at his tone of voice.

“I…- Josh..was I not supposed-...” You started rambling. Shocked at how he was speaking to you.

“Why the fuck would you get chicken broth for a vegetarian soup?!” You watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose and spun around. Your heart sank and started to quicken in your chest as your brain tried to comprehend how Josh's voice and attitude towards you changed at the flip of a switch. I mean you just got here..

He's never ever used that voice with you before with you and now..your arms began to stiffen at the rush of adrenaline coursing through your veins and you started to ramble.

“Josh I- I don't know why I didn't think of-”

“Of course you didn't think. I mean why would that make any sense!” He snapped, still facing away from you in the kitchen.

“I'm sorry. I don't know why I-..” 

“Just..-stop..now we can't have the soup. The one thing you knew I was looking forward to for the last few days. You think I can have chicken broth?! Useless..” Josh whispered the last part.

Your heart sank heavy in your chest. You had positively ruined the one thing Josh asked you to do for him. Your head had snapped up to look at him at his last word he chose to mutter out, only to see his eyes wide already looking at you. You felt like the two of you were standing there for hours, neither of you making a move. He watched as your eyes began to fill with tears and your face turned red. 

You snatched your keys off the counter just as the first shaky breath of what felt like a panic attack coming on made its way through your chest. 

You had to go, you had to get out of this house before he saw you break down. You couldn't let him see you like this.

You hastily slipped on your shoes not caring if you even put them on the correct foot and pushed the front door of the house open making haste to your car in the driveway. All the while you could hear Josh repeatedly calling out your name from behind you trying to stop you. It wasn't until he had successfully grabbed your arm while you were trying to get into the front seat of your car did you stop. By now you had tears spilling down your cheeks and you refused to look directly at him.

“Y/N please, Y/N I'm sorry I didn't mean it-..” He pleaded with you, grip strong on your left arm.

“Josh, please let me go.” you let out a shaky breath, closing your eyes causing more tears to rush down your cheeks. 

“No,” He paused to wipe a stray tear falling down your cheek. “No, I'm not letting you go. I'm sorry Y/N I didn't mean what I said back there. I need you here, with me, please.” 

“But why did you say all that..why did you talk to me like that.” You let out a shaky breath, looking down at your feet.

“Y/N I promise I didn't mean it, I've been irritated with other things and I kind of took it out on you and I shouldn't have. Not that that is a good excuse to say anything like that to you. I-I'm sorry.” 

Josh's chest was rapidly rising and falling as he was looking at you. “Please please stay. I didn't mean it.” 

You pushed him away from you. 

“You don't think I know that!” You yelled at him. 

You watched his face turn white as you connected your now bloodshot eyes with his own. 

“Josh, you don't think I know half of the shit that you've been going through?! We talk almost every single day! I know how you haven't been feeling good and for crying out loud and I know this set back on tour is a lot to handle.I come here to help you out because you asked me to and because you're my best friend and you yell at me and call me useless right after I walk through your front door? Useless?! Seriously get fucked.” You turned away from him again grabbing your car door handle only for his arm to reach past your shoulder and shove it closed. 

“Y/N, please..!”

“Josh, let me fucking GO!” 

He held his arm steady against the crease of the car door and you snapped your eyes at his face and glared at him the best you could. You hoped that your piercing glare would get the message across. You watched as he drew his lips together in a tight line and rubbed his nose against his white sleeve before looking back at you. You crossed your arms and continued to glare at him.

Just as he was about to begin speaking to you again you clicked the little red button on your key fob and the car alarm started blaring. You lifted your chin at him in defiance. 

You watched as his face dropped, as if you could read his face saying ‘really?’. 

He rolled his eyes. “Y/N. Seriously?”

“Yes seriously. Get off my car you fucking criminal.”

“Criminal?” He glared at you.

“Yes criminal! You're holding me hostage!”

He giggled, arm still perched against your car door, alarm still blaring.

“You know there's 3 other doors you can crawl into this vehicle through. I'm not doing anything.” You watched as the corners of his mouth were fighting off a smile, his eyes gave it away though how funny you were to him which only fueled the anger you felt.

“Fuck you Joshua!” 

Your anger intensified even more as he laughed out loud. “I'm just saying Sunny! You're more than capable of getting into your vehicle right now!” 

“You're so annoying!” 

“Oh yeah? What else?” His stupid smirk was beginning to break through your tough barrier without you even realizing it.

“You're an asshole! A prick! The worst person I've positively ever met in my entire life!” 

“Wow, Sunny. I never thought I'd see your true colors!” He finally threw a full smile in your direction which quickly fell as he watched your eyes narrow even further at him.

You turned your back to him then. Car alarm still going off.

You heard him sigh. “Y/N? Sunny? I'm sorry I yelled at you and said you were useless. That was totally out of line for me and I don't know why I even said it in the first place because you are the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time. I don't think I would be able to survive without you to be honest. I'd probably be stuck on the side of the road somewhere like a lost puppy if it weren't for you keeping me in check and taking such good care of me. Will you please forgive me for the horrid, horrid comment I made in the kitchen? Let me make it up to you.” 

You didnt turn back to face him, but you clicked that little red button on your key fob and your car went quiet. You heard him let out a breath behind you. You began tapping your foot against the gravel. Were you really about to forgive this asshole? Probably. I mean he was right that he wouldn't be able to survive without you..and his stupid cute face, his smile and those dimples were your ultimate kryptonite..

“Fine Joshua. I will stay, but understand you have some major, major groveling to do.”

You turned back to face him and Josh whisked you into his arms faster than you could blink.

You felt his arms wrap around you and a hand immediately finding its place on the back of your head holding you tight like you were going to slip away at any moment. Your arms did not reciprocate, only loosely wrapping around his torso as he clung to you like his life depended upon it.

The sadness in your chest had dissipated. Not into comfort, warmth, or happiness. The anger stuck. 

“Josh, why would you even say something like that to me in the first place though?” You pulled your head away from his grasp to look at him directly. You could see the remorse still painted clearly across his face. Just as he was about to open his mouth and respond, the sound of tires crunching on gravel cut you both short. 

Josh sighed and looked between you and the car that was approaching. “My mom is here.” 

He dropped his arms from around you and you watched as he opened your back seat door and grabbed your duffle bag, slinging it over his right shoulder. 

“Hey kids!” Karen greeted you both with a wide smile stepping out of her car. “What's up!” 

Both you and Josh put up appearances as if, whatever it was, didn't just happen between you two. 

“Hey mama!” Josh walked around the front of the car to give his mom a big hug. 

“Hey Mrs. Kiszka” You waved at her with a small smile.

“Did you just get here honey? I hope I wasn't interrupting anything.” She shot a wink at Josh, which to his luck, you had missed but his cheeks now sported a light pink color.

“Yeah, I was just helping her unload her things ma.” 

“Oh perfect, then you can grab these bags from my car too!” She opened the back seat of her car. “I stopped to pick up some groceries for you since I know you've been on tour for so long, figured I'd help restock the fridge.”

Josh whispered a soft thank you. Neither of you made a move to mention that you had just gone grocery shopping for him not a few hours ago.

“Let me help too Mrs.Kiszka.” You smiled and held an open arm for her to place grocery bags into.

“Thank you sweetheart!” 

*****************************************************************

You, Josh and Karen had successfully brought all 6 grocery bags into the house without an issue setting them onto the counter next to where the already more than empty grocery bags from your trip now sat. 

“Oh! I didn't realize that you had already done some grocery shopping sweetie!” Karen said, beginning to unload fresh carrots from a brown paper bag. 

Josh cleared his throat and glanced across the kitchen island at you, giving you a small smile. “Yeah, Y/N here was generous enough to go for me today. She even picked up my medicine that I needed since I still cannot really drive due to random bouts of vertigo.”

“Ohh how sweet of you Y/N” Karen said. “Thank you for taking such good care of Joshua for me. He always speaks highly of you and I can see why.” 

“You're welcome Mrs.Kiszka, of course” You smiled at her sheepishly, your cheeks now sporting a red hue. 

You had only met Karen a few times and had a few brief conversations with her. For some reason she made you nervous. I guess that's what happens when you are crushing on somebody's son who loves their mother more than anything. You constantly hope for approval from them.

You were blissfully unaware that Josh was watching your every move. He found it endearing how nervous you got around his mother, how you fidgeted with your fingers and blushed furiously.

“Joshua, stop staring and help me unpack these groceries?” Karen smirked in his direction.

You watched as Josh's face now matched yours in color. 

Was he really just staring at you? What the fuck?

You were in the middle of unpacking eggs from the bottom of a brown paper bag when Josh dropped an item onto the floor. “Fuck.” He murmured. 

He bent down to pick it up just as you snapped your eyes in his direction. You watched as he locked eyes with you and set the container of vegetable broth back on the counter as Karen was behind you clearing out space in the fridge. 

“Joshua Michael, you have moldy fruit in here..”

Josh's eyes snapped behind you to look at his mom while she was scolding him. 

You were focused on the container of veggie broth sitting on the kitchen counter now, almost taunting you. 

You felt overwhelmed all of a sudden and you hastily finished clearing out the bag in front of you. “I'm going to excuse myself to take a shower if you two don't mind. I feel a little gross after running around all of Nashville today.” 

“Of course sweetie!” Karen said, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and giving you a light squeeze. You smiled at her and leaned into the side hug. Karen gave the best hugs.

Josh nodded at you. “Upstairs and straight back in the hallway is the bathroom. There should be fresh towels. If they're not out, the third cabinet on the left should have some fresh towels.” 

“Thanks.”

Josh gave you a small smile and reached to grab the moldy blueberry container that Karen had begun waving around again.

****************************************************************

The hot water pouring from the shower head felt divine against your sore muscles. You took your time scrubbing, exfoliating, standing underneath the hot stream of water and letting the water cascade down your face or your back. You weren't in a rush to get out of the shower. Not when it felt this good, and not when you were trying to avoid being downstairs again. You were still upset that Josh had even spoken to you in such a way over something as small as Chicken broth. But as you mulled it over in the water some more, you couldn't really believe yourself but you started to empathize with his little outburst due to the recent events and you still felt slightly guilty that you couldn't deliver the one thing he kept bringing up over and over again the last few days. Almost as if the universe had a vendetta against you, you felt the hot water turn lukewarm and then almost ice cold instantly as the water reserve from the hot water tank drained in its entirety. 

You let out a groan as you realized your time in the shower had now come to an end unfortunately.  

You grabbed the white fluffy towels sitting on the counter next to you and wrapped your body up, trying to warm back up as the water had really put a damper on your skin temp. Thankfully, you had remembered to grab your duffle bag from the bottom of the staircase where Josh had left it before you came upstairs. 

Putting on your favorite comfy clothes and taking the time to do your after shower routine, you realized you really couldn't stay upstairs much longer.

Opening the bathroom door, the smell of spices and comfort food filled your senses. It had been a long time since you had a good home cooked meal and your tummy grumbled loud to remind you of such.The frozen dinners and the take out during the week had turned into an often occurrence for you when you were in a pinch. And it felt like you were in a pinch very often these days. 

You were about to start descending down the stairs when you caught hushed voices coming from the kitchen.

“...I was so mean to her mama, I really messed up.” You heard Josh plead.

“You know Josh,” You heard Karen hush back. “That girl cares about you. A lot. I can see that very clearly from the few times that I have spent with all of you. You are my son yes but you know I don't sugar coat shit. I am surprised she even stayed.”

“Me too.”

“You will have some making up to do no doubt. But I think you are off to a great start here.”

While you were doing your best to go unnoticed by the two in the kitchen, you hadn't realized the banister you were leaning against at the top of the stairs wasn't the steadiest unfortunately. Just your luck, one of the screws had popped out of the wall that was holding said banister up and rolled quite loudly down the wooden steps until it made it to the bottom of the staircase.

You rushed down after it, beat red in the face. Picking it up you looked up and made eye contact with Josh and Karen who were both trying hard not to laugh. 

“Im sooo sorry Josh! I didnt mean to break-..”

Josh held his hand up, “Let me guess, top screw from the banister. That fucking thing will never stay in the wall.” He shook his head and made his way over to you. He touched your elbow as you put the screw into his extended hand and you two held each others gaze for a brief moment before you broke away from his touch.

“Well you two, I am out of here.” Karen said, grabbing her purse from the counter. 

“You're not staying for dinner mama?” Josh asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“I do have other children, Joshua. Plus, I promised Jacob I would spend the night at his house since Jita is out of town currently. You're in good hands here anyways.” She shot a wink in your direction. 

You flushed and watched as her and Josh shared an embrace before she approached you. 

“If you need anything honey, my phone number is on the fridge.” She pulled you into her embrace and you two squeezed each other.

“Don't let him get into too much trouble now.” She whispered.

“And you two stay safe! Joshua if anything happens I'm a call away.” She said as she approached the front door. 

“Thank you mama!”

“Thanks Mrs.Kiszka”

“You two behave yourselves!” She winked at you both as the front door shut. 

“Hi” Josh smiled at you sheepishly.

“Hey.” You responded.

“I made my famous pasta dish if you're hungry.” He gestured behind him.

“I thought I was supposed to be making dinner for you tonight.” Your eyebrows furrowed as you made your way to the barstool directly across from him. “Also, was I in the shower that long?” 

He laughed and turned around to spoon contents from the pan on the stove into a white bowl.

“Not terribly long, no. Also, I cannot promise this is the best thing you will ever eat but,” He set a bowl in front of you. “Consider this an apology?”

“Not the best thing? Josh, I thought this was your ‘famous pasta dish’!” You grinned at him. 

“Oh shove it!” He matched your smile.

You brought a forkful of the hot contents up to your mouth enjoying the flavors of the sauce and the herbs mixing together in perfect harmony. It was easily one of the best things you have tasted in awhile. “I accept your apology, I think.”

******************************************************************

Not a few hours later you sat with bellies full of pasta, wine and the two of you were now picking at Josh’s version of a desert charcuterie board which consisted of graham crackers, fruit, marshmallows and chocolates that he scoured his cabinets for, minus the blueberries of course. 

There was a comfortable silence between the two of you, John Denver’s voice filling the background. All that happened earlier was forgiven through bouts of shared laughter and talking through shared memories you had made together, and listening to the stories from the tour. The good ones only of course. 

The first few notes of Sunshine on my Shoulders began to play through the speakers of the record player. 

“Dance with me Sunny?” Josh asked, extending a hand out to you. “I know this is one of your favorite songs.” 

You took his hand and watched as he gave you his signature wide smile that was only ever reserved for when he seemed to be truly happy. Josh pulled you softly into his arms, one hand laid on your lower back, the other holding your left hand. Your right arm comfortably lay underneath his left, feeling the strength of his back muscles through his yellow jacket he was sporting. You allowed yourself to truck your head into the crook of his neck, his smell consuming your senses. You could feel his steady heartbeat on the tip of your nose as you two swayed slowly in the kitchen. 

If I had a day that I could give you

I'd give to you a day just like today

If I had a song that I could sing for you

I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Your heart almost stopped in your chest at the sound of him beginning to sing softly along with the lyrics. Only a few hours ago you were mad at him and now those feelings of frustration have been whisked away with the sound of his soft voice.

Fuck you wanted this man so bad. And who knows, maybe he did have feelings for you too. I mean, who else would just wrap someone up, swaying in a kitchen after drinking wine and enjoying a nice meal like that. But then again, you  thought of what everyone who was close with Josh would say at dinner parties or late nights out at the bars.

“Josh doesn’t date. Don’t get your hopes up” 

“Josh is picky about girls.”

“Josh is good at stringing girls along and breaking their hearts, I’ve seen it! It’s true! He gets close to these girls, takes them on a few dates or has them over and then never talks to them again.”

“He’s not called the heartbreaker for nothing.”

You were no longer focusing on the song or Josh's soft humming, more on the intoxicating feeling of him, the smell of him and the thought that he could rip your heart to shreds in an instant. Everything about Josh invited you in and kept a strong hold on your heart. You felt the pang of sadness course through your heart at the thought that you could probably never have this man in your life the way you wanted. You would never be able to experience the feeling of being swept up in his arms after a long day. The feeling of his lips across your skin. How he looked in the morning all curled up in his bed right here at home.

Your body must have stiffened slightly in Josh's arms and of course he noticed the change immediately.

“Sunny? Everything okay?” He asked, pulling back away from you a bit to look down at your face. 

“Huh?” You tried to play it off. “Oh, yeah, yes, I just…have a bit of a headache coming on. Too much wine probably.” 

You knew he knew it was a lie, you could see it clear as day on his face. You two each only had maybe 3 glasses and this man has watched you pound tequila sodas and shots and still be able to function almost completely fine. But for some reason he didn’t press you for a further explanation.

“Want some tylenol?” He asked, disconnecting your bodies from one another. His hands rested softly in the bottoms of your elbows. 

You shrugged, “Sure. I might head to bed though. These headaches can end up being bad if I don’t get horizontal soon.” 

He nodded and gave you a sad smile. “I get it, trust me. Let me grab some water for you too.” 

You felt the tension in the room peak at an all time high for the first time tonight as you watched Josh float around his kitchen grabbing a glass, filling it up and emptying two pills into the palm of his hand. You graciously took the items from him. 

You watched as Josh began to clean up the items in the kitchen before placing the now empty glass of water into the sink where Josh was currently scrubbing away at a pot. 

“Goodnight Josh.” You bumped his shoulder awkwardly. 

“Sleep well Sunny.” He bumped yours back.

You wrapped your arms around your torso almost in a protective manner, or almost as if you were cold and began to make your way up the staircase. You stopped at the 4th step and turned around. “Hey Josh?”

A smile spread on your face as you watched just his head poke out from behind the kitchen wall. “Yeah?” 

“Thank you. For dinner, a-and for letting me stay here with you.” 

He gave you a smile, “Of course Y/N. Thank you for staying.” 

You nodded and turned back around heading towards the guest room on the opposite side of the hallway from Josh's room. The second the door clicked closed you felt overwhelmed again and tears began to pool in your eyes again. 

God, you wanted him bad. You'd give anything. 

****************************************************************

You woke up suddenly to a pitch dark room and a thumping heart, completely unsure as to why at first. Maybe a bad dream? Your eyes tried to adjust to the darkness around the room and you pulled the blankets up to your chin. You hated to admit it but sometimes being immersed in complete darkness made you unbelievably uncomfortable. Especially when you were in an unfamiliar place.

Which reminded you that you had a salt lamp on when you fell asleep in the room yet it was off. Why would it be off? You definitely didn’t turn it off. Maybe Josh popped in and turned it off while you were asleep?

Suddenly a bright flash filled the room and your heart rate picked up again, immediately anticipating the crash of thunder that followed. Yet you still felt yourself flinch underneath the covers of the warm bed as you felt the thunder shake the wood of the house as if it were easily breakable under immense force. With your senses now heightened you picked up on the sound of the wind howling outside, the sound of the rain picking up against the window pane. You were so lucky that the foot of the bed happened to be just at the edge of the window and right up against the exterior wall. 

Another boom of thunder and you were now completely buried underneath the blankets. You never were a huge fan of thunderstorms, particularly at night. With the conclusion that you were probably not going to sleep anytime soon, you reached out of the safety of your blankets and snagged your phone off the bedside table, disconnecting it from the charger as it had no use when the power was out anyways.

12:32 AM.

You sighed and opened up your messages and clicked on your last message bar with Josh.

To Josh: 

Hey. Any chance you're awake? 

You laid there for a few moments, pulling up the weather app on your phone as the storm continued to pick up intensity outside. 

Josh:

Just so happens that I am awake. I am downstairs, care to join?

You threw the covers off of yourself and turned the flashlight on your phone as you opened the bedroom door. You could see at the end of the hallway a soft glow of flickering orange. As you descended the stairs and into the living room you could see Josh clad in nothing but a white t-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs practically bouncing around the room with a lighter, lighting different candles in various parts of the room.

“Overkill much?” You huffed a laugh as he jumped at the sound of your voice. 

“I would very much like to see where I am going in my house, Sunny.”

Another flash of lightning cut through the orange glow followed by a large boom of thunder once again testing the sturdiness of the house. You had winced from the flash and the sound of the thunder and didn't catch Josh looking at you now from across the room. 

“You okay Sunny?”

“Yeah, thunderstorms… aren't really my thing.” You said as you made your way to the couch in the center of the room covered in blankets and pillows that weren't there earlier. 

“I was going to come wake you actually, I'm glad you texted me. Figured it might be safer to shack up on the first floor of this house during the storms in case of anything bad happening.” He said as he made his way to the opposite end of the couch mirroring your position.

“You think something bad is going to happen?” You asked softly, pulling the blanket up to your chin.

Josh sat up straight quickly grabbing onto your covered foot. “No Sunny, gosh no! We are very safe here! I just wanted you to be downstairs with me so I could keep an eye on you. Especially more so now that I know you don't really like thunderstorms.” He gave you a sympathetic smile.

“I do feel better being down here with you Josh, thank you.” 

“Of course Sunshine, anything for you.” 

The shrill sound of an alert coming from both of your cellular devices caused you to jump practically into Josh's lap to which he let out a small giggle and wrapped his arm around your shoulders. “Its okay Sunny. I can't promise this little piece of technological imprisonment won't ruin your mind but I will do everything in my power to make sure it won't hurt you.” You watched as Josh swiped the notification away on his phone. 

“What is the warning for Josh?” You asked in a small voice, heart once again pounding in your chest. You couldn't tell if the rush of adrenaline was from the loud shrill of a government alert or from the feeling of Josh's fingers softly rubbing your shoulder and the feather of his breath across your forehead. Both were most likely a contributing factor. 

“Just a thunderstorm warning Sunny. But we will be okay. We have a sturdy shelter we are in right now, we have each other, I stand by my promise that I won't let anything hurt you.” He pulled you further into his lap then. Wrapping his arms around your waist and dragging you up until you laid in between his legs facing away from him, his legs lay on either side of your body.

Your heart leapt in your chest again. You were happy you were facing away from him so he couldn't see the deep red blush painted across your cheekbones as he moved your hair from the side of your face and neck to give him room to hang his head on your shoulder without having any barrier between his and your skin. The feeling of his breath through his nose on your neck was causing goosebumps to raise on your skin. The sound of the storm battering the windows and the soft feeling of his lips now grazing the side of your neck ever so slightly. Or you might just be imagining the feeling of his lips against you. Either way, his actions were causing your heart to continue to leap in your chest. He must've noticed because you felt the exhale of his breath come out fast against your pulse point.

“Sunny, like I said, no need to be nervous because of the storm-..”

Yeah, because your heart racing out of your chest was now solely because of the storm.

“I may or may not have a few joints pre rolled for special occasions” 

“This is a special occasion? Me being terrified of a storm?”

Josh barked out a laugh against your ear. “Exactly so Y/N.”

“Well, I haven't really smoked in a long time, but why the hell not.” You rolled your eyes.

“That's the spirit!” Josh said, tapping the outside of your thigh to signal you to get up so he can retrieve said joints. 

You watched from the comfort of your spot on the couch where Josh was just sitting moments before as he padded across the living room to a bookshelf. You watched him move a few books around before an “Aha!” sound came from his direction and he turned back to you with a little container. You watched as he waved the little box in the air and shot you a wink. 

“Flounder!”

You snorted. “I'm sorry, flounder?”

Josh jumped back onto the couch spot next to you, his thighs pressing up against your calves as you were sitting cross legged facing him, giving you the perfect view of his side profile. 

“Yeah Sunny! Flounder! Like, I-found-her. Don't tell me you don't get it!” He sent you a dazzling smile as he was unwrapping the bag containing the joints.

“You're such a goober, oh my god!” You laughed again, pushing your hand against the side of his shaved head. 

*******************************************************************

A few minutes later you were now in a slight haze from the joint, feeling more relaxed now than you have since you were rudely awoken by the storm and the pitch black room. You and Josh were silently passing the joint back and forth between you, embracing the soft flickers of candle light together and surprisingly the more you set in, the less and less you were fearful of the rain hitting the windows. 

“Sunny?” Josh asked, giggling slightly. “You good?” 

You hadn't realized you zoned out and Josh had been holding the joint out to you again and you had failed to notice. “Huh? Oh! Yeah, I was just zoning out I guess.” 

Josh giggled again, “No problem.” 

You leaned your head back against the couch as you listened to Josh start to softly hum next to you in between puffing on the joint every once in a while. 

“Sunny, you greened out or do you want to try and shotgun? The joint is almost gone, no pressure though..” He sounded nervous and his suggestion put you on edge. You knew how intimate shotgunning could be and the thought of being that close to Josh made your head spin. 

“I guess I could take one more hit.”

“Atta girl,” Josh said, tapping your knee motioning for you to angle your body towards him. “It won't be that rough anyways, you know.”

You nodded, head spinning and heart beating wildly in your chest as he mirrored your position now. 

“So how are we going to-..how do you want to-..how..” You stuttered out.

“Sunny, it's just me, relax, follow my lead.” 

You gulped as his hand rested on your knee now. You watched as he brought the joint to his lips and pulled harshly. Causing the end of the joint to burn a bright orange. Quicker than you anticipated his eyes snapped up to your face, nostrils flared and he pulled your chin towards him.His lips now grazed yours ever so slightly, and your breath caught in your throat as you parted your lips slightly. The smoke escaped around the both of you as you had forgotten to inhale, easily intoxicated by the feeling of him being so close to you now. Josh let out a silent giggle, you could feel his plush lips turning up into a smile against yours. 

Josh pulled back slightly and smiled at you. “Sunny, you forgot to inhale!”

You blushed furiously looking anywhere but his face, suddenly your hands seemed to be super interesting as your mouth grew dry. You weren't sure if it was from the weed or all the stress you have been through this entire evening. “Yeaaahh..oops?” You let out softly.

Josh giggled wildly. “You're adorable when you get flustered.”

Your eyes snapped to his face now, you watched as he took another inhale of the joint. “Who said I was flustered!”

He smiled as he exhaled and reached forward to knock the ash off the bottom of the joint into the ashtray sitting on the table. He turned back to you immediately after, lips twitching at the corners of his mouth.

“You look so pretty in the candlelight right now..” Josh whispered, his fingertips grazing your cheekbone, his eyes following his fingers.

You're unsure of who officially closed the distance first in your inebriated state of mind but next thing you knew his soft, plush, wet lips were softly pressed against yours. The feeling of his hand buried in your hair was the only thing that you could really focus on in that moment. The joint abandoned between Josh's fingers on his other hand between you, burning away.. 

Josh's soft, pillowy lips were dragging you into the most intense high you have ever experienced. He tasted sweet and felt even sweeter. The feeling of your lips finally melding together after months and months of pining felt like a drink of cold water on a hot summer's day. 

Your bottom lip was briefly captured between his teeth and you felt him slightly nibble and then pull back. A gasp type moan escaped from you and Josh flashed you a dazzling smile before diving right back in. Josh's hand slipped down now from your hair into your lap, giving your thigh a squeeze. His squeeze turned into him desperately grabbing at you trying to pull you closer as your fingers gripped his jaw, tongues fighting each other for dominance.

“Mmmm, come here..” Josh turned away from you quickly to put out the burning joint in the ashtray and like lightning he gripped on your hips bringing you onto his lap, straddling him. His fingertips were now brushing up the hem of your sleep shirt to graze at the skin of your hips as your mouths reconnected again in a fervent fashion. The feeling of his soft, cold fingertips against your delicate skin causing you to momentarily gasp into his mouth and goosebumps fly across your skin. You felt yourself becoming more and more turned on by the moment and he explored your mouth with his. As you gripped onto the back of Josh neck harder, dragging him impossibly closer, his hips rose up and you could clearly feel his hard on pressing against your core causing you to let out the loudest mona of the night in your throat. Josh quickly pulled away from you causing you to panic slightly. 

“Fuck Sunny, Im sorry.” he said, brushing a piece of hair away from your face. “I'm clearly getting ahead of myself here.”

You grabbed onto his face, forcing him to look you directly in the eyes. “No, no you're not. I want this.” You pecked his lips lightly. “I want you.”

“Fuck.” Josh gasped out and when your mouths met again, it was clear you both were about to cross the boundary between friends and neither of you had a problem with it. 

You felt Josh's fingers slowly begin to drag up your sides underneath your shirt. Slow enough that it was frustrating for you. You hastily grabbed onto the bottom of the shirt and tore it off of you causing Josh to giggle. “Slow down Y/N, I want to savor this.”

His eyes turned a darker hue in the candle light as he took in the sight of your chest, finally bare for him. He wasted no time grabbing onto both of your breasts and squeezing the supple flesh together moaning out another ‘fuck’ under his breath. His mouth finally attached itself to one of your nipples, pulling and rolling the sensitive bud in between his lips. You felt his teeth graze against your nipple causing you to throw you head back. He left sloppy kisses across your chest as he moved to give the other one some much needed attention. 

“Fucking hell Josh.” You moaned as you felt yourself becoming more and more aroused. 

He looked up at you with hooded eyes and a slight smirk on his lips. 

That stupid fucking smirk again. 

His fingers now grazing your nipples simultaneously as your mouths reconnected again. You felt him begin to pull and tug on your breasts causing you to toss your head back again and he watched you get drunk on the feeling of his hands and now his very, very obvious hard on through his briefs as you had begun grinding yourself along his impressive length once more.  his right hand still on your hip encouraging your steady movement.

The feeling of him hard and tucked away between your thin sleep shorts and his thin boxer briefs started driving you mad. Your moans now freely flowing out as you focused on Josh's face watching yours. Your foreheads practically pressing together. Josh let out a soft moan, causing you to clench around nothing. 

“That feel good, sweet girl? Are you making a mess of your panties on top of me right now? I bet you are..”

You watched as Josh looked down to where you were dragging yourself lazily along his length, both of his hands now pressed into your hips guiding you along. You watched as his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes snapped back up to yours. 

“Y/N, can I please touch you? You're driving me crazy..”

“Please..” You said, dragging your lips against his right ear, pulling his golden hoop in between your lips and sucking softly. 

This must’ve thrown him off the edge because next thing you knew, he was pushing you down on your back and he was leaning over you, finger tips grazing over your clothed core.

A fresh tingling feeling made its way to your lower half as his soft fingers grazed a small path right up your slit to where your covered clit was and all the way back down again. Josh watched your eyebrows furrow in pleasure. He couldn't believe he finally had you in the way he dreamed of but never admitted out loud. So many late nights were spent in the confined spaces of his bunk on the tour bus, fighting the urge to touch himself underneath the covers at the thought of you. 

You felt his fingers now dip underneath the seam of your underwear and graze across your wet core. A shameful moan escaped you as you felt his fingers at first slowly graze against the wetness then switch up and apply more pressure, breaking against the dam to truly feel you. 

“Oh my fuck, my sweet girl, youre so wet.” Josh let out what sounded like a painful moan.

“A-all for you Josh” 

Your head snapped back as his finger came in contact with your swollen clit, swirling around it a few times. Watching how your body reacted to him in complete awe. 

He ripped away from you then, causing a pathetic moan to come out of your mouth at the loss of contact. “I need to get these clothes off of you babe. I need to see you, and feel you even more.”

You watched from your spot as Josh pulled his own shirt over his head and then dragged your shorts and underwear down. Your legs clamped shut, suddenly feeling a bout of self consciousness.

“Hey,” Josh whispered. “It's just me Sunny, no need to be shy.”

His fingers tips slowly grazing a path from your ankles up to your knees. You nodded at him when he lifted an eyebrow at you and his hands made the move to part your legs. You watched as his lips parted and his eyes grow wide as he finally saw all of you for the first time. 

“Oh my god,” he whispered. “Come here.” 

Josh moved to kneel down on the floor in front of the couch, dragging your hips as best as he could along the way. You were now sitting up, hips against the edge of the couch as Josh began to trail sloppy kisses up one thigh and down the other. 

“Josh” You moaned out breathlessly, diving your fingers into his curls on the top of your head as best you could as he was moving. 

He nipped the inside of your knee ever so lightly, “Mmmm, I love hearing you say my name like that.”

“Josh, please..” You tried to drag him up to your core, desperate to feel him against you. 

“I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have thought about you like this. In my bunk, in my hotel room shower, in the green rooms..” 

You watched as he looked up at you and winked just before finally dragging his tongue along your slit. Your core clenched around nothing at the contact of his warm, wet tongue against you and a moan ripped through your chest as he did it again, only this time he stopped at the top of your clit and sucked lightly. 

“Mmmm, you taste so much better than I imagined.” 

Your body felt like it was on fire with the pleasure rippling from your core spreading to your toes and your fingertips as he continued this pattern between licking through your folds to your entrance and then dragging up to your clit again. He gave your clit a few soft kisses before diving between your fold again. Moans were freely flowing through your mouth by now and Josh was hanging onto your legs to prevent you from clamping around his head from the pleasure shaking through your body.

You felt as he pulled one of your lower lips into his mouth, sucking sharply before releasing and repeating on the other side. He then turned his focus to your clit sucking sharply there, thrashing his head side to side every now and then.

You were already teetering on the edge of your release, so much so that when you felt Joshs fingers push past your entrance and curl up a few times along with his assault on your clit, your body went aflame with white hot pleasure as you released all over his fingers, clenching wildly. 

You couldn't hear your own moans through the contractions of your orgasm but you were pretty sure you were screaming his name.  

Josh was still slowly dragging his fingers in and out of you as you were still clenching around him. You felt him kissing the inside of your thighs,alternating between both as he waited for you to come down.

“Holy fuck.” You breathed out, combing your fingers through the curls on the top of his head again. He chuckled against your thigh. 

“Yeah?” He asked, looking up at you. “That was the hottest fucking thing ive ever had the pleasure of witnessing.”

You giggled as he stood up in front of you, pulling you to your feet as well, wrapping his arms around your waist to stabilize your shaky legs. “I almost came in my shorts.” he giggled, kissing your forehead.

You took note of how hard and heavy he was pressed against your leg. “Now its your turn.” You winked at him dropping to your knees and pulling his boxers down with you. You watched with wide eyes as his cock sprung forward in front of you. Your eyes widened and your core clenched again as you noted how long and thick he actually was. You looked back up at his face just as he was brushing your hair through his fingers, tugging you up lightly.

“Sunny, as much as I want that, I can't wait anymore, I need to be inside you. Please.” He cast doe eyes down at you, eyebrows furrowed as if he was in pain.

You smiled up at him, just as eager to feel him buried inside of you as you placed a wet kiss against his head watching his stomach muscles shudder.

“Oh Y/N..” He moaned and threw his head back. Just as you were about to repeat your actions, you felt Josh's hands under your arms, yanking you up to your feet again only to be pushed down into the same position you started off with him on the couch in the first place. Your legs hung open wide in anticipation for what was coming next. 

Your lips connected once again, hot and heavy as you felt him start to drag himself along your core. Teasing your entrance, then back out and around the rest of your swollen core and then back again just teasing his head in and out of your briefly. Your body felt on fire again. The teasing from the anticipation of feeling him fully buried inside of you making the hars on your head stand at attention and goosebumps littering your skin. The feeling of lust driving you insane. 

You pulled away from him, “Josh please please  stop teasing me, I need you.”

“As you wish, sweet girl.” 

With that, he pushed himself past the threshold of your entrance, slowly stretching you out. He was definitely bigger than those you had been with in the past and the feeling of him pressing against your walls made your eyes flutter shut. Josh let out a gasp as he finally was fully buried inside of you. Your eyes opened back again when he started thrusting inside of you only to see he was already looking down at you with that same pained expression on his face. 

“Fuck Y/N, youre amazing. You feel so good.” His head dropped into the crook of your neck and he started placing sloppy kisses from your ear down to your collarbone, adding a few lips nips from his teeth here and there as he began thrusting harder.

You don't think you've ever felt so much pleasure and so full as his thrusts continued to become sharper against your cervix. His trimmed pelvic hair was adding just the right amount of friction to your clit with each thrust you were unsure how much longer you were going to last. His body, his scent, the way he felt was becoming so overwhelming for you. Tears began to prick the corner of your eyes as he leaned back on his knees dragging your hips up and changing the angle of his thrusts to now connect solely with your g-spot. 

“Oh fuck, oh my fuck, right there!” You yelled out, hands grasping at the front of his thighs in desperation to stop his hard thrusts. 

Josh smirked down at you, his dimple making its appearance on his cheek as he moved one of his hands from your thigh he was gripping onto tightly, to your lower belly and pressing down. Adding to the pressure on your g spot. “Is that it sunny? Is that the spot?”

You chanted out “yes” in time with his thrusts, brain feeling like it was going numb from all the pleasure that was spreading through your body. Just as you felt like you were about to pour over the edge finally, he pulled out and placed your hips down on the couch again. 

You immediately pouted and thrashed your head side to side, “No no no come back no please..” 

He shushed you immediately and rubbed the outside of your thigh, “Calm down honey, I just want to change positions. Come here.”

You watched him step off the couch and he guided you so you were leaning with your torso pressed up against the back of the couch, resting on your knees. You shook your hips at him trying to entice him to hurry and fill you up again. He giggled at your movements and brushed his hands along your hips down to your ass to spread you apart for him. You weren't sure why you were expecting him to be gentle but he was far from it as he roughly thrusted into you again. The new angle made your head spin immediately, once again you felt the hair on your head stand at attention as the only thing you could truly feel was how big he felt inside of you, his sharp unforgiving thrusts, and his hips snapping against you. “Oh fuck, you love it from behind dont you. Listen to you babe, you're a mess.”

You felt as Josh gathered your hair that was hanging down your back into a makeshift ponytail, pulling you back up against him so you were flush with his chest, his thrusts never fully slowing down. His teeth grazed your ear, “Do me a favor baby, I'm so close. Rub your clit, rub your pretty little clit like I know you do when you’re alone and wet and swollen. Show me how you treat her so nice, she makes you feel so good doesn't she?”

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you felt him push you back against the couch, one hand still buried in your hair at the nape of your neck and the other grabbing roughly onto your hip as his thrusts became sharper. Your fingers trailed down to give your clit attention like he asked you to and you began rubbing sharp circles around it, making you clench around him.

Josh moaned out behind you, “Such a good girl, listening so well. I'm not going to last long. I need you to cum.” Josh's words sent you over the edge faster than you anticipated. The ball of pleasure snapped again in your core and you were clenching wildly around him. “There it is, there’s my good girl. Cum all over me. Just like that.” He wailed out. You felt as he pulled out of you, spurts of his cum landing on your lower back. Moaning along with him. You both took a moment trying to catch your breath and come back down to earth after such an intense high. Josh made the first move.

“Don't move yet, Sunshine.” He tapped your hip and you felt him move briefly behind you, grabbing a cloth of some sort and wiping his release off of your back. Both of you stood briefly, redressing and giggling amongst yourselves. Once you were both dressed, Josh dragged you down on top of him as he laid back on the couch wrapping you both up in the blankets. You snuggled your nose into the side of his neck as his arm that was wrapped around you was rubbing up and down your arm. Your body felt weak from the recent activities.

“Well that was a good distraction from the storm.” You giggled, tracing shapes softly onto his chest. He laughed wildly. “I guess you could say that Sunny.”

Silence fell amongst you two again and your mind started to wander. What did this mean for the two of you? Did you truly just ruin your friendship? How were you supposed to move forward..Josh noticed you tense up against him and he brushed his lips against your forehead breathing your scent in deeply. “What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

You sighed, “I just, I hope nothing is ruined between us Josh. I don't want to lose you in my life.

“Hey, hey..” He pushed himself up so now he was leaning over you, hand grazing your cheekbone. “Nothing is ruined between us. I want you in my life. I want you in my life for as long as you will have me Sunny. If it wasn't blatantly obvious before I hope it is now,” He paused and pressed a sweet kiss to your lips which you gladly reciprocated.

“I want to call you mine, I want to walk into a room with you and show you off, brag about you until people beg me to shut the fuck up.” You giggled at him. 

“You truly are the sky, the moon, and the stars. You are wondrous, and I find myself falling in love with you more and more each day. My celestial love. Please let me call you my one and only.”

Instead of answering him with words you pulled him back into you, kissing him as hard as you could. 

He giggled against your lips, “I'll take that as a yes.” 

“Take it as an absolutely. Josh you have me, all of me.”

“I'm so happy to hear that love.” His fingers grazed against your cheekbone again. “My sweet, sweet Sunshine. You are so beautiful.” 

He laid back down pulling you closer than before, tangling his limbs with yours and tucking your head against his chest practically suffocating you. “Lets go to sleep. Hopefully the power will be back on in the morning and I can make you your favorite breakfast.”

You hummed against him and buried your nose into his skin, basking in the scent of his natural musk. He made you feel so safe and wanted. You found your eyelids growing heavy finally.

“Hey Josh?” You mumbled.

“Hmm?”

“Shouldn't we blow out the candles before we fall asleep?” 

You watched as he pinched the bridge of his nose, looking around the room at all the candles still burning away, “Why did I have to light so fucking many Sunny..”

You two giggled and you watched as he got up and started moving around the room blowing out each candle.

How did you end up here and get so lucky? You're not sure, but you could not wait to see where this went.

****************************************************************

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this fic of mine :) thanks for sticking around and finishing it. Tell me your thoughts !

[abeautylives]

Imperfect Moments - Chapter Fourteen - The Final Chapter

a/n: Here it is, the end. I am already so sad that this story is over. Thank you for your patience, and thank you for reading 💕

Series Masterlist

pairing: Jakexfemale!reader

word count: 9.2k this chapter

final summary: It's really just been a series of imperfect moments that led to this.

warnings: 18+ minors stay far away, mentions of sex and sexual situations, language, mention of drinking, mushy fluff, graphic sexual content, unprotected penetrative sex, little bit of cum play, oral sex (m. and f. receiving, lots of it), biting as always, pneumonia sorry

“I really do love it, darling. It’s perfect.”

Josh is doodling on one of the pages of a leather bound journal, adding notation that you can’t read from your seat across the aisle. You wish you could say you’d come across it at some quirky boutique, but you’d known what you wanted and ended up ordering his Christmas present online. It was hand-crafted and you’d had it personalized with his initials stamped into the Napa.

To your left in the window seat, Jake is flipping through the pages of a worn paperback. His gift had been significantly less expensive than Josh’s, and you’d serendipitously come across it at a thrift store. You’d watched a glimmer of recognition pass over his features as he’d torn into the wrapping paper and revealed the title.

Treasure of the Atocha: A Four Hundred Million Dollar Archaeological Adventure

Insecurity had set in as he lifted it to show his family, prompting you to mumble an explanation.

“You know, that one necklace. The, um, silver one you wear sometimes? It’s an Atocha coin- you know that already. The book, it’s about the search for the treasure. From the shipwreck. I saw it and thought of you…”

You’d trailed off as he’d stared at you, your cheeks and chest warm with self-consciousness but it wouldn’t last long. Before you could say anything else, he’d reached out and pulled you in with a hand wrapped around the back of your neck, kissed you so hard you could barely breathe. Unconcerned about his parents and siblings in the room and reluctant to let the moment end, he pressed his forehead to yours.

“Thank you.”

Remembering that morning now, you lean back in your seat and smile to yourself. It really had been pretty perfect, but you’re happy to be headed home.

The new year came and went, celebrated with a relatively tame get-together at the twins’ house, that still managed to end with you and Danny carrying Josh to bed before fighting a bottle of tequila and a Roman candle out of Jake’s hands. Sam remained blissfully unaware and unhelpful, passed out on the living room floor by the time you had Jake leaning heavily into your side as you guided him up the stairs.

Life was busy in the following weeks, but mostly for the guys. With a huge tour looming and new music already being written, you spent a lot less time with them than you’d grown used to, and your time together seemed to move too quickly. Jake never forgot his promise though.

I’m all in.

Jake K: We’re gonna be here late, I can tell

Me: ☹️☹️☹️

Me: It’s ok, I figured you would be

Jake K: I’m sorry love. Can I still come over after?

Me: I HAVE to get some sleep, work in the morning

Jake K: You can go to bed, I’ll be quiet. I just wanna sleep next to you

You’d given him a key. It had worked out in his favor so far, and it was almost worth going to bed alone to wake up next to him in the morning.

“Mm, just call out… fuck, keep doing that.”

He’s got one knotted handful of your hair and the other one is white-knuckling your sheets. You can’t reply with words, your mouth otherwise occupied with his dick throbbing against your tongue that’s dragging up the length of it from the base.

“We can stay in bed today, don’t go to work.” You watch through your eyelashes as he swallows, his head thrown back and sunk into your pillow, throat exposed to you. When you pull off of him with a final flick of your tongue to the head, he groans and cracks an eye open.

“Why are you stopping, pleasepleaseplease don’t stop.”

“Jake…” Your lips pressed to the soft skin of his stomach. “You have to work today too.” Another wet kiss, just above his navel. “But…” Crawling further up his body, another kiss, right over his heart before you’re nose to nose.

“…You sound so pretty when you beg.”

A growl rumbles past his lips before they’re on yours, hard and fast and then he’s got you flipped onto your back. You’ve hardly caught your breath before you feel the tip of his cock pressed against you, still slick from your mouth and slipping through your own wetness. He practically moans his next words into your ear, sliding inside you slowly.

“Please call out today, sweetheart. Stay with me.”

He’s laying it on thick, meekness and desperation in his tone, his bottom lip poked out in a pout when he pulls back to look into your eyes. For good measure, he adds a soft I miss you and his best puppy dog eyes.

“Pffft!” The laughter bursts forth without restraint and he joins you in it, a quiet chuckle and sly tilt to his lips even as he props himself over you and starts to roll his hips. Your giggles catch in your throat on a sigh.

“Ohh… you know I can’t. Makes me feel guilty.” Even as you’re rejecting the idea, your hands are roaming the warm skin of his back and your legs are circling themselves around his waist.

Determined to get his way, he brings one of his own hands to the outside of your thigh and squeezes, drawing them tighter to his body as his thrusts pick up speed.

“Fuck that job.” He feels your nails sink into his skin. “Quit.” A heel digs into his ass, the sound of his hips colliding with your thighs gets louder. “I’ll just be your sugar daddy.”

“Jake!” His eyes light up, bright and warm as the notes of your laughter float up to him from the mattress.

“You think I’m joking, but you like that idea.” Leaning close again, you can feel his breath across your lips so you pucker them, a silent request. “I felt your pretty cunt squeeze me, you want me to spoil you, love?” He captures the kiss you’re offering and absorbs your hum of confirmation. His hips slow until each stroke draws its own gasp or whimper from you, playing composer and instrumentalist of the music you’re making for him.

Forehead dropped to yours, he lets his gaze fall between your bodies, zeroing in on the skin just below your hip bone. There’s a crease there at the joint, where your legs are spread wide and wrapped around him. He releases his grip on your thigh to move higher and slide his thumb through the soft fold. His cock pulses inside you.

“Fuck babe, I’m gonna cum-“ It’s a warning just a heartbeat before it happens, you can feel the beginnings of your own orgasm fade away as his hips stutter and then still. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, not before-“

You reach up to tuck strands of his hair behind his ear and rest your palm against a rosy cheek. “It’s okay, baby. I need to get ready for work anyway.” He slips out of you and shifts like he’s going to let you out from beneath him, but his arms keep you caged in and he shifts down your body instead, landing on his stomach between your thighs. “Jake, no we don’t have time-“

“Give me two minutes.” You’re not allowed to argue, his mouth already attached to your cunt. A man of his word, he focuses his attention to your clit, sensitive and already swollen. Hands shooting to the back of his head, you hold him there as your muscles constrict and your back arches. You can feel his release begin to leak from you, picturing the pearlescent liquid moving over your pink flesh in your mind.

“Fuuuck, keep going keepgoing!”

A grunt against your skin and then his lips open over you and suck you in, a lewd slurp of your juices… and his. You think he’s going to stop when he realizes what he’s done, but when you lift your head to look at him, his eyes are already on your face. With a knowing lift of his eyebrows, he licks a long, slow stripe through the mess he’s made. It ends with a flick to your clit, and you can see it there, glistening on his tongue.

The moan that rolls out of you is animalistic, feral.

He does it again, dipping inside you for more this time before pulling his face away.

You haven’t taken your eyes off of him, but he makes sure you’re watching.

His lips open, pink and slick and you can just barely see his tongue move behind them before he purses them, and spits it directly onto your clit.

“Fuck Jake!”

You’re plummeting over the edge before he even buries his face back into you, sucking and lapping at you sinfully until you have to push him away. When his head pops up from between your legs, the lower half of his face is a mess, he drags the back of his hand across his grin just before you’re grasping at him and pulling him back up to you.

His kiss tastes like him. And you. The mixture is heady and improper and your tongue is greedy for it as it swirls against his. You stretch out your shoulder from beneath his weight, searching blindly for your phone with one hand as he breaks away.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling out of work.” Your fingers are already moving over the screen, typing up an excuse. “Not quitting, but I’m definitely not going in today.”

His laugh cracks out and bounces off the walls of your tiny bedroom, his head thrown back and the smile on his face stretching wide as he props himself up to lean on an elbow.

“That’s my fucking girl, I love you.”

He’s still shaking with laughter, you’re still typing. “I love you too, baby.”

Your thumb lands on the arrow, message sent before you realize. His body stills beside you. Slowly, you turn your head to face him over your shoulder. He’s already looking at you, eyes wide.

“What did you say?”

“What did you say?”

He breaks first, in slow motion you watch the corners of his mouth tug upward and curl, smile lines sinking deep as he beams at you. Oh, how long he’s been waiting for this. Scrambling to sit up, his legs fold under him and he pulls you up too. When your eyes are focused on him, he reaches forward and gently picks up both of your hands to hold in his, and he says it again.

“I love you, sweetheart. I’m sorry it took me so long-“

“Don’t. Please don’t apologize. I’m so in love with you…” A relieved giggle bubbles from your throat. “I love you! Oh my god, that feels good. Say it again.”

He does, over and over, between lingering kisses and long moments spent entwined with you, fingers drawn leisurely over the dips and curves that make up his favorite parts of you. With nowhere else to be, it’s a long time before you leave the nest of your blankets.

It’s already early afternoon when you’re both seated at your pub table, sharing love-sick glances over the rims of your coffee cups. You’re still naked aside from Jake’s tan button up hanging loose and open over your frame, Jake had opted to simply pull the sheet from your bed and wrap it around his waist.

“Can I ask you something?”

Jake nods as he swallows a sip and places his mug on the table.

“When did it happen?” You begin to pick nervously at your nails, knowing that whatever he says is probably not going to be what you expect.

“When did what happen, love?”

“Ya know, when did you… know?”

He remembers being in almost this exact position before. Having a drink with you, at this table, considering his next move. Instead of an abbreviated version of the truth, he gives you the entire story as it’s written in his mind.

“Well… by April, not this past April but the one before, I knew that I wanted you.” He’d been a month or so deep into the façade of hating you at that point, and he can see that realization move across your expression. “It was a really small thing at our place, for our birthday. I used to try and avoid you when you were there most of the time, but I watched you that day, fawning over Josh. I could see it in your eyes, that you had feelings for him. You were really very obvious about it.”

You groan and drop your face into your hands, a little ashamed of your naïveté. Jake waits patiently for you to look back up at him, which you do sheepishly.

“I knew that day that he wouldn’t reciprocate those feelings, whatever it was that you wanted from him. He wasn’t gonna give it to you. I knew that if I were him, I would’ve taken the opportunity you were presenting on a silver platter. I would’ve had you in my bed every night, looking at me like that.”

Your head is nodding absently, an almost forlorn look on your face that’s pulling the corners of your lips into a barely there frown. All of that time, wasted. His intention isn’t to make you sad, he keeps talking.

“It sort of just… went on like that. For a while. Me wanting you, you snarling or frowning or rolling your eyes at me anytime I dared to speak. But you came to watch us play, and you smiled up at me on purpose. I could tell it was some kind of power move, so I upped the ante. I’m sorry about that, by the way. What I did backstage.”

You laugh it off. “Don’t be. I think it turned out okay.”

He smiles in response. “It did. Still, it wasn’t… nice of me. It was mean, and intentional, but after I’d gotten my hands on you I knew once wouldn’t be enough. I dreamt about fucking you that night, jerked off thinking about you the next morning.”

He chuckles when your cheeks turn pink.

“The next night, at that party, I suppose I had hoped I could shock some reality into you. That you’d just see that I was better for you. But you started crying and it broke my heart. Right before I kissed you, that was when I knew that sex probably wouldn’t be enough for me, but it was what you were willing to accept.”

Your smile is soft, remembering what had been one of the worst nights of your life as something more hopeful. The way he tells it from his perspective is addicting, it’s rare to pull this many words from him at any given time and his voice is quiet, his tone thoughtful. You reach a hand out over the surface of the table to place it over his.

“I do realize that none of that is an answer to what you asked. I just thought you should know.”

He smiles with that, your favorite one, just for you.

“Keep going…” Your own voice is not much more than a whisper.

“I’m getting there. Ya know, there’s a handful of these like… just almost perfect moments that stand out. Really good moments that I’d somehow fuck up, or almost fuck up. Times that had me thinking about every word before I said it, because I knew I was going to embarrass myself. Because I knew I was undeniably and irrevocably in love with you, only four days after I left here for the first time.”

“Jake!” He just grins at you, pleased with his admission. “That’s not true!”

“It is. I swear on Josh’s life. And he’ll tell you himself, I think he knew way before he ever asked me about it. Way before I’d admit it, even to myself.”

You can feel your jaw hanging slack, mouth ajar in disbelief. “I… don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, please don’t tell me when it happened for you. I’ve embarrassed myself enough, I think.”

Silently, you stand from your chair and slide yourself onto his lap, looping your arms loosely around his neck. His hands keep you secure there, wrapping themselves over each hip as he looks up at you.

Brushing a thumb over it lightly, you ask him, “Did you know I love it when you do this little grin?” Your words cause it to stretch, just a little wider. “You looked just like this when you smiled back at me, on stage, in front of all those people but it was just for me.”

“There is only ever you, for me.”

He’d made love to you again in the shower, unable to wait until the suds had even been rinsed from your body. Slipping against you, your face and tits pressed into the tile with fingers grasping to find purchase on the slick surface, his hands and hips kept you where he wanted you. His teeth worked to coax fresh rosebuds to the surface of your skin, nipping across your shoulder, soothing each one with a kiss and breaths of hushed words.

Mine. My love. I love you.

The sun had eventually disappeared from the sky, replaced by moonlight as you were stretched out over the length of your couch with your head in Jake’s lap. About halfway through The Goonies, which he’d described as “one of the greatest films about pirate treasure of all time”, he called out your name quietly. Your actual name, not love or sweetheart.

You turn your face up to him and find him looking very serious.

“What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing, my life’s pretty perfect at the moment.” He looks around the room and back down to you, confirming that he’s right, it’s perfect. “I was thinking though… wouldn’t it make a lot of sense if you just moved in with me?” When your eyes nearly bulge out of your skull, he adds, “Me and Josh, into our house.”

You shoot up from his lap and twist until you’re cross-legged on the cushion next to him. “What?”

“Hear me out, and I mean this, we’re leaving soon and we’ll be away more than we’re home. For a while. Wouldn’t you rather have our whole house to yourself than be here, alone?”

Ouch.

It’s a harsh truth and it’s coming your way, quickly. You know that.

“You can stop paying rent. You could work less and fly out with us sometimes. You could be around all of our stuff, sleep in Josh’s bed when you miss him more than me.” He’s trying to keep it light-hearted, but you can still feel the sincerity rolling off of him. He’s serious.

It’s your turn to survey the room. You know it’s kind of a shithole apartment, with your entire life packed into its six-hundred or so square feet.

But that’s not true, is it? The best parts of your life live outside of these walls.

“Okay.”

“Okay. Okay?”

“Yes. You’re right, it kinda makes sense. I can’t do it right away, I have to give notice here. What am I gonna do with my furniture? It’s all secondhand, it’s not super important to me but I have to figure out how to get rid of it. Pack and move everything else. Would you have time to help me? Maybe we can ask the other guys- What?”

He’s just been watching you ramble, watching the gears turn in your head and the words spill out as you think of them.

“You’re sure? I was expecting you to have to think about it…”

“I’ve thought about it.”

“Maybe not enough?”

“The last time I thought about something, maybe not enough, I ended up with you.”

Half of his mouth curls up into a smirk. “Fair point.”

“Shouldn’t you… I dunno, talk to Josh about this though?”

He tugs you back to his cushion on the couch and tucks you under his arm until you’re curled into his side, turns his face back to the movie.

“It was his idea.”

You’d started planning and packing the very next evening, notice given to your leasing office and less than two months before the guys leave for Michigan again. Within two weeks, most of your earthly possessions had found new homes in the twins’ house and your furniture, left behind in an otherwise empty apartment, was sitting there waiting to be sold or donated.

It had been strange at first, spending all of your time there, falling asleep and waking up there every day. Most of your time with Jake had been spent in your space, but you figured that this was your space now. It would take some getting used to.

More than once, Jake had stopped you on your way out of the bedroom.

“You don’t have any pants on, sweetheart.”

It was nice though, being with Josh. They were both busier than ever, so much of their time poured into their music, their upcoming performances, but at the end of the day they both came home to you.

You had missed him more than you’d realized.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to Michigan, darling? It’s still snowing up there. We could go ice skating again.”

“I can’t take the time off, Josh. Not yet. Also the entire state is going to be crawling with Greta Van Fleet fans, we’re not going ice skating any time soon.”

“I suppose that’s true. So, when are you planning to fly out to us?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t even told my job that I’m planning on cutting my hours yet. All of this happened so fast.”

“You should’ve just quit. I know you care about your job, in the way that any of us care about responsibility, obligation and money… but you don’t love it. You’d be fantastic at artist management, actually. Look how well you keep the two of us in line, we’d be lost without you!”

He’s joking, you think, but he’s not entirely wrong. You don’t exactly have a passion for what you do, you’ve just been doing it for so long. And quitting without a plan is just not in the cards.

They flew out two days later for a solid three week stretch of shows, dates scheduled back to back for most of it. The twins had FaceTimed you after the first one, still high on adrenaline, Sam’s distinct laughter loud in the background. The next day, a day off, Jake had tucked himself away in his bunk on the bus and called. Your conversation was subdued and unhurried, knowing that you wouldn’t have many opportunities like this in the coming weeks.

“I’m so proud of you, baby.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. I love you so much.”

You don’t hear from them much in the next couple of days, a few texts when they have a moment, updates when they can. Jake calls on their days off, waiting until he knows you’re home from work. You’re not expecting it when Josh texts to tell you that he and Jake both had woken up feeling under the weather, only six days in, two shows canceled and rescheduled. Just like that. Neither of them answer your calls, undoubtedly heartbroken over disappointing their fans. Jake sends you one text that day, knowing his brother had broken the news to you.

Jake K: I hate this. I wish you were here.

You cry yourself to sleep, their pain is your pain.

The abrupt ringing of your phone wakes you up. 5:17am.

“Josh?” You have to clear your throat and try again. “Josh, it’s early, are you okay?”

Even through the fog of sleep you can tell he’s upset. “I’m fine, better, actually. Um, darling… it’s Jake.”

Your stomach twists into a knot instantly, you’re shoving the comforter away and moving to stand.

“We had to take him to the hospital.”

The air leaves your lungs, you couldn’t stand if you tried.

“What?” It hardly passes your lips as more than a squeak.

He goes on to tell you that Jake had woken himself up coughing, unable to catch his breath, in pain. The doctors hadn’t been able to diagnose him yet, but they’re trying.

You’d cut him off there, told him you were coming.

He’d stopped you, told you to wait until they figured out what was wrong.

The following hours passed slowly as you waited for information. Jake, still having difficulty breathing, wasn’t able to call. His texts to you were dismal, sad and infrequent as he waited for a diagnosis that turned out to be pneumonia.

Four days. Four days he’d lain in a hospital bed, struggling to breathe and Josh had refused to fly you out, day after day.

“Darling, we’re bringing him home as soon as they let him out. He seems to think he’s going to be able to play, but it’s not happening.”

He’d come home a little thinner, pale, still coughing and short of breath. It had taken weeks for him to feel well enough to even leave the house, you and Josh there to answer to his beck and call, though Josh had tired of it after about a week.

“He’s a grown man, he can walk himself to the kitchen if he wants a damn popsicle.”

“Joshua. He would do anything for you if you needed him. Have some empathy.”

You’d taken Jake the popsicle and found him sitting at his desk, an ostentatious antique with an even more pretentious wingback chair to match, scribbling on an unlined sheet of paper.

“Baby? What are you up to?”

He delicately finishes a sentence, the sound of the pencil’s lead moving over the paper hits your ears before he drops it to the desktop. “Writing them a letter, they deserve to hear from me.”

They. His fans, disappointed but concerned for his health, had shown an outpouring of love and well wishes for him online that hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Looking over his shoulder, you find about half a page of flowery words explaining the progress of his recovery, rescheduled dates, and his thanks.

“They’ll like this, I think. It’s way better than those ugly blocks of texts you guys use to deliver bad news… They’re kind of impersonal, ya know?”

He coughs into the crook of his elbow before answering, a dry sound, already much better than the thick, painful sounding cough he’d come home with.

Clearing his throat and taking a deep breath, he answers you, “I know, and I hate doing that to them.”

You watch him pick up the pencil again and finish it off with a line about their long awaited reunion, dropping lower and signing off with his name. He scans his own words for a second before peeking up at you and finally snatching his popsicle from your fingers. “It’s pretty good, right?”

“I think it’s very good, Jake. All of your love, huh?”

You’re referring to his sign off, heartfelt and dramatic, as he’s been known to be.

All My Love,

Jake

“Jealous, sweetheart?” There’s a playful sort of twinkle in his eyes as he grins up at you, that you’re grateful to see after so many days of the sadness that you’ve found there.

“Shut up and eat your popsicle.”

You treat him like he’s fragile until he can’t take it anymore, but the first time you’d tried anything physical since he’d come home, he came so violently down your throat that it sent him into a coughing fit that left him red in the face and unable to breathe. He’d tried in the days and weeks since, more than once you’d awoken with his hands moving over you, sometimes already rubbing soft circles into you over your underwear. He would beg you to let him make you cum, and you would, but only with his fingers.

Eleven days before they were scheduled to leave for South America, he jumped you as soon as you got home from work. Cleared with a clean bill of health, excited to get back on the road but desperate for you, he attached his lips to yours, wrapped his hands around your waist and lifted you off the ground. With your ankles locked behind his back, he carried you blindly up the stairs without breaking from your kiss.

He’d fucked you, fast and dirty, bending you to his will and tossing you around the bed. Simply because he could. You’d cum hard at his command, the orgasm ripping a scream from your lungs that he’d been aching for, triggering his own that pulled a sound akin to a roar from his mouth.

Sweating, chests heaving and bodies sprawled across the sheets, you’d come down silently aside from a pleased chuckle from Jake.

From the hallway outside the bedroom door, Josh’s voice had rung out, coming in and then fading out as he’d passed and headed down the stairs.

“So glad to hear you’re feeling better, but that was absurd. Keep that shit to yourselves!”

You almost felt bad but for the next week, the sex was savage. And loud. On their birthday, Josh had presented you with what he referred to as “a gift to myself.” He pulled up an email confirmation on his phone and flipped it around, dropping it into your hands.

“You’re staying in a hotel tonight?”

“No, you two animals are staying in a hotel tonight. I will be sleeping soundly in my bed. And it will be quiet.”

You didn’t argue, just sighed and wrapped your arms around him. He stopped you when you started to apologize for the noise.

“I knew what I was signing up for when I floated the idea of you moving in, darling. I also know that you’re still wrapped up in this little honeymoon phase, and it’ll pass. Now get out, enjoy yourselves and leave me in peace!”

You’d run upstairs to pack a small bag before telling Jake what your new plans for the evening were. Digging through what was now your underwear drawer, looking for something worthy of the birthday boy, it had dawned on you.

All you packed was a change of clothes for the morning, and the oversized black band tee. His band.

Ultimately, Jake had been correct about a few things. You were ecstatic for them to be going back to South America and Mexico, to be performing again with arguably the biggest rock band in the world, their excitement had been contagious but it didn’t take long for you to miss them, and being in a house full of their things actually did help. Some. There were even a couple of nights spent in Josh’s bed, but not exactly because you missed him more.

You missed Jake so badly that it physically hurt, the scent of him in your shared bed made your chest ache, sometimes so deeply that it prevented you falling asleep. On one of those nights, tucked under Josh’s comforter, you were scrolling mindlessly through the Greta Van Fleet tag on Instagram. Already knowing that some of the things you would find there would be… odd, you scrolled and scrolled. From experience, you also knew you would find fan photos, people who’d met them or seen them out and about. Jake had told you that they were meeting people everywhere they went, and you found the evidence of that just like you’d easily found the picture of yourself in the Christmas store.

Both of the twins had been sending you their own pictures as they made their way through Chile, Argentina and Brazil, usually of distinct landmarks, exotic flowers, or beautiful blue bodies of water. But you’d started a collection of saved photos, the few that they’d sent of themselves, or each other.

As you scrolled, shifting from Instagram to your camera roll, you noticed something. Back to Instagram, you search for the band’s account and look closely at everything posted since they got to Chile. Pinch, zoom, yep. There it is. Back to your camera roll. Every picture Josh had sent you of his twin, knowing you needed them, many times taken without his knowledge.

The silver necklace, the coin. It would appear that he hasn’t taken it off since he’s been gone. It’s curious, and you’re not sure why it had caught your eye aside perhaps from the fact that it simply hasn't been his regular jewelry of choice since you’ve known him. You’re fairly certain that you understand his mind pretty well at this point, and you decide that this is deliberate. You make a mental note to remember to ask him about it before a fatigued yawn grips you.

With your eyes squeezed closed, you can feel how you’ve strained them staring at your phone in the dark of Josh’s room. Before you lock the screen for the night, you open your messages and choose the thread at the top.

Me: I love you baby

You had said your goodnights hours ago, intending to go to sleep and failing. You’re not expecting a response, but you keep typing.

Me: Will this ever get easier?

You’re awoken in the morning, entirely too early, by the ringing of your phone. Startled into consciousness, the fear hits you first, the memory of Josh’s call from Michigan still fresh in your mind. You scramble to reach for it, noting the time is actually after nine, and the name and photo on the screen are Jake’s.

Nervously, quietly, you answer. “Hello?” Met at first with silence, you try again. “Jake?”

His voice bleeds from the speaker, low in volume but directly into your ear, and as soon as you hear it your vision blurs.

“I can’t promise that it gets easier, sweetheart. I don’t know the answer to that. But I can promise you that whatever you’re feeling… I feel it too.” He waits for your response, but the soft sound of your breath hitching comes over the line. “Please don’t cry, baby, you’re breaking my heart over here.”

He listens to you weep, a melancholy mixture of quiet sobs and sniffles, offering you words that he hopes are comforting and wishing he had you in his arms.

“I- I’m sorry. You don’t need this right now, I didn’t mean to-“

“Don’t be sorry, love, just.. do me a favor?”

You sniffle again, swiping your fingertips across the wet streaks left on your cheeks. “What?”

“Tell me you love me, tell me you’re all in.” You repeat his words back to him, and you mean them. He smiles to himself, a grin that you can’t see. “That’s all that matters. I’ll be home in a week.”

Seven days and thirteen hours later, he’s on his knees between your legs, wrinkled linen shirt discarded somewhere on the floor nearby and quickly joined by your leggings. He’s working on your panties, his hands are impatient as they drag the lace past your hips and down your thighs, his lips are hungry as they follow the trail of goosebumps left behind by his fingers.

From your seat at the edge of the bed, leaned back on your palms, you watch him move. The apples of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose are faintly freckled from the Mexican sun, the first thing you’d noticed when you’d cupped his face in your hands this morning, as soon as he’d unfolded his frame from the car in the driveway. There’s also a distinct V of tanned skin down the center of his chest, his shoulders and arms still pale. The silver necklace still hangs there, apparently his new favorite.

When your underwear are slipped free from your feet, you watch him bring them to his face, balled in one of his fists. His eyes meet yours just as he buries his nose into them and breathes you in.

You don’t bother with an objection because his eyelids flutter and the honey of his irises disappears as his eyes roll back, and you feel your pussy pulse in response. When his eyes open and refocus on you, they’re nearly black.

He tosses the panties over his shoulder and skates his fingers up the backs of your legs, up your calves and settles his palms onto your knees.

“Y’know those dreams that are so… vivid that you can smell them?” His hands slip inward and slowly push your knees farther apart as you hum in acknowledgment. “I had dreams like that when we were gone, I dunno what’s in the air down there but I think it was affecting my brain.” Spreading your legs as far as they’ll go, his hands continue their journey up the insides of your thighs and he watches you open to him, revealing your arousal glistening between the folds. “I could smell your shampoo, the lotion on your skin.” He brings his face closer to your core, close enough to feel the heat rolling off of your body, closing his eyes and taking another deep inhale through his nose. You run a hand through the hair falling over his ear and sink your fingers into the tresses, guiding his face up to look at you again. “I could smell your cunt, I swear I could taste it. I’d wake up with my mouth watering and my dick pounding.”

Lost for words, all you can manage is a whisper. “Stop teasing.” You use your grip against his scalp to pull him into you, his soft chuckle rippling over your already sensitive flesh.

He savors you, his movements slow and intentional as his tongue drags over every inch of you, your lips sucked past his own as the flavor of you coats his taste buds.

With a hand lifted and placed to the center of your chest, still covered by the soft cotton of one of his old t-shirts, he pushes you gently to lay back for him. As soon as your back hits the sheets, your hips are writhing against his mouth, searching for friction, searching for more, desperate to reach this first peak and get him inside you.

He lets you squirm, taking what he needs from between your thighs while your body begs him to take you higher and push you over. Knowing he’ll never truly get his fill, he’ll never actually get enough, he gives in to the demand of your hands, both now tangled in the hair at the back of his head and trying to coax him to where you need him. He sucks your clit into his mouth and rolls his tongue over it.

Your hips still and your back bows, a perfect arch over the mattress. He likes your reaction, loves it even, but something’s missing. Popping off of your pussy, he shakes his head at you.

“Let me hear you, love. I’ve been missing all those filthy sounds you make for me.” He leans in a flicks his tongue over you, pulling an airy whine from your throat. It’s not good enough, so he abandons his work and moves to trail kisses down the inside of your thigh instead.

With a bratty huff of frustration, you lift your head and find him watching you from the corner of his eye, lips still moving over your skin. You let your head drop back to the bed, annoyed.

Laced with attitude, you spit out, “Jake, come on.”

Rather than respond, or comply, you feel his tongue slip over the tender skin high inside your thigh just before he opens his mouth wide and then closes his teeth around it. Hard.

“FUCK Jake!”

That’s better, his dick jumps in his pants at the sound and he drops a hand to his lap to run it over his length. He’s painfully hard already, straining against the material but prepared to wait until he gets what he wants from you. He keeps running his lips, tongue and teeth over your thigh until he does.

“Baby please, I need you.”

“And I need you, but you’re holding back on me. Why?” When you stay silent for a beat too long, he pries further. “Tell me, or you can go to bed now, wet and aching.”

You know he’s bluffing, or you hope he is, but there’s no possibility that you’re going to test that theory.

“Josh…”

Just over the mound between your thighs, you see his brows lift, eyes burning into yours. “You better explain that, sweetheart. Now.”

“He’ll hear us.”

His features relax as a slow grin pulls one corner of his mouth upward. “So what?” Moving in close, he extends his tongue and swipes it over your clit with a pointed flick that jerks a yelp past your lips. “He doesn’t care.”

“He does, and we’ve been pretty terrible roommates so far, Jacob.”

The admonishing tone combined with the use of his full name grabs his attention. “Oh she’s serious.” He drops a kiss to the soft sprinkling of hair just above the throbbing and neglected bud between your legs. “You’re such a sweet girl, aren’t you?” Another kiss, this time with his lips puckered and placed directly over your clit. You sigh quietly at the contact. “How could I deny my sweet, perfect girl anything that she wants? Just let me hear you, make that pretty music just for me.”

Finally, he sucks you onto his tongue again, swirling it over you until your barely restrained gasps and soft moans of his name are filling the room, bouncing against these four walls. Your hands keep him pulled tight against you, muffling his own satisfied grunts and when you feel the tips of his fingers dip into you, your hips rock against them until they’re sunk in deep, until you’re fucking yourself with them. With just one curl sending them brushing over that hidden spot inside, you begin to unravel around them.

“I’m gonna cum, baby, I- oh god!”

He doesn’t stop when your legs attempt to clamp shut around his head, lapping at your release as it rushes out of you and soaks the fingers that he’s still pumping into you. He’s drawing it out, swallowing down everything that you’re giving him as if he’s been shipwrecked, stranded on a deserted island, finally presented with enough precious liquid to save his life. When your muscles go lax and your legs fall open, he slips his fingers from you slowly, careful not to waste a drop, licking a final stripe over you before popping those fingers into his mouth and sucking them clean.

Unable to will your muscles into motion, you call out to him from your position, limp and splayed out over the bed. “Pants off, now.” You don’t hear him spring into action, so you crack an eye open and lift your head enough to look down at him. He looks drunk, his eyes dazed and unfocused but still trained on your pussy. You try to prop yourself up but your limbs feel useless, so you force your other eye open to see him better and that’s when you catch it. The ends of his hair, hanging forward over his collarbones, are wet. There’s a drop clinging to his chin, catching the light as it quivers there and then falls, dripping to the floor.

“Jake, what-“

Your voice breaks through the haze and his eyes snap to yours. “I think… I’m pretty sure you just squirted.”

The word alone makes you groan, your arms finding the strength to lift and fold over your face, hiding the flaming heat turning your cheeks red. This finally has him moving, off of his knees to kneel on to mattress and hover over you, tugging your arms away to reveal your embarrassment.

“Whoa whoa, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t say that!”

“What? ‘Squirt’?”

You slap your hands to your face, hiding it from him again. “It’s gross!”

With a gentle touch, he peels your hands away and pins them to the mattress, fingers linked with yours. Your eyes are squeezed shut as he brings his face closer. “Look at me.” You do as he asks, his tone delicate and soft as a summer breeze. “It’s not gross, nothing about you could ever be. It’s probably the hottest thing you’ve ever done, right above the first time you asked me to fuck your mouth.” He’s flooded with relief when a tinkling giggle slips from between your lips, now turned up into a timid smile. “Here, feel this?” He guides one of your hands down between your bodies and places it over his cock, sucking in a hiss through his teeth when you squeeze it. He’s hard as stone, and you can feel the heat coming off of him even through his pants.

In awe of your effect on him, you whisper, “Does it hurt?”

“Mm, a little. Feels like I could explode any second.”

“Show it to me, let me see.”

He presses a fast kiss to your lips and stands from the bed, stripping himself quickly of his pants and taking his briefs with them. Completely bared to you, he watches you sit up for a closer look and wraps a hand around the base.

His cock is swollen and flushed a deep pink, the tip nearly red and leaking as he pulls his fist to it. Your brain is screaming at you, yelling for you to lean forward and taste it, but the walls of your cunt are pulsing, clenching around nothing, greedy for him. He continues to stroke himself slowly, in front of your face, wincing through the near pain of it and silently challenging you to make the next move. Whatever you want, it’s yours.

Your original need wins out and you turn away from the sight of him, beautiful and brazenly pleasuring himself inches from your lips. You crawl up the bed and place yourself comfortably upon the pillows, finding him eyeing you intensely once you’re facing him again. His hand stills on his dick as you bend both legs at the knee and let them fall open wide.

“Get over here.”

He’s on the bed in an instant, yanking the hem of your t-shirt up and revealing your breasts, pulling a nipple into his mouth as he lines himself up, lavishing it with his tongue as he crashes his hips into yours.

Unable to stop it, you scream when the head of his cock slams into your cervix. Rather than slow his pace, he takes the fistful that he still has of your shirt and shoves it into your open mouth. He’s pleased with its efficiency, the primal sounds that you’re making are pretty effectively quieted as you bite down on the cotton. Just to make sure, he pops off of your nipple and takes the other between his teeth. Your muffled mhmm, mmhmm has him driving them into the skin. Your muted squeal has his hips pistoning, jolting your body as he races to his finish.

Almost there, dangling over the edge, he lifts his face from your chest to check on you, a visual assessment that finds a sheen of sweat across your brow and your eyes rolling back in your skull.

On a ragged breath, he calls for your attention. “Babe…”

You roll your eyes forward and find him dripping with sweat, it’s rolling down his neck and traveling over his chest. The pendant of his necklace, the coin, is swinging over your face as his rhythm begins to falter.

“I’m gonna cum, fill this pussy up, you want it?” His jaw is clenched, he’s barely hanging on.

You release the shirt from between your teeth and spit it out.

“Give it to me, I want it all. Do it, Jake!”

With a strangled call of your name, your actual name, he lets go. You can feel the heat of it spilling inside you and he groans, sounding again like it’s physically painful as he fills you until his release is overflowing from your cunt, while he’s still fucking more into you. His body shudders as it finally ends, he sinks to you, hot and sticky and completely drained. Into the damp skin in the crook of your neck, he murmurs a drowsy I love you.

Hands running through the sweat-soaked strands of his hair, you say it back. He breathes into a kiss placed to that spot on your neck before rolling off of you.

He’s already slipping into sleep, you know he’s exhausted from travel and you can see it now in his features. There are soft purple shadows under the fans of his eyelashes, resting over his cheeks. You also know that he’ll wish in the morning that he had showered, washed the film of sweat and sex off of his body before passing out, but you can’t bear the thought of forcing him from the bed now.

You let your fingers trail over his chest, moving steadily with the rhythm of his breathing that’s evening out as he drifts away. Drawing a circle over the cool metal of his necklace, you whisper up to him before he’s completely gone.

“Have you been wearing this since you left?”

Barely conscious, he lifts a hand and wraps his fingers around yours that are toying with the coin.

“Mm, yeah. Haven’t taken it off.”

“Is there a reason?” You know there has to be, everything he does has a purpose, even if he doesn’t know exactly what it is.

“Finished the book you gave me for Christmas. I read it three times while we were gone. Necklace reminds me of you.”

Oh.

He’s snoring softly before you can respond. You move away from him slowly, rolling to grab your phone but not finding it on your nightstand. Quickly and quietly, you tiptoe around the room and don’t find it anywhere, so you slip your leggings back on, up and over your hips and sneak out the door.

You head first to use the bathroom, then to Josh’s bedroom door but find it slightly ajar and the room dark. After slinking down the stairs, you’re met with a dark kitchen but a soft blue glow coming from the living room. Josh is there, nearly asleep himself but still upright on the couch in front of some black and white film that doesn’t seem familiar to you. He startles only slightly when you step into the room.

“What are you sneaking around for, darling? I didn’t even hear you come down the stairs.” He pats the cushion next to him, an invitation that you accept.

“Jake’s asleep, I didn’t wanna wake him. What are you still doing up?”

“I could ask you the same, shouldn’t you be cuddling your beloved or some shit? You reek of sex.” There’s no fire behind his words as he teases you.

“I need to talk to you. I need your help.”

Just over two weeks later, they’re packed to leave again. They both pack infuriatingly light for a month-long journey through Europe, but you know they’ll cycle through five outfits, max, between the two of them

Jake saunters into your bedroom as you’re frantically sifting through your closet, tossing things out into the room as you go. He moves through the space, taking note of the open suitcase laid out on the bed as he steps toward the closet door, where a denim jacket slaps him in the face and wraps itself around his head. You haven’t even noticed and continue to throw things in his direction. He pulls the jacket free and drops it to the pile you’ve created at his feet before scaring the shit out of you.

“Running away, sweetheart?”

“Shit Jacob!” You’ve nearly jumped out of your skin, but gather yourself quickly and keep moving through your hangers. “How do you guys pack so easily, how do you know what to bring?”

“It’s simple, love, we never change our clothes. Mind if I ask, again, where you’re going?”

You push past him in the doorway and move to start folding things to put in your suitcase. He turns and follows you with his eyes as you continue to ignore his question. Crossing the room, he steps in behind you as you’re leaned over the bed and reaches around you to stop your hands from shoving another pair of jeans into the case.

“Stop, before you piss me off.” Your back stiffens at that, the authority in his tone sending a shiver down your spine that makes your toes curl. He slides his hands from yours, slowly up your arms until he’s spinning you around by your shoulders. Curiosity is lifting one of his eyebrows, the other drawn down and creasing the skin between them.

You’ve been waiting for this confrontation, thought you were ready for it but now that it’s happening, your palms are clammy with nerves. You try to wipe the anxiety from your expression, offering him your own quirked eyebrow and a sly smile.

“I’m taking a trip to Denmark.”

You watch a range of emotion flash across his face in just a few seconds, surprise, then confusion, followed by the dawn of understanding. Finally, excitement is alight in his eyes and you start to feel it too before the corners of his mouth pull downward.

“You’re coming with us. You can’t just up and come with us, this shit takes planning babe, scheduling, flights. We have a whole team that travels-“

“It’s taken care of.”

He’s still confused, understandably. “How?”

“Josh took care of it. I asked him to.” The nerves are back, sensing that he has more questions before he accepts this as truth.

He considers what you’ve told him so far, which is next to nothing, with his arms folded and a hand under his chin, running his finger over the small dimple there.

“For how long?”

“A month.”

“Baby, that’s the entire time we’ll be in Europe. What did you tell your job?”

“I quit.”

“You quit.”

“Two weeks ago. I put in my notice after Josh said he would handle the arrangements. Yesterday was my last day.”

You let him process it, not daring to move from your place in front of him, terrified that he’s going to tell you you’ve made a mistake. Your heart’s beating so rapidly that you’re sure you’re about to pass out, just before he unfolds his arms and takes both of your hands in his.

His voice is soft, sweet as cotton candy and spun up with the dreamy quality of disbelief. “You’re coming with me?”

Your fingers squeeze his, helping to ground you both in the reality of this. “I am. For as long as you’ll have me. I’ll look for a new job when we get back to the states, if that’s okay. I’m not sure wh-“

His kiss punches the air from your lungs and any other words from your brain, his hands thrown into your hair then sliding down your body until he hauls you off your feet. Arms and legs wrapped around him, you throw your head back and laugh until you truly can’t breathe. He watches from below, and he knows.

When you drop your forehead to his, he smiles back at you, that one that he now knows to be your favorite. He’d almost fucked this up, this moment that he’ll tuck away into his memory, but he’ll recall it later and it’ll be perfect.

“Forever. I’d take you with me forever, to every horizon.” Another kiss pulled from your lips, one of thousands, millions even. “I don’t give a shit if you never work again. I knew you wanted me to be your sugar daddy, sweetheart.”

The End 💔💔💔

Taglist:

@lightmylove-gvf @spicedandicedtea @weneedsomehealing123 @milkgemini @why-ami-on-here @gretavanbitches @twistedmelodies @wildflowerxx-x @dannythedog @blissfulbellss @averagemisfit03 @dharmasdivine @thetroublegetssoloud71 @lucimoo @toxbexannouncedx @dig0930 @maddie-van-fleet @friska101-cg @welllauragvf @gretasimp @objectsinspvce @writingcold @gretavangroupie @sweetybre @gretasgoose @gvfjess @josh-iamyour-mama

[quicktosimp]

Happily Ever After

Kinktober Day 03 - Thigh Riding

A/N: I do not know what I did with this... I may have gone off the rails a bit... Anyway, if your doctors says no sex, then don't do what these two did.

Warnings: 18+, thigh riding, pregnancy kink, praise kink, lactation kink, slight mommy kink, brief mentions of past torture, mentions of slavery, aged up

Thank you @pandoraslxna for putting this together for all of us 💕

Spider and I did not meet under the best conditions. When the recom team kidnapped him, I was an unwilling scientist for the RDA. My parents had betrayed the RDA and joined the na’vi; both of them had passed in the great battle, their lab having been compromised, leaking the toxic air into the lab, killing them before they could get a mask on. I had been left on earth when my parents went to Pandora; when the RDA learned of me, they decided I would replace them as payment for their transgressions. When they found me, I was working on my Ph.D. in biological engineering, perfect for what the RDA wanted me to do. While the recom team was working, making avatars is expensive, so they wanted me to create a device, chemical compound, or anything as long as it would allow humans to breathe Pandora's air. 

After failing to make Spider talk, they made me use him as a live experiment. Every now and then, Quaritch would take him out, but General Ardmore, would always make him return for a new round of tests. Initially, he hated me, and I didn’t blame him. Once he realized that the throat com on me doubled as a shock collar, we got along swimmingly. While I worked, he would teach me everything about Pandora, from the land, the people, the language, and even his family. I always wished I could see the outdoors, but I was not even allowed near any windows until Spider got smart; he mentioned that Pandora might have materials that could further my research while General Ardmore was lurking nearby. Leading to me being brought on a new trip with Spider and the recom team. Z-Dog had to pull me back so I wouldn’t fall out of the chopper while looking at the scenery. It ended up being Spider pulling me back and sitting me on his thigh that, got me to sit still. But that was more due to the situation: his muscular thigh between my legs, the thrum of the chopper, rocking back and forth. I refused to say anything about it; being in a helicopter full of people killed whatever libido I had, but it definitely put ideas in my mind. 

At the Tulkun hunting ship, they gave a lab to work at, with quotas to meet. Quaritch now holds the remote to my shock collar but doesn’t like using it. He looks at it like it like someone handed him ikran dung. He’s never once used it on me. He didn’t like the fact that I was still a teen when I was forced to work for them and that I was still in slavery. Apparently, slavery is where Quaritch draws the line. But it works in my favor.

When the skirmish happened, Spider used the chaos to run to steal the remote and free me. The two of us joined the Sully family on the boat; after making sure that all 6 of us were there, we ran. When Lo’ak grabbed the machine gun, I took it from him, covering them as they jumped ship. I knew to cover my head and chest, and I ended up with a bullet through my arm. Thankfully, the lot of us got out with minimal injuries. And a huge thank you to Tuk, Lo’ak, and Neteyam; Neytiri would have killed me on the spot if it weren't for them speaking for me. But taking a bullet for her children seemed to help the situation, and then when she heard of how I was a slave to the RDA, she began to like me. The leaders of the Metkayina, Tonowari and Ronal, were skeptical of Spider and I’s presence but gave us a chance to prove ourselves.

Here we are years later. Spider and I have our own marui pod and are expecting our first child. We have never been more excited. Jake, who had taken over and became a proper dad to Spider, could be heard saying that he’s not ready to be a grandfather, and Neytiri has been a blessing to me. Excited for her first grandchild, she helped prepare everything and answered my questions. Now, at 38 weeks pregnant, I am not doing much. I mostly weave baskets or make jewelry, and I cannot do much else. The Metkayina believe that a pregnant woman is already doing the most critical job for the clan. Thus, I am not given any jobs, leaving me to my thoughts. As I watch my husband working on repairing the nets, crafting new spears, and whatever menial task they can give him that keeps him close to me. I watch his muscular back flex as sweat ripples down from the heat of the Metkayina sun. I feel the heat travel lower, needing attention there. However, Ronal put me on a sex bain, and now Spider refuses to do anything remotely sexy with me, and I cannot take it into my own hands with my stomach in the way; while I could technically do it, the odd angle and weird stretch becomes old quickly. But maybe he'll be interested if it's not penetration; Ronal only said no to sex.

“Sipder! Will you come here, please?” 

I watch as he turns to look at me, abandoning his work as he jogs to me, “What is it, Love? Do you need something?” He asked, sweat trickling down his chest, falling until it absorbed into his Tewng.

“I need you. Now.” I stated bluntly.

An exasperated look crossed his face, “Babe, you heard what Ronal said. No sex right now; it could make the baby come early. I want you to, babe, but we can’t risk it right now.”, he brings me into his arms.

I look at his face with a coy smile, “But what if we don't have sex? We don’t have to have penetration; there are other things we can do,” I bargained, “There has been an idea that I’ve had for a while now…” I trialed off.

This seemed to perk his interest, “Like what? Sex only counts if it's penetration, so I'm up for anything. What’s your idea, babe?” 

My face turns crimson as I say, “I wanna ride your thigh.” my hands cover my face. 

His brow furrows, “How would that feel good for you? It’s my thigh?” He questioned.

“When I sat on your lap in the chopper, It felt really good, and now I want to actually try it,” I explained earnestly. 

“Okay, let's try it! Where do you want me to sit?” He grabs my arms, easing me to stand. 

Giddy, as I finally get to try something that will ease the ache between my legs, I start to pull him along. Sitting him on our sleeping mat, I place my hands on his shoulders, “Will you take them off, please?” I feel his hands rub my hips underneath my stomach as he unties my skirt. Once my skirt is off, his hands are back on me, easing my panties off, already wet from my earlier thoughts. 

“Babe, you’re already this wet? Poor girl, you really do need this?” He teases.

“Yes, Spider, I’ve been begging for over a week now,” I whine.

Spider places a small kiss on my clit, before he helps me down to his thigh. As I straddled his thigh, I felt every ridge of muscle underneath me. 

Spider rests his hands on my waist, “Does this feel okay? Do you want to try a different position?” 

I shifted a bit and got comfortable, “No, this is perfect,” I smiled at him, “Thank you, Love.”

Spider smiled at me, “I will do anything to help you.” he brought his face to mine, kissing my lips. He brings me even closer, his hand cradling my head. His tongue brushed against my lips, and I eagerly opened my mouth for him. Our tongues met and danced, neither caring for dominance. 

As we kiss, Spider's arm that was still around me pulls me closer and then pulls me away. Grinding my cunt against his thigh, my clit rubbing against each rigid. I gasp into his mouth as he pulls me back and forth again. I can feel Spider’s leg become wet from the stickiness between my thighs. Making my glide easier. 

I start to pant, the constant pleasure and movement making me lose my breath, but I can’t stop; it's like my hips have a mind of their own. Spider releases my lips, a string of saliva connecting us. He attaches himself to my neck, biting at my flesh until it bruises. Marking me for everyone to see. As he released my neck, he stared at my breasts, “Can I try something?” He asked. I nodded my head, trusting him and his wish. 

He latches onto my nipple and sucks hard. A squeal left my lips, my nipples were sensitive, and my breasts were tender from holding milk. Spider sucks, nibbles, and licks as I ride his thigh, chasing my high. You could hear the sounds of my slick rubbing against his thigh, the wet noise echoing against the walls of our marui, but now I also heard gulping. I look down to meet Spider’s eyes as he swallows my milk. I moan at the sight; seeing my husband drinking my milk and relieving the built-up pressure was a new relief for me. The ache in my breast releasing, and the pleasure of Spdier playing with my breast. My cunt throbbed with pleasure as this continued. Soon, my breast was empty, and he went to the other one, giving it the same treatment. 

“Spider, please, it's so good. Please, more!” I begged as my hips sped up. 

Spider’s hands traveled down and held onto my ass, helping me grind better. He moved this thigh with my movements, feeling his leg flex, helping me reach my climax. Letting go of my bruised nipple, he asks, “Do you want to cum for me? You’ve already been so good, carrying our baby, being such a good Mama,” His mouth dripped milk down his chin and past his chest, “You can cum, Mama, cum like the good girl you are.” With that, he bit my nipple and pulled hard. I screamed as I came, my back bowed into an arch. My wetness released all over our marui floor, more than I had cum before. 

Spider’s arms wrapped around me, holding me close. He played with my hair, kissing the top of my scalp, whispering, “You did such a good job. You tasted so good for me. I love you so much, mama.” He did this until I stopped twitching. Only then did he go get a clean rag to wash me up. As he cleaned me, he gave small pecks to my stomach, down low, right where the baby’s head is. As he finished, he laid down with me for a nap. Neither of us realized that this would be the last decent sleep the two of us would get for a while. 

[mitchbeck]

HARTFORD WOLF PACK BEAT BRIDGEPORT ISLANDERS

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The Hartford Wolf Pack employed solid defense, good goaltending, and opportunistic scoring to defeat the Bridgeport Islanders 4-1  in a must-win game for the New York Rangers AHL affiliates. The win propelled the Wolf Pack past the Islanders by a point for the sixth and final playoff spot. Seven games remain for both teams. The Wolf Pack hosts the Providence Bruins on Friday. The sixth-place team would likely play the Bruins, who had already made the playoffs. On Saturday, the team travels to Allentown, PA, to play the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The game will be broadcast on the NHL Network live at 7 PM. "I was very happy down 1-0 in a must-win game. We came out in the second with no nerves and just let's get this done; do it right. We made a lot more easy, simple plays and forechecked better," Pack Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said while unloosening his tie. Unlike past third-period struggles, the Wolf Pack buckled down. At 1:02, the Pack nearly extended the lead as Brandon Scanlin put a huge drive from the point toward the net, but starting netminder Corey Schneider made a shoulder save. The rebound went to his left-wing side. With the net wide-open, Tanner Fritz fanned on his shot. "We knew they would come back in the third with a big push (16 shots). They need points too and to score. We did all the right things and we put pressure at the right time when they had the puck," Knoblauch commented. The physical play picked up. In one sequence, in the right-wing corner at 6:21 and after a super right shoulder save by the Pack's Louis Domingue on Arnaud Durandeau. It prevented the game from becoming a 3-2 contest early in the third. However, Ryan MacKinnon was stopped on the rebound. "Louis is one of the better goalies in this league, and that (sequence) showed it. We're very fortunate to have him when the game is on the line. His save percentage when the game is on the line has gotta be there. I don't know it, but it's very favorable to him," said Knoblauch. After Bridgeport's Cole Bardreau jumped at Pack Captain Jonny Brodzinski, Scanlin backed up his captain, and all five Wolf Pack - Brodzinski, Cullye, Scanlin, Lockwood, and Elson were involved. "Guys want to win," Knoblauch said. "They know what's on the line." Ultimately, the commitment to team defense and outstanding goaltending for the Pack prevailed. Brodzinski became the second Wolf Pack to hit the 20-goal mark with his 20th at 17:57 with an empty-netter. In the second period, the Pack evened the score at 2:10 on a two-on-one break-in. Brodzinski was on the right wing and used Will Cullye as a decoy before firing in his 19th upstairs over Schneider. Brodzinski successfully maneuvered around a sliding Islander, trying to block the shooting lane. The Pack took the lead on the power play to register their second goal. Jake Lechyshyn went down the left wing, took Lauri Pajuniemi's pass, and fired it over Schneider's right shoulder for his third tally at 9:49. "Jake, great shot," Knbolauch said. "He had a very strong game, very good defensive plays and face-offs and was rewarded with a goal. He had a lot of crucial face off wins in the defensive zone tonight." Leschyshyn knew where he wanted to go with his shot and the game's magnitude. "I saw a little room and put the shot there, and it went in. It was a big game. We all knew what was at stake to go with his shot." The Pack extended the lead to 3-1 late in the second. Scanlin was at the right point and launched a rocket off Pajuniemi's pass. It hit the stick of Karl Henriksson past Schneider's blocker side at 17:02. It was Henriksson's sixth goal. Pajuniemi's all-around efforts at both ends of the ice were appreciated. "Lauri has been playing really well for us lately. I was happy with the way a lot of guys that have been playing when games have been on the line. Scanlin's been playing very played where Robertson (out injured) left off. Henriksson's play brought a smile to Knoblauch's face. "We appreciate his play and he's appreciated in that locker room. He's going to continue to get better and better. Next year he has a lot of upside going in. He's very polular in the room and guys were cheering for him," said Knoblauch. The play was aided by the Islanders' Ryan MacKinnon, who fell trying to execute a crossover skating backward that allowed the play to stay in the zone. The Pack held the Islander offense in check to just four shots on goal but faced 16 in the third when the expected push-back came. But, when it did, the Pack held firm. The first period was played in classic playoff style with close-checking. It was the Islanders, though, who would score the first goal. Collin Adams won the four-player rugby scrum with teammate Dennis Cholowski on the right wing boards battling Tim Gettinger and Libor Hájek. The puck came out to ex-Pack Paul Thompson (game-high six shots), who snapped his ninth of the year over Louie Domingue's blocker side just above the right-wing face-off dot on just their sixth shot of the game. Thompson helped create space for himself with a small crosscheck to the back of Pack's Ryan Carpenter and skated backward into the slot. The Pack had two quality chances of their nine shots. The first came early by Cullye at the right-wing side of the net and another by Leschyshyn. "Guys all stepped from Lauri to Brandon to every one in the room. It was obviously a big win for us. Everybody was important and going forward, with everybody pitching in," remarked Leschyshyn. LINES: Cullye-Leschyshyn-Brodzinski Gettinger-Lockwood-Carpenter Fritz-Pajuniemi-Blidh Elson-Berard-Trivigno Jones-Emberson Hájek-Scanlin Clendening-Kalynuk Domingue Garand SCRATCHES: Matt Robertson (upper-body, long-term) Karl Henriksson (Healthy) Matt Rempe (Healthy) Blake Hillman (Healthy) Adam Sýkora  #29 (Healthy) Bryce McConnell-Barker (Healthy) Patrick Khordorenko (Season-Ending, Shoulder surgery). C.J. Smith (Hip Area Surgery, Season Over) NOTES: The crowd was announced at 2,007, which seemed exceptionally generous. Goalie Carter Hart was injured in Philly. That forced the team to recall Samuel Ersson from Lehigh Valley, likely nixing him from Saturday's game. In addition, Lehigh Valley recalled Pat Nagle from the Reading Royals (ECJL). He is a 37-year-old journeyman with success against the Pack. The Pack added two players and deleted one. They have added Adam Sýkora from HK Nitra (Slovakia-SLEL) and Bryce McConnell-Barker from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL). Sýkora was the first pick last year in the second round (63rd overall) in 2023 in Montreal. He played with Slovakian WJC the previous summer in Edmonton and this year in Moncton/Halifax. He also played for the Slovakia World Championship team. With HK Nitra this season, Sýkora registered 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists), tying him for third-best in the club's scoring. His 13 assists tied him for second on the team. The goal he scored in Edmonton was the highlight of last summer's WJC tournament. But, surprisingly, he didn't play with the Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL), who had selected him #1 overall in the CHL Import Draft but elected to go back to Slovakia instead. McConnell-Barker was a third round (97th overall) in the 2022 draft. Both players are 18 years old and signed Amateur Try-Out (ATO) deals. Both have had their respective European and junior seasons end. Both arrived late yesterday and didn't play. Depending on Knoblauch's evaluation after a practice, they should either play against Providence Friday or, in Allentown, PA, against Lehigh Valley on Saturday. McConnell-Barker is a left-handed centerman. In 68 games with the OHL's Soo (Sault Ste. Marie) Greyhounds this season. He finished the 2022-23 OHL season with 77 points (30 goals, 47 assists). His 47 assists and 77 points led the Greyhounds; his 30 goals were second on the club. Gettinger is a program graduate, and current assistant coach Jamie Tardif coached him for two years in Sault Ste. Marie. McConnell-Barker was the team captain of the Greyhounds and was named the OHL's Player of the Week the first week of January after he recorded eight points (four goals and four assists) in three contests. Because both players will be 19 next year, as per the CBA, they will be ineligible for the AHL. As a result, neither will be able to play in the AHL until their junior seasons end next year. "We'll see after (Thursday) practice, and we'll make decisions then. We're hoping to get both players some American (Hockey) League time at some point," remarked Knoblauch. Cristiano DiGiacinto was sent back to the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL), where he started the season to get some game time. The addition of these two players slides DiGiacinto down the depth chart. This season, DiGiacinto appeared in 36 games, with the Wolf Pack scoring 12 points (3 goals and 9 assists). In ten games with the Icemen earlier this season, DiGiacinto scored six points (3 goals and 3 assists). Matt Stienburg, the son of former New Haven Nighthawk Trevor Stienburg, will sign shortly with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) coming out of Cornell University (ECACHL). However, he is likely waiting until mid-August to get more from the Avalanche, who drafted him as per the CBA. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[gotnofucks]

How about Jake Jensen meeting the reader's parents for the first time and since he's an adorkable idiot, chaos ensues?

Title: At the Dinner Table

Pairing: Jake Jensen x Reader

Words: 1.2k

Warnings: Only language I think.

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Jake’s nipples were beautiful, and you would love to show them the appreciation due to them, but not in front of your parents.

“What are you doing?” You hissed, shaking your head at his bare upper body.

“You’re the one who said ‘shirt up’!” He defended and you hid your face in your hands, groaning in mortification.

“I said shut up you absolute walking disaster!” You said, peeking at your father who shot you an incredulous look. His eyes were asking you for confirmation that this is the man you’re planning on spending the rest of your life with and you scrunched your nose.

Jake blushed, scratching his goatee bashfully before pulling his shirt on again. Your mother was clearly trying hard not to laugh, suppressing her giggles by pursing her lips. Your brother, however, had no chill because he kept munching on his snacks, watching your fiancé with a fascinated gaze that shifted to you after he was clothed again.

“Now I know why you stay with him. He’s ripped.” He said, nodding as if in approval. You threw a piece of salad at him, sitting down in silence until your father cleared his throat. The argument before Jake suddenly decided to flash everyone was almost forgotten, an uncomfortable silence descending on the dinner table.

“Right,” Your father said, “as I was saying earlier, I would have liked it had you asked for my daughter’s hand like a gentleman.”

You grabbed your fork tightly in your hand, shooting your father a glare. Seriously, what time was he living in?

“And like I said, I don’t need your permission to marry her. Only hers. And she said yes.” Jake grumbled, chewing on his food as he sulked, still a little red around his ears.

“And like I said, will you both please shut up?” You said, voice slightly raised. “I am not some object you’ll talk about as if I am not here. Dad, I made my choice when I said yes. And you, Jake, don’t you ever talk to my father like that again.”

Your brother looked between you three, very entertained. He was smirking, exchanging amused looks with your mother who didn’t look like in any hurry to interrupt this argument.

“You just told him to shut up yourself.” Jake said.

“He’s my daddy, I can talk to him how I want. But I’ll be damned if you raise your voice at him.” You huff, earning a very approving nod from your father.

“That’s my girl!” He cheered, reaching over to pat your back with a huge smile. You gave him a sarcastic one back, fixing him with a withering look.

“You can’t talk to my fiancé that way either. He’s gonna be your son in law soon, so treat him like family.”

At your father’s bewildered look, your mother wheezed out a laugh that she quickly stifled, stuffing her mouth with food. This isn’t how you expected this dinner to go at all. Not only had your father and fiancé got into an argument that ended up with one of them shirtless, but you were sure your brother had the hots for Jake.

“Who wants ice-cream?” Your mother asked, smiling sweetly and pointedly at you. You raised an eyebrow at her before getting up to follow her into the kitchen. She had no subtle bone in her body. On reaching the kitchen, she excitedly pulled you in and squealed.

“Oh god love, where did you find this guy?” She asked, bursting with curiosity. You cracked a smile at her enthusiasm, leaning against the counter as you shyly bit your lip.

“Half dead in the desert.” You told her, chuckling when her mouth dropped open. “Don’t worry, he’s not a bad guy. He’s got a complicated history.”

Your mother nodded, taking your hands in hers and squeezing gently. She knows Jake used to be in the military and didn’t ask for more information. There was much that happened to soldiers behind the scenes, things that were hard to put into words. She didn’t need to know what happened.

“He’s good to you, right?” She asked, eyes sparking when you nodded. “Oh my child, I am so happy for you. I’ve never seen you stand up for someone as you did today. I have high hopes for you both.”

With a soft smile you hugged her, taking in her natural musk and feeling like a little girl again who would plan her dream wedding with her. You’d always had trouble feeling feminine enough with two guns strapped to your thighs and hands roughed on the battlefield. But Jake made you feel like the softest, most beautiful woman in the world.

“I love him ma, I really do. I can’t imagine living without him.” You confessed. Your mother cupped your face and kissed your forehead, a lot like your grandma used to do.

“You won’t lose him” She promised, then looked out into the dining room and giggled. “Well, we better hurry out there. Your brother is trying to steal your man.”

You looked over your shoulder and screeched, stomping out and smacking your brother on the back of his head. You stood protectively in front of a very confused Jake, shielding him from your brother who was trying hard to look nonchalant.

“What?” He grumbled, rubbing his head where you hit him.

“Don’t even think about it. You’re not getting my man again.” You warned, wagging a threatening finger in his face. Jake lightly touched your back, pushing you aside to look questioningly at your brother with furrowed brows.

“You stole her boyfriend?” He asked in shock, looking a little impressed. You rolled your eyes as your brother smirked proudly, looking every bit like the man slut he was.

“Twice. I only did it to test their loyalty. Suffice it to say, they failed terribly. And they were horrible in bed. I did sis here a favor.”

You grit your teeth, fighting the urge to punch your brother. He meant well, but if he thought of putting one sleazy hand on your Jake, you’ll hit him in the balls.

“Did I fail too?” Jake asked nervously, looking at you with so much worry that you wanted to kiss his frown away. You looked at your brother with narrowed eyes, sending him a warning that he promptly ignored. He leaned his chair back on the hindlegs, swinging slowly as he regarded Jake with thoughtful eyes.

“You are the only one who has ever passed. You must really love my sis if you’re willing to overlook the more beautiful sibling.”

Jake sighed in relief, hugging you from behind as your smiled softly. Your father, very much done with the antics left without a word, talking about shameless children with no respect for elders. Your mother went after him after shooting you a wink, pleased with your choice.

“So, are you guys gonna have sex in your childhood bedroom?” Your brother asked. “If yes, Jake beware the posters on the wall. Sis was a freak.”

You would have lunged on the little shit had Jake not held you back, his breath washing over your skin as he laughed silently. Pulling you away, he pressed sweet kisses behind you ear, gently soothing you and preventing you from murdering your brother.

“Let’s go see those posters in your room baby. If you’re good, I’ll show you something better too.” He promised.

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[tyb1]

If It’s The Right Thing To Do (4)

Words:2886

Character: Seth Clearwater

Note: let’s imagine your Sam’s little sister 

Dialogue prompt:“So let me get this straight when I need you you’re nowhere to be found but when I do something dumb you magically appear.”

Series List

tag list:  @alecvolturiswifeforever​ @scoverdale1​ @anndaydreamer​ @fae-lore​ @queen-of-embracing-uncertainty @nickangel13​ @bi-bi-spencer​@a-vild-bluemyrtle​ @little-miss-naill @crystalxavlove @ilovesethclearwater

Seth Clearwater Masterlist

A/N: message me or comment if you’d like to be on the tag list. sorry it took so long I love you guys:)

“I’m sorry Seth but you and I both know that what you’re saying is bullshit.” I snatched my hand away from his chest, the feeling of his racing heart was no longer there. I knew he wasn’t lying about what he said but for his and my sanity, we both needed this to end here. This entire relationship was causing too many problems...well before he decided to join the Cullens. 

“What (Y/N)....what are you talking about?.” He stood there with tears in his eyes, I’m surprised he didn’t let them fall like I was letting mine fall. That was one thing I hated about him. He held in all of his emotions and then when it came to the breaking point he would explode. Trust me when I say it’s not a good sight to see.

I had to put off a bold face for him. I couldn’t let him know that I was actually dying inside. I was letting a few tears slide down my face but that didn’t compare to the aching feeling that I was feeling inside of me. It was the same feeling I felt when he first left me.

“Fine since you want me to say it so badly”- I roughly pointed my finger in his face.- “ Leave me alone. We’re breaking up so don’t call me, or text me until you get your priorities straight. I’ll be home when you get your shit together.” 

Seth couldn’t look me in the eyes, he started to kick the dirt with his feet. The sand below him started to change different colors from the tears that were falling upon it. He started to mumble a few words but the only thing I could hear was. “You don’t have your priorities straight either (Y/N).”

“It’s because I’m dealing with your shit! I’m around here following you like a lost puppy when you only play mind games with me! I’m so done with you and your bipolar ass!” I spat bitterly, I turned my back to him then marched towards Sam. I turned around to look at him once more, I instantly regretted it. He stood there with his hands in pockets with his head still hanging low. His head shot up instantly making eye contact with me, I quickly snatched my gaze away from him. This was going to be a new start for both of us so I didn’t need to be drawn back in with his puppy dog eyes.

Seth POV 2 weeks later

 I was too much of a coward to say goodbye. I was truly heartbroken. I wish I could run to her and tell her that I love her and tell her that I cherish everything about her but I know she wouldn’t believe me. I was all out of options. The only thing that felt right to do was to cry and that’s what I did. I cried so hard that day that Jake had to carry me home on his back. It’s been two weeks since I have last spoken to (Y/N), two of the longest fucking weeks of my life. I thought losing my dad was painful but this...this has won the race. I couldn’t bear the heartbreak so I started to stay out longer. I asked to take over Leah and Jake’s patrol hours. I don’t even remember the last time I ate. I can only remember our last encounter, it’s like a nonstop movie in my head it was causing me to go insane.

I hate it here.

I have been spending most of my days down at the border. I was monitoring the days where Colin and Brady patrolled, they were my best option to trick into letting me cross the border. It was my only way to apologize to (Y/N). So here I was trying to wave down Collin and Brady so I could continue with my ridiculous plan.

“Hey! Colin, Brady pshhh, come here!” I yelled out in the distance to the two wolves. I was standing at the border waiting for them to shift as well. I wasn’t in my wolf form. The last thing I wanted to do was be a threat to them. 

Brady was the first to walk from behind the tree while Colin stood behind the tree too nervous to face me. I could read their body language from a mile away, they were very uncomfortable with being around me. 

Brady snarled at me, I observed as all of the muscles in his body grew tense as he spoke. “I heard you got into it with Paul. He should have ripped your fucking head off.”

“Wow I wasn’t expecting that from you Brady, but thanks I guess.” I wasn’t trying to be an ass but it just rolled off my tongue. Straight away I regretted it, it only pissed him off even more. 

Brady pulled Colin by the collar of his shirt pushing him towards me. The kid could barely keep his posture straight or his eyes focused on me. He had no confidence in his steps and started to trip over the branches on the ground.

Brady pointed between the both of us with his thumb. He had an irritated facial expression plastered on his face. “Tell him what you told me when he left.” he spat bitterly, a small smirk was rising on his face but soon faded as Colin spoke.

“Do I have to?” Colin mumbled, he waved shyly at me. I took this opportunity to wave back to him. I gave him a small smile as well. Colin, Brady, and I were always close but Brady was always the fiery type while Colin was timid.

“Yes, you have to say it!” Brady exclaimed.

Colin rolled his eyes, “Fine, I said that you were an ass for leaving us behind. It wouldn’t be the first time that you left us.” Brady glared at him to continue, “I also said that you have a reputation for turning your back on us.”

I noticed Brady smiling at Colin; he must have felt accomplished. I must admit, I did feel bad, I left them behind but it was some things that they have not come to reality with.  “Listen I need a huge favor. I need you to let me cross the border so I can see (Y/N).”

Brady rolled his eyes, “Wow so you just completely ignored what we have to say? Why would we let you cross the border and jeopardize us? Yeah, that was a stupid request.”

“You’ll do it because I am your superior. In Jakes’s pack I’m the beta...but don’t ask Leah or else she’ll lie. She thinks she’s the beta because she’s older but in reality, Jake named me the beta.” 

Colin had a questionably look on his face, by now he has grown more comfortable with me and now is standing face to face just like Brady. “Why would you want to see someone who doesn’t want to see you?” 

I was taken aback, “Why do you mean? She wants to see me, there is no way that she would not want to see me.”

“Umm I highly doubt it, she’s been living well since the accident. We went skating last week with us and the others. Not once has she mentioned your name.” Brady slapped Colin across the back of his head. I watched as the two bickered back and forth. Brady pushed Colin away from him. He snapped his fingers to gain my attention from my feet. I hadn’t realized that I was getting sidetracked but I was trying to figure out why (Y/N)  wasn’t heartbroken.

“She made it clear that she didn’t want to be around you anymore Seth. Dude if I were you I’d really leave her the fuck alone. She really wants nothing to do with you. If you try to see her she’ll probably freak out on you. You’re pretty much dead to her.” Brady then smirked, “There’s also another guy that has been keeping her busy lately.”

Ouch. Well, that hurt...it actually hurt a lot. I cleared my throat so I could stop the tears from arising. We’re not about to cry in front of them!

Colin now slapped Brady beside the head. “You could have said it nicer, idiot.”

“What! Her words, not mine!” 

“Just forget about it.” I spat bitterly, If you wanted to forget about me and everything we had then so be it. I could forget you just as fast as you did me. I could care less about those stupid ass memories we made together. Just like you said I really didn’t love you it was just the stupid feeling of you being my damn imprint. 

I continued to walk and degrade our relationship. Jake tried to stop and talk to me but I just shoved him out of the way. He started to piss me off as well. He had his nose shoved so far up the Cullens ass he couldn’t tell you what roses smell like. Then here comes my second problem, Leah.  I didn’t dare shove her. I didn’t want to pick a fight with her right now. I could explode on her and say some things I didn’t mean. 

“Where the hell have you been!? Were you down at the border again?”

“Does it really matter?” I rolled my eyes at the screaming woman. If she wanted to be my mom then she should have birthed me out. She tugged me backward pulling her face up to hers. I stared into her lonely eyes as she did the same with me.

“You’re my little brother so you are my business. Stop doing dumb shit, Seth.”

 I ripped my face from her hands. “So let me get this straight when I need you you’re nowhere to be found but when I do something dumb you magically appear.” I already knew where the conversation was heading. I was not in the mood to hear her shit right now because I was a walking bomb ready to explode.

“Did you go see (Y/N)?”

“No! I didn’t see her. Why do you make everything about her? I could care less about her.” I couldn’t control myself. I threw my fist into a nearby tree. It cracked and fell to the ground. I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt the tears roll down my cheeks.  As much as I wanted the tears to stop falling I couldn’t. I have never felt so empty in my entire life. That same feeling of heartbreak resurfaced throughout my body. My chest began to tighten, a sharp pain shot throughout my body as I tried to walk forward.

”Make it stop hurting Leah.” I began to sob uncontrollably. “It hurts so bad, why did she have to go? Why is everyone leaving me? What did I do to deserve this….I just try so hard to make everyone happy but when will it be my turn to be happy?  Mom is fucking dating Charlie now. We barely see her anymore only on fucking holidays!  Why did dad have to fucking go!? And you only check on me when it’s convenient for you Leah! Why is everyone leaving me, Leah!?”

“Seth I-”

I cut her off, “Don’t say it.” I knew I was going to apologize about the accident that happened with dad. I never blamed her for the accident. She didn’t mean any harm by it. I could never bring myself to blame her.

 I started to wipe my tears with the sleeves of my flannel shirt. It brought back the memories of the time that (Y/N) would take my flannel and wear it with her converse and shorts. I started to cry all over again at the thought. I started to choke on my words, everything that was coming out of my mouth was undetectable. “(Y/N) was always there for me and now I chose the bloodsuckers over her. She doesn’t understand that it was the right thing to do. They were going to kill a baby. Leah, I don’t have anyone else. I’m so fucking lonely!” 

“I know how it feels Seth. It hurts like hell but you’ll get over it. I’m sorry that you felt like I wasn’t there for you. I must admit that I was being completely selfish. I love you Seth and don’t you forget that.” I started to relax under her embrace. I haven’t seen this side of her since she and Sam were together. It was good to have her back though. “I love you too.”

I followed her gaze, she was staring up at the stars. “I want you to cry it all out, Seth. All of that heartbreak and sadness you have deep within you I want you to let it the fuck out. If you hold it in it’ll turn into anger then that anger will turn into bitterness. I’ll come back and check on you in the morning.”

I don’t want to be alone…

Leah’s footsteps started to become faint, I was left alone in my thoughts once again. I honestly didn’t want her to go. All I wanted for her to do was to hold me and tell me everything was going to be alright. I was stuck on ground zero like I was when my dad died, no one was there for me except (Y/N). She would probably hold me in her hands while whispering the things I wanted to hear. I wish you were here right now, maybe I wouldn’t be so angry at the world. 

“Fuck it!” I started to yell out in the night air. I threw punches in the nearby tree to try and let my anger out. I hit each syllable of the words in the tree. “Fuck you, Sam! And Fuck you too Paul!! I’m not scared of you!” “I don’t care what anyone does and says to me. I’m going to see her and no one is going to stop me.” I didn’t stop until the tree flew back by the force of my hits.

I shifted into my wolf and ran towards her scent. Brady and Colin were still on patrol however they were both on the other side of the forest. It would take them a while to catch up to me at the speed I was running at. A sinister laugh escaped from my lips. This power or maybe it was the adrenaline….no, this was most definitely power. It made me feel invincible, By no means this was me finally sticking up for myself, or how (Y/N) would say, this was me finally growing some balls.

Her scent was in the direction of the beach, oh how could I miss that scent. I followed the dominating scent but there was something a bit off with her scent. It was a mixture of something foreign. I gazed out to the beach scanning every person that was out there. It seemed like there was a party, there were so many teenagers out around the bonfire. I growled out as I watched you sit on a log with another guy’s hoodie on. His cheap polo cologne filled my nostrils. You were sitting there laughing at something that he said which probably wasn’t that funny. 

“Tch, I want to know what’s so funny.” Anger arose in my body causing my teeth and claws to sharpen. My breathing became irregular and there was a tight feeling in my chest. I tried to ignore it but the harder I breathe the more painful it becomes. I took a step forward and instantly collapsed on the ground. My wolf form quickly disappeared and there I was laying on the ground in the fetal position. I tried to crawl but my body felt numb. The only feeling I had was the tears falling from my eyes down my cheeks and onto the ground. I even tried to scream out your name but nothing came out but a gasping sound.

Was I dying?

I started to cry even harder, the thought of dying always freaked me out but the thought of leaving you with guilt made me feel even worse. The sobs were coming out more frequently than I anticipated. I didn’t have time to catch my breath or even think straight. Everything felt like it was closing on me. The air around me started to thin out making me feel dizzy. The pain in my chest starts to become more unbearable. 

“(Y/N) wait...I..I...can’t breathe!” I choked out the words barely having the strength to do it. My head started to pound from the lack of oxygen I was getting. My hearing was becoming undetectable. I felt my body go stiff and my eyes fluttered shut as well, everything became dark and warm. 

It took every bone and ounce of energy to draw a tiny heart near me. If (Y/N) found me like this then she would see the heart. She’ll know that I died loving her...right? Was I even dying or am I just being dramatic? I don’t know, I just want to embrace the warmness that surrounding me right now. 

[nikkywrites]

The Superhero Next Door // Part One

Summary: Starla moves in with her sister. Things get better. Then she notices her new neighbor and not in a good way.

Based off this prompt/idea by @caffeinewitchcraft

This one has been reworked a bit. Still the same story though, just fixed how Starla notices Duke, basically. That’s the biggest change.

*****

"That would be a literal blessing," her sister says, sighing into the phone with hope that pierces through the static of low reception.

"Well," Starla sighs, hand on her hip, looking at the stacked boxes in her apartment, artfully ignoring the eviction notice laying on the kitchen counter. "I kind of don't have a place to live past Thursday, so I don't have much of a choice."

"Well, you're always welcome to come take the guest room."

Starla rubs the bridge of her nose. "I can't afford any rent, though."

"You don't need to pay rent, " Melissa insists, words garbled by the piercing sound of a crying baby. There's some rustling, sound muffled as she deals with the crying newborn. "You're my sister,” she continues, voice softer as she soothes the baby, practically cooing. "It's no problem and you'd be doing me a huge favor anyways, with the kids."

"Okay," Starla says, nodding to herself, like she has options and a choice. "Let's do it."

So she moves in.

It’s what’s best for both them, what with Starla’s apartment block being torn down to place a strip mall, and with Melissa having two new babies that she was raising solo. This was better for both of them, and it would help restore their bond that had been neglected since they had both reached adulthood and thrown themselves into work and romance.

This was good.

Starla moves in easily, happy to be closer to her sister and niece and nephew, but missing the busyness of city life.

She’s a babysitter now. Glorified, with her lack of rent, and definitely overpaid, but still a babysitter.

It’s exhausting, so maybe not so much overpaid or glorified. Maybe she had underestimated the amount of work and attention two babies took.

Watching one baby is difficult, but two? It’s the only thing that fills her day, and it does a fantastic job of doing so. It takes time, and after only a few days, she’s become adept at holding them both at once and caring for both of their needs.

She’s becoming a good aunt, she thinks. A solid second parent to the tiny babies who will never meet the man tied to them by blood. It’s hard, but she loves them and that makes it worth it.

It doesn’t take long for her to familiarize herself with the neighbors. 

Casey from down the block walks her two Shepherd mixes twice a day every day. Mat from across the street brings his sons to the park three days a week. Leslie jogs at six in the morning before work. Jake brought her a welcoming tin of muffins when he noticed that she’d moved in, a joint gift from him and his wife. Kay from the end of the road hosts a weekly hang out that she kindly sent her an invitation to alongside a welcome note.

None of them are who catches her attention, though. It’s Duke, who is her new direct neighbor who catches her eye. She’s never bumped into him or anything, but she’s acutely aware of his existence.

She’s-- she doesn’t mean to spy, but she’s sure that he’s no normal neighbor.

She’s fairly convinced that he’s a Super, actually.

No one in the neighborhood suspects, no idle gossip whispered when she questioned about the new neighbor who hasn’t bothered (or noticed) that someone new has moved into the house next door. He’s fairly secluded among everyone.

He doesn’t go to Kay’s hangouts. He’s just home to sleep, everyone says. He’s not a social guy. He does, though, travel into the city pretty often for hours at a time. Some of it is on a schedule.

Some of it is not.

Starla has... perhaps checked the news when he does, to see how often it lines up with city Super sightings, but it doesn’t enough for obvious eyebrows to be raised. But she knows that Supers don’t always go out in suits when they’re working, so it’s an iffy measurement from the start.

It doesn’t damn or clear him.

Not much would. But she’d find what she had to. If he was low-level, she’d be fine with it. It was the high tiers who couldn’t escape from their work. Who’s work followed them after they shrugged off the suit and the mask and the name.

It was fine if he wasn’t dangerous. She wasn’t planning on outing him. She just needed to know if he was safe.

After she learned that, she’d leave him be.

It’s his fault for being obvious. He comes home bruised and battered from an office job. He has odd hours. He’s left for the city at night a time or two, speeding out of his driveway in a hurry. No one has ever been in his house. No one has said anything more then hello or good morning to him. He was a ghost. A picture of what it looked like when someone was trying to be invisible.

It was suspicious. It had her gut rolling in unease.

Scones are how she decides to start. it’s polite to bake goods for neighbors and scones are bland enough he probably won’t hate them. It’ll open the door of her getting closer.

The twins are napping when she gets the chance to start throwing the batch together. She hopes they sleep for the hour or so it’ll take for her to throw it in the oven because she’s starting it from scratch. They don’t, of course, or more specifically, Cassie doesn’t.

She abandons the bowl of unmixed powders with liquid poured over the top like a faulty volcano to scoop up the crying baby.  “Hey baby,” she coos, swiping a finger over a soft, velvet cheek as she bounces softly. “Whatcha crying for, huh?”

She settles fairly quickly, her large eyes drifting down. Carefully, Starla sets her back into the rocker and returns to baking, sacrificing time for silence. 

They sleep through the rest of mixing and shaping into triangle-esque blobs. It’s after she sets the timer that they wake again, and she’s quick to go over and give them another feeding, and a diaper change for Benjamin.

Caring for them both had seemed impossible, at the beginning, but now it was as easy as breathing.

Her life is turning around, rising from the bland routine it had fallen into. A brightening comet that lights her night sky.

Things were much less stressful now. She enjoyed her day to day, which she didn’t before. She’d loved the city, but it hadn’t been kind to her and the eviction notice was just the straw that broke her. That sent her away. The suburbs were nice, too, though, and she was close enough to the city to be satisfied.

It was safer, too.

Or, it was statistically. She’d never suspected her apartment floormates or coworkers to be Supers. Now she was determined her neighbor was one. Now she was worried about it.

Back at her apartment, a ripped-up street was just another Thursday. Rubble blocking a road was normal. It hadn’t disturbed her too much. Life was boring.

It wasn’t now. And not just because of the twins. She had a mystery, too.

She likes mysteries. Puzzles and games and books. She likes to guess who the villain is, in thriller stories and in mystery books. She guesses right sometimes and she doesn’t on others, but she likes attempting. At trying to slot together all the little clues and dissecting the truth from a heap of mostly inconsequential evidence.

As a kid, she’d wanted to be a police officer. Her dad had watched a lot of crime shows and she’d liked watching them fit pieces together to bring justice. It looked fun, when it was on TV.

Then she grew up. She learned that police work was a lot more boring and restricting than the shows made it out to be. Cops were just second-rate overlooked heroes. They got all the paperwork. None of the glory. They did the stakeouts and the waiting. All of the parts that were a slog. Heroes got the benefits. Her fire had been snuffed out. but she still loved the idea of it.

She still likes solving mysteries. And even if she didn’t-- she doesn’t like the idea of someone dangerous living next to her family. 

What if a fight followed him home and a Super battle broke out? If Supers started fighting that close, there would be nothing she could do.

It was best she figured out what kind of Super her new neighbor was . If she was lucky, he was just a nonpowered, try hard vigilante. Which was kind of illegal, but not particularly dangerous. But that was if she was lucky. If she was unlucky, then they were in danger just because of their proximity to him.

Living in the city, she’d seen too many new reports of mangled office buildings, smoking apartment buildings, has seen too much of the wreckage fighting leaves behind on the streets and the buildings and the people. It had so much impact on people. It was a very destructive thing to happen.

There was a reason why most of city budget goes to upkeep and repair. Super battles break everything and because they’re doing good, they don’t face punishment.

Starla is pretty indifferent to Supers. She knows that they’re expensive and destructive. They’re good too. Now she just doesn’t want that near her sister and the babies.

She was going to figure out just how much danger they were in. Exactly how much.

She was going to figure out Duke’s secret identity.

*****

Done! This one was a struggle to do for some reason. I think it’s a tad better now, though.

[headinthestaticsky]

Sanctuary with the Enthralling Moon, Jasper Hale x Fleur Swan: Chapter 5

“All rights got to Stephenie Meyer’s, None of the characters in Twilight belong to me.

Authors note: Certain parts book and movie will be combine in this story.

“I know what you're doin' here 

Made your intentions clear 

Oh you, you terrible thing, you Terrible thing.”

Terrible Thing by, AG and Brad Gordon

"Bella...Fleur." Laurent had ran in front of us in the blink of an eye. 

"I didn't expect to find you two here."

"I went to visit the Cullens, but the house is empty... I'm surprised they left you two here... Aren't you both a couple of pet's to them? 

"You mean like how you were with James and Victoria... no, we're family to them." I said.

“Oh... Fleur... don’t get upset... Do they not visit you two often?”

I heard Bella gasp as if she heard someone, I looked around... no one was there.

“Yeah, they visit all the time... she paused, I’ll tell them you stopped by. I probably shouldn’t... tell Edward or Jasper, they get really protective.”

“But they’re... far away aren’t they?

Bella didn’t answer him so I jumped into the conversation again.

“Why are you here?”

“I came as a favor to Victoria...”

“V-victoria?”

“She asked me to see if you two were still under the protection of the Cullens. Victoria feels it’s only fair to not only kill Edward’s mate, but Jasper’s as well. Since they both had a hand in killing hers.... an eye for an eye if you will.”

“They’ll know you did it and they’d come after you.” Bella said, she sounded frightened.  

“I don’t think he will... I mean how much could you mean to them... they left you here all alone, unprotected... Victoria won’t be happy with me killing you but... you both smell, mouth watering.”

“Please don’t! I mean you helped us.” Bella said, her breath had begun to stutter.

“No no no, don’t be afraid... I am doing you both a kindness... Victoria wanted to kill you both slowly, but I will make it quick... You both won’t even feel it.”

Laurent had began to pull his arm back, Bella closed her eyes mumbling to her self. I thought I would repeat this action.

“I love you, Jasper.”

Another rustling had made it’s self heard on the other side of the field, a growling noise soon followed. 

“I don’t believe it...”

A wolf stood where the noise was heard from...it was snarling at Laurent. More wolves had come out of the shadows, following it’s leader. Laurent turned around, and began to bolt out of the field the wolves had followed him. Bella stood there, frozen in her place. I grabbed her by the arm trying to pull her out of the woods.

“Bella, Bella, we need to go we need to go now!”

I had never ran so fast in my entire life, I felt like a few seconds had passed by before we were back at the house. Dad and Harry were back so we ran into the kitchen thinking they would be there.

“DAD, we saw it... in the woods.” Bella said

“Bella Fleur, what the hell are you doing in the woods.”

“It is not bears dad, it’s wolves like... huge wolves!”

“Are you sure Bella?” Harry asked asked.

She nodded.

“They were huge dad, they didn’t even stand on there hind legs and they were as big as a human! They went after...something.” Bella said.

“Alright, Harry, feel like going on a hunting trip?”

“S-sure, let me get my stuff.” He hesitated

“Okay, I’m gonna head down to the station...you two, stay here please? No more going out in the woods.” Dad pleaded

“Yeah we’ll stay here.” I said.

I spent the rest of the day up in my room. After a while I decided to call Jasper.

“Hello?”

“Umm, so... somethings happened today.”

“What’s wrong... you always pause when something’s troubling you.”

“Bella and I ran into someone today...Laurent was near.”

“What? The last thing I heard about him was that he was in Alaska with our cousin Irina.” 

“He said he came for a favor... Victoria sent him after us love... he was going to try to kill us. A pack of wolves went after him though.”

“Did they kill him?”

“We ran before we could see.”

“Damn it... I told Edward this would happen, but he just doesn’t listen!”

“We’re fine now... Laurent hasn’t showed up here so I’m going to assume they got him...”

“I should come down there.”

“Hey, hey... calm down, I guess I have some else to say too... I’ve been around the reservation again. Turns out, most of them are wolves... I think it’s the same pack that was in the forest. We’re protected Jazz, you don’t need to put yourself and your family in risk... As much as I would like for you to come down here, I want it to be on better terms than this.”

“Okay, I won’t come down here... for now. But the second something goes wrong I am making my way down there.”

“Okay Jazz.”

“I got to go, I’ll talk with you tomorrow.”

“Okay, love you.”

“Love you. bye.”

I sighed, maybe it was better that I didn’t tell him. I heard a thump outside and quickly got up. I saw Jake landing on the ground his hair was cut and he had that tattoo on his arm. He had joined that pack.

“JAKE? What the hell are you doing?”

He looked up and rolled his eyes at me, he ran into the woods.

“Yep... definitely joined the pack.” I mumbled to myself.

I feel into a deep sleep, a dream had started. But, I wasn’t with Jasper... but somewhere else entirely. I was following a man, he was all alone in a dark alley walking home. I ran toward him, shoving him down to the ground.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

I zoomed past him again.

“WHO ARE YOU?

His hand was sticking out, I took my moment to strike him, biting him. As he was in insurmountable amount of pain I grabbed him by the face and whisper in his ear.

“Welcome, you will be the start of my army.” it wasn’t my voice however... it was Victoria’s.

Timeskip: The next day.

“Get up!” I then felt a harsh shove on my back. I jumped up and was surprised to see Bella standing there.

“What do you want?”

“We’re going down to the reservation...I need to talk to Jacob.”

“Okay, okay...”

She had practically dragged me out the door and sped down the highway down to the reservation. She swung her truck door open, leaving me in the dust. She knocked on Billy’s door rapidly, I ran up to the porch to join her.

“Bella.”

“I need to see him.”

“He’s not in today.”

She then pushed Billy out of the way.

“I need to see him.” She repeated.

“I’m sorry.” I mouthed to him.

Bella opened a door, she was watching Jacob sleeping. She looked up at the window, her face morphed into a familiar anger. She marched outside in the back, I could hear Sam talking to Paul and laughing. I ran out after her... this wasn’t going to go well.

“What did you do!? What did you do to him!?” Bella said, she then pushed Sam back. Sam was starting to get pissed I could tell, but he remained calm.

“Easy.” Sam told Paul.

“BELLA, leave it alone they had nothing to do with it.”

“Shut it Fleur, stay out of this.”

“You leave her alone.” Sam growled.

“He didn’t want any this... not any of this!”

“What did he tell you Huh? What did he do? What did he say.” Paul said manically.

“Both of you calm down.” Sam reasoned.

“Nothing, it’s because he’s scared of you.” Bella replied.

They all started to laugh, Bella seeing this reared her hand back.

“BELLA DON’T!” I grabbed the back of her hand, she whipped around and kicked me to the ground.

Paul began to shake again, just like he did with me earlier. He then morphed into a wolf, snarling at Bella.

“BELLA!” Jacob yelled.

“JAKE, JAKE RUN!” Bella yelled, she had started to run toward Jake, leaving me on the ground. I had to roll out of the way, Jake then jumped transforming himself into a wolf too. Paul and Jacob began fighting, rolling right into an old fish boat and into the woods.

“Well... this is awkward.” 

[wheresmynaya]

Cupcake Battles Ch.3 | Brittana

Also available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & below the cut! 

Tensions are high as we return to the Cupcake Battles arena where the remaining two teams duke it out for the opportunity to win $10,000 and have their final cupcake display featured as  the centerpiece at the Annual Cheerios Breakfast Benefit. Reinforcements have been called upon and are hard at work assisting the teams with the task of producing 1,000 cupcakes in order to fill their displays.

After such a close call in the second round, Brittany and Sugar have a new sense of determination as they work and keep their usual antics to somewhat of a minimal.

Keyword: somewhat.

“Ugh, this isn’t right!” Sugar grumbles out in frustration to a ball of fondant before her. The color is all wrong but even she can’t fix it, so what does she do with a wrecked ball of fondant?

What any other person would do, of course, throw it at her enemies!

“Ow!” Tina yelps as she is pelted square in the chest. She looks down to her counterspace and finds the misshapen, discolored ball of sugar. She scoffs at it and snaps up to find Sugar pumping her fist triumphantly.

“Bullseye!” Sugar cheers and the sound makes Brittany look up from the frosting she is working on to see what the fuss is about.

“What did you do?” She drawls out behind a smirk and follows Sugar’s gaze to find Tina rubbing her chest, “You didn’t…”

“I did,” Sugar says proudly and dusts off her shoulder, “Right in the tit!”

Brittany chuckles as she reaches over for a high five, “Nice one.”

\\

Over by the judges’ panel, Sam’s face is covered in the remnants of Mercedes and Artie’s cupcakes from the previous round. Through the smeared frosting and cupcake crumbs, there is a content smile.

Santana, Kurt and Sue just stare at him with pure judgement.

“How is it all over his face?” Santana questions from the opposite end of the table, “With a mouth like that I’m sure he could’ve unlocked his jaw and swallow the thing whole.”

“Someone get this man a napkin!” Kurt beckons but Sam’s already reaching for his – very expensive – pocket square.

“It’s okay guys,” Sam waves off, “I got one!”

Kurt looks on in horror as Sam uses it to wipe his face, “Dear God, not Versace.”

“It was hideous,” Santana brushes off and finally looks away from the scene, “He’s doing us all a favor.”

Kurt looks as scandalized as ever, but his comments get lost as the camera is back on Sam. He wipes away the remaining evidence but completely misses the bits that have somehow gotten in his hair as he scrambles to make his announcement.

“You’re almost out of time, bakers!” Sam calls out to the teams, “Just 30 more minutes before your fates are decided.”

\\

Santana eyes drift over to Brittany’s station again and she watches as Team Batter Up Cupcakes continues to work at a steady pace. She’s never really rooted for anyone in particular when it comes to these things, it kind of defeats the purpose of her job, but this battle has been different for her in many ways. Of all the contestants she has met through the show, she has never met someone like Brittany. She can’t put her finger on it, but there’s just something special and she finds herself wanting to know more.

How she gets so wrapped up like this in a matter of hours, she’ll never understand.

She’s still going to judge fairly and remain unbiased like always, she’s proven that thus far, but deep down she’s hoping and wishing that Brittany and Sugar come out of this on top.

She wants them to win.

She wants Brittany to win.

She wants to reward her for being so damn talented and for being the first girl in a long time to make her blush, but when the reward in her mind doesn’t exactly match up with the prize money or the benefit she thinks she might be in a little trouble here.

So maybe Kurt is right and maybe she has a little bit of a crush on the baker but honestly, who wouldn’t? The girl is damn near perfect in Santana’s eyes.

It doesn’t help that Kurt is on to her now though and makes a comment about Santana’s leering every two seconds. She’s close to smacking him upside his head, but she manages to control herself and ignore most of the things he says like:

“I’m all for happiness, Santana.”

“Love is Love, Santana.”

“Let her touch your other boob, Santana.”

“Will you just shut up already!” Santana finally snaps, “I’m so close to beating you with this chair.”

Kurt frowns but quiets down anyway.

\\

Brittany inhales deeply, trying to settle her rattling nerves as she glances up at the clock for the twentieth time in the last five minutes. The round is really zooming by and they’re making great time, but the pressure is still there. She has seen what happens when you don’t finish on time so she doesn’t want to give Bland and Tacky over there any help.

They need to be on point!

With the help of the reinforcements, there is no doubt they’ll finish strong but she just hopes that the adjustments she and Sugar decided to make to their recipes will pass over well with the judges. They’re confident though in what they’ve changed, so they at least have that going for them. Just another thing they do so much better than the competition.

There’s also just a little part of Brittany that she keeps to herself that wants to make Santana proud.

The co-judge sees something in them, something that sometimes goes over everyone else’s heads. Where others have called Brittany and Sugar weird or random or strange, Santana sees talent and sheer genius. It’s like Brittany finally feels understood and it’s such a great feeling, but at the same time she doesn’t want to let Santana down. She doesn’t want that faith in her to be misplaced or wasted.  

The next time Brittany checks the time, she finds Santana’s eyes are on her. There’s a soft smile playing at her pouty lips and there’s this glimmer in deep brown eyes as she watches Brittany pause for a moment.

Something inside Brittany swells and she fills with a warmth that only seems to happen when Santana looks at her like that. It’s like the brunette only has eyes for her which is saying something since she’s supposed to be judging everyone but Brittany isn’t exactly complaining.

When Santana gives her a subtle nod, Brittany feels like her heart bottoms out and the smile she didn’t realize she wore grows bigger. She tries to stay focused though and turns back to her work, but not before sending Santana a wink as she goes.

\\

“How’d we do?” Their designated builder, Rory, asks as he and a couple others roll out the display Brittany and Sugar had designed earlier in the round.

It’s this massive set up with differentiating heights for shelving and pops of color that fit in with the Cheerios’ theme along with the backlights lining the underside of the shelving. It’s flashy but not too much that it distracts from the main focus which will be their cupcakes.

Brittany and Sugar are ecstatic as they moon over how great it looks; meanwhile, Blaine and Tina’s display is presented too.

“Oh wow, amazing job guys!” Blaine compliments as he takes in their masterpiece.

It’s basically a wooden table with one stand in the center that is carved out to look like a cheerleader with pom-poms. No color, not lights, no excitement.

It’s so underwhelming that even the builder looks a little uneasy about it.

“You sure we can’t do anything else?” Jake the Builder asks but Blaine just shakes his head.

“No, this is exactly what we envisioned. It’s so perfect!”

Tina nods as well, “We didn’t want to be too obnoxious with our display. The cupcakes are the real focus here.”

Brittany and Sugar can tell who that comment is meant for judging by the quick glare Tina gives them, but they fake a snore and abruptly wake up when Tina adds, “Unlike some people here.”

“Were you saying something?” Brittany calls out to them innocently, “Your display put us to sleep.”

“Yeah, I knocked out for a good five minutes!” Sugar agrees.

“You’re just jealous!” Blaine replies in a huff, “We don’t have to rely on – “

Sugar lets out another loud faux-snore and Brittany fakes looking shocked as she turns to her partner then back to Blaine and Tina, “Great! Look what you’ve done. You put her asleep again!”

Tina only rolls her eyes and turns back to Blaine, “They’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah, well…your display makes my eyes hurt!” Blaine yells over and his face is already tinting a shade of pink from frustration.

Brittany and Sugar just laugh as the other team continues to try and insult them although nothing the say seem to bother the girls. A bit of trash talk never really fazed them anyway.

\\

With just ten seconds left, it’s a mad dash to finish off the final touches to the teams’ displays. For Brittany and Sugar, everything is perfectly in place and they stand back to admire their work with seconds to spare.  

Blaine and Tina looked as stressed as ever rushing around, occasionally bumping into each other and their helpers. It’s utter chaos and completely hectic which is so unusual for them since thus far they have been really great with time management.

Brittany and Sugar just stay huddled together as they join Sam in counting down the final seconds as loud as they can. They – of course – don’t miss Blaine and Tina tossing them dirty looks as they go.

“5…4…3…2…1!” Sam calls out then his voice turns deeper, “Step away from your displays, it is time for Judgement Day!”

Blaine is wiping his brow while Tina looks like an anxious mess. They both have somewhat of a worried look on their faces as they eye their display.

Brittany takes such a weighty moment to poke fun at them and gestures over to the left side of their display, “You missed a huge gap right there!”

Blaine’s eyes widen and he rushes around to look although he knows he isn’t allowed to make any changes. When he finds that Brittany was just messing with him – yet again – he rolls his eyes tiredly.

“This is the last time we’re competing against you guys,” He says grumpily.

“Awh don’t be like that!” Brittany replies through a sweet smile, “This is like our ritual. You make boring things and kiss everyone’s ass – “

“Gross,” Sugar interjects.

“And we make fun of you and win!” Brittany shrugs, “It’s the best.”

Blaine opts to stay silent and Tina just shakes her head as Sam brings around the judges to get a better look at their finished products. This time their first stop is Team Baking Dreams Come True and Brittany and Sugar lose the playful banter while they await their turn.

\\

She’s a tad bit weary after listening to Santana completely demolish Blaine and Tina’s display for being, “A perfect example of what not to do if you’re claiming something is rustic. It’s not even that. It’s not even minimalist. It’s just uninteresting but I’m not surprised.”

For Blaine and Tina, their cupcakes better blow the judges away or else that’s it for them!

Brittany and Sugar’s display isn’t boring, that’s for sure, but being too busy can be just as bad. Regardless, she and Sugar are proud of their work no matter what the judges have to say. They’re proud of themselves for making it to the final round and they’ve had a ton of fun.

\\

“Okay esteemed judges,” Sam says as the group approaches the final team, “Last stop: Team Batter Up Cupcakes.”

“Hey judges!” Brittany greets happily. She has miraculously regained some composure after the whole Chocolate Boob incident and keeps a level head as the judges have a look at their display. She and Sugar are off to the side on stand-by while the judges walk around it but as Santana rounds the corner, her eyes catches Brittany’s.

Brittany then sees her stop and turn to her with the same familiar soft smile as before.

“You’ve got a little,” Santana says and gestures to her own nose but her voice is so low that Brittany doesn’t hear what she’s trying to say and leans in closer for a better listen.

“Sorry?” She asks confusedly.

“There’s just some – “ Santana pauses then takes the back of her hand to brush gently against the tip of Brittany’s nose.

Brittany doesn’t blink, doesn’t breathe, she just lets it happen like she’s having some out of body experience. She’s just brushing something off of her nose, but there’s something oddly intimate about the whole thing. If she wasn’t on national tv right now, this would be the moment where she would shoot her shot but that’s not the case. She stays grounded where she stands, frozen by Santana’s touch.

When Santana finally pulls away, Brittany can see her visibly gulp.

“Flour,” Santana clarifies.

“Oh,” Brittany’s sure her entire face goes red, “Thanks.”

There’s a twitch of a smile before the trance is broken and Santana goes back to studying the display.

Brittany’s trying to process that but earns a backhanded slap against her arm, curtesy of Sugar. She has to mouth shut up to the other baker in fear of her going rogue and doing something embarrassing like telling Santana that Brittany thinks she’s drop dead gorgeous.

Sugar isn’t wrong, but like…now isn’t the time for that.

\\

Kurt watches the whole scene like it’s the most racy thing he’s seen all day.

“What was that?” Kurt asks in a hushed whisper.

Santana surrounds herself with an air of indifference, “What was what?”

“That!”

“Yeah,” Santana chuckles as she turns away to focus on something else, “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”

Kurt catches up to her and lowers his voice even more, “I may be – as you say – the Queen of England, but even I know what an eye-fuck looks like.”

“Kurt!” Santana gasps then laughs, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say fuck before. That was amazing.”

“Don’t deflect,” Kurt says with narrowed eyes, “You need to dial back the obvious gay before you get accused of favoritism, especially with this kind of rivalry going on. You need to focus.”

Santana grits her teeth because he has a tiny bit of a point, but she’s not going to admit that to him. Instead she keeps her eyes on the team’s work as she smirks, “Can you say fuck again? I need a laugh.”

Kurt just lets out frustrated groan.

\\

“Glad someone incorporated the Cheerios colors,” Sue agrees with her eyes still roaming the display, “Looks fine.”

“This came out really great and I spy a new cupcake too,” Kurt points out a moment later looking somewhat impressed, “Should I be nervous?”

Brittany smiles softly, “Well there are quite a few spices involved…”

“Great,” Kurt says but he lacks enthusiasm, “What is it?”

“So we took the judges’ feedback into consideration and got rid of the Piña Colada cupcake and replaced it with our take on a Dirty Chai,” Brittany tells them, “The cake batter is infused with classic chai spices, topped with an espresso whipped cream frosting and garnished with a chocolate covered coffee bean.”

“Oh!” Kurt looks to Santana in surprise before turning back to Brittany, “That actually sounds lovely.”

Brittany smiles proudly before Santana speaks up.

“Mercedes and Artie did a very good coffee-based cupcake last round,” Santana comments while looking straight at Brittany. There’s something different in her tone that Brittany can’t quite place, “So I have pretty high expectations.”

Brittany smiles confidently though despite the change and the moment they had just a few minutes ago, “I always come through for you, don’t I?”

“We’ll see if you can keep that up,” Santana smirks and it causes Brittany to perk up before it falters. Santana glances back to the display and her expression is unreadable, “It’s an okay design. The different heights are a nice touch.”

Brittany and Sugar share a look; so far their feedback has been okay – better than Blaine and Tina’s for sure– but okay nonetheless. The big thing that’ll earn them a win is taste though and they’re pretty confident they’ve got that in the bag.

Brittany and Sugar thank them before Sam is directing the judges back to the panel for the final tasting.

\\

For maybe the first time ever, Brittany kind of feels bad for Blaine and Tina.

Team Baking Dreams Come True are up first and the judges have already gone through three of the four cupcakes Blaine and Tina decided to go with. Again, the feedback is all over the place but the biggest struggle is that Santana’s facial expressions are pretty unreadable and her remarks are either really positive or really negative.

There is no in between.

Sue continues with the bluntness while Kurt kind of smooths over their sharp words with his diplomatic critiques. Their flavors are there as well as the execution so at a surface-level, they did great but they’re just missing something. With everything considered, Brittany and Sugar have no idea how the judges truly feel about Team Baking Dreams Come True.

By the time Blaine and Tina are dismissed to their station again, Brittany’s stomach is in knots.

“We’re totally going to win this. We got this, Brittz!” Sugar whispers encouragingly as they walk the short distance over, holding onto each other’s hand tightly.

Brittany nods resolutely at the reminder and says, “Yeah we do.”

\\

Brittany’s thinking so far so good as the judges work their way through the cupcakes.

Everyone’s feedback has been relatively positive! Kurt even thanked them for dialing back the cayenne pepper in the Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake because he could actually enjoy it now. Sue was a little disappointed that the Piña Colada cupcake had been replaced which the bakers found confusing since she was the one that said it wouldn’t go over well at the benefit.

And Santana…well, she’s unreadable still. Brittany had gotten use to the stolen glances and secret smiles but since the moment they shared near her team’s station, Santana has gone…cold? Brittany isn’t sure what it is.

It’s like Santana’s trying to keep her cards close to her chest with how short she’s being with her feedback and this newfound seriousness is making Brittany and Sugar nervous. There was this warmth Santana possessed when she spoke to them – to Brittany – but that’s gone now and Brittany wonders why that is.  

Overall though, Santana has commended their high skill level and their ability to balance flavors perfectly…but that’s nothing new. Brittany and Sugar already know they’re awesome in those departments and Santana has spent the entire morning confirming that.

\\

It’s not until they reach the team’s final cupcake – their new one inspired by a Dirty Chai – that a crack appears in Santana’s stiff exterior.

“You weren’t joking about the spice,” Kurt notes as they begin to taste, “But it’s not overpowering and the cake is deliciously moist. There’s a warmth to this one that I really love. I think it might be my favorite.”

Brittany’s heart skips a beat. Thus far, their cupcakes have been a hit or a miss when it came to Kurt so she’s glad that he speaks so highly of this one.

Sue chimes in next and she’s already halfway through the entire thing as she says bluntly, “I don’t hate this either.”

Brittany and Sugar share a look; that’s two out of three so far!

“What are you thinking, Santana?” Kurt prompts as he looks to the side at his co-judge.

She’s deep in thought as she drags the tip of her fork through the frosting before taking it to her lips for another taste. There’s a glimpse of her tongue against the metal and Brittany thinks she’s never been so jealous of a fork before.

“What was this called again?” Santana asks after running her tongue along the curve of her bottom lip.

Brittany’s zeroed in on the movement but blinks back into focus, “Dirty Chai. It’s one of my favorites to start the morning. I think it tastes like Christmas in a cup.”

Santana hums in response and looks down at the plate.

Brittany’s heart is racing faster than it has all day and she thinks that she has never wanted to be a mind reader more in her life. If Santana doesn’t say something soon, Brittany might actually pass out from anticipation.

“Christmas in a cup,” Santana repeats like she’s testing the words then she begins to smile. She finally meets Brittany’s gaze and her smile grows even wider, “That’s cute.”

“Cute?!” Kurt practically gasps and stares at Santana with this confused look, “Since when do you – “

“Don’t,” Santana cuts him off quickly with a glare before turning back to Brittany. She smiles again and the warmth is there but only briefly. The smile she wears slips away seconds later and the seriousness is back, “I think it was a very wise decision to replace your Piña Colada cupcake with this. It fits in perfectly with the rest you’ve chosen. It was bold of you to make such a drastic change in the final round, but it was well executed.”

Brittany fills with pride and she can’t help but ask, “And the frosting?”

Santana smirks at the forwardness but relents with a bow of her head, “Tastes like espresso.”

Brittany beams at her before looking to Sugar; there’s no way they’re leaving the arena without a win now, she’s sure of it!

“Well Brittany and Sugar,” Sam cuts in, already eyeing the judges’ leftovers, “You can return to your kitchen while the judges get to deliberating.”

\\

When it’s time to announce the winner, it’s like Sam decides to take a dramatic pause after every single word and it’s complete torture. Sugar is close to losing it and just stomping over to read the little card herself, but Brittany keeps their hands joined as they wait it out.

When Sam finally says the winners’ names aloud, Brittany swears she blacks out for a good five seconds before she’s registering who the cheering and confetti cannon explosions are for. The excitement moves around her in a blur and her ears are ringing with the sound of We Are The Champions and she struggles to focus as a huge check is being guided into hers and Sugar’s hands.

Nothing makes sense though until her eyes land on Santana who stands just a few feet away from her wearing the proudest of smiles while she claps for them.

When Brittany blinks, suddenly everything is back to normal and she gets it.

“Holy shit,” She says as she looks down at the check then turns to Sugar, “We won.”

“Duh!” Sugar beams before weeding out Blaine and Tina with their sourpuss faces, “We’re rich, bitches!”

Blaine and Tina just rolls their eyes before sulking out of the arena.

Brittany laughs and pulls Sugar into a one-armed hug, “We’re so awesome!”

“Hell yeah we are,” Sugar agrees, “And now we get all dolled up and go to a swanky benefit!”

Brittany’s smile falters and her face fills with confusion, “Wait. We actually get to go to the benefit?”

“Yeah, didn’t you hear when Guppy Face was explaining?” Sugar asks before she begins to smirk, “Or were you too busy daydreaming about Santana…“

“I wasn’t daydreaming,” Brittany sighs and begins to explain, “I was just – “

“Op, heads up! Hot Judge alert,” Sugars rushes out just in time.

“Congratulations,” Santana says as she approaches and the rest of Brittany’s words die on her lips.

Sugar’s wearing this mischievous grin before suddenly disappearing, leaving Brittany to hold the giant check alone.

“Thanks,” Brittany replies with a shy grin, “We’ve had a lot of fun today. The money is cool too.”

Santana nods, “You definitely earned it.”

“Totally,” Brittany says as she looks down at the thing, “Just not sure how I’m meant to cash it.”

Santana chuckles at that, “We got rid of the money gun. Sam broke the thing last season.”

“Bummer,” Brittany jokes, “Would’ve loved to make it rain.”

Santana bites her lip, “I just wanted to come over and congratulate you myself. It was a pleasure to watch you work. You’re a very talented baker.”

“Thanks,” Brittany blushes but pushes through, “That’s really awesome coming from someone with your kind of experience.”  

Santana ducks her head bashfully at the compliment before replying, “Well I’ll let you go to get ready for the benefit.”

Brittany barely gets a word out before the blonde is soon whisked away by stylists and rejoins Sugar in some room where they spend the next couple of hours getting primped.

\\

It has been the longest day ever for Brittany, but when she and Sugar finally arrive to the benefit and spot the many guests admiring their cupcake display it’s all so worth it. They linger around it for the first thirty minutes or so, accepting various compliments and congratulations before they sneak off to the bar for a well-deserved drink.

“You think we can keep these outfits?” Sugar asks wistfully after the bartender places their drinks in front of them. Sugar is pointing her toe out and gliding her hand down her side, “I look hot in this jumpsuit. Plus it has pockets!”

Brittany snickers, “Well they didn’t say we have to give them back. Maybe we can keep them? I wouldn’t mind adding this dress to my wardrobe.”

Sugar nods and goes to clink her glass with Brittany’s, “You’re a total babe, Brittz!”

Brittany grins at the compliment as she brings the glass up to her lips. Sugar follows suit before her eyes drift around the room, “I wonder if there are any single people in here for me to – fuck!”

Brittany’s eyes widen at the smack she feels against her arm that causes her cocktail to slosh around, “Sug, you have got to stop doing that. We don’t waste alcohol.”

“Britt, look!” Sugar urges as her eyes stay glued on someone across the room.

Brittany reluctantly swivels around, still dabbing at her arm, “What?”

When she doesn’t get an explanation, she looks up to find what has Sugar’s attention this time. It doesn’t take Brittany long to figure it out though because the woman across the room is glowing. Brittany swallows dryly at the sight of a plunging neckline and the way shimmering black fabric clings to perfect curves. Again, she finds herself in a trance as she stares the brunette down.

“We aren’t the only honeys in this joint,” Sugar says in awe, “Santana cleans up good, huh Britt?”

Brittany’s speechless; she didn’t know the judges would be attending too but she just nods in response to Sugar. Her words don’t seem to be working right now anyway.  

The crowd parts for Santana as she pauses to greet those that approach her and despite the reputation that proceeds her, she seems rather friendly with them. She looks genuinely happy to meet everyone and there’s this gleaming smile she wears that ignites the room. These people are like moths to a flame and if Brittany wasn’t so far away, she’d be right there with them getting burnt to a crisp.

Brittany can feel herself falling deeper and deeper and Santana hasn’t even looked her way yet. Who knows what’ll happen if she ever does?

She feels so silly about it because she’s only known the woman for a few hours and with all things considered, she really doesn’t stand a chance. The woman isn’t just some random she met at the grocery store. She’s Santana Lopez, the world renowned pastry chef and entrepreneur and Brittany is just…Brittany.

That’s not self-loathing or anything because Brittany knows that she’s special, but Santana is next-level. She’s famous and Brittany is just a small-town girl. What could she possibly offer someone like her? It’s that thought that has Brittany turning back to her drink with a sigh.

This is just a little crush and it’ll go away soon.

“What’s that for?” Sugar asks. She’s leaning her back against the bar top edge people-watching while she sips on her cocktail. When Brittany doesn’t answer right away, Sugar gives her a poke.

Brittany shakes her head and finally answers, “It’s nothing.”

“We haven’t known each other since like birth or anything and there’s a little bit of an age difference here, but show me a little respect…” Sugar says with her hand on her hip. She’s giving Brittany a look with her brow quirked, “You think I don’t know when my best friend is in a mood?”

Brittany frowns at that because of course Sugar notices everything. She thinks about her words carefully and what she’s feeling while she takes another sip of her drink.

Brittany has always been pretty secure with who she is. She has always been a risk-taker, always defied the laws of man and thought outside of the box, always known who she is. When it comes to women or men, Brittany has never had a problem before. Not to say that she’s some kind of player, but she can carry on a conversation pretty easily. She doesn’t usually get nervous around them either, but it’s different with Santana.

For the first time maybe, she’s kind of intimidated.  

“This whole thing with Santana is ridiculous, right?” Brittany finally asks but she’s more so just thinking out loud. She takes another sip and adds, “Like I’m completely off my hammock for thinking something could happen? Like she’s totally out of my league?”

Sugar ponders for a moment before shrugging, “How? You’re hot. She’s hot. Why not be hot together?”

Brittany snorts, “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“It totally is,” Sugar replies easily, “Just talk to her. You miss all of the shots you don’t take.”

“I don’t see how alcohol is involved here…” Brittany squints.

Sugar gives her a look, always well-tuned to when Brittany’s trying to troll her, “I love a good shot as much as the next person, especially if it’s free, but I think you know that’s not what I’m talking about here.”

“Yeah, I know,” Brittany’s aloof demeanor falters, “I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’m so off my game.”

“You’re just getting in your head about it,” Sugar says then downs the rest of her cocktail, “How about this? You finish off your drink and we’ll get you another then we’ll take a bunch of pics in the bathroom mirror and send them to Blaine and Tina to rub it in their faces?”

“I don’t know,” Brittany frowns, “I’m not really in the mood for that.”

“Come on Britt,” Sugar begs, “Nothing cheers you up like making fun of our archnemeses.”

Brittany just swirls the liquid around in her glass like she’s deep in thought until Sugar starts to chant, “Chug! Chug! Chug!”  

That causes a grin to break out and soon Brittany’s tipping back her glass while Sugar claps excitedly beside her. They gain some attention from those that sit near them at the bar, but they don’t pay them any mind. They’re here for a good time, not a long time.  

“Hey hottie!” Sugar calls out to the bartender with a wave, “Another around for us and make those babies doubles!” Brittany’s just about to protest when Sugar cuts her off, “I’m gonna grab us some snacks, brb.”

Then Sugar is gone in a flash before Brittany can say okay.

\\

More than ten minutes go by and Sugar still isn’t back yet. Brittany wonders how far away these snacks are because she’s starting to get a little hungry but then suddenly a small plate topped with various hors d'oeuvres slides in front of her.

“Finally!” Brittany feigns annoyance as she begins to turn to Sugar, “Your drink is probably so wa – “

The rest of her words fall away because her best friend isn’t the one standing before her, it’s Santana. She wears this sexy, smug little grin and her dark brown eyes are dazzling as she stares right back.

“You’re…not Sugar,” Brittany points out without thinking but the comment makes Santana laugh.

“Unfortunately no,” Santana chuckles nervously.

Brittany chastises herself for being so rude, “I – I’m sorry. That came out wrong. Hey Santana, you…you look really beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Santana smiles coyly.  “Sugar asked me to bring this to you,” Santana answers with a nod to the plate, “She also wanted me to tell you that she’s chatting up a hot DILF and she’ll be back soon. Honestly, she’s got her work cut out for her because Kurt had his eyes on him the moment we got here.”

Brittany chuckles at that, “Yeah…she likes a challenge. You should’ve seen her in college.”

Santana adds, “I can only imagine. She kind of just started rambling at me then passed me that plate. Your friend is a lot.”

“Yeah, that’s a thing she does,” Brittany says and presses her lips together to keep from laughing out in embarrassment, “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Santana grins then glances to the bar, “She said a drink would be waiting for me when I arrived – albeit watered down – as well as someone needing a little company while she’s off trying to score herself a man.”

Brittany facepalms; she can totally see where Sugar’s trying to go with this. She conveniently running into Santana and directing her over to the bar is just too big of a coincidence.

So much for taking bathroom selfies and blowing up Blaine and Tina’s phones.

“I’m sorry,” Brittany apologizes again, “She has a slight problem with boundaries and gets worked up around attractive people.”

“I can’t blame her,” Santana says around a smirk, “She didn’t say the person in need of some company would be drop dead gorgeous though and absolutely killing it in that dress.”

Brittany tries to fight off the blush and shy smile as she catches Santana’s eyes lingering on her legs. She’s really thanking whoever out there designed it because man, do they know how to craft a sexy leg slit. She’s totally going to try to smuggle it back to Lima after this thing.

“You look really great,” Santana adds earnestly.

Brittany brings her glass to her lips as if she’s trying to hide behind it as she says, “Don’t flatter me.”

“I’ll do as a like. Especially when it’s true,” Santana replies smoothly before giving Brittany a cheek-bunching grin. It’s a combination of sweet and smug but what really has Brittany struggling to keep her composure are Santana’s cute-as-hell dimples.

Brittany’s impressed by Santana’s forwardness though, she has always loved confidence on anyone and Santana does it so well. It has Brittany thinking that maybe she stands a chance after all if Santana is flirting with her like this but she’s still a little hesitant.

She and Sugar are meant to return to Lima tomorrow; what is she expecting to happen with Santana within the next 16 hours? Can’t be much.

“So,” Santana hums as she slides into Sugar’s vacant seat.

“What are you doing?” Brittany questions, mostly surprised that she’s choosing to stay.

“Keeping you company?”

“You don’t have to do that,” Brittany laughs, “I’m sure there are loads of people here you probably have to mingle with.”

“True,” Santana nods and from the corner of Brittany’s she can see Santana turn to her, “But I rather mingle with you instead.”

When Brittany looks back – just to check that she’s really there and she really said that – she’s momentarily distracted by Santana’s utter beauty. Sure, she was stunning back at the Cupcake Battles arena but here it has intensified ten fold. Santana is gorgeous, flawless even, like words can’t begin to describe how amazing she looks all done up and of all the seats in this place, she chooses the one next to Brittany.

How did Brittany get so lucky?

That familiar warmth from before surrounds Brittany and the crazy butterflies soon fill her stomach yet again. Her resolve is slowly starting to crumble the longer Santana stares at her, but she has to at least try to hang onto the last bit of dignity she possesses.  

“You sure it’s not because Sugar bribed you with a drink?” Brittany smirks, her confidence slowly returning.

Santana shakes her head though and giggles, “I’m sure.”

\\

From across the room, Sugar tucks away her phone after scoring the DILF’s number and grins proudly at her work taking place at the bar. She watches as Santana tosses her head back with a laugh because Brittany is freaking hilarious and she’s probably working that infamous Pierce Charm on her. Just a little push in the right direction was all Brittany needed, the most awesome wing-woman ever strikes again!

“Huh,” Kurt hums as he comes to stand next to Sugar. He’s holding a plate of hors d'oeuvres as they both watch everything unfold between Santana and Brittany from afar, “You’re a pro.”

“Of course I am,” Sugar says smugly as she swipes a pitted olive from his plate and pops it into her mouth. She scrunches her nose at the taste and spits it out somewhere off to the side, “Gross.”

Kurt just looks at her like she’s both amazing and horrifying.

\\

Any of the nerves Brittany was struggling with before have long since vanished as she talks with Santana at the bar. They’ve both had a couple of drinks now so that might have something to do with the ease of conversation, Brittany thinks. She’s truly having a great time getting to know Santana and finds that the brunette is so easy to talk to, not to mention witty as hell.

Well, she knew that already from what she has seen on the show but it hits differently in person. Santana has been portrayed as this intimidating, no-nonsense judge who is prone to going all Lima Heights on anyone that challenges her critiques but the more Brittany gets to know her, the more she realizes that there’s a clear divide between her on-screen persona and what she’s like in person.

In person, Santana is sweet and little bashful at times and pulls the cutest faces when Brittany makes a joke. She has the greatest laugh and the most beautiful smile Brittany has ever seen. Not to mention those eyes, she could stare into them for hours on end.

It’s taking everything in her not to stare at Santana’s boobs though especially with that plunging neckline, but she also keeps catching Santana lingering longer on the exposed skin of her thigh or her lips and she’s kind of thankful that she isn’t the only one struggling. This leering thing is apparently a two-way street.

She also finds that they have so many things in common aside from the whole baking thing. They were both cheerleaders in high school, both relatively popular growing up, and both made drastic career choice changes. After giving Santana a little more backstory about her time at MIT, Brittany learns that Santana is a classically trained singer and before deciding on culinary school she wanted to pursue a career in music.

“My scholarship for culinary school covered more than anything I received for music so making the change was an obvious choice,” Santana says with a shrug.

“Do you still sing?” Brittany asks, ever so intrigued by all the little details she’s learning.

Santana nods, “Sometimes but mostly just at home in the kitchen or in the shower. I kind of miss it. I wonder what my life would’ve been like if I went that route instead, like would I be raking in the dough and topping charts or would I have been a flop?”

“You totally would’ve been a star,” Brittany says with a certainty that makes Santana chuckle.

“How can you be so sure?” She questions through a giggle, “You’ve never heard me sing.”

“I just know these things,” Brittany shrugs, “And you have to go with it, I’m kind of a certified genius you know.”

“Ah, who am I to argue then?” Santana relents as she starts to soften some. There’s this delicacy as she adds, “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that before, about my singing.”  

“Well your secret is safe with me,” Brittany winks and it makes Santana blush.

“You’re very easy to talk to,” Santana admits a short while later.

It’s Brittany’s turn to blush then and she thinks if she spends any more time with the woman, she might just fall for her which is why she’s a little annoyed when Sugar finally returns with a loud, “Hey girl hey!”

Santana turns to her with this look that is a mix of annoyance and confusion, but it subsides when Brittany speaks up.

“Were you successful?” She asks remembering this DILF mission Sugar was wrapped up in while her friend orders herself another drink.

Sugar smirks, “You could say that.”

Brittany shakes her head and laughs, “They won’t know what hit’em.”

“Totally. What are we talking about?” Sugar asks while the bartender crafts her drink.

“We?” Santana questions and there’s just a touch of irritation behind her smile, “You’re staying?”

Sugar raises a brow at that, but before anything else can be said Brittany quickly intervenes with a subject change, “I was just telling Santana about the Great Eggs Benedict Debacle of 2016.”

Santana looks confused again and asks, “The great what?”

“Ooh, good story,” Sugar nods in approval, “Smackdown of the century, classic.”

Brittany doesn’t pay too much attention to Sugar’s comment and glances to Santana again to clarify, “The moment that solidified my dislike for all things breakfast.”

“Wait, you don’t like breakfast?” Santana has her nose cutely scrunched at that, “How come?”

“There are several things at play,” Brittany tells her, “For one, you can have it at any time of day – just look at this benefit – and that doesn’t make any sense to me. Lunch has a specific time of day and so does dinner. Why is it any different for breakfast? It’s dark out and that person over there is eating pancakes but it’s not considered dinner. It’s so confusing.”

“Make sense,” Santana nods and begins to grin, “You must not be a fan of 24 hour pancake parlors then?”

Brittany’s reply gets lost because the way Santana stares at her, almost tenderly, makes Brittany’s knees shake and she isn’t even standing. Sugar seems to notice too but miraculously stays quiet as the bartender places her drink in front of her.

“Santana!” Kurt calls out from somewhere close and the women turn to him as he approaches. He greets Brittany and Sugar before turning to his co-judge, “It’s almost time. We should head to our table.”

“Right. I’ll be there in a sec,” Santana says and goes to stand.

“I should grab us a spot too,” Sugar tells Brittany before she’s disappearing again with her drink without another word. Brittany looks between the two a little lost.

“These things wrap pretty quickly once the speeches get going,” Santana explains as she starts poking around in her clutch for something.

Brittany nods and looks over to where Sue Sylvester is already taking her place in front of the room. They don’t have much time left now.

“Take this,” Santana offers and Brittany looks down to find a card between her fingertips, “It’s my business card.”

“Oh,” Brittany accepts it with a surprised smile, “Thank you.”

“You know,” Santana starts and she almost looks nervous, “If you’re ever in L.A. again or need some business advice or whatever…give me a call?”

Brittany’s pretty sure she has stopped breathing and her words struggle to form at the gesture. Santana Lopez has just given her a business card containing her personal phone number, of course she can’t think straight at the moment!

“So yeah,” Santana chuckles nervously at Brittany’s silence then juts out her hand.

Brittany eyes it and takes it into her own and she swears sparks fly at the very touch. She grips Santana’s hand, and it’s soft and firm at the same time somehow.

“It was nice chatting with you,” Santana says politely as she pulls away from the handshake, “I hope I did well in keeping you company.”

Finally Brittany gets her words working again and replies, “Totally. Easily the highlight of my day.”

“You won a fat check and became a Cupcake Battles Victor, yet this was your highlight?”

“Well I’d rather be Victoria,” Brittany says with a shrug, “But yeah, it was. These competition wins are a dime a dozen, but I rarely get the chance to talk to someone like you.”

Santana gives her that look again from earlier and Brittany doesn’t know who swoons first, “You’re something else, Brittany.”

Brittany cocks her head to the side and smiles back bashfully.

“Santana!” Kurt calls out again and starts to wave the co-judge over, “Hurry up!”

Santana flicks him off and turns back to Brittany with an apologetic grin, “Sorry, duty calls. I’ll try to find you again after all of this?”

“Yeah sure,” Brittany replies with a bow of her head before Santana joins Kurt at their table. She feels like she’s on cloud nine and she knows Sugar is going to want every single detail but for now she just soaks this moment in.

\\

Brittany spends the rest of the evening getting to know everyone at the table she and Sugar share. It’s great food and great company which makes for an awesome time, but Brittany can’t get Santana out of her head.

She finds herself glancing over to where Santana sits, watching the way she lights up around the other guests. The brunette seems swept up in conversation with some other prestigious pastry chefs that Brittany recognizes. Kurt sits next to Santana and the two bounce off of each other just as they do on the show, but a little part of Brittany wishes she could take his place.

Brittany doesn’t think she’s ever been quite so jealous of a gay man before, but the feeling stands. She wants to be the one sitting next to Santana, to be in her presence again and listen to the whispers of her snarky comments which says a lot because she already got a couple hours worth of alone time with her already. Maybe she was a little spoiled with all the attention Santana gave her at the bar, but she can’t help it.

Santana has her hooked.

If she’s lucky though, sometimes Santana glances her way too. When their eyes meet and the smile Santana wears matches her own, Brittany thinks maybe Santana is just as helpless.

\\

True to Santana’s earlier prediction, the benefits wraps up quickly after the speeches take place. There are people everywhere and Brittany eventually loses sight of the brunette amongst the crowd with everyone standing now. She hangs back with Sugar though and they try their hardest to find the woman.

“She could’ve gone out the back way?” Sugar suggests, “A special exit for celebs?”

The word celebs sits funny with Brittany now that she has had the chance to get to know Santana a little better. The woman is known all over the world in the culinary industry and an esteemed judge on a popular tv show, but Brittany doesn’t consider her a celeb. Not anymore.

She’s just Santana; a beautiful girl who loves to bake and probably has the voice of an angel.

Yeah, Brittany is definitely in trouble.

“No. She said she would find me afterwards,” Brittany tells her and she kind of hates how hopeful she is.

“She must’ve gotten busy?” Sugar tries, “I don’t see her anywhere. Wait, give me a boost. You think this table will hold me?”

Sugar’s already scrambling up to stand on her chair while Brittany continues to look around.

“I have to say goodbye,” Brittany tells Sugar, “I didn’t get to before.”

Sugar frowns at her best friend for a moment, feeling a little sorry for her, before she’s back to vigilantly searching the room for the brunette in question.  

Brittany starts to feel a twinge of sadness as she continues to scan the room with no avail. She doesn’t know why she’s getting so caught up in her feelings. It wasn’t as if Santana promised to come find her afterwards, it’s not like she owed it to her or anything. She just kind of wishes they had a proper goodbye, whatever proper means.

Brittany doesn’t quit until they’re being ushered into a car that’ll take them back to their hotel.

When The Turtles’ Happy Together starts to play through the speakers and Sugar starts to groove in her seat, Brittany thinks she might just punch a hole straight through the radio.

[monkey-network]

My Issues with Butch Hartman

Call this the sequel to my post on Mr. Enter. But honestly compared to Enter, Butch Hartman has made himself look far worse in so little time. Not only with how he uses his influence, but he basically showed his true colors not long after he left Nickelodeon. With Enter, the worst you can say about him is his opinions on media and his politics. With Hartman, there is a surprisingly lot more under his belt that made the hate towards him .

To preface this, while I’m gonna shit on this dude, I’m not shaming anyone who still likes his past content. With that said, bibbity Boppity boopity. Let’s look at the fucking scoopity.

The Telltale Oaxis

This really takes the cake as the scummiest thing Butch has done. Words and opinions can be one thing, but using your platform to basically trick some people out of their money for a project you abandoned for the most part grinds me gears a lot more. As bad as his marketing strategy was, at least Enter provided effort in his indiegogo project beforehand for god’s sake. Oaxis is one of the most pitiable crowdfunded projects I’ve seen.

It’s nearly two years since Butch got Oaxis funded and what have gotten beyond pure dead silence. Nearly two years and little to no significant updates for Oaxis’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, his Youtube, or the site’s official account. No wait, that last part’s kind of a lie. They had monthly updates on the official site up until September 2019. Could’ve posted this on their social medias but you take what you can get. 

The major takeaway from the updates, in all fairness, was that the kickstarter wasn’t enough and they still need to raise more funds for the service. The “capital-building” stage he calls it where he’s looking for more investors in addition to getting actual programs onto the service. That and Oaxis is a big vision for Butch and his wife in spite of not only giving up the monthly updates and basically secluding any mention of Oaxis from any place else. That’s basically it and I legit feel sorry for everyone that couldn’t get their refund back.

This isn’t HBO Max or Disney+ where you just expect them to have something together after their initial announcement because they’re already media conglomerates, this is an independent project. One that people, your fans included Butch, put over 200K thinking you would at least give people something. But beyond a “sizzle reel” that said nothing aside from Oaxis going to be a thing, you have presented jack after two years. I don’t expect the ins and outs of every business meeting with executives, but staying silent about everything except for monthly newsletters that offer very little encouraging progress and hasn’t updated since September of last year is not a good sign. And I’m especially hard on this topic, Butch, because this is the biggest point where it is seriously hard to trust you. It’s not criticizing your ego when after having too many cracks in your story, you really haven’t put your money where your mouth is.

I don’t wanna presume the guy’s given up on it, hoping everybody would forget it after a while, but he’s really put the effort in to make Oaxis feel like a afterthought. I’m not an expert in business, but even I can believe that after his non-apology for not being upfront with his initial intentions, that he’d try to provide updates on the project to not come off as the scam artist people have accused him as. Even with his Youtube channel that I’ll get to later, I don’t think it’s hard consistently posting about your so called vision if you have that much faith in its success. You’ve already gotten thousands of bucks initially with the crowdfund, people deserve more than your pitiful wishful platitudes and I unfortunately can’t believe you’ll have anything after a few years. It’s not that everyone forgot about it, but you mostly took the money and ran. If Butch pops up with something if he sees this somehow, I’ll eat that crow, but I sincerely doubt it after this long. Like at least post something on the Twitter, I get depressed just looking at it; that account is the textbook definition of famine.

The Childhood Reposter

I’ve brought up Butch’s youtube channel a couple times, and it’s when every time I look at it, it’s a little sad. When it comes to major creators, I typically think that after finishing their projects they’d move to newer things. People like Lauren Faust, Mike Judge, CH Greenblatt are all continuing to make new works under differing studios while new creators are getting the spotlight. Butch though? I mean, he has a new cartoon that I swear you’ve never heard about but other than that, the dude looks like he has little to say for himself nowadays beyond the 2 shows he’s famous for, Fairly Odd Parents and Danny Phantom. I would’ve added TUFF Puppy and Bunsen is a Beast but I can see that those two aren’t his major players seeing as how they’re rarely ever mentioned on the channel.

If it’s not some watchmojo level meme video, almost every other video is about either two of those shows in some varied fashion. I get that he “created your childhood” and made credulous bank from Nickelodeon, but it’s like Danny Phantom is all that stands between him and having an audience. That and drawing anime characters in his style which is... y’know, I’ll leave that to you. It’s like he retired and yet goes on about the good old days like a fluctuating ego. He’s still making a cartoon but to him that’s hardly a factor compared to his known successes.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to just be known as the guy who made two of your countless beloved cartoons. Not that that’s all he talks about, but it’s the insistence of his legacy that unfortunately gives me Bojack Horseman vibes. He no doubt has a good thing going but I believe that this isn’t gonna last. Just saying, dude has 850K subscribers and unless it’s a real hook like with the recent Danny Phantom/Jake Long death battle, he’s hardly getting a good fraction of views anymore. There’s only so many times you can milk Danny Phantom as your masterpiece before everyone moves on.

The Holy Boast

I wanna make this short because I’m not a huge talker of religion, but I stand to say that you should NOT, under any circumstance, believe BPD, PTSD, autism, fucking heart & kidney failure can be “cured” or “healed” through sermons of prayer. This here? This is genuinely something else.

https://www.healingjourneys.today/

For clarity, this was a gospel conference hosted by Butch and his wife and yes, they openly proclaim that BPD, austism, and heart disease can be cured through prayer of holy worship.

Now, I’m gonna give a full disclosure right here because this most certainly biases my point here, like I’m gonna own this. But my grandpa was a religious man that suffer from health problems. He notably prayed to carry on, yes, but at the same time he sought medical help. Even he told me that prayers wasn’t gonna keep the pacemaker going, he went to the doctors and actually did more than read the bible to improve himself. He unfortunately passed, but he was in his 70s and I honestly couldn’t believe, as hard as I try, that he was gonna live forever. My grandpa would’ve no doubt died far earlier if he followed this conference’s logic.

My point is that this is personally unsettling. I seriously cannot believe this is how autism and religion works and it blows my mind that him and his wife thought this conference was a suitable idea. I’m not bashing them as christians, but thinking mental disorders and bodily diseases can be done away with motivational seminars because that’s basically what they are is a legit slap to the face. And the seedling idea that they’ve done this before blows my mind.

The Financial Flaker

This is very recent and everything is generally explained in the 12 minute video but long story short: Butch hired an artist and never paid them for their work. The artist in question, Kuro, describes what happened between him and Butch in this video and provides receipts. Can’t really add anything to this myself beyond this just builds to the idea that Butch cannot be trusted as a professional business maker. I believe he still has people working for him but from this video, it tells me that Hartman will gladly use those lower than him in favorable pursuits and will gladly throw ignorance when he wants to because his cartoon veteran status presents that shield from thinking he can do no wrong, which can mean throttling his hires.  Let’s end this.

The Conclusion

When I get down to it, Butch is almost a Machiavellian character in a way. It’s amazing how much the trust people have had with Hartman have evaporated in less than a couple years. It’s amazing how much his ego has truly shown after he stopped being a namestay in Nickelodeon. Haven’t even mentioned the times he arrogantly deflected criticism because he was a namestay at Nick and how a couple who’ve worked with are well aware of his ego. I can’t help but believe that even after everything, he claims ignorance to his fall from grace and keeps going. Even when more and more are knowing his true self, he’s mostly just doing what he’s been doing for the past few years.

It’s respectable in a way, but shows that the world will move on without him. Again, if you like Danny Phantom and Fairly OddParents, I won’t judge you for it nor say you should be ashamed. This isn’t about cancelling Butch, or get him to stop spreading whatever wacky things he believes in. It’s my personal take of how this man whom I once respected because of what he made before has lost every bit of that from me. It really feels like he grew up with that “I Created Your Childhood” mentality being a 4 time showrunner for almost a couple decades. And when he finally left Nickelodeon, I guess the chance to be that stand out self-made success got to his head and he finally showed his true colors. I now find it hard to believe Butch cares about the little guy that were his fans as much as he rides off his success and others who tolerate him. As such, like JK Rowling, more are seeing this side of him and leaving him behind. Meanwhile Butch is gonna chug on until he just loses steam. It’s kinda like Icarus where the guy will make every effort to fly to the sun. But sooner or later, he’s gonna fall, and in the end I doubt anyone’s gonna care to see it. I know he won’t.

[stars-my-darling]

54 and 55 pls 🥺💘

054: “May I have this dance, wife/husband? ” and  055:  “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m so happy I can finally call you my wife/husband.”

I don’t need a cake, a fancy wedding’s not for me

Title from Meghan Trainor’s “Marry Me”

The day had been a disaster. Between Cheddar eating the cake and the bomb scare at the venue, the whole day had been nothing like Amy had planned. It certainly hadn’t turned out anything like how she’d dreamed her wedding day would be when she was a little girl. From a young age, Amy had had a plan for her life. Go to school, then college, then the police academy and then work as a police detective like daddy before becoming the youngest female sergeant in the NYPD, then get married and have kids and work her way up to become Captain.

That had been her life plan for as long as she could remember. Although, the details had changed. As a little kid, she had envisioned herself in a huge ballgown on her wedding day with humongous puffed sleeves like the ones Ariel had in The Little Mermaid instead of the sleek, elegant mermaid cut she had pictured herself wearing in recent years. Also, as a kid, she had initially planned on having about eight kids like her mom. Now, as an adult women who truly understood the vast responsibility of having a child, had landed more on two or three.

However, her plan for her wedding day had stayed similar. She had longed for a classy, extravagant affair in a big venue, slow dancing to sweet, heartfelt love songs and detailed, lavish party favors. She had known for years the colour scheme she wanted, the type of flowers, what would be served for the meal. In true Santiago fashion she had planned for it all well ahead of time.

However, on the big day, all her well-devised plans were crumbled by forces completely outside of her power. The big day she had fantasized about for years was now ruined. Their was no cake, no venue, no meal, none of the ornamental traditions or customs that most people got on their wedding day was going to be her’s.

But yet, she had never been happier. It was almost midnight and most of the wedding party had already headed home. Between the Captain’s news putting a real downer on the remainder of the evening and there being nothing much for the squad to do between no meal to eat and no fellow guests to mingle with, the evening had slowly evolved into a typical night at Shaw’s. Only tonight, Amy was in a wedding dress and Jake was in a fancy tux.

Aside from the fact that Amy and Jake got some funny looks from fellow customers at Shaw’s, it felt almost like any other night. By the time closing time had rolled around, the bar was almost deserted. Shaw, just for them, had put on a wedding song mix for them and cleared a bit of floor space so they could have some form of dance floor. To which Jake had responded by giving Amy his arm and stating “May I have this dance, wife?”. Putting extra emphasis on the last word. Amy had beamed and taken his arm and let him slow dance her around the floor to the sound of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” as the rest of the squad had gazed on.

Eventually, after Jake and Amy were the only ones left in the bar and Shaw had  politely told the newlyweds that he would be closing soon, they had gotten a cab home.

Something felt different when they stepped through the threshold of their apartment. It felt almost like they were literally taking a big step in their relationship. A moment later, when Jake had shut the door and turned to Amy she realized this was the first time they had entered this apartment as husband and wife. It was where they were going to continue to live now that their relationship was legally binding. This was the first day of the rest of their lives as a married couple.

And Amy had never been happier. She was full of pure giddiness and maybe it was the fact that she had had a few glasses of wine in her, but she couldn’t help but start to giggle. “We’re married!” she said in a hushed whisper. “I know!” Jake exclaimed, also equally as giddy and tipsy. She strode towards him, bridging the gap between them, snaking her arms over her shoulders and pressing her forehead to his. “I’m your wife!”

Jake smiled at her and placed his hands on her waist. “Your my wife!” he giggled. They shared a brief kiss. He rested his forehead against hers. “I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with you” he whispered, his voice soft and tender. They just stood there for a few minutes, swaying back and forth, like they were slow-dancing to own private little song. After a few moments, they pulled away and smiled at each other. In that moment, it felt like her and Jake were the only two people in the world. Everything they needed was right here in this apartment.

Then at that exact moment, Jake makes the best suggestion. “I’m hungry, do you wanna order pizza”. At the mention of food, Amy releases how hungry she is, especially since the they never got to eat the three course meal they had planned. “Absolutely” she grinned “and we should order the chili dip too”

“and the garlic bread?” Jake asks, excitedly

“why not? we’re married!” Amy beamed “and order their double chocolate brownies for dessert”

“I’m so in love with you right now” Jake said as he pulled out his phone and started to dial up their local pizza place. Amy made her way to their bedroom, reaching for the zip on the back of her dress as she did. “I’m gonna get changed” she called back at him.

Once Amy was is in their bedroom, she stepped out of her shoes and unzipped her dress. As the heavy lace and tulle fell to the ground, she stepped out of the dress and gathered up the material, laying the gown out on the bed. She ran a hand over the bodice, not being able to suppress a short pang of sadness over the fact that she hadn’t been able to wear her own wedding dress. It quickly subsided and she got changed into her pajamas.

She came back into the kitchen just as Jake was hanging up the phone. “Pizza’s on it’s way” he informed, turning to face her. “Great” she replied “why don’t you get changed? I’ll find something to watch on TV”

“Good idea” Jake said, not being able to pass her without pressing a kiss to her cheek on his way into their mutual bedroom.

Amy settled herself onto the couch, grabbing the remote. She started flicking through everything they had recently recorded in the search for something to watch. She eventually found the latest few episodes of jeopardy! just as Jake came in, wearing his own pajamas. “Jeopardy! sound good?” she asked, running it by him. “Sure” he said, picking his usual spot beside her. Within the first ten minutes, they were cuddled up together like two birds in a nest, limbs tangled around each other. They soon had to untangle themselves when they heard the doorbell ring.

Jake got up to get the food and within seconds they were gorging themselves on cheesy dough and greasy bread. As Amy sat there, with her husband, on the couch, eating take out and watch TV, she couldn’t help notice that this was what her future was. This was what most of her evenings would probably look like from now on. The rest of her days were going to be filled with stability and comfort and take out in front of the TV.

And it was bliss. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

She must have been smiling at him because she caught Jake looking at her. “What are you smiling at?” he asked. In response, she leaned over and kissed him. And she kept kissing him. Soon Jake had scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Later, when she was under the covers, lying next to him, she kept smiling at him. He was fast asleep and she traced her hand over his face.  “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” she whispered to him “I’m so happy I can finally call you my husband.” With that Amy laid down and readied herself to get back to sleep.

“I’m happy I get to call you my wife” Jake surprised her by saying, clearly not as asleep as she had thought

With that Amy smiled and got ready to fall asleep next to him. Something she would happily do every night for the rest of her life. So maybe she didn’t have the big day she has hoped for. Maybe everything didn’t go according to plan. And yes, maybe she would end up feeling a little bit jealous when she went to someone else’s wedding in the future and saw how pretty and planned everything was. But now, Jake Peralta was her husband and could never be unhappy with that.

[costcohotdogslut]

DAY 1

“Welcome back viewers! As we just saw before the break, our celebrity housemates have all entered the Big Brother House and have officially started the game. Will personalities clash? Are alliances already forming? Let go to the live feed to find out!” said host Julie Chen.

As the screen shifts to a view of the living room, we see all the castmates lounging around and getting to know one another.

“So this is it everybody, the Big Brother House! I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t wait to get the game started!” said Jake.

Met with some cheers, Miranda decided to speak up. “I know, right? And it’s crazy that we all pretty much know each other already!”

This was true. Seeing as how this was the first season of Celebrity Big Brother in the US, the producers decided to go with a cast of the hottest, youngest, most talked about singers and actors. Apart from Jennifer, who was a milf, and James, who they needed as the sacrificial lamb to go home first. Plus, there was nobody messier than an ex-Disney/Nickelodeon act, so this season was guaranteed to be a disaster (in the best way possible).

“Which is why I’m assuming you’re all going to be fighting over me! Naturally I’m the strongest player here, the best looking, I’ve competed on Dancing With The Stars, and would’ve made the finals if it wasn’t for that stupid bitch from Full House.” James gloated, an awkward silence amongst the housemates as they all just stared at him. “Now, if you’d all make your case as to why I should be in your alliance, I can start making some decisions!”

“Loike… this is litcherally the first time I’ve even heard of you, and you’re acting a little dodgy mate, know what I mean?” Charli responded.

“Huh? Whatever, don’t want some foreign bitch in my alliance anyways. Anyone else?” James asked, only to be met with a chorus of boos.

Truth be told, James knew he was laying the asshole-ishness on a little thick, but he came into the game with a plan; he was going to be the season’s villain! Everybody loved a villain! But judging by the looks he was getting from everyone, not even 20 minutes into the game… he figured that he would lay low for a while until they all cooled off.

“Whatever. If you guys need me, I’ll be in the gym.”

As James awkwardly left the room, leaving the other housemates stunned, Dustin cleared his throat.

“So… who’s up for some cocktails?” He asked, met with enthusiasm, of course, because he was Dustin.

After an hour or two of socializing, naturally everybody began to go their separate ways, heading to the bedrooms to claim their beds and no doubt start strategizing about the game.

LINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAK

“A twin bed? Are you kidding me??” Sabrina exclaimed, tossing her bag to the side and sitting down with a huff. “If the producers seriously think I’m gonna sleep on this pile of fucking rocks, then they have another thing coming!”

“I hear you bestie… JAKE! DIEGO! Come here now!” Logan yelled out, his current boyfriend and ex-boyfriend running over to his beck and call. “I’m gonna need you two to push all three of our beds together, like, now. I’ll let you two figure out who gets to share with me and who gets the floor. In the meantime, I’m gonna go find Charli and Lorde, we’re all gonna have a group meeting.”

As the two males quickly got to work and the blonde knocked over a bedside table in frustration, they heard Victoria call out from across the room.

“Hey guys, look what I found!” Victoria beamed.

In its own little part of the house was a separate room decked out fully in gold, with a small seating area and a huge California king bed.

“Oh, so this is where my bed is! Thank god I didn’t already start unpacking.” Sabrina said, throwing herself back on the bed and letting out a sigh of relief.

“Uhm, I’m pretty sure this is actually me and Dustin’s bed. I let the producers know about our accommodations before we entered the house.” Victoria replied, causing the blonde to give her a look.

“Err, no it’s okay, I’m fine having my own be-“Dustin said before Victoria put a finger to his lips to shush him.

“Don’t worry honey, I’ll handle it. Sabrina, get off, you’re messing up Dustin’s side of the bed.”

“No! Why do you two get this giant bed to yourselves! That’s not fair!” Sabrina shouted, getting in Victoria’s face.

“Oh, but for whatever reason you think you’re entitled to it?” Victoria shouted back, Kendall trying to pull her aside to stop the fighting.

“Guys, I think this bed might be for me, there’s an outlet next to it and I need somewhere to plug in my CPAP machine.” Lorde said, suddenly appearing in the room alongside them.

“Oh, this room is nice!” Raini said, appearing in the room with Carlos and Max beside her.

Housemates! I see you’ve all found the Master Bedroom. There’s no need to fight over it, as you’ll all have the chance to claim it, so long as you’re the current reigning Head of Household.

“See? There’s no reason for you two to fight over the bedroom after all!” Kendall said, throwing an am around each girl before they shoved him off.

“Stay out of it, Kendall!” They shouted in unison.

“But what about my CPAP machine?” Lorde asked.

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In one bedroom, Logan, Lorde, Sabrina, Charli, Diego, and Jake were all huddled together in a circle.

“Now, I’m sure you can all figure out why we’re together right now.” Logan said, standing up above the others. “You see, I’ve decided that I’m going to take all of you to the final six with me!”

As everyone cheered, Logan cleared his throat. “Jake, could you go stand guard at the door and make sure nobody’s around? We need to talk business. First plan of action, who are we evicting first?”

“I vote Carlos. Physical challenge wise, I think he poses the biggest threat.” Lorde said, with Jake nodding his head in agreement from the door.

“We can vote Carlos first. But if it’s a mental challenge, then I think Raini poses a threat too.” Sabrina said, Charli agreeing with her.

“You both have a point, I guess we’ll just have to see how the first challenge goes.” Logan responded, pacing around the room with his hands behind the back. To the side, Diego sat quietly, a troubled look on his face. “What’s wrong Diego, you look like you don’t agree with us.”

“No, it’s not that Logan, it just that… this alliance… don’t you all think it’s a little obvious? I’m sure the others already expect us to team up, and I feel like they’ll try to pick us off one by one. I don’t know, I feel like we’re just setting ourselves up to be targeted.”

“Gee, Diego, it sounds to me like you don’t want to be in the final six, do you? If you’re just going to sit there and backstab us already, feel free to leave the room!” Logan scowled, pointing an accusatory finger at Diego.

“NO! It’s just that-“ Diego responded before being cut off by Logan.

“Save it. All in favor of voting Diego out of the alliance, say I!” Logan barked, the other four all yelling out a cheerful “I!”.

“Fine. When this alliance backfires, Logan, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Diego said before storming out of the room.

After a brief, awkward silence, Jake spoke up. “Soooo… does that mean we’re the final 5 now?”

Before anybody could answer that, suddenly a loud crash came from the nearby closet, with Jennifer falling out in a tangle of clothing and hangers.

As everybody glared at her, she let out an awkward chuckle. “Okay, so maybe I was eavesdropping on all of… that… but what can I say? I live for drama!”

“Cool. So… would you be interested in joining our alliance and being in the final 6 with us?” Logan asked.

“YES! Oh my god, I’ve been avoiding Kendall all day, I just know he was going to ask me that question any second.” Jennifer exclaimed, being met with open arms by her new alliance mates.

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Meanwhile, in the common room, the rest of the housemates, minus James, Carlos, and Diego, were all gathered together. Max, Aly & AJ, Victoria, and Kendall were all playing charades, with Victoria, his partner, screaming at him for his god-awful impersonation of an mime (why couldn’t he have picked something more obvious, like a toucan?). On the couch sat Raini and Miranda, who were playing scorekeeper for each team.

And in the gym, James and Carlos were both lifting weights, with Carlos being James’s spotter.

“I can’t believe it’s already almost the end of the day, and NOBODY has asked me to be in an alliance with them! Everyone in this house must be a complete fucking moron if they don’t see just how valuable I am to have on their side!” James, said, grunting as he pushed the bar above his chest up and down.

“Uh, yeah.” Carlos responded, half-tempted to let go and let the bar fall on his former bandmate’s chest.

Truth be told, Carlos would rather be anywhere but here. Him and James had only spoken twice since the indefinite hiatus of Big Time Rush, and he was shocked/upset when he saw him walk in the house as a fellow housemate. They had had a bit of bad blood due to… something, that had happened between them back in the apartment.

Carlos wasn’t stupid. Earlier during their workout session, James had asked if he wanted to form an alliance, and he knew it was only because nobody else wanted to be around him. But, before coming onto the show, Carlos had binge watched every season of Big Brother, and if things went as they usually did, there was much more of a focus on physical challenges at the beginning of the show, with the challenges becoming more mental as the show progressed.

So he would be in an alliance with James, at least for the beginning. At least until he could join a stronger one.

“Well, whatever. Looks like it’s just me and you against the house then, bro.” James said, pushing the bar off of him and taking a swig of his water. “So I don’t know about you, but I say we vote that british chick out first. Didn’t like the way she was talking to me earlier.”

“Charli?? Why? She’s not even a threat!” Carlos asked.

“Well then let’s evict Kendall! He’s fucking annoying, and I’m pretty sure he was watching me get dressed to work out.” James responded, Carlos facepalming himself as James clearly had no idea how to strategize.

“Let’s… discuss it when the time comes. Do you mind spotting me?” Carlos said, but before he could say anything else, another figure had entered the room.

“Oh, hey guys… mind if I be in here with you for a bit?” said Diego, also donning his workout attire with a towel draped over his shoulder.

“Uh, yeah, that’s fine.” Carlos responded. He had never met Diego before, but he had certainly heard about him before. When he and Logan had broken up, Diego was the first guy Logan had rebounded with, and from what he had heard through the grapevine, things had gotten pretty serious between them. For whatever reason, they had broken up, seeing as how Logan was dating Jake now (not that Carlos was keeping tabs or anything, Logan’s personal life was just VERY publicized on gossip sites and the tabloids). He was going to question why he wasn’t with the others, as he had been before, but he decided against it, seeing how bothered he had looked when he walked in.

“Nice to see a fellow alpha male in the house. The name’s James.” The taller male said, putting out his hand to shake, which Diego reluctantly took.

“Diego.”

“Well Diego, me and Carlos here were just doing a few reps, care to join?” James said.

And for the next hour, the three of them did, falling into a… somewhat comfortable chit chat. They mostly just talked about fitness regimes, and then outside projects they had worked on (none of the ones James had named off ringing a bell in Diego’s head). Diego, of course, droned on and on about the podcast he does on woodworking, even if the other two didn’t seem as interested. And Carlos talked about life as a now-married family man, and the struggles of managing a career and a billion-dollar enterprise alongside it.

Eventually, the three of them had all tired out, taking the time to catch their breaths.

“Nice work out, man.” Carlos said, James nodding his head in agreement.

“Yeah, we gotta do this more often. You know, I was thinking… three alpha males likes us, dominating the competition? We’d be unstoppable, and nobody would suspect a thing. What do you two say we form an alliance?” James said, the other two taking a second to think it over.

“Yeah… yeah that sounds good actually.” Diego said.

“Me too… but first things first, I think we oughta hit the showers.” Carlos responded.

As the three of them made their way over to the restroom, James stopped dead in his tracks.

“Just so you two know, I’m not gay, so don’t get any ideas in there.”

However, despite his disclaimer, the three of them did end up fucking in the shower, with James in the middle, Diego in the front, and Carlos in the back.

Looks like some of our housemates are getting to know each other pretty well. To see the exclusive footage and catch other behind the scenes clips, make sure to tune into Celebrity Big Brother: After Dark.

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Attention housemates! If you would all make your way to the common area, we are about to begin our first Head of Household competition!

As everybody got situated on the couches, the main screen lit up, with host Julie Chen appearing on the screen.

“Welcome, everybody, to the first Head of Household competition. To start things off, and to commemorate our very first celebrity edition of Big Brother, we’re going to be doing things a bit differently this time. Prior to tonight, we asked viewers to vote for their pre-season favorite housemate, so hopefully you made a good impression in your introduction packages.” Julie said. “The winner of America’s vote will not only be the first Head of Household, they will also be responsible for choosing the first two nominations tonight, with one of you going home. Because we haven’t implemented a Power of Veto just yet, these two nominations will be locked in. Now, is everybody ready?”

“Ready!”

“Perfect. Now, in a landslide vote, America chose their favorite housemate to be… Raini Rodriguez! Congratulations, Raini, as the first Head of Household, tonight’s nominations fall in your hands. Feel free to discuss amongst your housemates, and let us know when you’re ready to nominate.” Julie said.

“Thank you, Julie, and thank you America for choosing me to be the first Head of Household!” Raini said. “So, first off, I guess I just want to say that whatever happens tonight, I hope there’s no hard feelings amongst any of us. We were all chosen to represent the first season for a reason, and I know that it’s going to be a great season. ALL of us are stars, and the sixteen of us are absolutely all within the same caliber.”

“Except for James.” Charli said, causing a VERY loud and hysterical reaction from everybody. Aly & AJ were rolling around on the floor, Miranda was fanning away the tears forming in her eyes, and Jennifer couldn’t stop cackling!

“Guys! Guys! No, I request the floor, guys!” James sputtered out, not expecting for him to suddenly be the laughing stock of the cast. “I’ll defend myself a little bit! No! I’ll defend myself a little bit! Guys! Okay, okay okay okay okay OKAY!”

“BITCH! Sit your ass down and shut the hell up, bitch!” Kendall shouted, standing up and feeling the blood rush to his head as everyone, if it was even more possible, became more hysterical and on the verge of pissing themselves. It was as if he was living a real life episode of drag race, and everybody else respected him and thought he was hilarious! Victoria had actually ended up peeing herself a little from laughing so hard, meanwhile Max was scrambling to take a hit from his inhaler.

Sitting down, still feeling flustered from all the praise, Kendall crossed his legs to hide his very obvious erection, no doubt needing to RUN to the bathroom after the eviction ceremony to take care of his little problem. Seeing how bright red James was, and the superiority complex he felt over the male that he had worshipped all these years… he actually already took care of his problem. Well, one of his problems at least. He’d have to change out of his shorts and do a load of laundry, now.

Once things had somewhat settled down, and James was sitting in his chair, steam practically shooting out of his ears, Raini stood up.

“Okay Julie, I think I’m ready.” Raini said, taking a second to compose herself. “This may not come as much of a shock, as seen by the… reaction, all of us had moments ago, but the first housemate I have to nominate for eviction is… James.”

“Oh fuck this! Are you kidding me?” James said, crossing his arms as he sat back, beyond furious with everybody around him.

“Very well, Raini. James, that means that you are up for eviction and are at risk of being voted out of the house tonight.” Julie said from the screen. “Now, Raini, please tell us who the second person is that you are nominating tonight.”

“Before I say her name, I just want to say that I have absolutely no ill will against this girl. She’s a great person, and a fellow Disney colleague of mine, but I feel like her attitude earlier today wasn’t the greatest. The second person that I am nominating tonight is… Sabrina.”

“WHAT! Is this some fucking joke?” Sabrina exclaimed, as producers told her to sit back down and not cause any more trouble.

“Very well. James, Sabrina, that means the two of you are up for eviction. Before the other housemates make their way to the confessional room, you each have 30 seconds to state your case and explain to the others why you deserve to stay in the Big Brother household. James, you are up first.” Julie said.

Standing up with his hands in his pockets, James was clearly agitated, but did his best to force a fake smile for the others. “Well, what more can I say than that I’m a strong player, a great potential ally, and if you all decide to keep me in the household, I’ll give you guys a shout out on my patreon, maybe even give you a feature on an upcoming song! We can do a vlog together for my Youtube channel! Whatever it is you guys want, I’m open to collaboration.” Sitting back down and still forcing a smile, he definitely felt a lot better about his standing in the competition.

“Thank you, James. Sabrina, you’re up.” Julie said.

“If you vote me, a GIRL, out of the house over a GUY, then that means you’re probably misogynistic.”

…….

“Is that it, Sabrina? You still have twenty seconds to make your case.” Julie asked.

“No, I think I made myself loud a clear.” Sabrina responded.

“Alright then. Housemates, one by one, you will make your way to the confessional room to cast your vote, and then we will announce which celebrity housemate will be leaving us tonight. Going alphabetically, Aly & AJ, you’re up first.” Julie said.

One by one, everybody cast their votes.

Aly & AJ: “We vote James. We didn’t like the language he used to some of the women here in the household, and we think it’s time for him to leave.”

Carlos: “James. I know we’re in an alliance, but I can’t align myself with somebody like him, it will only affect my game.”

Charli: “James.”

Diego: “I’m sorry to say it, but James.”

Dustin: “James.”

Jake: “I wanted to vote for Sabrina because she was being a little mean to me earlier, but I forgot she’s on my alliance, so I have to vote for… James.”

Jennifer: “James.

Kendall: “Well… I was going to vote for Sabrina, but I don’t want people to think I’m a misogynist! Plus I think he saw me earlier watching him undress, and I’m kinda afraid that he might put a pillow over my face while I sleep! So I vote for James! >~<”

Logan: “James. I fucking hate him.”

Lorde: “I vote for James.”

Max: “I thought he was a cool dude at first, but he really showed his true colors tonight, so James.”

Miranda: “I have to vote for James.”

Victoria: “James. But I have a feeling that Sabrina has her eye on Dustin, so I’m definitely watching out for her.”

As the housemates all made their way back to the living room, the camera panned on both James and Sabrina, both looking extremely nervous as they awaited the results.

“Thank you everybody for casting their vote. After tallying the votes, we had a 13-0 unanimous decision… James, I’m sorry, but you have been evicted from the Big Brother House.” Julie announced.

“You know what? FUCK all of you, you’re all a bunch of goddamn losers. I didn’t even need to do this show, you know! And to think my own two allies voted me out too, what a fucking joke.” James exclaimed, the rest of the cast glancing around to see who the two people were that he was referring to.

“And that concludes tonight’s eviction ceremony. James, please make your way to the jury house, and we will see you once more at the finale for the final vote.” Julie said, as James stormed off. “That has been tonight’s episode of Big Brother, tune in tomorrow to see what else our housemates have in store from this. Also, be sure to watch the live feeds on Big Brother: After Dark, and watch behind the scenes clips on BigBrother.com. This has been Julie Chen, thank you, and goodnight.”

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Day 1 Statistics:

Head of Household Wins:

Raini: 1

Current Alliances:

Alliance 1 – Logan, Lorde, Sabrina, Charli, Jake, Jennifer

Evicted Housemates: 16th- James

[blackjack-15]

All Aboard the Hardy Boys — Thoughts on: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (TRN)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it. 

There will be an additional section between The Intro and The Title on the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermysteries, as this game is the first to pull from them and because the game (and the Hardy Boys) benefit from exploring and understanding that universe.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: TRN, mention of ICE, mentions of WAC, mention of John Grey in SAW, SPY.

The Intro:

Yeah, I’m not sorry for that title.

Coming off a solid, in-joke heavy game like CLK, Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon could have been anything — and it rose to the occasion like few other games in the entire series. It was the unprecedented 13th game in a 12-game series, and boy did they start the next phase with a bang.

Our next jet-setting game, we leave 1930s Titusville behind in favor of the modern day — albeit the modern day inside a train from the late 1800s, staffed with every kind of celebrity from the 2000s — socialites, authors, tv personalities, and Miami-Vice-meets-Ice-T cops.

Honestly, had they included a teenybopper pop star, I would have said that this game wasn’t just an excellent game, but a time capsule for 2005.

This odd location for a game not only solidifies its place in the Jetsetting Games, it also behaves as a Locked Room Mystery, the first one in a while (FIN being the only other one so far). Nancy can’t leave the train until 2/3rds through the game — but neither can anyone else, resulting in not only the perfect place to commit a crime, but also the perfect place to interrogate suspects.

TRN is perhaps most famous for its on-screen appearance of the Hardy Boys, who invite Nancy with them on this invite-only trip to make it more fun for themselves (and so that HER could experiment with playing from a non-Nancy [and even better, a Frank] point of view, even if it is just to make cheeseburgers). Honestly, it should be famous for it. 

Not only is this a huge mechanics change, but it also blasts open the Nancy Drew Universe — the Drewniverse, if you will — and introduces both the games and players to the world of the 80s/90s Supermysteries by basing itself on #8 of the series, aptly titled Mystery Train (which we’ll talk about in the following section).

TRN also boasts one of the largest casts in the Nancy Drew games series, with 7 voiced in-person characters, two phone friends, and 3 extras. The choice to put in more characters into a smaller location really helps the locked room feel of the game, and leads to a game that is slightly more centered around interrogation than concrete investigation (which is the correct choice for a locked room mystery).

While TRN’s historical backstory isn’t quite prominent enough to get its own section here, it is worth dipping our toes in it here in the intro section. This game’s backstory (handled with a light hand) takes place during the late 1800s and finishes early years of the 1900s — 1903, to be exact, during the Edwardian Era and before World War I — when Jake Hurley’s beautiful train is found abandoned with only the dead engineer onboard. It overlaps with the Colorado Gold Rush in the United States, where Americans and immigrants alike made a mad dash out west in order to strike it rich.

This was a time when trains were the beautiful and incredibly fast (relatively) way to travel in America, especially out west as they were safer and quicker than taking the route in covered wagons or handcarts. Public trains were well-furnished and comfortable, but private trains like Jake Hurley’s were luxuriously and gorgeously decorated with all the amenities that were possible at the time and were meant to entertain guests as well as convey them from point A to point B.

The lush decorations in Camille and Jake’s cars are especially good representations of just how comfortable and flashy private trains could be; these trains that exist today in museums or private collections recall a bygone age where travel was a thing to look forward to, rather than a necessary evil to be suffered through.

The last bit of introduction I’ll do for TRN proper before we delve into the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew supermysteries is its wonderful way with locations. By limiting its locations to really one at a time, TRN very neatly creates a semi-linear playthrough while still allowing the player the freedom to solve Jake and Camille’s mysteries in most any order they choose. It’s a great trick to make the game feel a bit more open while still telling a linear story, and TRN pulls it off better than most other early Nancy games.

Now that we’ve introduced the game, let’s get on to the Drewniverse.

The Supermysteries:

Pairing Nancy Drew actively with the Hardy Boys (live and in person) was hardly a new thing in 2005, even though it was the first time it had been accomplished in the game series’ history. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew TV series from the 70s was the first big screen meetup of the two sleuthing parties, both owned by the Stratmeyer Syndicate. 

While the earlier episodes of the show trade back and forth between Nancy and the boys, the second season saw increasingly frequent mashups of the two separate storylines, allowing for much bigger risks and much more satisfying stories — and, of course, the now famous love line between Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy.

After the TV show, there was now an uptick in Nancy/Hardy Boys interest — the two had become linked by more than just the Syndicate. That interest created the space for the 80s/90s series of books referred to as the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermysteries (not to be confused with the series of the same name that came out after the turn of the millennium, which are less flirty, less well-written, and much shorter as a series).

Wildly popular, the Supermysteries have 36 titles to their name and span over a decade of heart-racing, Nancy-tingling fun. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are either assigned to sister cases or discover the other party on the same case, and take turns helping the other out. Often, Joe separates (sometimes with whatever party Nancy brings along or with a pretty suspect) and leaves Nancy and Frank to work in tandem, giving opportunities for the two sleuths to flirt (and sometimes more) in relative peace.

If there’s one thing that the Supermysteries are really famous for, however, it’s the relationship between Nancy and Frank. Seemingly every book starts with reminding us that Frank and Nancy both have “steadies” back home, to use Dave Gregory’s terminology, and then promptly describing Frank as an Adonis and setting Nancy’s “tingle” (80s/90s code for arousal) ablaze as they work in closer and closer quarters and have some Experiences together, including an on-screen kiss and a sexy fade-to-black — and then reluctantly going back to their boyfriend/girlfriend at the end of the book.

TRN is based specifically on parts of Supermystery #8, Mystery Train, where the Hardy Boys are lured in by the promise of $25k if they can find the Comstock Diamond, stolen 15 years earlier. Nancy happens to be on the same train, accompanied by the best of the best sleuths of the day — and a beautiful actress that catches Joe’s attention.

You can see the ties to TRN — a ‘beautiful’ socialite, a band of detectives and researchers, a lost treasure — all present in both the book and the game. Though the game takes a slightly different course, it owes its strong foundation to the Supermystery that proceeded it.

The Title:

Harking back to Supermystery #8 (Mystery Train), Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon is one of the finest titles that HER ever came up with. Appropriately pulpy, it gives a sense of urgency, history, and mystery all at once while still pointing to the focal point of the game: the train.

After playing the game, it’s also a little ironic — it might be the last train to Blue Moon Canyon, but it’ll hardly be the last visitor to the historic spot, once the world gets wind of exactly what was there and the history behind it.

Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon is honestly a much better title than Mystery Train, and the title (plus the wonderful cover art) is part of the reason that this game is so well-known among casual and hardcore fans alike.

The Mystery:

Summoned by her good (phone) friends the Hardy Boys, Nancy embarks on a train ride to Blue Moon Canyon, the last known location of wealthy eccentric Jake Hurley’s personal train, and rumored to be the spot where he left his treasure. The train having been purchased and restored by socialite Paris Hil — ah, I mean Lori Girard, it once again houses the notable travelers of the day…and possibly the spirit of Jake Hurley’s wife, Camille.

Not 10 minutes into their journey, Lori disappears with a scream and a crash, and the hunt is on — not only to find their missing hostess, but to unravel the secrets of Jake Hurley’s train, Camille’s ghost, and the treasure that may be hiding in Blue Moon Canyon. It won’t be an easy task even for three seasoned teen sleuths, not with a cagey wonder-cop, irritable historical romance writer, and techy ghost hunter all trying to keep their motivations and actions a mystery.

TRN is superb in most respects, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the mystery is 90% perfect — barring one unfortunate plot point, which I’ll cover in at least 3 sections below, and the next paragraph. Tightly paced with suspicion spread thickly and nigh-evenly, TRN doesn’t run into the trouble of knowing who the culprit is from the first 20 minutes of the game and doesn’t feel the need to clear one suspect earlier than the others so that they can help Nancy — Frank and Joe take that job instead, leaving a pretty clear field through most of the game.

The biggest problem with TRN is the identity of the “final” culprit — that is, the culprit who leaves Nancy behind in the crumbling mine in order to generate some good publicity for herself and who knows about Jake Hurley’s final “treasure” all along: Lori. Her reveal as the first culprit is wonderful and logical, even if it’s not too hard to figure out that she kidnapped herself. Her reveal as the second culprit, however, is so odd and against her character that it doesn’t just feel like a mistake — it actually reads as a mistake as well.

To have the entire game culminate in a culprit that 1) doesn’t make any sense to be the culprit and 2) must behave in a completely out-of-character way in order to be the culprit is the one black mark on TRN’s otherwise spotless record. Other than that, this mystery is one of the best of the series so far and is a fully enjoyable ride from start to almost-finish.

The Suspects:

Lori Girard, Paris-Hilton-expy and socialite extraordinaire, is the hostess of the little trip down to Blue Moon Canyon with a streak of ruthless camera-whoring that nearly matches the level of the other camera whore on board (see next suspect).

Lori is, rather gloriously, the first culprit — the one who kidnapped herself, showing her love for flair, her smarts, and her enjoyment of detective stories. Kidnapping herself is right along with the character we see she has, and makes so much sense that it doesn’t feel like a let-down that the player (and a few other characters) figure it out — rather, it feels like her character is introduced strongly and well.

Lori is, completely unbelievably, the second culprit as well. Lori’s previous stunts — i.e. her previous ‘kidnapping’ before the story begins, the train disappearance — involve herself, have no danger to them at all, are intensely theatrical, and rely on the willing cooperation of others. Trapping Nancy in the mine and trying to kill her doesn’t involve Lori at all, has a ton of danger (not to mention a death toll), and isn’t theatrical at all — it happens all ‘off camera’.

We’ll get to more problems with this in The Unfavorite, but making Lori the second culprit was a huge mistake, and her character — and the game — suffer from it.

Tony Balducci is a self-described wonder cop and sometime lover of Lori who wants nothing more than to toot his own horn…provided he leaves out some of the less flattering notes. Having caught two bank robbers by luckily being in the right place at the right time, Tony now tries to live up to the name of ace detective — mainly by being a giant douchebag towards everyone.

As a culprit, Tony would have been an interesting choice, as someone driven by the hanging spectre of his own ego, desperately trying to catch it while knowing deep down that he’s just not good enough to do so. He’s just a little too obvious, a little too hateable, and a little too in-your-face to be the proper culprit for this game.

He instead lives to fight another day to show up in ICE, where no one asked for nor wanted him. A douche to the end.

Charleena Purcell of Secret of Shadow Ranch fame is live and in person this time, having accepted Lori’s invitation out of curiosity for what really happened to Jake — and a bit of a guilty conscience.

As a reoccurring character, Charleena wasn’t going to be the culprit, but I do love that she’s a character who does some morally questionable things — like taking Lori’s suggestions for a new book and incorporating them without crediting Lori. While legally she’s fine, it is a total dick move, and she deserves to get reamed for it.

I love that Charleena’s a bit uptight and snappy while still being a ‘good guy’ (or at least not a baddie), and I do love that she did something wrong that has no impact on the actual crime at all. While she’s not in my top 5 of reoccurring characters/characters that appear in more than one game, she is a nice representation of what most authors are like (dedicated researchers and hard workers, not people who have wacky hijinks with the mystical people in their head that talk to them).

John Grey is a ghost hunter who relies more on tech than on spiritual intuition and hosts his own TV show dedicated to proving the existence of ghosts and spirits. He’s convinced — or rather really hoping — that he can prove the existence of Camille’s ghost and attribute her power to all the wacky things happening on the train.

He also really hates it when Nancy plays the piano around his sensitive audio equipment, which is the biggest reason to play the piano around his sensitive audio equipment that I can think of.

Heartbreakingly, John is the perfect culprit; he lies just under the radar enough not to be immediately obvious, but isn’t immediately discounted either. He also has the perfect motivation: with his show failing, he really needs a show-stopping apparition like Camille’s ghost to boost his ratings and save his show. He’d be an Abby Sideris-type culprit Writ Large, but this time he’d be manipulating people’s perceptions of an actual ghost that truly exists on the train.

John’s status as, frankly, no villain at all is the single biggest flaw in TRN, and it makes me sad every time I play it.

Listed officially as a suspect, Fatima of Copper Gorge is a Charleena fangirl and taffy enthusiast, with a temper as wide as Copper Gorge itself. She constantly wears an old-timey miner’s costume — foam head mask and all — and can apparently even sleep in it.

As a culprit, Fatima would have obviously been a poor choice for a Nancy Drew style game — she barely appears, and is there for a puzzle and a task and that’s pretty much it. She is however incredibly intriguing, as…well, she never takes off the mask. As a fair-play mystery, Fatima was never an option; she does stand out among all masked characters as one of the few that is never revealed to the player/Nancy.

Though they’re not officially suspects, the Hardy Boys both deserve a breakdown in this area.

Franklin Hardy is the elder of the two and barely counts as a teenager (being 19), though he does work for ATAC (American Teens Against Crime, which is the funniest acronym in the world). Detail-oriented with a dry sense of humor, Frank is the de facto leader of the Hardy Boys and far less hot-headed than his brother Joe.

A great researcher and planner, Frank knows a little bit about almost everything, and is more cautious (as most older siblings are) about the danger of any particular situation than either Joe or Nancy tend to be. Fiercely loyal and indisputably protective, Frank believes in the power of teamwork and is constantly on watch for people who might want to hurt his friends and family. In SPY, his bio specifies a “strong connection to [Nancy]” as not only an example of this loyalty but also as a point towards his feelings for her.

It would do Frank a disservice to boil his entire characterization down to his relationship with Nancy, but it is worth mentioning briefly. There are hints of his affection towards Nancy pre-TRN, but it’s really post-TRN that it kicks into high gear (probably because of working in close circumstances with her during TRN).

TRN is, possibly coincidentally and possibly not, the last game where Wayne Rawley voices Frank, as the man/myth/legend Jonah Von Spreecken takes over in the next game Danger by Design. Not only is JVS’s Frank a little less subtle about his feelings for Nancy, he’s also a little younger sounding (more like his actual age) and a little more enthusiastic (while still being very dry). As any reader of any of these metas could probably tell you, I find JVS’s Frank to be the best of his VAs, and he’s only enhanced when Nik takes over from WAC on.

Joseph Hardy, to contrast, is the 18 year old younger brother (and, if HER is working off the supermysteries, skipped a grade to be in Frank’s graduating class) and the more impulsive of the two. Generally laid-back in contrast to Frank’s meticulous nature, Joe is no less quick and is noted in his character bio from SPY to be an “extremely proficient tactician” — a role generally reserved by lesser writers for more uptight characters.

While easily distracted and a bit prone to conspiracy theories, Joe is quick to discover interpersonal links and motives and is at least somewhat handy with mechanics. His seemingly odd fixations usually lead (in a roundabout way) to finding out the truth behind crimes and leading him to a cool treasure or historical fact along the way. He’s big-picture in a way that Frank is not, which helps him both as he sifts through Nancy’s mysteries, and when he and Frank are on the job for ATAC.

As of Lani’s departure as Nancy Drew, Rob Jones (Joe’s voice actor) is the only VA to have voiced the same character for the entirety of their presence in the series. As much as I praise JVS in all of his roles (Frank and others) Rob really deserves 90% of the credit for Joe being as loved and wonderful as he is. Rob’s voice gives Joe the correct amount of youthful enthusiasm, glee in bad puns, and continual just plain enjoyment of the world he lives in and the job he has.

The Favorite:

If it wasn’t obvious, TRN is one of my favorite Nancy Drew games — definitely in the top 5, almost definitely in the top 3 — and that makes this section really easy.

First off is the physical presence of the Hardy Boys. It feels really natural to have them appear after being in most of the games leading up to TRN, and they make every second of this game better. From Joe’s cheeseburger face to playing briefly as Frank and eavesdropping (a minigame that would reach its Pinnacle in WAC) to watching Nancy sit down with the boys and pow-wow to figure out the mysteries, the Hardy Boys are a delight from beginning to end,

My favorite moment in the game is that lovely moment where Nancy sees Camille’s ghost dancing along the train window. Camille’s spirit looks so cheerful and effervescent, gently bubbling along her beloved husband’s train, and it’s a beautiful moment. 

It’s also a crucial moment in the Nancy Drew game series and lore as a whole, as it, for the first time, clearly and plainly establishes what it’s hinted at since MHM — that in the Nancy Drew universe, ghosts and spirits are real. They’re almost never the culprit, and they don’t often look like Scary Cartoon ghosts, but they’re real all the same. This moment does so much for the game and for the series that it will forever be one of my favorite moments in the series, not just in this game.

My favorite puzzle would have to be finding and placing all the gemstones. I’ve always loved gemstones, and this game really increased my love of them (and interest in their meanings/folklore). Figuring out which animal goes with which stone — and mastering what the “hand from the deep” actually looks like — is a lot of fun, and the animatic of all the different parts whirring and coming together is beautiful. It’s often placed alongside one of the best quotes of this game: “above all…let nothing happen to my train; it holds wonderful things”.

 I also love the “true treasure” of the game; sure, Nancy’s line about friendship is a bit corny, but ND has always been a bit corny, and it’s a wonderful sentiment that a true gift can simply be your ability to make connections, rather than any material possessions or social standing.

Camille is one of my favorite “historical characters” in the series, and I know I’ve mentioned her ghost just above, but I love how personal and friendly she feels; you really do get the sense as the player that she’s there, helping Nancy along. It’s Jake’s mystery, and Jake’s mine, Jake’s friends, and Jake’s treasure, but to me, Jake Hurley’s train forever belongs to Camille.

The Un-Favorite:

As far as my least favorite puzzle in TRN goes…I don’t think I have one. I enjoy all of them for their varied styles, their tie-ins to the time period and to palace trains in general – they don’t exactly feel like puzzles, even, more like well-integrated plot points. I think this is one of the few — if not the only one — that absolutely no puzzle comes to mind, so good on TRN.

Alright, you knew it was coming. My least favorite moment in the game is where Lori reveals herself as the second culprit and tries to trap Nancy in the crumbling mine (and the fallout in the letter Nancy writes). I’ve already gone into how Lori makes no sense as the actual culprit from a characterization point of view — and TRN runs on characterization — so I won’t repeat it. But I do have problems with it besides that.

TRN feels like it was set up to have a “culprit” — Lori, kidnapping herself — and then an actual culprit. Lori wanting to find Jake’s treasure as a publicity thing is totally fine, but the whole mystery feels like there’s another sinister presence working on Lori and the rest of the cast the entire time, trying to steer them to where they want them for their own machinations.

It would shock me not at all to find out that this scenario was the original plan, cut for time. TRN came out in mid-September of 2005, not even two months after CLK. While I know that different games are worked on simultaneously, that’s still quite a quick schedule to keep — especially since game #13 (TRN) wasn’t in the cards at all, the game series meant to be 12 games in total.

The ending feeling slapdash — “ah, we don’t have time to work out a criminal, let’s just have it be Lori again” — isn’t shocking looking at the timetable and circumstances behind TRN even becoming a game. While I understand it, I feel like the lack of thought put into the last 5 minutes or so of the game is really noticeable, and undermines both character and theming.

The Fix:

So how would I fix Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon?

Unsurprisingly (and since the rest of the game is borderline perfect), the one change/fix I would make is to the identity of the final culprit. John’s ‘arc’ is somewhat anticlimactic — he’s the only character to sort of drop off the face of the game at the 2/3rds mark — and I truly believe that it’s because the seeds are there to reveal him as the true villain, but it was never carried out.

My proposal is this: the vast majority of the game stays exactly as it is. Lori kidnaps herself, is found by Nancy, and rewards her by giving her all the information she has about the location of the mine — there being a small reference to Jake receiving a letter from an “important friend” or some such descriptor.

Nancy, of course, wonders briefly about the letter and then moves on to solving the location of the mind, working in tandem with the Hardy Boys — but because John has listening devices all over the train, he hears about the letter and begins to research on a hunch that this letter has information that can help him “establish” Camille’s ghost better and make her hauntings more plausible.

In this canon, of course, John’s show really is on the brink of being cancelled without being picked up by any major network, and his paranormal tours that the player finds out about in SAW (and is referenced again in TMB) aren’t doing so well either, so he needs a huge boost to his credibility. Camille’s story — and the treasure/letter that Jake Hurley left behind — is the perfect thing to get him back on top, if he could just get the nosy detectives out of the way.

By listening in on Nancy and the Hardy Boys, John knows just as much as they do — and more, thanks to his research team for Ghost Chasers turning up a connection between Jake and Abraham Lincoln — and decides that the best way to frame this for his show is to have “Camille’s wrath” come upon the uppity teen detective, collapsing the mine to protect Jake’s treasure as soon as she finds it (and he can take it from her).

Used to working in the dark and moving quietly, John, directed by Lori (who he’s manipulated into having him follow Nancy with cameras to capture the moment), follows Nancy into the mine, helping out with a few “good guesses” (actually his knowledge from listening in and researching) and snapping a few pictures of the treasure when they find it. After asking Nancy to hand him Lincoln’s letter so that he can film it better, John runs out of the room and blocks up the exit, standing outside to gloat to Nancy.

John talks about how he manipulated Lori, how he listened in, how this is the thing he needs to boost his show up to be the most-watched program in the ghost hunting business, how clever he was to run rings around Tony, Lori, Charleena, and most of all the Hardy Boys and Nancy herself. He then tells Nancy that she won’t live to tell the tale, but he’ll get footage of “Camille” causing a quake in the mine to protect her husband’s treasure — running as the mine begins to collapse.

From there, the game would continue as normal until Nancy catches the culprit (the only difference being who the culprit is) and rides to safety.

While this section seems really long, this change isn’t actually that big in the scheme of things — it just makes far more sense to have Lori only be the first culprit while having the second culprit be someone with a lot more to lose and a lot more to gain. In general with mysteries, your culprit should always be the person with the most to lose (though the detective and/or player shouldn’t know how much everyone has to lose from the beginning), and John suits that far more than Lori does.

That being said, this is the only change I’d make; I think the rest of the game not only was great at the time of its release but has also stood the test of time a decade and a half later. The change I’ve proposed would simply take the game from being a classic with a slight blemish to a truly perfect game.