#hopefully this gushy shit will make a few others happy too

[headoverhiddles]

Universally Loathsome - Marilyn Manson x Reader

Synopsis: After his show at the Hard Rock in Orlando, you and your man put your complimentary Universal Studios park passes to good use. 

Notes: I wrote this because Universal Florida is my happy place, and I need a pick me up right now lol. Also, this takes place right after this concert, so Heaven Upside Down era. 

His lazy drawl fills the Hard Rock Cafe arena, as the strobes go crazy.

"I love you beautiful motherfuckers so much," he points to the crowd, to a response of deafening cheers, "Florida's where it all started for me, and... I almost got arrested for indecent exposure in Jacksonville, which is... pretty close to here." More cheering. "So if any willing gentlemen in the crowd would like to come up here... and let me put my dick in their mouth..." The cheers grow. "...History can repeat itself." He grins, stumbling around and leaning on the mic stand. "I wonder what would happen if I... oops," he pops the top button of his vest open. "Oh no, I can't believe I just showed you all my tits, ahh, I'm such a slut..."

The crowd is going absolutely insane, and he winks over to you suggestively. You watch your boyfriend, trying to hold in your giggles. He's in what he likes to call rascal mode tonight, you can tell. And good thing-- you two roped complimentary passes inside the theme park for the rest of the night to celebrate, so he can let out all this energy after the show. The regular park closes in a half an hour, horror nights too, with it being Halloween, but the extra hour is just for you two, paid for well no doubt.

After Mar's done and the strobes distract the audience enough for him to bound off stage, he runs into your open arms. After you hug your sweaty man, he picks you up, spinning you around and smiling like a big kid.

"Let's go play." 

"Shower first," you give him a stern look. He nods, resigning himself to the fact that he's really gross and covered in sticky glitter makeup.

You hang out backstage as he gets cleaned up, saying goodnight to some of the roadies. You check social media and search for this concert, as you do sometimes just for fun, and see people already sharing photos they'd taken of Marilyn screaming or wading into the crowd.

You snort to yourself, and save one that looks right up his nostril. Beautiful angle, and perfect for blackmail when he's being a dick.

"Let's do this."

You turn, and see him dressed in a hoodie that reminds you of the full body zip from his High End Of Low days.

"I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not the depression hoodie," he sticks a finger in your face and wags it. "I burned that a long time ago." You pretend to bite his finger, and take his arm.

Your bodyguards, who warily agreed to leave the two of you alone once you get into the park, lead you down, out the back door of the hotel venue, and through a citywalk shortcut to the front gates of Universal Studios Orlando.

"I haven't been here since I was a teenager," you grin, listening to the entrance music and sighing from the nostalgia. "This has always been my happy place."

"I've literally never been here," he tells you, "We go to the one back home in LA, but I've never been to this one myself. I used to live here but I only ever wreaked havoc on Disney with Twiggy."

"Oh, Universal was spared?"

"Until now, yeah. So you'll have to be my tour guide here." He takes his sunglasses from his face, hands them off, and turns to his guards. "Okay, that's fine, we're fine."

"Sir, we really think--"

"We talked to the park operators, and there's like... nobody here right now, we're both fine," Marilyn insists, "Bye." So, you two are left alone as you walk toward the gates.

Your passes are scanned by an older woman who doesn't seem to recognize Marilyn, since his name on the pass is Brian. For the best. To your left, towers one of your favourite rides.

"The Rip Ride Rockit," Marilyn reads the sign, "Ooh. Ooh, I wanna do this. Fuckin cool looking."

"Bri, you get sick on roller coasters."

"I'm too drunk to be sick, the drunk sick makes me not motion sick."

"Well, glad to hear your body has a system," you sigh, and he takes your hand as you two run toward the lit up ride.

"You get to pick your song as you ride," he muses, "Motherfuckers should have my songs on here."

Because he likes to stir shit up and see what he can get away with, Marilyn uses a VIP lanyard with his face on it to get into the express lane.

"Uh..." the young employee hesitates, frowning, "Sir, this is a meet and greet for that concert, not for--" Marilyn puts his hood down, and the guy's eyes widen. He waves you both through, starstruck. 

"Whoever said you shouldn't use your fame to get stuff... probably wasn't even famous," Marilyn says, pulling you up the steps.

"What's the hurry?" you laugh, trying to keep up, "You're just gonna throw up all over me anyway."

"It's a music ride, that's very exciting to me," he says. You can't deny you've missed this ride too, so you keep up.

You're the only two on the roller coaster train as you both pull the bar over from the side to strap yourselves in. The employee working comes over to check, and gives a thumbs up to the operator.

"Give me a handjob," he giggles.

"No! I'm gonna rip your dick off if we do that on this!"

"Nah, that'd happen like... on the Mummy." Apparently he remembers what the Mummy is like in the LA Universal park, and he's not wrong. "Uh. Uh," he starts to snap his fingers as the ride goes up, "Yeah. Hell yeah."

"What song?" you laugh.

"Stronger, by my boy Kanye."

"He's a dickhead, you know."

"So am I, doesn't make my music any less amazing."

You smirk. You'd picked Stronger as well, anyway. 

After the ride, Marilyn hangs onto you, a little bit woozy. "That was a mistake."

"I told you."

"I don't listen, I'm a child, you know this. I don’t like the rides, but the rides like me."

You two walk through the park, past the San Francisco area of the water in the middle.

"This is nice. Just walking."

"Yeah," he says. "It's nice not to vomit." You rest your head on his shoulder, giggling.

You two do a few more rides-- he has way too much fun in Men in Black shooting at everything, and Simpsons becomes a favourite, even if the only part he could keep his eyes open for was the funny queue playing the episodes. He even takes some dark, creepy pictures with the employees in Diagon Alley, posing in his new Slytherin scarf he bought.

"Can this be used for sexy purposes?" he asks one of them, holding up a wand. The girls giggle, and you roll your eyes.

"Um. Wouldn't recommend it," one responds.

"On the other hand..." the second one shrugs, "It's magic. You could just make it into something that could be used for sexy times."

"I like the way this one thinks," Marilyn smirks. "(y/n), I'm gonna use this in you."

"Like hell you are.”

“Please?”

“You can use it to spank me.” You lean in to whisper. “It’s too thin to put it in.” 

Marilyn buys the wand just to make up for the trouble he's causing the poor employees.

You head out of Harry Potter world, and circle back around to do ET.

"I wanna do the Mummy again. And what about those big ones across the citywalk thing? Spiderman, he's cool. I wanna do his ride." 

"That's the other park. If you wanna deal with your manager having a meltdown by requesting another day here tomorrow, that's your call." He immediately takes out his phone, and you huff, feeling sorry for the guy, always having to rearrange flights last minute. 

"Yeah, hey. It's me," Marilyn drawls into the phone, "I need another day here tomorrow. No, I'm just... I'm gonna be really hungover. Lots of vodka and drugs and stuff. Yeah. Amphetamines, got my face in a big... yeah, really bad, I won't be able to fly tomorrow." His eyes light up like a kid in a candy store as he sees the Halloween Horror Nights 2018 tribute store. "Gotta go, I'm snorting coke off (y/n)'s tits. Cancel my flight!"

You both run in, and get shirts from inside-- yours is a Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers one, and his is a Killer Klowns from Outer Space one, with a little clown in boxing gloves on it that says 'Shorty's Boxing Gym: Knocking Blocks Off Since '88." He poses for a picture of the new shirt in front of an old horror movie poster, hands in his jacket pockets and doing his signature sneer. He posts it on his Instagram, captioning it: 

Next motherfucker's gonna get my metal. Pic📷: @(y/handle) #justustwoclowns #wannatussle #truelove #wehatelovewelovehate #happyhalloween #universalorlando #shooterjennings.

You head inside the Egyptian crypt that leads to the Mummy, listening to Brendan Fraser's fake interview about the strange things going on on set. 

"I met him once," Marilyn tells you, "He was scared of me, he thought I was flirting with him."

"I can see how he would. You're just overly affectionate," you pat his arm.

"And high as fuck, but I wasn't flirting with him. He's too much of a pretty boy for me." 

"Yet you still wanna fuck Johnny," you tease him, and he grins, unable to refute that.

You finally get to the loading area after Marilyn stumbles over four posts in the dark queue. The lady there squeals. She's a different one than the one working earlier, and she's obviously a fan.

"Sorry for her," her coworker says, "She's a huge fan of your stuff."

"Nah, it's cool," Marilyn offers a smile.

"I was at the concert, which is why I'm working late," she explains hyperactively, "God, you were soooo amazing!" Marilyn thanks her. She waves at you as well. "By the way, I see your pictures together on insta at shows and premieres and stuff, you two make a really cute couple. Goth icons!" You smile at the girl, and thank her and her coworker for working late for you two. An obligatory selfie later, you and Marilyn get into the ride, and start heading through the darkness. You get to the part where Imohtep's face appears and fire blows beside you.

"You say god," he mutters. "I say Say10."

You get off the ride, and you nearly lose your shit when you see the ride photo. You fall to the floor, and Marilyn looks up at the screen in inquiry.

"Oh my god."

"We're buying it!"

"Absolutely fucking not. Look at my chin!"

"I love your chins, baby."

"I only mentioned one, but thanks."

You dash over to the counter, ordering the picture in the biggest size. It's gold. In it, you've got one hand up happily, the other looped with Marilyn's, and you look generally normal, other than your hair blowing a little from the force of the acceleration. His eyes are glinting yellow from light reflection, so he looks legitimately possessed; he's got his chin pressed down into his neck folds, and his mouth is halfway open, like he just remembered something he wanted to say. It's the most awful picture of him you've ever seen, so naturally, it's getting framed at the house next to his lovely prosthetic limb collection.

"Mm, makes me wanna fuck you," you lick your lips, "Give it to me, baby, I wanna look into those sexy yellow eyes while you destroy my pussy."

"You're fucked up."

You nearly collapse in laughter again.

Despite the terribly candid ride picture, Marilyn decides he likes the Mummy a bit more than the Simpsons, and after riding it four more times without fail, he's nauseous as all hell (as are you) and done in for the night.

You hold hands, heading to the gates. "Hey. Want to stop at Ben and Jerry's on the way out?" you ask.

"Nah," he drawls, hand moving down to your ass and giving it a spank, "You're the only thing I wanna lick tonight." Even motion sick and half-way to hungover, he's still in rascal mode.

A car comes to pick you up, and some press follow you to the car for a bit, taking photos and asking Marilyn for comments on the park and the show until Marilyn wraps his Slytherin scarf around his face. He gets into the car with you, and rolls the window up. The paparazzi obviously saw the Instagram post.

That makes you think...

Messing around on your phone as you're driven back to the hotel, you giggle. Marilyn keeps looking over, but he's currently too nauseous still to speak. You giggle again, and send off what you'd just done.

"Happy Halloween," you grin, punching his shoulder playfully.

He looks at his buzzing phone, and snorts. His bad Mummy picture and stylish posing Instagram picture are side by side, with your accompanying text: "Get you a man who can do both." 

[kisslettrs]

haikyuu characters talking after a fight with their s/o

featuring: lev, kuroo, suna

a/n: first post woo! hope you enjoy this ! ALSO UM. THEY TURNED OUT TO BE SO MUCH LONGER THAN I THOUGHT THEYD BE??? ESPECIALLY KUROOS LMAO THEYRE NEVER THIS LONG I PROMISE DONT GET YOUR HOPES UP OR VICE VERSA. also not beta read soz 💔

warnings: none i don’t think? relationship fights ig. oh and angsty with some gushy shit at the end for each of them 💞

→ HAIBIA LEV

you and lev rarely get into fights. only small complains about his behavior and him whining, or friendly petty arguments. but last night was different... I guess you could say.

lev was always pretty immature and playful yeah, but sometimes it felt like he never took anything seriously. it felt as though he never took him and your relationship seriously. especially now, when you decided to confront him about it.

“why are you laughing...?” you asked, staring at him

“i-i’m sorry, y/n honey, i just...!” he said, covering his mouth as a half assed attempt to keep in his laughter.

“lev, i know it’s just in your nature to act like this but I’m being genuine. i’m not joking, please. you’re doing it again! please just listen—!”

you were cut off again by the sounds of your significant other’s laughter, causing all your frustration to let loose.

“lev haiba!”

he immediately stopped, before looking at you in the eyes, his thin pupils meeting yours.

“i’m sorry. but lev, please can you just take me seriously for once?! i love you, but you need to understand that you can’t just—!” you frailed your hand around, motioning towards him, you, whatever this scene was. “—you can’t just do this all the time I—!”

before you could finish, your mind had been too pent up with frustration. “nevermind...” you grabbed your bag, before rushing out the door, not giving him the chance to talk.

fast forward next day, and you checked your phone.

[32 new messages from favorite dork 💝]

you sigh heavily, before letting the cold feeling of guilt claw at the back of your head. you hadn’t mean to make lev worry, you just needed your time alone. although if you did have to be honest with yourself, leaving without a ‘i love you,’ or hell even just a ‘bye’ was cruel.

as you opened your messages, you were bombarded with messages of pleas and apologizes that were sent at 9:21 PM last night, moments after you left his house. the guilt swallowed your stomach again, your hands slowly typing; “it’s ok hun. really. I love you too.” and pressing send.

you threw your phone onto your bed, before deciding to get ready. you and lev never really saw each other much since you two were in different grades, he was a first year, you were a second. you both had to wait after school, or well... maybe moments after. your phone buzzed a few times, but you decided to ignore it. it was too early.

schools over, and you’re walking home. you were gonna talk to lev today, just not now. you didn’t wanna interrupt his volleyball training just for some stupid relationship issue. as soon as you reach home however, you see a familiar tall figure fidgeting on his phone.

“...lev?” you called out, causing the silver haired boy to whip his head around, his eyes lighting up. “Y/N!”

he quickly shoved his phone inside his pocket, before running up to you and embracing you in a warm hug, shaking you a little. “y/n! y/n! i’m sorry for being stupid last night, I’m sorry, i’m so sorry.” he was squeezing you tight, and god did it hurt hearing his voice break like that.

“lev, sweetie, i told you it’s okay, really.” you spoke, caressing his back. he seemed to stay still for a moment, before speaking once again. “is this okay? me holding you like this, is this okay or do you... need space?”

you smiled softly. it made you happy lev wanted to make sure he wasn’t overstepping any of your boundaries. you felt your other arm hold him. “yeah, this is okay.” you swore you could feel him smile out of relief.

“i’m... i’m sorry again y/n honey, it’s just hard for me, i don’t...” he paused. “it’s just...difficult for me to handle situations like that.” you nuzzled into his shoulder. “it’s okay, you dork. i understand.” you reassured him again.

“but—!” he pushed back, meeting your eyes. “i’m gonna try...i’m gonna try harder. i’m gonna try to be better, for you y/n! i love you so much... i’ll do my best.” god, this dork. no wonder you loved him so much. you cupped his cheeks. “i’ll do better too lev, i won’t be as mean again. i promise, i love you too, so much.”

and with that, both of your faces met, and the two of you kissed lightly.

→ KUROO TETSURO

you and kuroo get into small arguments here and there like every other couple, and whenever you do you two usually recover quickly. you both like to call them ‘squicks.’

however, that night there was no denying that wasn’t any other normal squick you two had. no, that was a fight.

kuroo and you haven’t had a moment alone that wasn’t just you and him walking back home, and it’s been making you upset. so uh, that night you decided to confront him about it.

yeah it didn’t go well uhh

“i know we’re like, a couple y/n. but honey you have to understand i’m busy. you have friends don’t you? go hang out with them or something.”

“yeah, i know kuroo, and trust me i’m happy for you! but you’ve been so distant, we haven’t had a moment alone that lasted more than 5 minutes for like, 2 months! it wasn’t a big deal then, but i miss you and i’m worried.”

you paused, before continuing. “don’t you wanna spend some time with me? just, for like 30 minutes? don’t you miss me?”

“i do, y/n. i miss you and i love you. but like i said i’m busy with volleyball, you aren’t my top priority right now.”

“it’s been 2 months kuroo!” you shouted, causing him to widen his eyes. “don’t you understand? i’m not asking for your top attention, I’m asking for you to give me 25% of it at least!”

it was quiet for a moment. “sorry.” was all he said, before turning around his eyes focused on the volleyball between his feet.

you felt hurt and frustrated. “you know what? fine.” he immediately went back to look at you, seeing you grab your bag. “see you whenever you feel like to acknowledge my existence, I guess. bye.”

as soon as you touched the doorknob, you could hear him get up and say the words ‘wait, baby wait—‘ but you had enough. you needed to air out your head of the tension and frustration of the house and you left. you felt tears peak at the corner of your eyes as soon as you did.

next day, and you’ve been feeling shittier than usual. as soon as you woke up, you turned to make you lay on your back, staring at your ceiling and thinking; “was i too harsh? am i being too selfish? too clingy?”

you loved what your boyfriend did and you were perfectly fine with him having his time to himself. you knew you weren’t his top priority and he wasn’t yours. but 2 months with little to no communication felt too long. was it wrong to want to spend at least 30 minutes with your boyfriend? was that too much to ask for?

the anxiety raced to your head again. what if you were being too clingy. maybe kuroo had the right to be upset too. you were being too selfish, stop thinking of yourself so often. you curled up into your side. you didn’t want to think about it, and you didn’t want to see him in the halls either. you didn’t even wanna check your phone to see if you messaged you.

you decided to skip, staying home, watching TV and playing some games. you couldn’t mentally handle seeing him. at least not for right now.

some time passes by, and your phone is buzzing. you checked the time from the small clock on your wall, seeing the handles pointing towards 4:30 PM. oh wow, after school clubs should be over too.

you grabbed your phone to see who it’s by, knowing deep down it was who you thought it was.

[23 new messages by Hubby 😾💗]

[Kyanma: uhh hey y/n? did something...]

[2 missed calls by Hubby 😾💗]

choosing to ignore kuroo for now, you swiped at Kenma’s notification and read the full message.

[Kyanma: uhh hey y/n? did something happen with kuroo that youre aware of??? he seemed so much more down than usual during practice.

you: no. we rarely talk anymore because of practice lol I guess.

Kyanma: ???

Kyanma: Did something happen between YOU two?

you: we had a fight. im not really in the mood to talk to him. I skipped school. itll be back to normal in a few more days, sorry for the inconvenience snchsychsj

Kyanma: you two should resolve that. like seriously. hope u two feel better tho, bye✌️

you: we will hopefully lol bye kenma !!]

sighing, you placed your phone down on the small coffee table infront of you, but as soon did, you heard a knock coming from your front door. humming in response, you got up and made your way towards the front door, but decided to look through the peephole to make sure it wasn’t some scammer person or creep.

well, it was neither of those two but it was in fact no one else other than kuroo tetsuro. you sighed heavily again, before unlocking the door and turning the knob opening up to your boyfriend.

“hey y/n.”

“hi kuroo.”

you folded your arms, deciding to put up a strong facade, pretending you weren’t mentally screaming and that anxiety wasn’t clawing at your back. “did you forget something or...?”

kuroo brought his hand to the back of neck, awkwardly scratching it. “yeah uh...” he looked around, not wanting to make eye contact. “um. listen y/n.” he made his way to grab your hands, holding them together. “i’m sorry. i really am.”

“please don’t touch me. not right now at least...” even though you seemed so desperate for his touch the other night, you really did need your space. kuroo seemed alarmed at first, quickly swiping his hands back, wanting to respect your space. “of course baby! i’m sorry for acting too soon.”

you watched him scramble around a bit, finding it a bit cute. “can I come inside?” he asked. you nodded, and both of you went inside and sat to your coach.

“like I said y/n. i know ive been distant, and ive missed you so much. god, do I miss you. i wanna hug you and cuddle you so bad but volleyball and the nationals have been bugging me i couldn’t have find the proper time. i’m just scared... and I...”

“kuroo.” you said. his head snatched upwards, looking at you. you were gonna say something as soon as he did but the look he gave you caught you off guard. he looked like a cat pleading.

as soon as you pushed away the thoughts of him being stupidly adorable, you continued your sentence. “I understand, and i’m sorry for being too clingy. i just miss you a lot. i’m willing to wait for you, baby.” as soon as you said that, you saw his eyes pierce through your soul. fuck did I say something wrong.

before you could say anything else, it was kuroo’s turn to speak. “no baby. it’s alright, you aren’t the one at fault here it was me. i’m sorry for not listening to you that night. i’m gonna be a better boyfriend, i’m gonna be the boyfriend you deserve through and through.”

fucking idiot, i’m the one who was supposed to say sorry, not you! You didn’t say anything for a moment, before laughing lightly. “babe? i love you but i have to be the one who takes at least, 50% of the fault. it’s okay, i love you and i forgive you. and i’m happy for what you’re doing and how far you’ve come.” you placed your hand on his. “you can touch me now.”

his eyes immediately lit up, his lips curving into a smile and you swore you could see tears start forming in his eyes before he launched himself onto you. “my god y/n, how did i get so lucky. i love you so much, i love you so much.” he hugged you tight. you laughed. “i love you too kuroo. so much, i love you so much. i’m the lucky one.”

he pulled away and brought you to a kiss. before you could respond, he asked, “are you free saturday?”

→ SUNA RINTARO

while suna and you disagreed on a lot of things from time to time, you two usually both came to a mutual agreement and it wasn’t anything big.

but lately he seemed even more off than usual. communication was such a huge thing between both of you, but he seemed to just not be...cooperating?

suna is someone who doesn’t like expressing his emotions. and as his significant other, you felt like understanding him was a priority. but you just didn’t sometimes and it made you worry. him being distant did not help.

one day when you decided to bring it up, the situation got a bit... out of hand

“what?” he asked.

you shrugged your shoulders. “i don’t know. suna i care for you, and you just never helping me understand makes me extremely upset! i know it’s hard for you, but...”

you could feel him roll his eyes. “i don’t know what you’re going on about y/n,” he looked at you. “but really, i’m fine. do you not trust me to talk to you or something?”

“no..!” you denied. “listen. youve been getting more and more tired each day and i could tell. you’ve been ghosting me too.”

“...what?” he basically hissed it. “i’m not an asshole y/n. nothing is wrong. why do you keep trying to butt your head into my life every second?” his voice began to raise.

this was rare. even when he did raise his voice at you, it was never filled with negative intent but this time...

“i can take care of myself, y/n. i don’t need you and your noisy nose in my business all the time. sorry if you feel like you’re on baby sitting duty, but you really don’t need to be so clingy and emotional all the time...”

well damn. his words hurt. a lot.

“sorry for caring for you then, damn...” you grumble under your breath. you quickly grabbed your house keys and bags. he perked his head up. “y/n? where are you going?”

you didn’t reply. “y/n!” you rolled your eyes, trying to ignore the pain in your chest and stomach, before opening the door and leaving.

as soon as you woke up, your head hurt more than usual. those words must’ve hit you deeper than they should’ve, huh?

maybe i was just being too clingy, you thought, and those thoughts hadn’t left your mind the whole morning. whatever, you’ll just apologize after school.

you haven’t seen suna at all that day, not on the walk to school, not in the halls, not in his classroom. he was... nowhere. when you went to the volleyball club after school, asking if any of the members had seen him all of them replied with a simple ‘no.’

kita specically had been giving you long glances ever since you arrived. once you finally reached him, instead of denying seeing your boyfriend, he told you, “he wasn’t in school at all i assume. maybe he’s at home.”

home? why would he be home? maybe he was feeling sick...

you bowed and thanked him and the rest of the teammates before leaving. on your way home, you decided to stop by a connivence store and buy him his favorite snack, chuupet. or well, just jelly fruit snacks. you bought 2 packs for you and him, hoping it was a good time to apologize.

you walked up to his house, knocked lightly on the door and was greeted by his mother. “ah~ greetings y/n!” you smiled lightly and gave her a wave. “good afternoon! say, is rintaro home?” you asked. she nodded, moving to the side as a way to invite you in the house. “he should be in his room!”

“thank you!” you bowed quickly before making your way up the stairs. as soon as you passed by his sisters room, there you were infront of his. with your free hand, you lightly held a fist and began knocking on his door.

“suna? rintaro?” you called out. you would call him by a sweet pet name but remembering last night, you didn’t wanna break any boundaries. the room was quiet, and though you really didn’t wanna disturb him, you wanted to make sure he was okay. as soon as you did, however, you were greeted by a sight that broke your heart.

suna rintaro, the boy you loved so much, had his hair messier than usual, his eyes seemed red from crying and he was up against his bed frame, his phone in his hand. when he looked up, he saw you, his eyes widening.

“...y-y/n?” you stood there frozen. “rintaro...honey my god,” you quickly went up to him. “what happened?” you looked at him, his gaze looking down. you wanted to hug him so bad, but yet again, that argument you had last night prevented you from anything.

“hey. listen, sweetie. i got your favorite.” you held up the 2 bags of jelly fruit gummies. “it’s gonna be okay, okay? i’m here.” he was just looking at you, not saying anything, before muttering something under his breath.

“huh? what was that? i didn’t hear you hon, what’s up?” you asked, making sure to keep your distance. suna choked back a sob, before launching himself onto you, almost knocking you into the ground. “w-woah there!”

“y/n... i’m sorry i’m so sorry. i’ve been so frustrated with school... exams... volleyball and i’ve missed you so much but i was so tired that night! i lashed out on you but i didn’t mean any of it. i promise, i promise, don’t leave me please.” he sobbed quietly, his head resting against your forehead. when you looked up, you could see him squeezing his eyes shut.

wow, this was even more rare.

you brought your arms to his neck, embracing him. “it’s okay rintaro. shh, it’s gonna be okay. i love you and i’m sorry for being upset, i just worry about you.” you rubbed his back lightly as he continued sobbing, allowing you to give him a few kisses on the cheek, neck and forehead. “you’re safe, you’re gonna be okay honey. i love you so much.” you repeated.

suna never showed his emotions much, but he seemed to have a lot of pent up anger, sadness and confusion up in him, and he let it out for an hour infront of you, there to comfort him.

as soon as he stopped, you and him were snuggling on his bed watching whatever was on his TV, eating the fruit snacks. he leaned onto your head. “i love you...please, don’t leave me. i’m sorry.”

you bumped your head back onto him. “stop apologizing. i keep telling you it’s okay.” you giggled lightly. “please sweetie, talk to me so this doesn’t happen again.” he only nodded silently, before drifting to sleep in your embrace.

[wienerbarnes]

A Certain Romance (5/6)

Pairing: Bucky x Reader 

Word Count: 2,039

Warnings: bit of angst

A/N: 👀👀👀 lol

MAIN MASTERLIST | A CERTAIN ROMANCE MASTERLIST

While he’s strapped into the same suit he keeps finding himself stuck in, the night doesn’t seem to be going as bad as he imagined.

He’s waiting for you to finish getting ready, you did your hair and makeup already, you just need to put on your shoes and jewelry, you’d told him.

He remembers how you weren’t one for fancy, over-the-top restaurants; you made it clear that very first date. It comforts him that while you’re always happy to see friends, you’re not exactly thrilled and he can rely on you if he wants to leave earlier rather than later.

He hears clicks down the hall get closer and closer and he glances over to look at you, a pocket of air catching in his throat that he holds back.

You’re wearing white and Bucky thinks you look like an angel. The sleeves are long and poofy at the shoulders, a tight neckline highlighting your cleavage, and a cinched waist that makes the dress look a little shorter than it is above your knees. Your skin is glowy from moisturizing after the shower you took earlier and images of what Bucky imagines you look like rubbing lotion on your smooth legs flash in his mind.

He hopes he’s not drooling.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer, stud.” You adjust a small strap at your ankle and he’s still trying to find something to respond, anything to stop him from gaping like a fish.

“You look beautiful.” Is all that comes out, and he knows it doesn’t do nearly enough justice to describe how you look.

“Thanks, Buck.” You tell him, visibly taken back at the lack of snark. You were expecting a little teasing, a bit of flirting to dip your toes into what the rest of the night will consist of. While Bucky’s never not complimented you, he does it often, as he does to all of his friends, but this was very… sincere. More sincere than usual.

He finally clears his throat to compose himself a little, “Are you ready to head out?”

You give him a nod and a gentle smile, walking with him to the door to exit. The walk to his car a block down isn’t far, and you laugh when Bucky offers you a piggyback ride, not knowing how you can walk in those - referring to your heels.

You can sense Bucky get a bit nervous in the car when the restaurant enters both of your lines of sight. You wrap an arm through the loop his own arm creates with his forearm resting on the middle console, your hand sliding up to gently squeeze his thick bicep, your other arm resting on top of the curve of his elbow.

“Don’t worry, if the place is too lame, I’ll say my heel’s busted and we can try and leave early.”

“Yeah, you’ll cut through that little stick on the bottom of your shoe with the butter knife?”

“Mhm,” You hum, “And leave Sam with the bill.”

He laughs at that, and laughs more when you follow up with, “I forgot my wallet by the way.”

It’s sooner rather than later that the car is parked and you two arrive outside the Italian restaurant Sam picked. He made sure to look it up this time beforehand, with your help, of course, and sees that while the restaurant is still a bit too fancy for his taste, it’s not nearly as bad as the last one he went to where he met you.

“I know you can’t get drunk, but I’m going to play a little game where I drink every time someone in here does something embarrassingly snooty.” You whisper to him, still holding onto his arm, as the waiter leads you two to the table where Sam and his date are waiting.

“You’ll blackout before the appetizer, I wouldn’t try it.” Bucky begins, but after a second thought, “Actually, maybe if you’re drunk we can leave sooner, drinks for you will be on me.”

You giggle quietly into his arm and shut yourself up as you finally arrive at the table, Sam and his date standing to greet you both.

Kisses are planted on everyone's cheeks and introductions are given out as everyone takes their seat. You sit across from Sam on Bucky’s right, his hand holding yours on your thigh. He’s not sure if he’s holding it for show, if Sam and his date can even see them holding hands, or if he’s holding your hand because he likes the feeling of your skin under his hand.

He knows the answer.

The calamari and salads are Bucky’s friend as it makes less time for talking, everyone enjoying the food. While waiting on the main dishes, though, Sam’s date, a very kind and beautiful woman, asks him the question he’s been dreading.

“So, how are you guys? Sam tells me you guys are a new couple, I love all the gushy details.”

The gushy details, she’s perfect for Sam.

“We met on one of Sam’s set-up dates, actually, and just hit it off pretty well. Nothing more to tell.” You answer, thankfully, and keep it short and sweet, hopefully enough information to change the subject.

“Oh, c’mon, y’all can do better than that.” Sam teases, a sly smile on his face.

To him, he’s teasing his friends about finally finding love after swearing against it. But, to you and Bucky, you’re being forced to tell a story you don’t know. You and Bucky should’ve hashed out some details before this, you think.

Bucky’s not the greatest liar, so he just decides to be honest.

“Well, when we met, neither of us were really looking to date anybody. We were both in a place where we didn’t feel ready for a relationship yet, but we gave it a try with each other anyway. And…” He pauses, putting his thoughts together.

“I was surprised. By her kindness, by her humor, by the way she comforts me, by the way she understands me. I expected another failed relationship, another person that either got tired of me or got fed up with who I am and the baggage I come with. But the failure never came.

“Instead I got this amazing girl, who has just as much baggage as I do and I get to accept it with open arms. I got someone who’s healed me a lot more than she knows.”

He’s sweating, and he reaches for the glass of wine at his side, fixing to do something with his hands and his mouth. Your hand is still in his on your lap, grip a bit looser now, though, and he feels your eyes on him. He’s too scared to look.

“See? That’s the kinda lovey-dovey shit I’m talking about.” Sam jokes, a bright smile on his face at the sight of his two friends, raising his glass towards the middle of the table, everyone else’s joining in a second after.

“That’s real sweet,” His date chirps, “You guys really do look in love. I’m happy for y’all.”

The entrees arrive but Bucky’s no longer hungry.

The drive home has been silent. You’ve been quiet since leaving the restaurant and bidding goodbye to Sam and his date, only holding onto his arm until the two of you were out of their sight. Unlike the walk to the restaurant, where you were whispering in his ear, clutching onto his arm, you didn’t even glance his way.

He feels like he’s about to suffocate in the car.

“Are you okay?” His voice breaks the silence.

You’re quiet for a moment before answering his question with one of your own, “What… what was that back there?”

“It was eggplant ravioli, that’s why it looked a little -”

“Bucky.”

He realizes playing dumb isn’t going to work in this situation. Of course it wouldn’t, you’re way too smart for that.

“What you said… seemed a little too... real.” You finally get out.

His mouth opens and closes again when he realizes he doesn’t have a response. It seemed real because it was real. His face appears to give away his thoughts because the second you look over at him, he’s caught. You sigh and raise your hands to cover your face in frustration.

“Bucky, the whole reason we did this in the first place was because we didn’t want a relationship! That was the whole point!” You say, your voice rising.

“I know that was the whole point,” He says, voice calmer than yours, but his resolve quickly fading as embarrassment floods his body.

“Then?!”

“Then, I didn’t do it on purpose! I didn’t mean to catch feelings, but I did!” He yells.

“Bucky, I -”

“Yeah, I know you don’t want a relationship and don’t feel the same. Don’t worry, I’ll get over it.” He snaps, voice harsh, harsher than he’s ever used on you before.

More silence.

He wants to cry. He feels so embarrassed, and so angry at himself. Why did he say that at dinner? He could’ve lied, he could’ve downplayed it a little more, he could’ve not said anything at all and let you take the reins. Instead he all but confessed his feelings for you in front of your friends.

And if that’s not enough, the argument in the car only makes him feel more embarrassed, the conversation playing over and over in his head as a reminder of much you don’t want him; of how much nobody wants him.

His jaw clenches as he swallows the lump in his throat and he sees you in his peripheries sneak a glance at him.

He couldn’t have pulled up outside your apartment building sooner.

“I’m sorry,” He says after clearing his throat. He uses the last bit of dignity he has left to try and mend at least a few of the pieces.

“Can - can we just forget about it? Please?” He asks, his heart begging for you to agree. He can deal with the unrequited feelings as long as you stick around.

“Bucky, I… I just need some time. To think. About all of this. I just - I can’t be around you knowing you’re in love with me. I’m sorry.” You step out of the car before he can respond, and his eyes close as the door shuts, leaving him alone in the car.

He hears the beeps of the buttons at your door and then a distant click, and he doesn’t have to look up from his hands in his lap to know you made it inside.

He doesn’t drive away yet, though. He looks up at the roof of his car to try and stop the watering of his eyes and lets out a harsh sigh.

He eventually puts the car in drive again and roughly grabs the wheel, taking himself home, unaware that you watched him from the apartment building lobby.

The first thing he sees when he steps into his own apartment is a small plant that you brought him a few days ago. It sits on a small table he has by the door next to a dish for both sets of his keys.

In a moment of anger he grabs the potted plant and throws it as hard as he can across the room, shattering against a cabinet door in his kitchen in front of him.

“Shit,” He curses, going quickly to the kitchen to begin picking up the broken ceramic.

He separates the pieces of ceramic and cups his hands around the dirt to try and put it into a pile for him to transfer into another cup of some kind. A tear hits the side of his palm and he scoffs, annoyed at himself.

“Why the fuck are you crying, it’s just a fucking stupid plant,” He mumbles, voice cracking.

He sees the roots untangled from one another and ripped in some places. The plant is going to die, regardless if he puts it in another pot or gives it all the water in the world. No amount of care will save it.

He sniffs and drops the plant back on the ground, slumping back and leaning against the bottom cabinet under his sink.

“Fuck.” He says to himself, hand coming up to his face to wipe away stray tears.

[xvnqsb]

soulmates pt. 1

A/N: ahhhh finally posting the first chapter. i have about the first five or six chapters written, so i will have them scheduled for different days while i focus on school! hopefully you all enjoy!

of stardust and space. masterlist

chapter one. soulmates pt. 1

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"I'm pregnant." The words fell from the blonde's lips so effortlessly, as if they were casual words that are said in casual conversation. But they were definitely not words that were casual. These were life-altering words that could be the make or break of anyone.

"You're...pregnant?" His jaw dropped. "H-how?"

She rolled her eyes, sighing, and picking at her nails as if she was bored. "Well, T., when we fucked, somehow, our protection didn't work because here I am, knocked up with your child."

No shit. "I know that, but how? I've always used protection. This can't be real. Take another test."

"I took three. You think I want to be pregnant?" She stared at him accusingly.

How was this his fault? It takes two to create a child.

"So-uh-are we keeping it?" He didn't know what to think. Was he really ready for a baby?

"Do you want to?" Her voice had become a whisper, afraid of what might happen in the next few moments.

He paused, before smiling and nodding as he brought her in for a hug. "Yes."

She wrapped her arms around him, squealing excitedly. "Then yes."

He couldn't believe it. He, Tony Stark, was going to be a father.

"What do you mean 'you're going to be a father'?" Jason asked.

Tony had the telephone between his shoulder and ear, working on one of his latest inventions. He exhaled happily, putting down the tool in his hand as he adjusted the block phone.

"I mean, I'm going to be a father! Jasmin'e's pregnant," He heard a disappointed sigh from his best friend down the line. Knowing what the conversation was going to lead to, he sat down on the closest chair. "What?"

"Jasmine? Are you sure you want her to be the mother of your children?"

"Jason-"

"No, I know what you're going to say. I know you love her and everything, but Tony, what did your parents say?"

"I haven't told them," he mumbled, clearing his throat as he continued. "Besides, it doesn't matter what they think or say because it's my child and my life. And, I would like to point out that you got Vivie pregnant first!"

"You're right, but with a child, you're going to have a tie to Jasmine for the rest of your life."

"And?"

"She's insane-"

"No, she's not!" Tony scoffed, shaking his head at the thoughts of the man on the other end of the line. "She's not crazy."

There was rustling on the other end of the line, and then Vivie's voice was heard.

"Congrats, Tony! Jas just told me the news! I can't believe we're all going to be parents!" She squealed.

"Baby, give me the phone," Jason asked, and she complied. "Look, I got to go. I'm glad you're having a kid, Stark, just don't do anything else before you know what you really want."

"Fine, I won't." He picked up a pack of blueberries from his workstation, popping some in his mouth before speaking again. "Do you think our kids are gonna hate each other?"

He's never been this nervous. Well, that's a lie. He hasn't been this nervous in years.

But this time, he's sitting in front of his parents, figuring out how he's going to tell them he got Jasmine pregnant. His father was staring him down, almost annoyed at how long it was taking his son to speak.

"Mom, Dad-" He couldn't even finish his sentence, because his father jumped up, slamming his hand down on the table. Tony flinched, taken aback by the sudden movement.

"You knocked her up, didn't you?" He spat, disappointment evident in his facial features.

How'd he know?

"Y-Yes. Jasmine is pregnant, with my child."

His mom put her hand on his father's shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"I always knew this would happen. I can't believe this. I can't believe you." Tony didn't move or say a word, allowing his father to get out his anger. After what felt like an eternity, his father sighed. He sat down, rubbing his face. "How much?"

"Oh, my god." Tony scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. "We're keeping the baby."

"What?" His mother gasped, obviously shocked at the decision of her son.

"You're not serious, are you?" Howard questioned, laughing as if this was all a sick joke. "You're throwing your life away, Anthony."

"I am not."

"If you have this child, it will be one of your biggest regrets."

"No, they won't."

"This child will ruin your life! You will have the greatest opportunities turned down because you will be a father-"

"Those won't change!"

"This will be the biggest mistake of your life!"

"Then it is my mistake to make!" Tony stood, angrily shoving the chair back. He felt tears threaten to spill, and his face grew hot with anger and frustration. "And it is not a mistake, because they are going to be the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Apples, bananas, carrots...lettuce? No. Watermelon.

"Babe, are you almost done?" Jasmine called from the living room.

"Yes!" He picked up the plate of fruit he had arranged and carried it to her. Her face lit up as she saw the food, squealing excitedly. "Healthy snacks for a healthy baby."

"Yum," She moaned as she bit into a watermelon slice, chewing and swallowing before continuing. "I did not understand why this child wants such healthy food but now I know! Watermelon is so good."

He grabbed an apple slice, chewing it as he picked up the book he was reading. TThey sat in silence as she finished her afternoon snack, the book in her hand closing once she was finished.

"Honey," she called sweetly, and Tony hummed in reply. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"

"What?" He looked up from his book, confused at the sudden question.

"I'm just curious."

"Well, uh," He cleared his throat, closing the book in his hand. "I'd, uh, I want a girl."

"Really? Why?" She looked at him so intently, so lovingly that his heart stopped.

"Because she'd be the best big sister in the world. And, I'm going to teach her how to kick ass!"

"You could barely kick-ass yourself! How are you gonna show her?"

"Well, Ms. Vonz, I know some martial arts."

"What if it was a boy?"

"I would love him all the same! I get to pass down my knowledge to another ruggedly handsome Stark!"

"And you can't do that with a girl?"

"Well, yeah. My kid would be smart and a badass."

"WhatifIalreadyknowthegenderandtoldyouitwasagirl?" She said the words so quickly, Tony could not process them.

"What?"

"What if," she gulped, sitting up. The blanket fell off of her stomach, revealing the small bump. "I already know the gender, and I told you it was a girl?"

"W-what? Oh my god," Tony shot up, a smile on his face as he repeated the words in his head. "It's a- We're- It's a girl? We're having a girl?"

"Yes."

Later that night, as they counted down from ten, Tony couldn't help the smile etched onto his face. He looked between Jason and Jasmine, incredibly happy about the recent events. The clock struck twelve, and Tony pulled her in for a kiss.

"Happy New Year to you and our baby girl."

"Have fun with Jason!" Jasmine whispered as she watched the man double-check himself.

"Thanks, Jas. I promise you can give me my birthday present when I get back." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, before going down to her big belly. He placed a kiss on where he hoped his kid's head was. "Even though she's already giving me the biggest and best gift already."

"Stop being all gushy," She pushed him towards the door, blowing him a kiss. "Have fun. Be safe."

When Tony arrived at Jason's apartment, he was greeted by the sight of Vivie bouncing a sleepy Jonah in her arms.

"Hey V. Jonah," he brushed a knuckle gently against his godson, the five-month-old reaching for his hand. "Is Jason ready to go?"

"Yes!" Jason came then, kissing his fiance and son goodbye before leading his best friend towards the elevator. "How's it feel to be 21, Stark?"

"Same as being 20, Mullem." They took it down to the lobby, and as they walked out the doors, Tony stopped in his tracks. "Are you serious?"

Jason had a huge grin on his face, nodding as he slapped his best friend on his back. "All this for you, Tony."

"I fucking love you." He mumbled as he entered the limo.

"I fucking love you too."

Tony's pager beeps for the seventh time that night. 911. His father insists that he pick it up, so he leaves the dinner table and calls the number.

"Bellevue Hospital Center."

"Hi, yes, this is Tony Stark. I got a 911 to my pager?"

"Mr. Stark?" A male's voice came from the end of the line.

"Yeah, that's me," He rolled his eyes at the man on the other end.

"Yes, Mr. Stark, I'm Dr. Jones from Bellevue Hospital Center. Your wife has gone into labor."

"My-My wife?"

"Jasmine Vonz, sir."

Oh, God, it's happening.

"Y-yes! Sorry, it's just...unexpected." He turned to look into his dining room, his mother and father in conversation. "I'll be there soon."

He hung up, feeling sick.

"Anthony, is everything alright?" His mom called.

"Y-Yea-" He didn't finish his sentence, running to the bathroom and vomiting his entire dinner. When he was sure he was done, he got cleaned up before heading back out to the dining room. He grabbed his keys, wallet, and jacket, looking at his parents. "Jasmine went into labor."

"Oh, honey!"

"I-I gotta go. I'll let you know when she's born!" He called out as he ran out of his house.

The ride to the hospital, he was jittery. His cab driver kept giving him dirty looks, looking relieved as they finally pulled up to the hospital. Tony gave him more than enough cash before stumbling out of the cab and into the hospital. He went up to the nurses' station, having trouble finding words.

"Can I help you, sir?" One of the nurses asked.

"Ye-Yes. My girlfriend went into labor, uh, not so long ago."

"What's her name?"

"Jasmine Vonz."

She looked for her information, nodding when she found it. She gave him directions towards the room, saying a quick 'see you soon'. When he entered the room, Jasmine was pale and sweaty, gasping as she saw Tony.

"This baby will not stay in." She clutched at his hand as another contraction came. "I'm scared. I don't think this is how it's supposed to feel."

"I'm sure it's fine, honey." Tony pressed a quick kiss to her head, whimpering quietly as she crushed his hand. "My hand, not so much."

"I'm Dr. Jastin, " The doctor said as he came in moments later, his team right behind him. "Alright, Mom, Dad, are you ready?"

"We're doing this in here?" He asked, looking at the nurses setting up the baby stuff. "Isn't there, like, a labor room or something?"

"Yes sir, but it seems your daughter does not want to wait," the doctor answered as he snapped on his gloves, putting on a mask before setting himself in between his girlfriend's legs. "This baby is coming here and now."

The delivery was a painful process, and he was pretty sure a couple of his fingers were broken. After the final push, he heard the cries of his baby girl throughout the room. He sighed a 'Thank God' as his hand was released.

The doctor handed her over to one of his nurses, working on closing Jasmine. The nurses worked on the baby, wrapping her in a blanket and doing other...nurse/baby stuff.

"You did so well," he muttered in her ear, kissing the side of her head. "Gave us a beautiful baby."

"Where is she?" she whispered, gulping and trying to locate her kid. "Tony, where is she, is she okay?"

"Yeah, honey, she's with the nurses."

Tony looked up at the team of nurses working on his newborn baby. They seemed to be taking longer than necessary.

"Dr. Jastin?" One of the nurses called as he finished up.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" Tony asked, finding Jasmine's hand and squeezing it.

"It's fine," the doctor told the nurse before lifting up his baby and carrying her over to them. "Who wants to see mommy and daddy?"

Jasmine shook her head, looking away from the doctor and baby.

"Ms. Vonz?"

"Jas, what's wrong?" Tony whispered, moving her hair behind her ear. "You don't want to hold our baby?"

"No," She mumbled. "I don't want the baby."

Tony reached out for his daughter and was oblivious to the words that were muttered by his girlfriend. His face lit up with a smile, his heart pounding at the feeling of holding such a small life in his hands. He rubbed his finger against her cheek, a happy sigh escaping his lips.

"Can't believe you're here," he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss against her forehead. She cooed, reaching up, and beginning to cry. "It's safe to say that you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. Besides your mom, of course."

The next day, Tony took his parents to the nursery. There were at least 25 babies, some being days old, while others were mere hours. He pointed her out, his parents smiling at the small infant.

"Doctor said that we could take her home tomorrow," he said, nodding as the nurse indicated if he wanted her to take the baby up to the window. "I can't wait."

"Me neither," Howard whispered, subtly wiping at the tears building on his waterline. "Where's Jasmine?"

"She's resting in the room," he replied, suddenly remembering his duties. "Do you guys mind waiting here while I set up the car seat and crib? It'll only be an hour."

His parents agreed, waving him off as he raced to begin his new life.

Lilah was in the carrier, gladly sucking on a binky, as she and Tony walked up the stairs to her mother's apartment. It's the third day they've been home, and Jasmine has refused to see her child. He figured she was probably struggling with postpartum depression and wanted to help. He had found a great support group and some counselor's that focused on such things.

"Ready to see mama?" he asked her, taking the garbled sounds as a yes. "Me too. I miss her. And I can't wait to take more pictures of the two girls in my life."

Finally arriving at the door, Tony unlocked it and stepped inside. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of the barren apartment, looking around in shock. Knowing it was worthless, he put the carrier on the counter and looked for his girlfriend. All he found were two envelopes taped to the mirror of the bathroom.

He grabbed them in disbelief before grabbing his daughter and leaving the apartment in anger and hurt. The drive home he blamed himself for her leaving, muttering insults to himself.

The envelopes sat at the bottom of his drawer for years, refusing to be read. As he fell, his parents helped take care of their granddaughter. They fed her and changed her when she woke them screaming in the night, while their son laid in bed with no will to live. He ignored his daughter, refusing to hold her and look at her. He didn't want a memory of her, leaving the house after a week. Howard called Jason, asking him to take care of Tony. For the first month of Lilah's life, she was raised by her grandparents, who had grown quite fond of her.

"I'm glad Tony had her," Howard whispered to Maria one night as they rocked her to sleep. "She's going to save his life."

Maria smiled, rocking her granddaughter back and forth as she thought of her next words carefully. "Will you ever tell him?"

He exhaled deeply, rubbing his face and sitting down on his son's bed. "Yes, just not right now. He's already dealing with her leaving."

"I know but-" Howard looked up to see Maria staring at the door, and followed her line of vision.

Tony stood in the doorway, watching his daughter. She had been falling asleep until her head fell to the side and she caught sight of her father. At the realization of who it was, she began to cry and kick at the woman, attempting to reach out to him. Without hesitation Tony crossed the room, taking her into his arms and beginning to rock her back and forth. She calmed, relaxing at the feeling of being in her dad's arms.

"Let's go," Maria told Howard, shooing him out of the room and closing the door behind them.

That night, Tony got up to care for his crying daughter.

"Is the table set?" Maria called from the kitchen.

"Yes, Mom," He called from the dining room, finishing the silverware on the last plate.

He went up to his room and checked up on Lilah, who was just waking up from her nap. She reached out for him, giggling as he sniffed her diaper and exaggerated a gag.

"Someone's not ashamed," He muttered, changing her before taking her downstairs. "Guess who's up?"

"Where's my girl?" Howard called out, coming in from the living room. He reached for her, kissing her cheek as Tony handed her to him. "There she is."

A twinge of jealousy shot through Tony, but he quickly shook it off as the doorbell rang. He opened the door, taking Jonah from Vivie's arms and pressing a kiss to his cheek. The Mullem's greeted his parents, seating both children in high chairs before gathering around the table. They held hands and prayed.

"What are you thankful for, Stark?" Jason asked, looking across the table at his best friend.

Tony looked at his daughter, pinching her cheek. "The best thing in my life."

"Did she wake you?" Tony asked quietly, looking towards his father who stood at the door.

"No, I've, uh, been in the study." Tony nodded, returning his attention to his tired daughter. "How's she doing?"

He turned her towards him, eyes slowly closing and mouth open. "Almost there."

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Howard turned to go to his room.

"She's the best thing that has ever happened to me, Dad."

Howard looked towards his son, and it seemed like there were tears in his eyes. "I know."

Lilah had officially turned six months yesterday, and everything had been normal. He lacked attention from his father but witnessed him give it to his daughter. His mother gave him the same love she gave his daughter. They were a happy, content family.

Until hours ago, police showed up at the door to inform him of the news.

He didn't believe it. He thought it was some sick joke. But it wasn't.

Howard and Maria Stark were dead.

Car crash.

They weren't the only things they said, it was just what he could make out.

They were involved in an accident.

Didn't make it.

The pain was all too much. The mother of his child leaving him. His parents dying. He wasn't going to make it.

The funeral was rough. He doesn't remember much, just giving the eulogies and greeting old family friends. Accepting condolences. Hiding his kid away from those who began to pry too much, it was a funeral, why were they more interested in his kid?

After that is when it got worse.

He began to fall again. Scarce meals, drinking, bad hygiene. He didn't answer the door for anyone.

He simply lived and breathed for his daughter. He didn't want her to grow up an orphan. He changed her and bathed her and fed her. everything he was avoiding on himself he did to her.

"Baby, please, stop crying," He begged for the millionth time. Lilah was refusing to take a bath. She kicked and screamed bloody murder when he tried to lower her in the water. "What is it? Do you want me to shower with you?"

Hoping it was just that, he let the water go and turned on the showerhead. He undressed before picking her up and stepping into the water. She didn't cry or scream or throw a tantrum, just began pulling at his hair as the water hit it.

His body relaxed, soaking in the feeling of showering. He sighed in content, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

After the shower, he put them both into comfortable clothes before deciding to take a nap.

Tony had put Lilah in her crib and had just laid on his bed when she began to cry. He left her alone, hoping she would put herself to sleep.

He gave up after fifteen minutes.

"What is it, sweetheart?" He picked her up, rocking her gently. He sat on the bed, and her crying seized. He chuckled at his realization. "I get it. Do you want to sleep with daddy? Is that it, my girl?"

Lilah cooed, swinging her arms.

Tony laid back, allowing her to rest on his chest. She put her ear against his chest, falling asleep to the rhythm of his heart.

Lilah was turning one and Tony was freaking out.

Sure, he thought about it. But he never realized how old she was turning. Much less realized how fast the past year has gone.

"You need to calm down," Jason told him, helping the 22-year-old father wrap his daughter's presents.

"Were you calm when Jonah turned one?" Tony asked, looking at his best friend.

"No." He sighed.

"Then you can't come bitching at me about it!"

"Watch the language boys." They looked up to see Vivie enter with both kids in the double stroller, dropping the diaper bag on the table. "Why did I have to take them out again?"

"Because the party is a surprise?" Jason responded in a 'duh' tone.

"They're babies. They don't even know what's going on." Vivie set both children down onto the ground.

Tony walked over to pick up his daughter, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Jonah lifted his arms at his godfather, and he complied. Tony held both children in his arms, attempting to avoid their grabbing hands at his ears.

"What if Lilah has a photographic memory? What if she remembers her first birthday years into the future and hates me because we didn't surprise her?"

Jason groaned, shutting his eyes. "Again Tony?"

"Yes! My child can be a super genius."

"That's not possibl-"

"Okay, boys." Vivie interrupted them, grabbing Jonah from him. "Let's finish decorating, get ready, and enjoy the party!"

"Yeah." Jason agreed, raising his eyebrows at Tony. "Enjoy the party."

Tony held Lilah all night long, only passing her to her godparents when he went to the bathroom. The party was over. Jonah was asleep in his crib, Jason and Vivie were cleaning up, and Tony was in the living room with Lilah on his hip. He was swaying them back and forth gently, humming softly to the song that played. She was falling asleep, brown eyes watching him before shutting for a few seconds then opening again.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead before whispering, "Happy birthday, baby."

"Don't move! Let me get the camera!" He ran to the kitchen, grabbing the video camera. He turned it on as he raced back to the living room, placing the phone back between his shoulder and ear. He began recording Lilah, who stood holding onto the sofa. "I told you, Mullem, my kid's going to walk first."

"No, my kid is gonna walk first," Jason said through the phone, causing Tony to roll his eyes. "You're just upset because Jonah started talking first."

"He hasn't even said a word!"

"Yes, he has!"

"What? 'Bajdkfs'? Those are baby sounds."

"He spoke first, and he's going to walk first."

Lilah let go of the sofa, and Tony perked up. "My kid's going for it."

"Mine let go of the sofa."

"So did mine."

They stayed silent, each urging their kid to make the first move. Lilah looked at her dad and smiled, taking a wobbly step towards him.

"Ohmygod, I won! She took her first step!"

"No!"

"Good job sweetheart! Take another." he encouraged her. She took another wobbly step before falling onto her bottom, giggling at her father's happy expression. "Yes!"

"No! Jonah just took his first steps! It's a communication error."

"Nuh-uh, Jason. Your kid got speaking first, mine gets first steps."

"He didn't even say a real word."

"Aha! I knew it!"

"Whatever. I got to go, Vivie is furious that we're competing."

"I bet. Did you tell her you lost?"

"Screw you, Stark."

They hung up, Tony picking up his daughter and setting down the video camera. He kissed her head, smiling and bouncing her. "You wanna speak first too? Give Jonah a run for his money?"

She babbled nonsense.

"I agree."

He sat her back on the ground, sitting across from her.

"Say 'Dada'. Da-da. Easiest word in the book, kid." She crawled to him, standing with the help of his legs. "Daddy would be good too. Dad. Pops. Anything."

She babbled once again, stepping onto his legs and reaching up to support herself against his chest.

"Really? Quite interesting."

She laughed, leaning forward and pressing her nose against his. He scrunched it in confusion, a smile gracing his lips. "What are you doing kid?"

"Dada." She said before pressing a kiss to his nose.

"Yeah, I'm your da-Wait what?" He picked her up, shock and disbelief running through him. "What did you say?"

She babbled, dancing in his arms.

"You cannot do this to me. I need proof that my kid is the best." he stretched his arms slightly. "Dada. Say it again, baby, please."

Nothing.

"Por favor?"

Nada.

"Please, for me?"

She smiled. "Dada."

It wasn't perfect, but it was real. An actual word.

"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you," He kissed her head once more, sitting her in his lap. "Jonah may be older, but he has his dad's brain."

His eyes landed on the video camera, hope filling him.

"Please be recording."

"Daddy," Lilah gently pushed his arm. "Daddy."

His eyes open slowly, taking in the sight of his tired four-year-old. He sighed, reaching his hand up to cup his daughter's face. "What's wrong-what the hell?"

Shooting up, he brought her onto his lap, back of his hand pressing all over her face. She was sweaty and sticky and her skin was burning.

"I don't feel good." She mumbled, a whine leaving her and she grabbed his hand. "My tummy hurts."

He picked her up, putting on his shoes before heading downstairs. She rested her head against his shoulder, her stomach rumbling. She was asleep the whole ride, waking when they got to the small 24-hour store. She whined and cried silently as they moved about the store, gripping onto him so tight her knuckles turned white.

"Ooh, fever?" The clerk asked, scanning the box of medicine.

"Yup. She was fine when she went to sleep but she woke me with a fever." Tony replied, taking out some bills to pay for the items.

"Weird. They usually exhibit signs."

"Yeah, last time I could tell. But this time was a surprise."

The clerk handed him his bag and took the bills. "If she's not better in a few days, you should take her to the doctor."

"If I can't have the fever down by tomorrow, I might have to." He took the change from the man, stuffing it into his wallet. "Thank you. Have a good night."

"You too, man. Hope she gets better soon."

"Thank you."

Tony soothed her on the way to the car, rubbing her back and telling her she was going to be okay. He buckled her into her car seat, dropping the bag by her feet when she burped. Eyes wide, he emptied the plastic bag and put it under her mouth in time for her to throw up into the bag. He rubbed her back once more, wiping vomit off of her mouth with his sleeve before starting the car. He made sure she held onto the bag, trying to get home as quickly and safely as possible. She puked once more on the drive home, crying and calling for him.

"I know, princess, just hold on."

They were in the driveway and he was turning off the car when she began heaving and climbed into the backseat to help her. He quickly took them inside, struggling to carry his sick daughter, the get-well items, and her puke bag. They eventually made it to the room, where he changed her into a new set of pajamas. He had her rinse her mouth before giving her the dose suggested on the box. She drank it, unwillingly, and cuddled up to his side when he laid them down.

Tony was gently massaging her head, slowly falling asleep himself when her small voice filled his ears.

"I love you, my pretty boy." She whispered, voice drowsy from the medicine.

"Your pretty boy?" He questioned, curious of the sudden nickname.

"Mhm, my pretty boy. You're my pretty boy, Daddy."

He smiled, pressing a kiss to her head. "Guess that makes you my pretty girl."

"Guess so," she muttered, finally drifting off

"I love you, my pretty girl."

"Kindergarten was so fun Daddy!" Her voice screeched through the phone, Tony smiling at her voice. God, he misses her.

"Really?"

"Mhm! We made a nametag and got to color it and draw on it and-"

"Whoa there, sweetheart," Jason interrupted his daughter. "You're talking too fast for your old man's ears."

"Hey, I'm not old," He spoke into the phone, her giggles coming down the line. "You're old."

"Yeah, Tio Jay, you're older than Daddy." She started screaming with laughter, a sad smile on his face. "Daddy! He's-stop!-tickling me!"

"Better stop tickling my daughter Jason, before I have to kick your ass."

Her laughter slowly stopped, her breathing heavy. "Ooh, you said a bad word."

"Uh-oh, don't tell Aunt Vivie or she'll kick my ass."

They laughed, shuffling heard slightly on the other side. "I'm gonna make dinner, you can finish talking to Tony, baby."

"Mhm," He could hear her moving around. "What are you doing, Daddy?"

"Well," He cleared his throat, moving to get comfortable on the hotel bed. "I'm in my hotel room talking to a very pretty girl."

"Really? What's her name?"

"Tokyo."

"Hey, that's my name!" He waited for a moment, and she gasped in realization. "Ohhh, you're talking about me."

"Of course I am. What other pretty girl do I know named Tokyo? I think you're spending too much time with Uncle Jay." She giggled, and he could almost imagine the smile on her face. "Sorry I couldn't be there for your second day of school."

"It's okay. You were here for my first day," She grunted quietly. "Are you still coming home on Saturday?"

"Of course. I promised to get us ice cream, didn't I?"

"Yup," she popped the 'p', the smile widening on his face. She let out a quiet sigh, and he could tell her mood shifted. "I miss you, Daddy."

He sighed. "I know. I miss you more."

They were both silent for a few minutes, her breathing slowing slightly.

"Hey, baby?"

"Hm?"

"Wanna tell me about school?"

She gasped, excitedly. "Yeah!"

"Do you want to stop and get her a cheeseburger?" Happy asked from the front of the car. Tony shook his head, sighing.

"I don't want to give her happy food and then tell her the bad news."

"But it's not bad news."

"For her, it is," He ran a hand down his face. He can't believe he's doing this. "This is her life! Her world. I wanted her to grow up here like I did. She already struggles with the fact that I'm on a business trip almost always, she's gonna hate me because of this."

Happy drummed his fingers on the wheel, pulling over in front of Jason's house. He honked, and Tony looked out the window to watch the door. "What has Vivie said?"

"We thought she was getting better. But, uh, Jason heard her crying in her room the other night." The door opened, and she gave her aunt and uncle a kiss on the cheek. She began to run to the car, backpack swinging back and forth on her back, the metal bracelets on her arm bouncing with her every step. "Maybe we should get her a milkshake."

Tony opened the door, and she jumped in, landing on top of him.

"Hi, Daddy!" She placed a kiss on his cheek, moving to sit on the other seat. She shrugged off her backpack and threw it below her feet before buckling herself. "Hi, Happy!"

"Hi, Tokyo. You buckled?" He asked her, looking at Tony through the rearview mirror. She nodded, looking out the window. "I was thinking of getting a milkshake, want one?"

Her face lit up, and she turned to her dad. Tony smiled, nodding at her.

"Yes please!" They began their drive, and she was watching him. He didn't realize it until he glanced at her and she quickly looked away.

"Why are you watching me, creepy lady?" Her face reddened, embarrassed from being caught. "I'm too handsome for you not to look at, is that it?"

She rolled her eyes, smiling at his comment. "Of course, Daddy. You're the handsomest man in the world."

"Whoa, wait up," Happy spoke from the front, feigning shock. "Last week you said I was the handsomest man in the world."

"Well," She stopped, thinking. "You both are."

"Mhm," Tony raised an eyebrow, causing her to give a shy smile. "Nice save."

They sat in silence for a few moments before she spoke up. "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" He looked at her, but she was looking out the window. "What do you mean?"

"You're sad."

"I'm not sad." He made eye contact with Happy once more.

"See? You and Happy are looking at each other And I know when you're sad, just like you know when I'm sad."

"You know when I'm sad?"

"Mhm. I know when you're happy, sad, mad. I know what you're feeling all the time."

"All the time? How?"

"You're deflecting, Dad."

Dad? He was definitely screwed.

"That's a big word for a first-grader." She gave him a look, "Okay, fine. We have to talk."

"Okay. Are you going somewhere?"

"Y-Well, yes." He cleared his throat, nervous. He didn't know how she was going to react. Will she cry? Be angry? Shut down? "But it's different this time."

She shrugged "I think I'll be okay."

He took a deep breath and watched her, gauging her reaction. "We're moving. To California."

She opened her mouth but hesitated.

"Are you mad?" He asked quietly.

"No. Never at you, Daddy." Big brown eyes looked into his, and he smiled slightly. "Is that all?"

"Yeah," He gave a relieved sigh, ruffling her hair.

"Cool. Are we still getting a milkshake, Happy?"

Tokyo handled the move amazingly well. Tony thought she would cry, throw a tantrum, be angry at him for having to leave her life. She seemed unfazed. It's been two years, and she's still doing great.

"Stark Industries." Pepper answered the phone. Tony was resting his eyes, worn out from the meeting. "Oh, well, he's right here."

"Tony," He opened his eyes as Pepper nudged him, hand covering the receiver of the phone. "It's Tokyo's school."

"Oh shit," He sat up, taking the phone from her hands. "Hello?"

"Mr. Stark? It's Mrs. Forman. I'm calling because there was an incident. We tried to call your personal phone but you weren't picking up."

"Yes, I apologize, I left it in the hotel room this morning. What happened? Is To-Lilah okay?"

"As of right now, she's fine."

"What do you mean, 'as of right now'? What happened?"

"We already contacted Mr. Hogan and he's on his way to the hospital with her."

"The hospital? Why is my daughter on the way to the hospital?" He muttered, waving off Pepper and running a hand down his face. "What did she do?"

"It's not something she did, per se, but she did break her wrist."

"Whoa, wait. What? What do you mean she sprained her wrist?" He covered the microphone, turning to Pepper. "Book me the next flight home. Now."

"And she sprained her ankle, Mr. Stark."

"What the hell happened to my daughter, Mrs. Forman?"

"She was on the monkey bars and slipped off. She landed on her wrist, and another kid fell on her foot."

"I can't believe this." He mumbled, hanging up the phone. He looked over at Pepper, worry on her face. He shook his head, before looking back out the window.

He landed in LA two hours later and arrived home an hour later. The car was in the driveway, and he practically barged into the house. Tokyo and Happy were sitting on the couch, eating pizza and hot wings. They froze as soon as they saw Tony, Happy slowly standing and exiting the room. Tokyo set her food down, not looking at him.

"I got a call from the school." He said, slowly walking towards her.

"I know." She tried to move over, but he stopped her.

He sat down on the other side of her, examining her injuries. "Want to tell me what happened?"

"I fell off the monkey bars." She was watching the TV, but she wasn't focused on it. He turned it off, pulling her attention back to him.

"How so?"

"I don't know. I was climbing them with Alex, and then I heard Jonah's voice in my head, and I was looking for him but he wasn't there. And then when I had gotten to the next monkey bar, there was a zap and I fell."

"And Alex? Did he feel it too?"

"Yeah, but he was a little behind me."

"How behind?"

"Like two."

"Can I see your cast?" She lifted it, and he grabbed it slowly. Her fingers were purple and blue in some spots. "Those are some nasty bruises."

"Mhm," She tried to move them around, but winced at the pain. "I can't write with my left hand, so I don't know how I'm gonna do my schoolwork, Daddy."

"Don't worry about that, hm? I'll talk to the principal and your teacher. Okay?"

"Okay."

He turned the tv back on, laying back. "So, what were we watching?"

"Anastasia."

"Again?" She nodded, face turning red. "Alright, let's do this."

"Wait!" She turned her head slightly, hand on his to stop him from pressing play. "Happy!"

"Uh, Dad?" Tony looked up from his lab station, Tokyo standing at the entrance. She looked nervous and...embarrassed? "Um, something happened."

"What?" He put down his tools, moving towards her. "Are you okay?"

"I kinda started..." She trailed off, looking at him in hopes that he picked up what she was putting down. He was clueless.

"You kinda started what? A fire?"

"N-no, I, uh, my, uh..." She covered her ears. "JARVIS help."

"It appears Ms. Stark has started her menstrual cycle," JARVIS answered.

The color drained from his face. "Oh."

"I, uh, asked Pepper if she could bring me some, uh, you know."

"Pads, sir." JARVIS clarified.

"I know, JARVIS." He looked at her, not knowing what to say.

"I'm going back upstairs." She turned, but he stopped her.

"Next time, tell me. I'll get them for you." He felt awkward, but she was his responsibility. His parenting classes had informed him of the situation and how to handle it, but he didn't realize it would be so soon. "I'm your dad. Don't be embarrassed."

"Okay."

"Do you need anything else?" She thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Okay. I'll be up to make dinner in a bit."

"Okay." And with that, she sprinted up the stairs.

Tony was fuming. He felt as if smoke was coming out of his ears. He doesn't think he's been this angry before. Let alone at Tokyo. Not even when she broke his prototype.

He didn't say a word the whole way home. He gripped the steering wheel, glancing at her from time to time. She was avoiding him, staring out the window the whole ride home.

He had pulled up to the driveway, parking the car. She jumped out, racing to the front door. By the time he got to the door, she was heading inside. "Where do you think you're going?"

She stopped her beeline to her room, standing still and facing away from him.

"Look at me." She turned, backpack hanging from her shoulder. It was then that he realized she was different. He just couldn't place it. "You're not getting out of this."

"I'm not trying to." She raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me what happened." He crossed his arms over his chest, foot tapping impatiently. She looked away from him, picking at her fingernails. "Now, Lilah."

"What's going on?" Pepper came out from the office, followed by Happy. She looked worried.

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Watch yourself!" His jaw clenched, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Lilah punched a kid at school."

"What?" Pepper looked at her, stepping forward slightly. "Why, Tokyo?"

The young girl huffed, looking down at her hands. "He wouldn't stop grabbing me, even after I told him to stop."

"He grabbed you?"

"You can't just hit someone every time they touch you!" Tony exclaimed, shocked at what he was hearing.

"I don't! It was just this one time!"

The energy in the room was high, Tony thought he could hear static.

"It doesn't make it okay!"

"Stop!" Pepper yelled, holding up a hand to quiet Tony. She walked forward to where she could talk to her. "What do you mean that he grabbed you?"

"I wasn't paying attention to him, so he kept on grabbing my wrist. I told him to stop and he grabbed my waist and turned me to face him. And I punched him in the face."

It was at that moment that he realized what had happened. She was standing up for herself. Defending herself.

"He's done this before?" Tony asked, quieter.

"It's okay, it doesn't bother me anymore I don't know why I-"

"It's not okay," Pepper interrupted her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you punched him."

"Did you explain this to the principal?"

"Yes, but he didn't care." She looked towards Happy, who hadn't spoken. "It's my fault. If I paid attention to him he wouldn't have grabbed me the way he did and it's my fault."

"No, it's not." Pepper turned to him, anger evident in her eyes. "Tony, you have to do something."

"There's no point!" She cried out, obviously frustrated with the whole ordeal. "Can we please just drop it? I'm already suspended, so there's no point."

"I can call the principal and-"

"Just drop it!" She threw her hands up, the power cutting for a second before turning back on. She turned and sprinted up the stairs to her room.

Happy followed her after a few moments, leaving Pepper and Tony alone.

"You need to call the school and sort this out."

"I will. I just, I need a moment to process what she just told me." He sat down on the couch, head in hands. "I was hoping, that she would never have to deal with this."

"I think we all did. It's not something we want to happen."

"No, it's not." Sighing, he looked at her. "She's fourteen. How long do you think this has been going on?"

"I-I'm not sure, Tony. Honestly."

"She's come home a few times with bruises on her arms. You could tell that someone had grabbed her but I..." He trailed off, disappointment in himself setting in. "I brushed it off."

"You couldn't have known."

"I did." They turned as Happy walked down the last few steps, a sad look on his face. "She told me that this boy was bothering her, grabbing her to get her attention. She gets uncomfortable every time she's around him. I told her, 'next time he grabs you, sock that fucker in the face.'"

"Guess she took your advice." Tony looked down at his hands, picking at his fingernails. "She won't even talk to me."

"She's scared of approaching you." He looked regretful as soon as the words slipped out. "Says she doesn't want you to be angry at her."

"Why would I be angry?"

"I think you should talk to her. Let her tell you. Let her know that you're there."

"Take her an ice pack, and talk to her while you're up there," Pepper told him, leaving no room for argument.

Nodding, he followed her advice. He went up after the sun had gone down, assuming it was enough time to allow her to cool down. When he entered her room, she was curled up on her bed, facing the window. Her room was dark, the only light coming from the moon. Lilah was watching the waves crash against the shore before pulling back into the ocean.

Much like her.

"I'm sorry for punching that kid." She mumbled, voice hoarse.

"I'm not." He sat on her bed, waiting until she was facing him to hand her the ice pack. "You did the right thing."

"It's just, he creeps me out." She started, and Tony felt a tiny bit of happiness at her opening up to him.

"Maybe you should be rude. Let him know that you mean business."

"I was at first, but he wouldn't go away. So I just gave up."

He felt helpless. So he talked slowly, hoping it would come to him.

"I'm going to call the principal, and tell him about what happened-no arguing." She nodded, closing her mouth. She twirled the bracelet around her wrist, the red star in the middle glimmering every time it hit the moonlight. "But you're already suspended, and I'm not going to try and revoke that."

"So I have to stay here with Happy for the rest of the week?"

"No," He spoke before he could think. "I'm taking the rest of the week off. I miss spending time with you. Feel like I never see you anymore."

"Me too." She sat up, adjusting the ice pack. "I didn't do this for attention, just so you know."

"Oh, I know." The idea came to him, right then and there. "I hope you'll tell me the next time this kid bothers you though."

"I will." She stood up, stretching out her hand. "I have to go apologize to Pepper. I was mean."

He chuckled. "Yeah. I don't think she cares about that. I think she's worried more about you. But still, apologize."

"I am."

"Okay, go say you're sorry and then start making dinner. I need to make a phone call."

"How'd it go?" Happy asked as soon as they walked in the door. Tokyo shrugged her shoulders, sighing. "Uh oh."

"Yeah, I-" She took out her license, a smile taking over her face. "Passed!"

"Congratulations!" He pulled her in for a hug, placing a kiss on her head. "Who taught you better? Me or your old man over there?"

"Hey, I'm not old," Tony spoke up, placing the keys on their hangar. "Second, I taught her better."

"You both taught me amazingly well." She began towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go call Jonah, give him the good news."

A scream came from up top, Jonah's laughter filling the air. Tony was about to run up the stairs when Happy stopped him.

"Jonah's up there," Happy told him. "Wanted to surprise her."

"More like scare her," Tony added, heading into the kitchen.

"Do you think she's doing better with him here?"

"I mean, she's happier."

"But not better."

"Look, I love Jonah. He's my godson and her best friend," He lowered his voice, not wanting anyone else to hear. "But I think he's making her worse."

"How?"

"I could feel it. It's not right." He sighed, making his way to the fridge. "Plus, she was crying the other night. Couldn't sleep. She was having nightmares."

"Like, the ones in New York?"

"Exactly like those. She said that these were worse. Scarier. They seemed more real."

"Tio Tony!" Jonah called. He turned to find both teenagers climbing down the stairs, his godson outstretching his hands. "How are you?"

He hugged the boy, an uneasy feeling clawing at his stomach. "Hey Jonah, what are you guys doing?"

"She told me about her license. Sucks she got it the day before we graduate."

"You have your license," Tokyo interjected, narrowing her eyes at him. "You've made it quite clear."

The environment got very hostile. Not physically, but emotionally. Mentally. Tony felt the air around him thicken and felt as if there were static.

Jonah laughed it off, hugging the girl. She hugged him back, hesitantly. "Alright, well. I've got to go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

They bid their goodbyes. Tokyo ran upstairs to get ready for tomorrow.

"Did you feel that?" Happy asked, eyes wide.

"What did I say?" He leaned in closer.

"Do you think something happened?"

"I fucking hope not."

"She's two people down from this side." Pepper pointed out Toyko, who waved at her family.

"Can't believe she's already graduating. I feel like she just went into kindergarten yesterday." Happy spoke up, having been there since she was a toddler.

"I know. This is it. Besides college." Tony said, watching as she quickly became next in line.

The purple gown and cap were on every female student, the males in white. She was wearing the white dress she wore to her father's parties, white flats as well. The silver bracelets she never took off were on her wrists, and she wore silver hoops as well. Who knew he would have focused on her outfit this much?

"Lilah Stark." The teacher called.

They cheered her on, watching as she shook hands with the principal and took the photo with her diploma. She was smiling the whole way back to her seat, speaking to the girls in front of her.

Tony didn't realize it until he was outside, but he was crying. She came out of the stadium, eyes searching for her dad. When they made eye contact, she practically ran at them.

"Congratulations baby," Tony muttered into her hair, arms wrapping around her as she hugged him tightly. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Daddy." She let go of him, hugging Pepper and Happy. "Where's Uncle Jason, and Jonah, and Aunt Vivie?"

"I'm not sure." He looked around, not spotting them anywhere. They didn't sit together at graduation. "Maybe we'll see them at the house later."

At the house, Tokyo rid herself of the cap and gown. They threw a small party, just the four of them. Tony was telling stories of her childhood, drunk and tears streaming down his face.

"Okay, Dad, I kinda have a surprise for you." She spoke up, and he turned his attention to her. She lowered the music that was currently playing, pulling out a letter from one of the books.

"Oh, Tony, you might want tissues handy." Pepper nudged him.

"Okay so, Daddy, I have to let you know that I wrote this a few years ago. And then some more at like 3 am."

"I feel special." He chuckled, sipping on his whiskey.

"Yeah," she nervously laughed, straightening the paper. "Dear Daddy, if you're listening to this, it means that I've finally graduated. I made it through senior year, and am now on my way to college. I'm writing this early because you never know what could happen. I might graduate earlier than expected, or I might graduate on time.

"I know you're upset that I didn't go to MIT at 14 as you did. But I did apply to MIT and I got a full-ride scholarship for civil engineering. I began thinking of your stories. You spent your teenage years in college and less at home with grandma and grandpa. I wanted to do that too, but I couldn't bring myself to leave you. I wanted to spend the rest of my adolescent life with you in every way I could. I didn't want to leave you sooner than I had to. You are my soulmate. You understand me in a way no one else does. Happy once said that we were more alike than different. If I remember correctly he said, 'Stop finishing each other's thoughts. You guys are creeping me the fuck out.' We were talking about getting a sandwich from Subway and had gone for the same sub.

"Moving on, I want you to know that I love you, so much."

Her voice cracked, and she fanned her face with her hand.

"I know I worried you a lot when you went on business trips. I told you it was because I was afraid you would leave and never come back. At the time, I thought it was because you had the choice to leave me. As I got older, I realized that wasn't the reason. I feared you would leave me, but not by choice. I can't imagine what it's like raising a child, let alone raising a daughter. You did a great fucking job, Dad. I know you have moments of self-doubt. But believe me, you're the greatest fucking person on Earth."

"Those are a lot of curse words, young lady." Pepper jokes, causing the group to laugh lightly.

"I owe you the world. You are the reason I was able to graduate. You encouraged me and battered me into becoming a great student. I really couldn't have done this without you. I graduated because of you, Daddy."

She was in tears, and so was he. They all were. Tony stood, hugging her tightly.

"I love you, you know that?' He kissed the side of her head.

"I love you more, my pretty boy."

Tony woke with a start.

He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He felt it. It was just that feeling. Getting out of bed, he went to check on Tokyo. She wasn't in her bed.

"Tokyo? Baby?" He called out as he walked downstairs. She wasn't there, and nothing was out of place. Running back to his room, he grabbed his phone and dialed Jason.

"Tony." He sounded panicked.

"Jason, is Tokyo there?"

"No, I was gonna ask if Jonah was at yours."

"He's not. And neither is Tokyo." He ran a hand over his face, suddenly remembering JARVIS. "Maybe JARVIS saw them."

Covering the microphone, he called out for the AI. No answer.

"What the fuck?"

"What?" Jason asked, worry evident in his voice.

"He's not answering." He walked over to his emergency computer, trying to find out the problem. "Oh, God."

'What, Tony? Did you find them?"

"No, J-JARVIS was disabled. Someone took Tokyo."

"Calm down. Are you sure it wasn't Tokyo who disabled it?"

"It-it wasn't her."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm watching the person who disabled him."

"Right now?"

"No, from five minutes ago."

[princessknightt]

Why You Should Give Yuri A Chance

So I made a reddit post and I’m just gonna dump all the text here and link it so you lovely folks could give it an upvote ;) I’ll link it first and just lol, do a read more thing under it if you’d rather read it on tumblr.

https://www.reddit.com/r/actuallesbians/comments/9paqmt/yall_should_try_reading_yuri_mangamanhwa/

So I've noticed a lot of lesbians and other wlw don't really read yuri manga or manhwa or manhua. And yes those are all different. Manga is Japanese, manhwa is Korean, and manhua is Chinese. There's also Thai yuri but I'm not sure what their comics are called. I have an idea why wlw don't read them and I'll agree with you gals. Yuri is sexualized and does have a bad reputation. BUT, and here's a huge but, it's definitely getting better. I could go into the history of yuri and why it was low-key, even high-key homophobic or sexist back in the day, but it's definitely getting better. If you only know of yuri from anime, then please throw that idea right in the trash. Yuri manga is different, there's actual lesbian authors and just woman authors in general that save the genre. 

I guess we can call this my Defense of Yuri. First of all, what yuri do people usually see and what's usually popular? It's stuff like Citrus and NTR that are popularized because they were animated. Also Happy Sugar Life and that new Loli Maid anime that's super gross. These manga are not really serious and end up being gross representations of what lesbians are like. And yet it's what's popular, leading people to believe most yuri is like this. This is wrong. There's a lot of yuri that is not fetishized and are published in yuri exclusive magazines such as Comic Yuri Hime or Yuri Shimai or Tsubomi. They also might just be original doujins that aren't officially published.

This brings me to my second point. Because the popular yuri titles are fetishized and really just paint yuri in a bad light, people wouldn't want to try diving into the genre. And that's the sad part because there are definitely queer authors who are making really good stuff that just isn't seen and supported enough to become popular. Nakatani Nio's Bloom Into You is a better yuri manga about discovering the MC's sexuality that isn't sexualized and is actually a serious work. It's also getting an anime adaptation so hopefully more people will give anime a chance. It's noteworthy that Nakatani Nio is a woman who, while she may not be queer, she actually understands how women think. That's honestly more important since the fetishized yuri tend to be made by men who have no clue.

So basically what I'm trying to get at is that the popular yuri titles are bad examples of what yuri is and can actually be, I'll list some examples of good yuri manga and a few manhwas and manhuas too. Before we go to the examples and recommendations, I just want to make sure that I reiterate that the popular yuri anime ain't shit and honestly you shouldn't really stream them either. Citrus is literally pseudo-incest, NTR is about cheating, Happy Sugar Life is about a pedophilic yandere, and the Loli Maid anime is pedophilic too. So yeah, just don't bother with them, they were definitely not written with women in mind. What you should do is try and support the queer and/or women authors who produce actual good yuri.

1. Tamen de Gushi by Tan Jiu (Chinese): So this one is one I think a lot of lesbians have actually read but this shit is super cute and about those two high school girls figuring out their feelings for each other. Unfortunately because of China's censorship laws, the author isn't allowed to show any explicit or even overt homosexuality in the story but it's still a really nice slice-of-life.

2. What Does the Fox Say? by Team Gaiji (Korean): Ah yes, another one that is fairly popular with lesbians I think. It's basically a dramatic romance between two office workers that's also a bit of a love triangle. It's very dramatic, kinda like a kdrama, and it's also very much gay. There's explicit gay content and you get invested in the story easily. (VERY NSFW)

3. Pulse by Ratana Satis (Thai): This is a more racy story about a heart surgeon and her patient haha. So it's definitely very dramatic but also very gay. Like wow it's gay as fuck. And the story itself is interesting and I got heavily invested in the drama too. (ALSO IT'S NSFW)

4. Collectors by Nishi Uko (Japanese): So this is a gem following the lives of two women who are avid collectors of things, and their relationship together. This is one of those rare ones where they're already together and it's just navigating their day to day lives in a very mature way. It's really nice.

5. Wife and Wife by Minamoto Hisanari (Japanese): So this is literally what the title says. It's slice of life with two women who married each other and it's their newlywed life. It's super cute and diabetes inducing and gay.

6. Bright and Cheery Amnesia by Tamamusi (Japanese): This one is a comedy about the trope where your lover gets amnesia but it's super cute because said lover immediately falls in love with you again. Except with two women and the humor is on point.

7. Strawberry Shake by Hayashiya Shizuru (Japanese): This is also a comedy, even going so far as a gag comedy about two idols and their love story. It's super funny and cute and one of my favorites because I read this when I was like, 15 and still questioning and it really just made me laugh. It was nice having a romantic comedy with a lesbian couple, er, pining lesbian couple.

8. Cirque Arachne by Saida Nika (Japanese): This is an interesting story about being in a circus and falling in love there. I'm not really sure how to describe it but it's really good.

9. The Love Doctor by Chamsae (Korean): This is a story about a college student consulting a "love doctor" about why she can't get a boyfriend (she doesn't actually feel any attraction to guys *hint* *hint*). And the doctor happens to also be gay oh my. But it's a nice drama that was honestly pretty relatable for me because I completely understood where the MC was coming from. And their relationship does get really cute and like all Korean manhwas, it's very reminiscent of a kdrama.

10. Bloom Into You by Nakatani Nio (Japanese): I already mentioned this story but this is a high school coming of age story. It's navigating the feelings the MC has and how those feelings "bloom." I think it's a very mature take on the typical high school love story and there's even an asexual male side character. I think it was nicely written and you can even buy the printed translated copies if you wanted.

These are just a few recommendations I have so if this post gets a lot of attention, I can make another post of recs that I think are good reads. You can find sites to read these through googling them and adding manga online or something, but most are found on dynasty reader (google it). Oh right, and also it's important to note whether it's Japanese or not because the Japanese ones are the only ones you read from right to left, the others are left to right. As an additional note, if anyone wants me to do like, a history of yuri or something, I can probably do that because god, I read too much. Or if you want more recs haha.

[buckys-beach]

The Girlfriend Tag

Imagine: You and Dan decide to give the fans what they want, and cute video of the internents favourite couple

A/N: I know this isn’t any thing about marvel but I couldn’t help myself, I’ve been watching all of Dan and hil’s videos and getting so many feelis. I just had to. Also I really should be doinf my German coursework, bit too late, Dan is more important

Warnings: Some swearing, implied smut but just fluff really

Word Count: 1955 (got a little carried away)

“Hello internet” Dan starts off with his iconic opener

“Today, I am joined by the wonderful Y/N, who you may also know as my girlfriend!” He exclaimed, giving out a laugh as your cue to jump into the camera view.

“Hey guys” You giggled, getting comfortable next to Dan

“Now you may be wondering what original video I have for you today, and let me tell you, it doesn’t get more original than this”

“We are doing the girlfriend tag!” You almost shouted, causing Dan to let out a rather loud groan.

“Jeez, lets tone it now my channel isn’t used to your happy attitude just yet” He joked, covering his ears

“Just because you literally only have the feeling of embarrassment, doesn’t mean I can’t be happy” You fire back, sending a smirk in his direction.

“Oh God, too much sass. I want Phil back” Your dork of a boyfriend joked

“Shut up, we kind of have a part of Phil with us now” You explained

“Really how so?” Dan played along

“Well, he did do the questions for us to answer”

“God knows what kind of weird stuff he has put in here; I don’t know if you guys have noticed but Phil is like obsessed with sharing our relationship with others. If he isn’t taking sneaky photos of us and tweeting them, then he is jumping into a room when we are together doing a live stream of us.”

 As Dan continued to talk about his best friend, you couldn’t help but admire his perfect features. His big, wide smile that would light up a room. His unusually large dimple that you found so adorable. How he is constantly touching and checking if his hair looks okay, which of course it does. And his dark drowns eyes, that you could stare into for days.

“..Y/n?” You were abruptly ripped out of your thoughts by Dan waving a hand in front of your face

“Sorry” You blushed, red staining your cheeks as you realised Dan caught you staring at him and will most definitely keep this part in his video, because, well let’s face it, a bit of an arse.

“What were you so caught up about?”

“Just admiring the view” You jokingly sent back and big wink. Now it was Dan’s’ turn to blush, whist also letting out a laugh

“That was so cringe, I might just have to take it out of the video.” Dan spoke to the camera; he was definitely not taking that part out.

“Right so to start this video I’m going to put my hand into the hat and pull out a question. The questions are basically letting you guys know even more about our relationship and hopefully teaching us a bit more about each other” Dan explained.

“Ohhhh can I go first?” You excitedly asked. You couldn’t help it, there was something so fun about doing a video with your boyfriend.

“Of course”

 You dove your hand into the hat, grabbing the first folded piece of paper you felt and pulled it out.

“Alright it says, ‘Where was our first kiss?’” For the second time you felt your cheeks heat up.

“I’m going to be so red this whole video, reckon you could like put a filter on me to make me look better?” You joked, however it wasn’t such a bad idea.

Dan laughed, before saying

“So do you want to answer or me?”

“You do it” You always loved hearing Dan talk about your relationship

“Alright, I remember it was our second date and we were just hanging in the living room eating pizza talking after just finishing up on the X-box. I was so nervous, just thinking about leaning in and possibly facing rejection and ruining it all. But then you made a joke out about anime and I knew I had to do it before someone else snatched you away” Dan smiled at the memory, you beaming right back at him.

“Then he just leant in and kissed me, obviously I didn’t turn down that face and now here we are two years later” You finished, butterflies erupting in your stomach at the fond memory.

“OK, next question” Dan stuck his hand in the hat rather ungracefully causing a few questions to topple out.

“Shit” he mumbled, throwing back three in the hat and reading out the remaining one on the floor.

“Finish this sentence ‘My girlfriend is a complete…..’” Dan stopped to think for a minute, you couldn’t help but anxiously wait for what he was going to say

“…..twat” He finally spoke. This caused you both to simultaneous burst out into a fit of laughter, clutching your stomach you couldn’t be surprised at what Dan said, it was so him. You knew Dan loved you with everything he had, it was very obvious. You guys didn’t have a mushy gushy relationship, it was more full of lots of jokes and banter, you guys were basically best friends,

“You are such and arse, why am I dating you?” You tried to sound upset, but the smile that you couldn’t wipe off your face gave it all away.

“You loveeeeee me really” He rather obnoxiously sung

“Actually Babe, I’m secretly in love with Phil and I only come round to your house on the chance that I will see my one true love” You lied, not helping but feel a bit weird by saying you like Phil, who was basically like a brother to you.

“That’s just mean, and a little gross” He complained

“Yeah I know; I have no clue why I said it” you giggled

“Right, my turn” You plunged your hand into the hat, pulling one out to read.

“‘Who wears the pants in the relationship?’ Ohh that’s hard” You thought.

“I know my answer” Dan said confidently

“Really? Alright let’s say our answers on three. One, two, three.”

This caused both of you to say ‘me’ at the same time.

“You’re kidding me right?” You said in disbelief to Dan

“What? Love, I’m always making the decisions”

“Babe, I literally always have to order for us at the cinema because you’re ‘too awkward to talk to new people’”

“Alright, alright I’ll give you that one, no need to share all my secrets on my channel”

Dan took out another piece of paper from the hat, causing yet again one to fall out.

“God, it’s clear to see who the clumsiest one of us is. And that’s hard because I could fall over standing still” You poked out at Dan. “Leave me alone, you are so mean. So it says, ohhh this is interesting, ‘who is more jealous’?” Dan read.

“Ohhh, that is” You both took a minute to think about it, recalling moments when the other has been jealous. Most of these moments resulting in some seriously fun times together, and just by looking at Dan and the lazy smirk he wore you knew he was thinking about them. You kicked him in the shins, under the view of the camera causing him to jump a little, then answering.

“I feel like you get jealous more often, but it’s not as intense as when I get jealous.” “Hmmm, yeah I reckon that’s fair to say.” You repeated, it wasn’t hard constantly having beautiful girls running up to your boyfriend, telling him how hot and sometimes the daring ones flirting with him. However, it had happened a few times when we were hanging around with Dan’s friends and one flirts with you, he gets mad.

“We only have a couple questions left” You sadly exclaimed, not wanting this video to be over.

“Let’s hope we haven’t saved the weirdest till last then!” Dan deadpanned

Grabbing one of the last pieces of paper you unfold it and read,

“‘what do I find really fun, that no one else really does?’” You laughed lightly at this weird question, thinking Dan would need a while on this one.

“You watch pimple popping videos” He answered straight away. You sat there with your mouth hanging open, a blush adorned on your cheeks,

“How did you know that? I always try to keep it on the down low” You exclaimed, shocked and slightly embarrassed that he knew

“Sweetheart, we’ve been going out for 2 years, we’ve been living together for 1, there is little that I don’t know about you”

“That’s kind of creepy and really cute at the same time. I knew I chose you for a reason” You hummed

“I’m not some Pokémon woman, don’t objectify me like that” He fired back

“Shut up and read the last question. Because as much as I love doing videos with you I need to cook us dinner, and get it done so it’s ready when Phil comes back from visiting his family.

“Aw look at you, you are literally the only reason we have survived this long. Anyway, here we go and I won’t knock out another question this time.” He took his time in dramatically picking out the question.

“Oh for god’s sake Phil, he’s such a child. It says ‘when did the two of you first sleep together?’”

A deep shade of red engulfs your face and you looked over at Dan with your mouth wide.

“What the hell, he did not just ask that?” You said shocked.

“Yeah you’re right, I’m joking. Lol” Dan admits, handing over the question for you to read aloud.

“It says, ‘Who/When fist said I love You?’ Now that is a cute question” You cooed, recalled that cherished memory that you held very close to your heart.

“Well, I don’t want to spill all the beans about our relationship just yet, so all that you guys will be knowing is that, Y/N said it first. Maybe we can do another gushy relationship story about that some other time. But for now that’s it.” Dan finished off the video and looked at you to continue.

“Thanks guys for watching hope you enjoyed it, and if you did please subscribe and request some more ideas of what we can do next. Byeeee” You finished

“That was so much fun” You turned to Dan, who was already lovingly gazing at you.

“You know I love you right?” He spoke

“Of course, and you know I love you too, so much” You replied inching your face closer to his.

“You know when you told me you loved me, when we were just lying in bed cuddling watching Breaking Bad, I think that that’s the happiest I’ve ever felt.” He confessed. As much as you loved the banter and jokes in this relationship, nothing felt better than Dan confessing his feelings to your, he really did complete you.

“I was so nervous that I had said it too soon, but I’m so glad one of us plucked up the courage to say it” You murmured, now lips a mere centimeter away from each other.

Dan quickly closed the gap between the two of you and soon had his hand on the back of your head pulling you closer. Automatically you brought your hands up to caress his cheeks and you two shared one of the most passionate kisses in your relationship.

Dan gently pushed you back onto the bed and slipped his hand down to your waist, when you suddenly remembered something.

“Dan the camera is still on!”

“Oh fuck yeah, thank God it isn’t a live stream” He jumped up to turn the camera off, leaving it on the side to edit later.

But he only had one thought on his mind now. You. Jumping back next to you on the bed you two finished off what you had started