#i actually spent the last two weeks studying and stuff

[rmu-vincent]

I apologise for being inactive on here. The whole space-and-time-continuum issue makes it harder to access the website sometimes, and in addition to that, I had exams to pass and study for, and after those, I took a few days off with a certain friend of mine. Hopefully, with more time on my hands I will be able to write more entries here.

[ladyylesbian]

Sorority Rules (18+)

Pairing: dom!wandanat x sub!fem!original character

Summary: ‘New Year, New Me’ can start in September...right?

Warnings: MINORS DNI! Pet names, mommy kink, daddy kink, reader has a name? (Honestly idk anymore, tell me if I missed something?)

Word Count: 11.2k

A/N: This really was just me proving something to myself, but I hope you enjoy it all the same :) Continuation of this story is on AO3

you do not have permission to translate/repost my works anywhere! all mistakes are mine and mine alone. likes, comments, and reblogs are always welcome & appreciated <3

Freshman year left you beat down on the floor. You had been roomed with a girl named Hela. The two of you had hit it off instantly. In fact, you spent so much time together that everyone would know if they found one of you, then they could find the other nearby, definitely helped that you somehow had the exact same class schedule. By the end of the first semester, Hela asked you out and one week later, she asked you to be her girlfriend. 

What was the happiest month turned dark and lonely. Hela spent more and more of her time focused on her sorority since being officially accepted. She had set completely insane restraints on you. You had to text her every hour whenever you were apart, it didn’t matter that she wouldn’t acknowledge your messages. She even would rarely show up at the dorm room to sleep, claiming that the sorority house was where she needed to be, but demanded a picture of you in bed every night. 

You had long since given up expecting to see her anywhere but during classes, however, when she sat down with the other girls in her sorority looking you right in the eyes as she did, you finally broke. That was your time together and she was so obviously picking them.

That only snowballed into her eating lunch in the quad with them too. She took you to a few sorority parties and introduced you to her ‘favorite person’ and sorority big sister, Carol. The two were attached at the hip which quickly left you to nurse a drink off in the corner. 

You didn’t have the backbone to say anything, blindly hoping she would realize how much she missed you and run back.

It wasn’t until right before the end of year finals that Hela had stayed back in the dorm room once again. The two of you would study nonstop and laugh and joke. Everything you had spent months wishing for was happening. The girl you liked was back.

After finishing your last final before Summer break, you waited for her in the hallway. Less than 15 minutes later she pushed open the classroom door and stepped out. You locked eyes and she rushed up and gave you a hug. “Thank you so much, Madelyn. I really could not have passed these finals without you.”

Smiling warmly at the raven haired girl, “Always. It’s you and me all the time. I couldn’t show up to sophomore year without you next to me.”

Her eyes fell downwards before slowly reaching yours again. “About that, Madelyn, I think we should end things. You are just in such a different place than me and I am changing my major, so we won’t be in the same classes anyways. Not to mention, you can really blow up my phone and I am just not into that. But thank you so much for the help this year.” You can’t help but stare at her wide eyed, blinking repeatedly as you try to process her words. She pats your cheek before turning around and walking down the hall “Have a good summer!”

The only thought running thought your mind is ‘what the fuck.”

-

You cannot believe this day is finally here, sophomore year of college. After a thoroughly disastrous freshman year, you are determined to completely turn your life around. A new roommate, new classes, if you can be picky, then hopefully a solid friend group will be thrown in there too. 

It was still a few days before the actual first day of classes, but you wanted to get into your new dorm and settle in. There were quite a lot of other students with the same idea, all unpacking their parents cars that were stuffed full. You quickly paid the taxi driver and hopped out the back seat. He opened the trunk and lifted your suitcase onto the road. 

Dragging your bag up the sidewalk and settling in the line waiting for the booth to find your new dorm room and collect the room key. You look around, wondering if your new roommate is in this same crowd, thinking if her parents are holding back tears as they hug her goodbye. 

Thankfully, before you can stumble too far down that path, you reach the front of the line. “Name and year?” 

“Oh, uh, Madelyn Andrews. Sophomore.” She flips through the pages and finds your name with ease. Looking down into her organized box of keys, she picks up on set, “Room 616.”

With a soft smile, you accept the key and head towards the sophomore dorms.

Thankfully, there’s an elevator in all the dorm buildings once you’re no longer a freshman. You always joked that it was the university’s way of hazing the entire freshman class. 

The slow elevator had you wondering if you could have walked the stairs and ended up there faster, but eventually, opened onto the sixth floor. You held your breath as you walked up to your door. 

Pressing your ear against the wooden surface and straining to try and hear any movement. It sounded completely empty inside. With a quick ‘thank you’ to the skies above, you push the key into the lock and turn, opening the door. 

Unsurprisingly, it is the same layout as your freshman year dorm, not that you were superstitious, but in the spirit of completely turning your life around you opted for the bed on the right this time.

It didn’t take more than an hour for you to put away your clothes and set up the small mementos of your friends from back home. Walking back over to your suitcase, you pull out a small blanket that barely is long enough to cover your legs and hide it under your pillow. 

Laying on your new bed and scrolling your university’s Instagram page, trying to find something to do that can pass the time. That’s when you see there is an early bird trivia event being hosted at the student center in ten minutes. 

Taking a second to think, you come to the conclusion that this is the perfect chance to meet new people. Reinvent yourself as someone social, someone beyond only one friend turned girlfriend. 

Softly pushing yourself off the elevated bed, you walk over to the shared closet and pull out your favorite white crew neck in case the temperature drops after sunset. With an unbalanced turn, you spin around and pull on your black and gray checkered vans. Hopping over to the mirror to give yourself a fast once over then heading straight out the door.

It’s only a short walk to the student center from your dorm this year, which you’re thankful for, perfect for meeting new people. 

Remembering how heavy the student center door is, you pull hard on the handle. The universe must be laughing at you because that seemed to be the wrong choice. The usually heavy door was light this year and you have just thrown the door as wide as it would go, causing a decently loud sound. 

A few students near the door look at you, but thankfully the other students further into the building haven’t seemed to notice a thing. Which is where the trivia is being held, so you awkwardly walk through the doors and inside.

“Hello, welcome to early bird trivia: musicals. Are you joining a team or registering a new one?” states a wide eyed brunette woman. 

“Oh, I didn’t know we had to have a team..” you begin to look around for anyone you might vaguely recognize. “Not a worry, dear. We have another girl looking for a team too. You two can partner up.” She starts to wave over a blonde, who’s smiling bigger than you would think possible.

She continues, “This is..” she pauses waiting for you. “Madelyn.” 

“And she needs a team as well. So, what will the team name be?”

Before you even have a moment to think of something clever, the blonde speaks up, “Mac n Cheese Lovers.” You cannot help but snort at her abruptness. The brunette hands you a paper and pencil to write down your answers on, “Good luck ‘Mac n Cheese Lovers.”

Following the blonde over to a table near the smoothie bar along the left wall, as she sits down she introduces herself, “Hey. My name is Yelena. I hope you like Mac n Cheese or this team name will be super awkward,” she snickers.

You shake your head slightly, “The name is perfectly fitting. I’m a huge fan,” you laugh, “My name is Madelyn. It’s nice to meet you. So what year are you in?”

“Sophomore,” the blonde replies, “How about you?”

“Same, sophomore.” The two of you continue with small talk for a couple minutes until you hear the game host start speaking. He gives a quick introduction of his name and lets everyone know he’s the student activity director, so he plans all university approved events. Which leads him to a quick warning that means no drinking or drugs at these events since he’s required to report them to the Dean. Then, he gets into the trivia rules.

Once he finishes, Yelena leans over to you, “We have to win. Or at least beat my annoying sister and her girlfriend.” 

You raise your eyebrow at the woman, “If you knew people, how come you didn’t team up with them?”

She waves off your question before pointing them out, “See those two redheads? That’s them. They are insufferable at any sort of competition. We need to show them up and win, so I hope you’re a musical lover because I am most certainly not a musical theater major,” she chuckles as she finishes her sentence.

“They do look insufferable,” you agree with the blonde, “and lucky for you, while I am not a musical theater major, I am a lover of Broadway, so get ready to kick some ass.”

Yelena claps you on the back and laughs, “I like you, Madelyn. Let's do this.”

“Okay, everyone, first question. What musical movie has the song ‘It's the Hard-Knock Life’?”

You quickly write down ‘Annie’ on the paper next to the number one as he repeats the first question.

“Second question, the musical Hairspray is set in what American city?”

Once again, you write down ‘Baltimore’ immediately next to the number two as he repeats the question. 

And the process repeats itself all the way to the end. You, unsurprisingly, knew every answer, besides two. Thankfully Yelena seemed very confident in the answers, which led you to learning that while she was not an overall musical lover, she was obsessed with ‘SIX’, claiming ‘they all should have just murdered that idiotic king’. 

By the end, you and Yelena are laughing together and being shushed by other teams around you trying to think. Yelena pays them no mind while she tries to watch and see if her sister and her girlfriend are guessing the answers correctly by the way she’s writing. You tried to tell her that would be impossible to know, but the blonde paid you as little mind as she did the surrounding teams. 

Finally, the host announces for everyone to settle down and starts going over the list of correct answers. Yelena is practically levitating off the seat with how excited she is. Your team got every question right. “Okay everyone, count up your total of correct answers.” He waits a few seconds before beginning again, “raise your hand if your team got more than five correct.”

Faster than lightning, Yelena's hand is in the air, yours follows quickly. “Raise your hand if your team got more than ten correct.” Three other teams' hands go down. “Raise your hand if your team got more than fifteen correct.” Another two teams’ hands lower. Leaving your team, two other teams, and Yelena’s sister’s team, much to the blonde’s annoyance. 

“Raise your hand if you got more than seventeen correct.” One team puts their hands down. “Raise your hand if you got more than eighteen correct.” The other team drops their hands. Making the final two teams, ‘Mac n Cheese Lovers’ and ‘Traitors’, if you were to believe Yelena. 

“Looks like we have a tight race everyone, how exciting, keep your hands up if you got all twenty questions correct.” A moment of tense silence falls over the room, the redheads slowly lower their hands. A loud, piercing scream sounds off beside you, “Yes! Ha! I won! So much for ‘Yelena you don't know anything about musicals. Go find your own team’.” The blonde begins doing her victory dance as you laugh. She grabs your hand and motions for you to victory dance with her. And how could you say no when you are equally excited about the win.

“We have our winners, everyone congratulations to..” the host drags off his sentence.

“Mac n Cheese Lovers!” the two of you say while laughing and dancing together.

“Congratulations to ‘Mac n Cheese Lovers’. Thank you to everyone for coming out and starting off this year with a bang! I will see you at the next activity!” Slowly everyone staggers out of the student center and into the night as you’re exchanging Instagrams with Yelena and saying your goodbyes. 

Not even three steps away from the table, you hear someone speaking to Yelena, “Clearly, you didn’t win with your own lack of knowledge. So, what’s her name?” Not wanting to look back and have them know you’re listening, you keep walking as you hear Yelena reply “Madelyn. Why?”

Cursing yourself for not slowing down because now you’re too far away to keep trying to listen, you look over your shoulder right before walking out the doors. Locking eyes with two pairs of green eyes staring back at you.

-

Spending most of your days walking around campus and figuring out the quickest way to each of your classes, then finding a second route.., and a third route, just in case. Eventually making your way to the cafeteria since it’s the only food place open on campus until classes begin and sitting out in the quad people watching as more and more people arrive. You haven’t met up with the blonde, or the two mysterious redheads, you met at trivia since. However, you are often sending memes back and forth which you take as a small step towards your first new friend of the year. 

It’s officially one day until classes start and you still haven’t met your roommate. You have considered walking back to the welcome booth and asking if you even have a roommate since it’s extremely uncommon to not be moved into the dorms by this time. 

As much as most people would love to strike luck and get a free single, that is the absolute last thing you want. 

The universe finally seems to answer your silent worrying and wishing as you hear someone fumbling with the keys outside your door. Quickly, you hop from the bed and rush to open the door. Coming face to face with a dark haired brunette.

“Oh, good, you’re moved in already!” Taken aback by the woman’s words, your focus shifts between her and the large number of boxes next to her in the hallway.

“Do, uh, do you need help?”

“That’d be great. My name’s Kate. You’re Madelyn, right?”

A wave of shock hits you at hearing someone you’ve never met know your name. Seeing the look on your face causes Kate to laugh. She starts to shimmy inside and you hurriedly move to the side, so she can walk in easier. Once she’s in, you step out of the room and pick up one of the boxes. “It is, yeah. So, where do you want this?”

“You can just throw everything on the bed.”

It doesn’t take long for the two of you to move everything into the small dorm. Laughing as you both try to move around with the now limited floor space since Kate’s bed was quickly filled up with boxes. 

After an offer to help the brunette unpack her things, you figure out she is quite uncaring about her clothes, but she is very particular about her bow. You learn she joined the school archery team last year, but already stands to make captain for her second year. 

She tells you about how last year, on a dare, she hit the bell tower with an arrow. “So, you were the one who caused the crack in the bell tower?” Covering your mouth to try and hide your laugh. She looks at you with wide eyes, “I can’t confirm or deny which clock tower it was.”  

Which only causes you to lose all control and laugh wildly out loud. 

-

Successfully surviving the first four weeks of your second year in college, you get to celebrate at the first football game of the season. Thankfully, Kate is not into the sorority scene like your ex was, so you can go to the game together rather than alone.

With your back against your bed and your feet up the side of the wall, you’re waiting for Kate to get back from her archery practice. She made captain last week which led to you both sneaking out of the dorm at midnight and walking to the nearest pizzeria for a celebratory pizza. Your memory was promptly interrupted by the door slamming into the wall, “Shit. Sorry.”

Laughing at Kate’s mumbled apology to the girls next door who always complain about you two being unnecessarily loud. The brunette throws her sweaty t-shirt at your face which you quickly launch back at her as she softly shuts the door. 

“Hurry up and get ready, Bishop. The game starts in thirty minutes and you smell like a wet dog.”

“Your words are so sweet. Dipped in honey I would say,” Kate’s words laced with sarcasm as she playfully flips you off while kicking off her shoes. 

“Only in honey? You don’t get the soft rose petals or melted chocolate too?” Your words only earn you a deadpan stare from the archer. With a grunt, you push yourself off the wall and sit upright, “Don’t forget that tonight is a black out game, so you need to be in all black to show support.”

“Oh yes, I would hate not to show support. Unfortunately, all my black clothes are currently dirty-”

“I know, which is why I took the liberty of doing our laundry earlier today. Your outfit is laid out on the bed.” You say with a smile and move to make your fingers into the shape of a heart.

Kate can’t help but roll her eyes and laugh, “Of course, you did.” Walking up to her shower bag and picking it up, she heads to the door. “I will be back in no less than 10 minutes, Sargeant,” winking at you, knowing you hate the nickname, before quickly mumbling out, “and thank you for doing my laundry. You’re the best.” and walking out of the room.

Rushing a quick ‘You’re welcome’ out before the door shut. You begin getting dressed yourself, deciding on a black halter top and some black jean shorts with your black high-top converses. Throwing your hair up into a high ponytail, then pulling out your baby hairs so you don’t look like an egg.

True to her word, Kate walks back in 10 minutes later as you put headphones in and stare at the ceiling, you give your roommate privacy to get ready. 

Feeling your headphones ripped out of your ears causes you to face the archer as she smiles, “How do I look? Andrews approved?” Kate stands in front of you in black long sleeve cropped top and blacked ripped jeans.

Jokingly, you raise an eyebrow at her, faking a moment of contemplation before returning the smile, “You look hot. You will definitely grab whoever’s attention you want.”

“I don’t want anyone's attention, '' the brunette scoffs.  

“Sure you don’t and I don’t hope that my 7am professor is sick on Monday,” you retort.

“I don’t even think she is gonna be there,” Kate starts pulling on the sleeves of her shirt, “I don’t think football games are her thing.”

You take a moment to consider what to say. It’s been months since you had a crush on anyone and wanted to try and impress a girl. When you first found out your roommate started crushing on someone, you had been relentless in attempting to have her confess who it was. But as stubborn as you were, Kate was also head strong in keeping her secret. 

“Her loss then. We can post a picture and she’ll see everything she misses out on by skipping the game,” you wink. Linking arms, you and Kate walk out of the dorm and head to the field. 

The first stop you both make is the concession stand since food is the top priority any time the two of you leave the dorm together. Ordering you both an ICEE, yours being coke flavored and Kate’s cherry, and a hot dog each. 

Once arriving at your seats, you turn around and ask the girls behind you if they could take a picture for you. You both hold up your ICEEs, smiling as you cheer for the picture. 

Kate posts the picture on her Instagram, tagging you, and captions the post ‘I’m only here for the ICEEs’.

Quickly commenting ‘and my amazing company’ under her post. Then posting the picture onto your story with hearts underneath.

It’s not until the third quarter that you both finally relent and head to the bathrooms. While standing in line chatting about nothing and everything, the archer tenses beside you and presses herself between you and the wall, “what are yo-”

Kates proceeds to shush you and shrinks further into her hiding spot. Looking around to try and see what has your roommate acting so strange, you come up short since you don’t recognize anyone.

That is until you glance over to the concession line and notice Yelena, who you met your first day back on campus. Quickly turning around to Kate, “Oh, Kate. Do you remember how I told you I met this hilarious girl my first day back?“ You point over to the blonde, “She’s right there. Her name is Yelena.”

The brunette’s face pales suddenly. Worry rushes through you and your eyes immediately start scanning for what’s upset your friend so badly. Until it clicks, “Kate…Oh, Katie,” you start to whisper, “ is Yelena who you have a crush on?”

Her eyes met yours and you can tell you’re right. “I totally know her. I can introduce you if you want. Granted, I haven’t actually spoken with her for over a month, BUT we regularly exchange memes.”

Before Kate could give any response to you, you feel a tap on your shoulder and turn around.

“Madelyn, I thought it was you! How have you been?” Yelena says with a big smile on her face.

“I’m great. Settling into my classes and wishing I didn’t sign up for a 7am lecture that I completely don’t understand and will need to find a tutor for, the usual. How about you?”

As the blonde opens her mouth to reply, she notices Kate, “Bishop? Madelyn and Bishop? You two know each other?” .

“Roommates,” You both say at the same time before you continue, “We’re roommates. How do you know Kate?”

“She’s my lab partner,” she leans around you and looks at the brunette, “We have a project coming up and I’ve been meaning to reach out and figure out a time that works for you,” she runs her fingers through her blonde hair nervously.

A sneaky smile goes across your face, realizing that Yelena also seems to have a crush on Kate.

The archer stands up suddenly at her crush’s words, “I have archery practice most days, but I’m free on Tuesdays after 3pm, if that works.” 

Yelena simply smiles back, “Tuesdays are great, except, I’m in class until 4. How about you come to my apartment, it’s five minutes from campus, and we can eat and start our research?”

“Off campus?”

“Yeah, my sister and her girlfriend wanted to have a secluded place away from the sorority and invited me to stay there too.”

You nod, listening to the two speak while also trying to give them privacy by looking anywhere else in the slowest moving restroom line.

Suddenly, Yelena’s phone goes off, “Speaking of the devil,” she answers.

You can’t hear whoever it is super well over the crowd cheering at what must have been the best touchdown of the game but once they quiet down you hear that voice again from trivia night, the redheaded sister of Yelena.

The blonde turns over her shoulder to look near the concession line she just came from, “I just want a coke.” You look over in the same direction as Yelena, “No, I don’t want anything else. I will be right back. I was just saying ‘hey’ to Madelyn and Bishop. Get your underwear out of a twist. I’m heading back now. Bye.”

Your heart leaps out of your chest when you finally notice the redhead in line. Making eye contact with her deep green eyes for longer than normal which causes Kate to nudge your shoulder as it’s finally your turn to walk into the restroom.

“Sorry,” you mumble to your roommate before turning back with one final look, receiving a wink from both women.

Kate gives a quick goodbye to Yelena before she walks away and then pushes you through the door.

Your roommate tries to ask you about it in the restroom, but you firmly shut down that topic and turn the conversation around on her. If you had known her crush was on Yelena, then you would have tried long ago to set them up on a blind date. Which is probably why the brunette didn't say who she was spending her days thinking about.

Making your way back to the seats, thankfully, without running into anyone else, you try to wipe the redhead’s face out of your memory, feeling incredibly embarrassed for your behavior when seeing her. 

The last quarter of the game passes in a blur that you aren’t even aware the game ended until you notice the football players celebrating on the field and groups of people moving around you to leave at the same time. You glance up to the scoreboard and see the score, 30-28, your team winning.

Pulling out your phone, you swipe to pull up Instagram and post the scoreboard to your story, ‘our blood, our sweat, your tears’.

Linking your arm with Kate to make sure neither of you get lost on the way out of the stadium, the cool fall breeze whips at your shoulders the second you make it outside, but you welcome it after squeezing against every sweaty jock trying to get out of the stadium at the same time.

The two of you quietly laugh together when you look back to see people squeezing through the doors you just came through. 

Neither of you are paying attention and accidentally bump into someone, to your dismay it was Yelena’s sister. Your body goes rigid at the sight of her. A scowl on her face until she settles her eyes on you then she gives you a soft smile.

“So, so, so sorry about that. We should have paid more attention.” The redhead’s smile slowly grows bigger as you continue talking. “Sorry again.”

You go to turn away and drag Kate along when you feel a warm hand softly wrap around your bicep, “No, I should be ashamed for not giving you more attention when you’re around,” smirking slightly at you.

A small blush rushes to your cheeks, opening and closing your mouth a few times before giving a gentle nod to the woman before turning around again.

Once you are out of hearing range from the redhead, Kate starts laughing, “Oh, you’re like a fly trapped in the spider's web.”

With a quick glare to your roommate and a prompt slap to the arm, “Shut up.”

-

As you lay on your bed, winding down your night time routine, you decide to scroll Instagram. Liking posts from your roommate and best friend, Kate’s, account. You didn’t think you would get as close to the girl as you had, but the two of you got along surprisingly well. Usually, you would be watching a new episode of Grey's Anatomy together tonight, however, Kate finally gathered her nerves and asked out Yelena, her lab partner, on a date. 

Squealing and bouncing in your tiny dorm room bed, “Shut up! You did it? You finally admitted you have a crush on her?”

“I wouldn’t go that far!” The brunette laughs in response, “I just asked if she would want to go out to the new ax-throwing bar that just opened up.” She throws herself down on her back onto your bed, frowning and sounding much more somber. “But, Madelyn, Yelena asked if we could go this Thursday. She has to go to the sorority party this Friday.”

Moving around until you're laying down shoulder to shoulder with her, “Psh. Don’t even start, you are going and maybe even getting a second date for Friday.” Wiggling your eyebrows at her and shoving your body slightly into her. 

“If that happens, then you’re coming with me. You need to get out and finally move on from your ex.” Placing your hand over your heart, you playfully scoff and wave off a mumbled agreement, trying to steer away from another possible conversation to find out who your ex is.

Smiling as you recall the memory, you suddenly hear the door to your dorm unlock. 

Kate whispers to someone in the hall, who you assume to be Yelena, “Of course, I’d love to. See you tomorrow.”

Quickly, she walks in and immediately places her back on the door to close it. A wide grin on your roommate's face as she looks over to your bed. First kicking off her shoes, then running to jump into your bed. You stare at her, waiting for her to begin.

Kate sighs before exclaiming, “SHE ASKED ME OUT TO THE SORORITY PARTY TOMORROW!” Wrapping your arms around your friend as you jump together over the great news.”Get ready, Madelyn, you and I are going to a party!”

“Wait, Kate,” You pull back to look at her wide eyed, “I thought you were kidding.”

-

The party started at least an hour ago, but because of your indecisiveness on what to wear, which ended up just being a simple v cut blue dress with white high tops. As you both walk up, you stare at the brick house bursting with music. You hear Kate talking, “Party Rules 101. Don’t forget not to go upstairs with anyone. Do not accept a drink from anyone who is not me. I know you will want to leave early, so do not go without telling or texting that you’re heading out either. Okay?”

You blink a few times before you recognize she wants a reply, “Got it.” She smiles at you and takes your hands before walking up the porch steps.

Kate knocks on the white door. You wonder how anyone would be able to hear the knock inside with how loud the music is playing, but not even five seconds later the door is open. The sound of the music makes you take a step back. Anxiety washing over you instantly as you look down. You don’t even hear the words spoken between your friend and the redhead opening the door. 

Kate’s hold on your hand tightens in hopes to reassure you before she pulls you along to step inside. It isn’t until Kate’s other hand waves to get your attention off the floor that you look up and realize both girls are staring at you expectedly. “I’m sorry, what?” you say softly.

The redhead chuckles and repeats herself, “Hi, I’m Wanda and the Vice President here. We have two bathrooms downstairs, one by the kitchen and one by the laundry room. Also, two upstairs just in case. Drinks, of course, are in the kitchen or the backyard. Is there anyone you are looking for that I can direct you towards? Or anything I can get you to drink?”

“I’m looking for Yelena actually. Do you know where she is?” Kate quickly replies. “She’s in the living room playing beer pong,” Wanda points over to her left, “Go right through there and you will find her.”

With lightning speed, Kate drops your hand and rushes off to find the blonde. Your mouth hangs open as you stare off in the direction she flew. 

The redhead laughs as she looks at you before offering her arm, “Can I escort you anywhere?” Glancing around the foyer, you can't recognize anyone, so you nervously agree and link your arm with hers, “I don’t think I know anyone else here, so anywhere you want to go is fine with me.”

A bright smile spreads on the Vice President's face as she guides you out of the foyer and into the backyard to watch someone attempt a keg stand. You can’t help but look stunned as you watch the girl drink. “Would you like to try?” Wanda startles you with the question. Shaking your head no with absolute certainty that you could never have arm strength or lung capacity. 

After a few moments more of watching, she slowly guides you over to the pool. The redhead kicks off her shoes and motions for you to do the same. The two of you sit down along the edge and place your feet in the water. You start to mindlessly kick your feet along to the music that is playing throughout the speakers. “So, am I allowed to ask your name?”

Multiple memories come to mind with times the Vice President has heard your name, “I’m pretty sure you know my name.”

Wanda’s tongue drags underneath the bottom of her teeth, “Oh, I do, but I want to hear it from your pretty, little mouth.”

Your breath catches in your throat at her words, taking a moment to settle your racing heart, you slowly speak, “Madelyn.”

Deciding to try and control the conversation you cut her off before she could say anything else. “Do you usually take interest in random people that show up to your sorority’s parties?”

She chuckles at your question, “No, not usually. But I would not say you’re a random person. Plus I have never had the pleasure of someone as captivating as you walk through those doors.”

“Yeah, right.” You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the redhead. 

She grabs your chin and makes you look up at her, “Oh I didn’t take you for the bratty type.” You could have sworn that her eyes sparkled when she said that. 

You shutter, trying to think of a reply. Your brain is completely lagging at the touch and sound of her voice. Wanda’s thumb moves and pushes between your lips, “Is there anything even going through that little head of yours?”

A small groan rips it way out your throat and your eyelids droop slightly. The redhead pushes down slightly onto your tongue.

Mumbling around her thumb, “Yes.” 

The Vice President’s smirks at your reply, “Yes,” She mocks you, “Yes, to what?”

You shift your eyes back to her as you take in the specific color of her eyes, a sparkling green, this time a soft moan comes out of your lips, “Please..”

You think Wanda must take pity on you because suddenly she drops her hand from your mouth. Everything about her seems to return back to when you first walked in the house. She’s back to being sweet and polite, it makes your head spin. “What brings you to the party tonight, Madelyn? Well besides escorting Bishop, of course.”

This was a question you didn’t know how to answer. Why were you here in the backyard of your ex’s sorority spending time with her Vice President? Glancing around the backyard, noticing that you still don't know anyone here, you sigh, “Honestly, I’m not sure. Kate said I needed to come if she got a second date because, apparently, I need to move on.”

“And do you want to?” She looks at you expectantly, “Move on, that is.”

“I don’t even know what I would have to move on from. It’s been months since we broke up. And she didn’t care about me long before that anyways.” You let out a dry laugh, “I don’t even think she liked me. She just liked sex with me.”

The look on the redhead’s face makes you stop your ranting, “Sorry, that is not proper party conversation,” you force out a laugh, “way too depressing.”

She smiles, dragging her eyes down your torso and onto your legs then pulling them back up before landing her eyes back on your face. “How would you like to find something to drink?” 

Thankful for her change in conversation, you smile slightly, “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

The two of you make your way through the house and into the kitchen, “What will it be? Beer? Vodka?” walking around the kitchen as you listen to her talk. “... Or maybe a juice box?” 

Whipping your head around, you glare at the Vice President, scoffing, “I’m not a child. I can drink alcohol.”

Right after you speak, you hear someone laughing from the archway. “Oh, Wands, what a delightful surprise,” she steps further into the small kitchen, “Tell me you were able to get us this cute little thing to play.”

This makes you snap your head quickly around again. A rush of arousal runs through you when your eyes lock onto the redhead, “And who the hell are you?”

The cheshire smile on her face makes it clear she remembers you, she moves towards you before gently lifting up your hand as she bows her head to place a soft kiss on it, “To you, Madam President.” 

“What the fuck.” You snatch your hand away and look towards the sparkling green eyed woman before returning your gaze in front of you.

“Oh, what a dirty mouth, I will have to clean that out.” The redhead smirks at you. Another wave of arousal hits you, gulping as you maintain eye contact, “Like you’d get the chance.”

Wanda speaks up, breaking the growing tension in the room, “Darling, wouldn’t she just be…” walking up and placing a finger under your chin, her voice dropping, “...divine?” 

You shutter at her words. Eyes bouncing between the two redheads suddenly much closer to you than before. Realizing they have successfully surrounded you, your arousal spiking but you choose to mask with slight panic. “So what is this then? Two spiders trapping someone in their web and then going in for the kill?” Puffing out your chest slightly, trying to gain back some more control. “You think the President and Vice President would require consent.”

Wanda chuckles in your ear behind you, “Oh dear, we do.” Bringing her finger up to brush some hair behind your ear before speaking softly, “We only accept enthusiastic consent. Absolute begging.”

Your knees wobble slightly at her words. “A little archer told us that you needed to move on, and typically we wouldn’t do rebound sex, but you…” The President takes a sharp inhale through her teeth, “You are too special to pass up.”

“So what do you say, baby, want to be ours for the night?” Wanda whispers.

A million thoughts race through your mind. Most importantly, the fact you’ve never had a threesome or sex with people you don’t really know. You look around the kitchen and notice how nobody else even acknowledges the two redheads circling you like prey. 

“I say,” You gulp, mustering all the fake confidence you can find. “I say show me a good time first and we will see.”

The two women share a sinister smile before they each drape an arm around you and walk you out of the kitchen and into a room that only stores a pool table and some chairs. 

“We have the next game.” The President says to the small group finishing up their game before walking you over to the side of the room. She lowers her hands to your hips and lifts you with ease onto the barstool behind you.

Shock fills your face at her actions before you glare at her, “Excuse you. I am perfectly capable of sitting in a seat by myself.”

The redhead simply smiles at you before moving to stand next to the side of your chair, absentmindedly running fingers through your hair. 

“Hello? Earth to you. Usually, when someone speaks to you it's polite to respond.” You huff and cross your arms over your chest. She gently turns your head to look at her. “Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. I’m sorry, baby. I won’t do it again.”

“Madelyn, I have a name and it’s not baby.” You scoff, “What is your name anyways?”

She winks at you before smirking, “I told you. To you, it’s Madam President.”

“That’s not a name. That’s a title. What’s your name?” Your eyes met the redhead locked in a standstill. You already know you won’t last long. Her eyes trap you in endless pools of deep green. They are powerful and unmoving, you huff, “What’s your name, Madam President?” 

The President lifts her hand and holds your lower lip before pulling it down and out slightly, causing you to look through your lashes to maintain eye contact, the action making you feel as if you’re losing the last shreds of your control. The redhead presses down the slightest bit more before pinching your lip and releasing it, “Natasha.” 

Wanda, who has been repeatedly running her fingers from your shoulder to the knee, leans over you slightly if only to be in your personal space, “Natty, it’s our turn now.”

You go to hop down, but yet again your hips are grabbed and you’re picked up and put down by Natasha’s hands. You give her a glare even as a blush starts covering your cheeks.

“Tsk, tsk. Don’t be like that. I would hate to have to spank that gorgeous ass for the first time surrounded by all these people.” Your blush deepens with your embarrassment at the volume the redhead spoke. The heat pooling between your legs only causes you more confusion. 

The three of you walk towards the table. Natasha moves to rack the balls and Wanda takes you over to pick out a cue stick, grabbing one for Natasha as well. 

It’s decided that you will be on your own team, which you tried to protest by saying you have never played a game of pool in your life, but your complaints fall on deaf ears. 

Wanda starts off by breaking the balls, officially starting your unfair game. She gets a solid into a pocket, “That makes you stripes, baby.” She says in a sickeningly sweet voice before getting two more solid balls into pockets. 

Standing there with your mouth open, you begin to complain, “This is so unfair. There is no way I will be able to even get close to hitting even one of these balls in!” 

“Okay, okay, I’ll help you in the first round,” Wanda says, holding up her hands. She walks over to you and shows you how to bend down and how to aim your cue stick. You lean down like she showed you but still, you feel her hand press down between your shoulders as she speaks in your ear, “Like this, darling. Eyes level with your target.”

Acutely aware this position has almost completely folded in half on the pool table, you pull back the stick and then push it forward with a decent amount of force. 

And you completely miss. 

To make matters worse, you got one of their balls closer to the pocket instead. Groaning, you stand up and look unamused at the two redheads who are both trying to hold back their smiles at your reaction, “This game is stupid.”

Natasha comes up to the table, leans down, noticeably higher than the position Wanda moved you into. She breathes in and out, then hits the cue ball, causing it to sink a solid ball into the nearby pocket. She glances up at you, smirking, while still leaning down. Causing a completely automatic eye roll. The redhead arches her eyebrow at you before moving to a new spot. She leans down, breathes in and out, and.. misses. “HA!” You cheer as your stripe ball goes into the pocket instead of the solid ball that was next it. 

You walk up to the table for your turn and glance to Wanda for her help again. Natasha subtly shakes her head, which you don’t notice since she was behind you. Wanda simply gives you a nod of her head, encouraging you to try by yourself. So you lean down and focus on which ball you’re aiming for and what pocket is your goal.

Breathing in and out a few times before pulling back your cue stick on your inhale and pushing it forward on your exhale. As the stick connects with the cue ball you feel a stinging on your ass. You immediately stand up and spin around with a glare, “Hey! That’s not fair.”

The President laughs as she looks over your head, “Well, it seemed like good luck because you got the ball in.”

Spinning around again to see if she was lying but there, clear as day, you see your stripe ball missing from the table and sitting in the pocket. “Don’t think for a second that I won't punish whiny, bratty behavior though, baby.” Natasha whispers in your ear, her front flush against your back, “Now, say thank you.”

You shiver at her words. The logical part of your brain can’t stop wondering why you should thank her for spanking you, but when you feel her hands on your hips as she pulls them closer to her own, that part of your mind goes blank. The heat between your legs grows even hotter and you let out a soft sigh before fingers hook under your chin and guide you to look up at Natasha, “Say thank you.” She softly growls. 

“Thank you.” It comes out more as a pant than actual words but the redhead is pleased enough.

The rest of the game crawls by slowly as each redhead tries to work you up with innocent touches and whispered words. Your head becomes fuzzy in the best way, but even in this state you are completely aware that every other stripe ball that’s gone in is because of Wanda and Natasha simply trying to keep the game going. 

With all solid and striped balls now off the table it’s down to whoever can sink the 8 ball in the game. 

Wanda glances at you before smirking, “What if we make a little bet out of this?”

You can’t help but let out a dry laugh, “Are you joking? This whole thing is already a game of if you two can get me into bed.” Natasha licks her lips at your words, causing your cheeks to blush even more than they were. 

The Vice President ignores your reply, “Great! So I was thinking, if we sink the 8 ball, then you give us a strip show,” you arch your eyebrow at the redhead, “and if you sink the 8 ball, then you give us a strip show.” She winks at you. 

“That’s absolutely-” You're cut off by Natasha speaking, “Deal.”

“Deal?” You shriek as the two redheads shake each other's hand, “You two cannot agree on this without me also agreeing.”

They both come up to you and place a hand on your cheek, “And do, baby?” Wanda mumbles into your ear. Right after Natasha says, smirking, “Wanna make a deal?”

Your skin flushes at their voices, your mind hanging onto their every word. You slowly close your eyes and your head falls back slightly. Wanda lowers her head to breathe along your neck, occasionally brushing her tongue against it while Natasha’s fingers tangle around your hair, pulling it back. 

A soft moan hits your ears, shocking you when you realize it came from you. Suddenly coming back to yourself, you lightly push off the women, clearing your throat to try and fake your control over yourself once again. “If I sink the 8 ball,” you take a deep breath, “then I decide the next time you touch me.”

Both redheads simply nod their heads in agreement before extending their arms to allow you space for your shot. Looking over the table and considering all the choices you quickly realize that you absolutely have no shot at winning. Ignoring every other reason besides the obvious one, you didn’t want to win.

But you wouldn’t make it apparent to the President and Vice President. 

So you lean down, “Corner pocket.” You spend a considerable amount of time figuring out your angle and practicing the strength of your hit. With one more inhale, you pull back the cue stick then exhale and strike the cue ball.

You hit the 8 ball but it stops just short of falling into the pocket. You give a shy smile to the women before stepping back. 

There’s a silent conversation going on between the redheads before Wanda nods and steps up to the table. “Corner pocket.” She winks at you before aiming at the cue ball and without any delay she strikes. The 8 ball disappearing into the corner pocket. 

Without even a second to think, your feet are suddenly lifted into the air and over Natasha’s shoulder. Wanda comes up to grab the cue stick from you and places it on the pool table.

Once you realize the redhead plans to walk out of the parlor room with you over her shoulder, you begin to protest, “Wait. Wait. I can walk. You don’t have to think I’ll back out of the bet.”

You feel a soft hand brush the back of your thigh as the sparkling green eyed woman steps into your view. 

“Oh, baby, we know, but Natty here is a very proud winner and wants to show you off,” her thin fingers smoothing down your hair. You stare at her dumbfounded as she swipes her thumb across your lower lip, “If you’re a good girl then we’ll give you an extra special reward. Can you do that for us?”

The Vice President allows you your time to process as you blink a few times before nodding your head. 

A swift smack to your ass has you gasping as Natasha corrects your action, “Words baby.”

“Yes.” Another softer smack to your ass. “Yes, I can be a good girl.”

Both redheads make a pleased humming sound before walking out of the room. You try to avoid eye contact with all the partygoers. The blush across your face and chest only grows at your slight embarrassment. 

It isn’t long until you're walking up to the stairs. Suddenly stopping right at the bottom, trying to turn your body at the sound of Kate’s voice. Mortification slams into you when she leans around the redhead holding you to look at your face. 

Her tone relentlessly teasing, “Now, I thought I told you not to go upstairs with anyone,” the memory of her words at your arrival pulled to the front of your mind.

Rolling your eyes at your roommate only caused her to laugh further at your predicament. 

Yelena speaking prompts the brunette to move back into the circle of conversation with her and the redheads, “Don’t kill the poor girl. It would severely ruin my chances with Bishop.”

Natasha laughs at her sister’s comment, “Please, the only thing she’ll get is mind altering pleasure,” pinching your ass when finishing the sentence. “Now, I’d love to chat, but I have a bet to cash in on.”

Wanda leading the way up the stairs, pausing as Kate speaks, looking up at your roommate, “She has a study group tomorrow morning at 10am! She can’t miss it!”

The redheads laugh, continuing up the stairs, the President turns slightly as she walks and salutes to the brunette, “Aye, aye, Captain.”

Less than fifteen steps later, you’re carried into a large room. Your heart stopping completely at the sound of the door closing and locking. As if noticing the slight pure panic, Wanda stands by the door twisting the handle, “It locks from inside, so if you twist the handle, then it’s automatically unlocked,” then she relocks the door.

Nodding your head in thanks and understanding of her words, she gives you a reassuring smile in return.

Then, Natasha lightly throws you onto the bed, a grunt leaving your lips, leaning over you, she smirks. Wanda comes up to sit beside your head and gently rubs your forehead with her thumbs.

The deep green eyed woman locks her eyes with yours before placing a soft kiss on your chest, then throwing herself to the empty side of you. 

“Now, don’t keep us waiting,” you turn your head to see sparkling green eyes looking at you.

They wait a few seconds before both women have another silent conversation. Suddenly, you startle the redheads by standing up.

Standing with your hands on your hips, stilling your voice and shifting on your feet, “Well, this will be rather awkward to do in silence.”

The President smirks at you before pulling out her phone and playing ‘Supermassive Black Hole by Muse!’ from her speaker. 

Slowly you begin to sway your hips and drag your fingers across your chest. Kicking your shoes off as sexually as you can. You let the song play for about twenty seconds before you lean down and run your nails up your legs stopping where your thighs meet your center. 

Turning around, you hook one finger under your right strap and pull it down, staring directly into sparkling green eyes. Then, turning your head to face the other direction and repeat the action, but slower, as you look into the deep green eyes.

Your dress only stays up from pushing out your chest. You continue to dance around until you slowly sit down onto your knees. Rolling onto the ground, your head closer to the women,  arching your back as you begin to spread apart your knees. Never looking away from the redheads as your knees hit the floor. Watching as both women tighten their grips on the bed sheets. 

Straightening your legs and bringing them back together, slowly using all your core strength to sit up rather than using your hands. You turn around and crawl over to the bed, standing before placing one foot on the President’s thigh.

She brings her hand up to gently hold onto your calf before digging her nails in. Biting your lip at the minimal pain before moving your hands across your chest, breathlessly Natasha speaks, “God, don’t be that much of a tease. Let Daddy see.”

Grabbing her hands, you bring them up to your chest, she squeezes before pulling down your dress exposing your breasts, strangely thanking yourself for foregoing a bra tonight.

The cool air in the room feeling amazing on your burning skin.

Lowering your foot, you walk over to the Vice President and bend how she showed you earlier during your game of pool. A loud hum of approval leaving her mouth.

Keeping your position, you gather the material at the hem of your dress and pull it over your head. Leaving Wanda staring directly at your covered center. Her finger gently travels up the inside of your thighs, never reaching the apex.

Noticing the dark patch on your light gray underwear, she speaks mockingly, “Do you want Mommy and Daddy to take care of that for you?”

A small moan slips out as you feel two different fingers suddenly press against the dark spot. 

“Words, baby,” both women huskily say at the same time.

“Please, please,” you’re all but moaning.

A smack on your ass that you can tell was from Wanda by the feeling of rings soothing the sting, “Be specific, baby.”

You breathe in and out a few times before roughly swallowing, “Please, take care of me.”

The redheads, losing their lack of control, slowly decide that your answer was good enough for now, for the first time.

Natasha walks around to face you, her hands find your shoulders and makes you stand up. Wanda moves further back on the bed, removing her shirt and bra before leaning against the pillows.

Grabbing onto the President’s face, you stand on your tip toes and connect your lips to hers. She eagerly begins kissing you back, nipping at your lip. Moving her hands to your ass, smacking your ass lightly, so you’ll jump into her arms.

Continuing to kiss you as she walks to the side of the bed and places you down. Ending your kiss, a low whine comes from you. Sealing your lips quickly but both women have already heard you and have lust flashing through their eyes. 

“Now, go ahead and make Mommy feel good while Daddy makes you feel good.” Nodding your head at the redhead’s directions, you turn around and crawl up the bed and between Wanda’s spread legs. She holds up her hands and guides your lips to her nipple.

Natasha begins to massage your ass and tease your slit over your underwear, soaking them further by the second. 

Sucking and pulling on the Vice President’s left nipple, bringing your right hand up to roll her right nipple between your fingers. You continue this while feeling the unending teasing around your clit.

Popping off Wanda’s left nipple, you drag your tongue across her chest until you can wrap your lips around the right nipple, twirling your tongue around the nub.

On the first suck, you feel a rush of cool air hit your center as your underwear is pulled down your legs, moaning loudly at the sensation. Without even a second to spare you feel the redhead’s tongue lick up the wetness on your lips before softly pushing her tongue inside your entrance.

Your jaw slacks at the feeling, your head falls away from the needy nipples in front of you. The redhead pulls you back against her nipple, “That’s a good girl. You’re giving Mommy so much pleasure,” holding you close to feel every sound come from your lips, moans of her own filling the room.

Natasha licks her way up to your clit. Giving soft licks before wrapping her lips around your clit, humming, then pulling softly on the bundle of nerves.

Your knees start shaking at the pleasure, causing you to fall further onto Wanda. 

“Oh, fuck,” you mumble around the nipple.

Bringing her fingers up to your clit, rubbing circles, “Come on, baby. You're such a good girl for us.”

Her fingers slowly push into you, curling slightly against your velvet walls. “Fuck, baby, you’re so wet. Let Daddy make you cum, alright?”

A truly unholy sound fell from your lips, clenching around Natasha’s fingers, Wanda lifts your head slightly, so you could reply, “Please, make me cum.”

Lowering her mouth back to your clit as she sucks, licks, and nips all over while her fingers continue a relentless pace. Wanda brings her own finger to your nipples and begins rolling them between her fingers. “God, everything about you, baby. Everything is perfect,” pulling at the nubs blurring the line between pain and pleasure.

“Fuck,” your voice cracking at exclamation. Shaking from the stimulation, the coil in your stomach tightens more with each second.

Wanda leans her head forward next to your ear, “Come for Mommy, baby. Come all over Daddy.”

A simultaneous pinch from the Vice President's fingers on your nipples and the President's pinch on your clit has a wave of pleasure crashing over you, a scream rips from your throat as you cum all over Natasha’s face and fingers and fall on top of Wanda.

Dragging out your orgasm not stopping until she's pulled every sound from your lips does she begin to lick up all traces of your orgasm, sitting up and moving towards the other. You look up just in time to see them share a deep kiss, each moaning at the taste of you on their tongues. 

Breaking apart, deep green eyes look at you, “Do you have another one in you, baby? You came hard enough to drown me,” lust shining in her eyes.

“I’ll do whatever you want, just make me cum that hard again,” your eyes pleading. 

Smirking at you, Wanda moves you to scoot down the bed, tapping your thighs. It takes a second for you to realize where she wants you, but you quickly move to hover above her face. Natasha settles between her girlfriends thighs, removing her skirt and underwear in one pull, “Now, this will be a sight to see,” lowering her mouth immediately, sucking the redhead’s clit into her mouth the way she likes.

Biting your lip at the sight, you sit down, your eyes connecting with the deep green ones between the redhead’s thighs. Allowing the Vice President to move you where she’s most comfortable. Feeling her tongue push into your entrance has you arching your back.

Natasha’s fingers move to Wanda’s clit, rubbing at a brutal pace. Below you the redhead sucks in a sharp breath. Moving to drag her teeth along your clit. 

Your hips arch at the feeling, soft grunts passing from your lips, “Shit.”

Pulling you back against the redhead’s mouth, “Tsk, tsk, where do you think you’re going, baby girl?”

Rutting your hips against the face below you. Moans and pleas mumbling out of your mouth at the suction of your clit. Natasha sits up, keeping her fingers on Wanda’s clit, and leans towards you. Digging your nails into her shoulders, as she begins to leave soft bites along your chest before kissing up your neck. 

Inhaling sharply as her teeth sink into your pulse point, sucking harshly on the delicate skin, “Such a dirty mouth.” 

The pleasure on your clit increases, building up your orgasm quickly. Moaning as you drag your nails down the redhead’s back.

Wanda becomes sloppy underneath you, hinting at her own release coming soon. “Mommy’s getting close. Come with Mommy, baby,” Natasha mumbles against your neck, pushing you right to the edge. 

Sucking your earlobe into her mouth and biting down on your soft skin, “Seeing how you ride Mommy’s face makes me wonder how well you would ride Daddy’s dick,” her words sending both you and the woman beneath you over the edge. 

The Vice President slowly licks your cunt to clean you as the President drags her finger through her girlfriend’s release. Bringing them up to your mouth, “Be a good girl,” and pushing them between your lips. 

A sinful moan escapes both of your lips, though for different reasons. Exhaustion riding through your body allows Natasha to gently lift you off Wanda’s face and leans you against the pillows.

Your eyelids fight too close to receive a moment of rest, quickly winning over your desire to stay conscious. Both women get off the bed walking into the en-suite and cleaning themselves up quickly, returning with a towel for you.

Noticing your sleeping form, the two exchange a look before Wanda’s soft hands spread your knees and gently clean you up. 

“She’s perfect for us,” the President whispers.

“She is, but how can we convince her of that,” the Vice President whispers back.

As a plan forms in her mind, the redhead smirks, “We will just have to show her.”

Wanda throws the towel aiming for the laundry hamper, but misses, before laying down into the bed next to you. Natasha follows suit, listening to the music thrum downstairs while closing her eyes.

-

Groaning and swatting at the air when you hear the familiar sounds of a phone alarm going off.

Your messy morning hair is removed from your face, startling you into opening your eyes. Confusion flashing through you until you see two pairs so similar yet different green eyes.

“Wha-,” you begin, but are cut off.

“I would have let you sleep in more, baby, but we need to get you dressed for your study group. The last thing I need is my little sister trying to murder me for ruining her chances with the archer.” 

Blinking a few times, begging for your brain to catch up, yet all your mind can think of is, “Her name is Kate.”

The redheads smile at you, “Yes, of course, we apologize,” Wanda says sincerely.

With a pat on your thigh, Natasha sits up, “Now, I don't think you want to go to your study group in that little blue dress you were wearing last night, so you can borrow something of ours.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I can just run to my dorm. I need to brush my teeth anyway, so it’s okay.” However the looks you receive fills your mind with doubt, “What time is it?”

“9:45am,” Wanda grimaces. Your jaw falls open at the realization that you will definitely not make it in time unless you go straight there. Cursing yourself for not understanding your math course better and needing to go to the study groups in the first place, with a deep breath you look up at the women, “Show me the outfit.” 

Standing in the mirror you can’t complain. It was a simple pair of medium washed jeans, though slightly too long since you are shorter than both women, they have been cuffed and paired with a loose long sleeve shirt sporting their sorority name and logo. You felt a bit like a walking advertisement. The worst part, yet best part, was the sports bra Natasha gave you to wear. 

Cringing as you put on your soiled underwear from the night before, you throw on your shoes and tie your hair into your best messy, not messy, bun. Hurrying down the stairs towards the front door. To your surprise, the redheads follow behind you. Thinking they must be the type to walk out guests, you say nothing. 

Reaching for the door handle, you're cut off by Wanda’s ring-covered hand opening the door for you, extending her arm in an ‘after you, ladies first’ motion. 

Arching an eyebrow at the action before turning to face them, “Thank you for the clothes. I’ll return them washed by the end of next week, swear,” beginning to turn back around before stopping and facing them again, whispering, “and thank you for last night too,” then rushing down the steps of the porch.

Stepping out of the doorway both women laugh before replying, “Now, that you don’t need to thank us for.” Trying to hide your blush from the redheads as you speed walk down the sorority's front lawn, checking your phone for the time, seven minutes to get there, thinking ‘I can do it’ as you break out into a run across campus. 

[hairmetal666]

By the grace of Robin Buckley, Steve gets into college.

She's his first real friend and it's because he knows her, loves her, learned to be a better person from her, that he's able to smile politely and take the hand of his new roommate. His long-haired, tattooed, dressed in all black roommate, who has already put up dark and menacing posters of bands Steve has never heard of and a bedsheet banner with the words "Corroded Coffin" painted on the fabric.

"Eddie Munson," his roommate says.

"Steve Harrington."

"Good to meet you, roomie." Eddie smiles so big it makes dimples pop. It's a good look. "Parents on the way with the rest of your stuff?"

"Oh, er--just me, actually."

Eddie's smile doesn't waiver. "Need some help?"

Normally, Steve would say no, but he just spent the last hour unloading Robin's stuff. "That would be great, thanks."

So, they work together to get Steve moved in, and as they work, he learns more about his roommate. He is a weirdo, an oddball, fundamentally strange, but Steve can't help but be charmed.

Eddie puts on music, something aggressive with loud guitars and drums, and Steve unpacks. He pulls out a picture of himself with the kids during one of their game nights, displaying it carefully on his desk.

"Wait," his new roommate says. "You? And the dnd children?"

Steve laughs. "They're the kids I babysit. You play that nerd game?"

Eddie's nose wrinkles. Something in the back of Steve's mind notes that it's cute. "Nerd game? Dnd is So. Much. More. It's--it's storytelling and strategy and--" Eddie stops, blinking at Steve. "You're fucking with me, aren't you?"

"Little bit," Steve smiles.

"I can't believe you know dnd. That you babysit nerds. You look like such a jock," Eddie shakes his head in disbelief.

"I am a jock," Steve agrees. "And I love those dorky little shitheads. I tolerate the game."

"Steve Harrington. You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Guess so." The smiles they share are wide and sweet, bringing out Eddie's dimples in way that makes Steve long to touch.

After that, they're inseparable. Robin and Eddie and Steve. They study, eat, go to parties, hangout; anything, as long as they're together.

---

Three weeks into the semester, as Steve gets dressed after swim practice, he pulls a shirt out of his bag that doesn't belong to him. It's a black tee, Metallica logo front and center. He chuckles, puts it on. It's soft from wear and smells of laundry detergent and Eddie--cigarettes and leather and some kind of sweet musk. The scent puts him at immediate ease.

He meets Robin and Eddie for lunch. They were early, already have their food and seats, so he walks over to drop off his backpack. Eddie gives him a bright, dimpled smile, but within seconds his mouth is falling open a little, the tips of his ears turning bright red.

"You alright, man?" Steve asks.

Eddie startles, grabs his cup, jamming the straw into his mouth to chew at the plastic."You're--my shirt?" he says.

"Oh, shit. Sorry. Grabbed it by accident. I'll wash it for you."

His roommate flushes pink. "N--no, you don't have to worry about it."

He wants to question Eddie further--he's being so weird--but Robin interrupts. "Dingus! Go get food. Hurry up!"

He does as he's told, but when he comes back, Eddie is even redder than before, and Robin has a wide smirk across her face.

"What is going on with you two?" He asks as he puts his tray down.

Neither of them answer, andEddie launches into a passionate re-telling of some music student drama, so Steve let's himself be distracted.

---

It's mid-October and Steve's coming home from the gym, the one place that Robin and Eddie refuse to accompany him. As he nears his room, he hears music. It's not heavy metal, but something soft and slow and acoustic.

He tries to be quiet as he unlocks the door and enters, doesn't want to disturb Eddie, doesn't want him to stop playing. He never practices when Steve is home, says he doesn't want to be a bother with the noise.

Eddie's sitting on his bed, guitar in hand. There's a battered notebook open next to him, a pencil held between his teeth. He hums a bit, pauses to jot something down, and goes back to playing.

He looks beautiful, Steve thinks, bent over his guitar.

Steve is just about to announce himself when Eddie stops playing again. He writes something in the notebook before resting his head in his head. "Pathetic, Munson. Get it together," he mutters.

"Hi!" Steve says. It startles Eddie, who jumps and almost drops the guitar.

"Stevie!" Eddie stumbles to his feet. "I--uh--you're home!" His face is crimson.

"You're really good, man," Steve says. "I'd love to hear more sometime."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Eddie nods his head, grabbing for the notebook and slamming it closed. "Sure thing." He stuffs his feet into his Reeboks. "I gotta--I gotta go. Back soon."

Eddie stumbles out their door, notebook clenched firmly in hand.

He is so weird.

---

In mid-November, Robin gets invited to a party by a cute girl. They all go.

Steve isn't trying to hook up. He hasn't slept with anyone since they started school, too caught up with Robin and Eddie. But there's a girl, wavy brown curls and wide green eyes (he has the fleeting thought that they should be deep brown, that it's wrong that they aren't), and she's smiling at him.

Flirting with her is easy.

He doesn't know what breaks his concentration, but he turns to face the rest of the room, eyes falling on Eddie. Eddie who is watching him, his deep brown eyes swimming with hurt, with anger.

It sends a shock of pure panic up his spine. "Eddie!"

Eddie turns on his heel, disappearing in the crowd. Steve follows, but by the time he navigates through the partygoers, his roommate is nowhere to be found. He hurries back to their dorm, heart pounding in his ears, mouth dry.

It's dark in the room, though, and for a second he thinks Eddie isn't home, after all. But he turns on the light, illuminates the rigid lump under Eddie's quilt.

"Eddie?" Steve says, voice soft.

He doesn't respond, though Steve can tell he's awake. He tries again, but Eddie curls deeper under his covers.

Steve spends the night wondering what he did to hurt Eddie so bad.

---

They're back to normal after Thanksgiving. Steve is so relieved he doesn't even ask.

They stay up all night every night studying for finals. By the time Steve's last test rolls around, he's giddy and frantic. He grabs his textbook, shoves a notebook into his backpack, gets to the English building with just enough time to take a last look at his notes.

Only, he flips the notebook open and it's not his English notes. It's song lyrics.

Steve should close it. Put it back in his backpack. It's private. But he's already reading the lyrics written there. They're sexy. The song's about a guy, one Eddie seems to be totally gone for.

A line catches his eye, "need you on every surface in our room." He reads it again and again until the only thing he can see is the phrase, "our room." His whole body is warm, heat pooling, and he's chubbing up in his jeans in the middle of his English class.

Steve flips the pages, anything to get his mind off of that song, and that's when it hits him like a ton of bricks. All those weird moments--the t-shirt, the song, Steve flirting with a girl-- Eddie likes him.

Steve wants to rush to the dorm, wants to confess everything, even starts to stand, but--he has a final to take.

He makes himself close the notebook, but catches sight of another song as he does. It's a love song. It's plaintive and yearning and wanting. And every lyric is for him, about him, about things they did together. It's also unfinished, breaking off mid-way through the second verse.

He doesn't know how he missed it before, but as the professor hands out the test paper, Eddie is all he can think of.

---

When he finally gets back to the room, he finds Eddie's frantic, hair frizzed around his skull. All his bedding is on the floor, the drawers of his wardrobe pulled open.

"Eddie?" Steve asks.

"Have you seen my notebook?"

"What?" Steve's heart drops.

"The black one? It's kind of beaten up?"

"I--uh, yeah. Sorry, Eds. Accidentally grabbed it on my way to class." He pulls his backpack from his shoulder, unzipping it.

"Did you--did you read it?" Eddie's voice shakes, his face painfully red.

Steve doesn't know what to say, what to do. He wants Eddie. Has for a long time, just hadn't been able to put it together. And he doesn't know how to fix what's spiraling out between them.

"Eddie," he says. Can think of nothing else, hopes his desperation is clear in his voice. "Please." He closes the distance between them, slowly, carefully. Cups Eddie's chin in his hand.

They stare at each other, Eddie's eyes wide with shock. Steve can feel the other man's breath on his face, smell the tobacco and sweet musk scent of him.

"Every surface of our room, huh?" Steve asks.

Eddie's cheeks flush. He turns away, bashful. "Something like that."

"And if I want it too?" Steve whispers.

The words hang between them for several beats, before they both move to close the lingering distance between them. Their mouths slip together, like it's nothing, like they do this all the time. Steve grasps at Eddie's curls, fists a hand into his t-shirt, totally lost to the rhythm of the kiss, the easy slip of Eddie's tongue in his mouth.

Eventually, the come up for air, both pink cheeked and panting.

"You're full of surprises, Steve Harrington." Eddie breathes.

"Just wait," Steve smirks, moves in to nip at Eddie's bottom lip. "We have so many surfaces."

[sam24]

Secrets of Spring

Summary: Studying is hard. Especially when your study buddy won't stop talking about Bucky Barnes.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

college au | athlete bucky

_____

“-and then I was like ‘oh my god Bucky, you are like, so funny’ and then he was like-”

You sighed loudly as Kayla continued blabbing, hoping your study partner would get the hint and stop reiterating her 3-second-long interaction with James Buchanan Barnes, the school’s star quarterback and flirt.

“And then my friend Riya was like ‘oh my god Kay Kay, he’s literally flirting with you-”

“That’s great, Kayla, but could we back to the flashcards by any chance-”

“He’s just so goddamn hot!” She squealed as she brandished the stack of notecards around in the air, earning glares directed at both of you from a couple other studious students occupying the library’s tables.

You sunk down in your seat, pretending not to know the lululemon-clad girl in front of you who was basically buzzing with excitement. Of course, studying with Kayla would not have been your first choice, and you definitely weren’t her top pick either, but you two were each others’ only hope, considering the fact that the rest of the kids in your anatomy class were always either high, drunk, or both.

“It should be illegal to look that good,” she said as she looked off into the distance with glassy eyes and fanned herself. Her eyes lit up as she turned her eyes back to you and straightened up in her seat. “And guess what?”

You didn’t have time to guess before Kayla continued rambling on.

“My friend, Lynn, saw him at the gym shirtless the other day and took a picture,” She gushed as she pulled out her phone. “Wait, lemme show you. He looked so sweaty and delicious.”

You grimaced, reaching over to turn her phone off in the middle of her search. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Your loss.” Kayla snapped her gum obnoxiously before her eyes lit up again. “Oh, and guess what?”

You just grumbled in response.

“So you know how my friend’s brother is on the football team with Bucky, right?”

You had no idea who this friend was, much less who her brother was, but you nodded along with Kayla as you felt the headache creeping in.

“She told me that when he came over to her house during spring break to hang out with her brother, he snuck into her room and they both spent the entire night together.” Kayla’s eyes sparkled with a mix of envy and excitement. “In the room right next to her parents.” 

You couldn’t stop the words that vomited from your mouth. “Bucky was at his parents’ house up in Brooklyn with Steve for the entirety of the break, Kayla.”

“Oh.” Kayla’s eyebrows furrowed, and you were glad she was more focused on the discrepancy in her friend’s story rather than your sudden burst of knowledge.

“Sorry,” you cleared your throat awkwardly. “I think your friend lied to you.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Kayla waved her hand with a blinding smile. “This is a good thing!”

You arched an eyebrow at her.

“I won’t be breaking girl code by dating Bucky now, since my friend never actually had anything with him!” 

“Oh . . . okay?” Not like that would’ve stopped you anyways.

Her phone pinged, and she looked at it with a smile, standing up to collect her stuff (which was just her Starbucks drink and a singular highlighter). “Alright, I gotta head back to my apartment and get ready for my date tonight.”

“Oh?” Surely it couldn’t be with Bucky. Right?

"Wow, a date?" you replied, trying to sound nonchalant even as your curiosity piqued. "With who?"

Kayla grinned, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "With this guy I met at the gym last week. He's super cute and really into fitness, just like me!"

That was exactly what you were expecting her to say, but a weight was lifted off of your shoulders anyways.

“Have fun.” You smiled in relief.

“Thanks, babes.” She blew you a kiss. “This study sesh was so great. I learned a ton.”

As she sashayed away, you decided not to bring up the fact that she got through a grand total of exactly three flashcards.

With the shake of your head, you gathered your own belongings and headed out the library as quietly as possible, almost as if you were trying to compensate for the ruckus that Kayla had left behind.

As the cool spring wind breezed through your hair and birds chirped in the cherry blossom trees above you, your phone vibrated continuously in your pocket.

You struggled as you fished out the phone, mentally cursing out all the textbooks you decided to checkout. However, the slight frown on your face was replaced with a grin pulling at the corner of your lips as you brought your phone to your ear.

“Hey, baby.” The familiar low of his voice brought a chill up your spine. And it wasn’t from the wind.

“What do you want, Barnes.” You were certain he could hear the goofy smile on your face.

“Aw, you sound congested, doll.” He coddled you through the phone as you rolled your eyes. “Are you sick? Allergies?”

“I’m sick of hearing about you all day.” You emphasized with a smirk, after taking a moment to genuinely sneeze. Damn pollen.

“Well, can you really blame ‘em for talking about the most charming guy in town?” He laughed on his end of the line.

“Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that, Barnes.”

“What was dear Kayla telling you this time?”

“Just the usual. Something about you being shirtless and glistening in sweat at the gym.”

“Damn. I should start charging her for all the conversation material she’s getting out of me.”

You snorted, but little vines of jealousy stretched around your heart. “You should run your own little side hustle. You’d make thousands.”

“I like the sound of that. Maybe I’ll throw in some autographed headshots as well.”

“I can already picture the line of people stretched around the block.”

Bucky chuckled on the other end of the line, his laughter warm. "Hey, I'll have you know, I've got quite the fan club," he teased, his voice playful.

You couldn't help but smile, despite yourself. "Yeah, well, they clearly don't know how insufferable you are," you replied, your tone teasing.

There was a brief pause before Bucky spoke again, his tone turning more serious. "Hey, I miss you," he confessed softly, and you could hear the sincerity in his voice.

His words tugged at your heartstring. “I miss you too, Buck.”

He seemed to immediately notice the softening of your voice. “You got anywhere to be tonight? I’ll come by later with some pizza.”

“What-” You almost tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. “Barnes, are you crazy?”

“What?” You could imagine his innocent expression through the phone. “Am I not allowed to visit my girlfriend?”

Bucky visiting you wasn’t the problem. The problem was that you lived right between Faith Robinson and McKenzie Gonzalez, the biggest gossipers on campus, not to mention the nosiest neighbors. When one of them would inevitably see Bucky strut down the hall to your door in his tight henley with a box of pizza, the whole student body would hear the news before you could even open the door and let him in.

And having the entire school know about your relationship was the exact opposite of what Bucky wanted.

Right?

“Don’t be a smartass. You know exactly who I live by.”

“I don’t give a damn about who sees us anymore, baby. I just need to see you.”

You took a moment to process his words. You could imagine him holding his breath on his end of the line. “Oh.”

Really? The moment you’ve been secretly hoping for is here, and all you can say is ‘oh’?

“‘Oh’ in a bad way or ‘oh’ in a good way?” Bucky chuckled nervously.

The vines turned into butterflies and fluttered in your chest as you giggled. “‘Oh’ in a . . . surprised way, I guess,” you replied finally. “Yes. Yes, I would love for you to come over.”

Bucky breathed out into a cheeky grin. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

Neither of you were good with words, but you didn’t need them. You understood each other perfectly.

[marvelfanfn2187a113]

The Family Business

Sam and Dean Winchester & little sister!reader

Requested by anonymous

Synopsis: You (20+ ish) are starting to feel left out by your brothers, but maybe not for the reason you think.

“Hey, we’ve got a case just a couple of hours away, looks like it could be a djinn.”

You looked up as Sam and Dean entered the library, Dean delivering the news.

“Ok, I’ll go get my stuff.” You started to rise from your chair, but Sam held up his hands.

“Actually, I think we’re good. You should, uh, you should just stay here.”

You were so surprised that by the time you thought of speaking up, your brothers were already past you and headed for the door.

“You sure?” You called out faintly.

“Yup,” Sam assured you before following Dean out the door.

You weren’t quite sure what had just happened. Ever since you’d become old enough to hunt, the boys had never left for a hunt without you.

Your mind started running back through the past week, trying to think of why your brothers wouldn’t want you around. All you could come up with was a moment from the last hunt; you had almost gotten hurt by a werewolf, but Dean had assured you over and over that it was his fault, not yours.

Maybe he had changed his mind.

…

The next two weeks passed much the same, with the boys not only excluding you from hunts, but from just about everything else that they did. They studied lore in the library without filling you in on anything they were hunting, they had a movie night in the Dean cave without inviting you, and they just excluded you in general from anything they did together, which was everything.

Some part of you felt that you should be angry at this, but instead despair clouded your emotions at each new rejection. You’d convinced yourself that it was because of that one mistake a few hunts ago, because what else could it be?

You’d lost your brothers’ trust, and with it their companionship. And you had no idea how to win it back.

You’d spent the last two weeks getting closer and closer to a breakdown. You could feel it—your mood was constantly gloomy, you’d almost completely lost your appetite, and you spent most of your time hidden in your room. Things that used to be so simple—asking Sam if you could join him on a run, joining Dean during shooting practice—now filled you with anxiety. You’d always felt comfortable doing things with your brothers, but the thought that they didn’t want you around made you second guess everything you did.

Unfortunately, the breakdown came at a time you didn’t appreciate.

“Hey, we’re headed out for a hunt.” You looked up from the book you were reading as Sam peaked into your room to update you.

“Do you need any help?” This was your standard question, despite the fact that you knew he’d say no again. You weren’t wrong.

“No, we’re fine. We’ll probably be back in a week, it’s pretty far away.”

Your heart plummeted to your stomach at his words. You’d been feeling lonely enough with the brothers ignoring you, but for them to leave completely for a whole week?

“Are you—“ you stopped yourself completely when your voice cracked. You wanted to ask if he was sure, if he’d let you come along anyway, if there was anything you could do. But if he didn’t trust you or want you, the last thing you wanted to be was a burden. Besides, with the crack in your voice came a stinging behind your eyes, and you really didn’t want to cry in front of Sam.

But still, Sam had heard the start to your question, and he turned to listen.

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing.” Your voice came out as a choked mumble, and you cursed yourself, knowing that Sam would hear it. Sure enough—

“Hey, you ok?”

You focused your gaze on the book in your lap to avoid Sam’s penetrating stare as you answered.

“Yeah, fine.” Your voice didn’t come out at all the way you wanted it to, and you could feel your eyes misting over as you struggled to make your breathing sound normal with the lump building in your throat. You’d been keeping your feelings in for far too long, and apparently Sam’s words sparked your short fuse.

The book in front of you suddenly disappeared, snatched up by Sam’s hand as he came to sit on the edge of your bed.

“Ok, come on now, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” You pulled your knees to your chest, still not looking at your big brother.

“Then why won’t you look at me?”

You reluctantly lifted your head to look into Sam’s dark eyes despite knowing that he would see your unshed tears.

“What’s wrong?” Sam’s gaze was soft as flower petals, and his voice was hushed.

He thinks you’re weak.

You tried to push the voice in your head away as you finally faced your brother.

“Nothing’s wrong,” you said again. “Go on your hunt with Dean.”

“Don’t do that,” Sam said. “Don’t just shut me out.”

Something inside you snapped.

“Shut you out?” Your voice rose. “That’s rich, coming from you!”

Sam was taken aback by your sudden change.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about how you keep leaving me behind! I haven’t been on a hunt in weeks, and we never do anything together anymore!” Your anger was slipping back into despair, and you fought to stop it.

“Honey, we didn’t mean to—“ Sam was at a loss for words. “We just—“

“Just go.” You could feel yourself losing the battle as your tears returned. “Go away!” The pillow you threw at him missed by a mile, but he backed off anyway, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

The second he was gone, your resolve disappeared along with your anger. You tightened your arms around your knees and sobbed, burying your face in your knees as your whole body shook. Between the hunt you screwed up and the way you just acted with Sam, you didn’t think your brothers would ever want to be around you again.

…

Your whole body froze when you heard your door opening. You struggled to hold in your sobs, even though that meant holding your breath, too.

“Hey kid.”

Dean this time, not Sam.

“Shouldn’t you be on a hunt?” You managed to choke out, and you cringed at the sound of your tearful voice.

“Not until I tell you why you weren’t invited,” Dean replied.

Your throat constricted, and you swallowed hard.

“I already know why.”

“Do you?” You heard rather than saw when Dean closed the door behind him and stepped further into the room. “Because I’m starting to think that I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not right.”

Your forehead crinkled in confusion, but you kept your head down.

“What?”

Your bed dipped as Dean sat on the end.

“You think it’s because of that hunt two weeks ago. Well, you’re right about that, sort of.”

You felt your hands start to shake as a sob unintentionally escaped your lips.

“Hey now.” Dean sighed, and you felt his hand on your shoulder. “It’s ok, just breathe.” His other hand came up to your other shoulder, and you felt his fingers flex as he pulled you towards him. You tucked your legs under you, opting instead to bury your face against his chest.

“I’m sorry,” you sobbed. “I didn’t mean to—“

“Shh, hey now,” Dean soothed, his hands coming up to cradle your head. “You didn’t let me finish, kiddo. I told you that that hunt wasn’t your fault, and I meant it. It was mine. But I almost got you killed out there, and I—“ Dean’s voice caught, and in the brief silence that followed he realized that your sobs had subsided, and you were breathing more evenly in his arms. Dean felt his own eyes start to sting as he thought about the way you almost died on that hunt. “And I realized,” he continued, “That we never bothered to see if you wanted this.”

“What?” You asked quietly.

“Look, I picked this life. Sammy tried to get out of it, but ultimately he picked it too. But you’ve just done what we told you, you followed us, but we never asked if you wanted to. Now, I know that that wasn’t how dad did things, he had to make us be a part of this life for our own protection. But now things are different. If you don’t want this, I’m not gonna make you do it.”

As Dean spoke, you began to feel so relieved that you nearly laughed.

“Why didn’t you tell me, you idiot?” You demanded, and at Dean’s chuckle you actually did laugh.

“Sam didn’t want to dump all this on you. He said we should let you sit out a few hunts first, then ask.”

“Why didn’t you let me help you with lore?” You pressed on, still confused.

“We didn’t want you to think you were benched from hunts, figured it would be best to just not have you do any of it.” Dean chuckled again. “I guess it was a stupid idea.”

“So…you do want me on hunts?” You mumbled.

“Of course we do,” Dean said firmly. “But not if you don’t want to be out there. This life could get you killed, you’ve gotta choose it if you want it.”

“Knock knock.” The two of you turned as Sam stepped into the room. “Hey, how’re we doing in here?”

“I think we’re ok,” Dean said, pulling away from you. “You think?”

“Yeah.” Your lips twitched into a smile. “We’re good.”

“What do you think about…joining us on the hunt?” Sam asked hesitantly. “Only if you want to.”

“I think…” you grinned. “Someone has to watch your butts.”

Sam laughed. “So that’s a yes?”

“I’ll get my stuff.”

You hopped off the bed so you could pack, but Dean climbed off next to you and pulled you into his arms.

“Welcome to the family business, kid.”

Taglist:

@nyotamalfoy @mrvlxgrl @chocorade

[munson-blurbs]

IT'S SPOOOPY HALLOWEENIE!

Dum-Dum.* Kit Kat. Eddie.

*"I don't know what that is" - in an Australian accent.

Idiots in love/Artist!Reader/Eddie Munson

Warnings: drug use (weed), reader can be read as gender neutral, mention of Billy Hargrove, sitting on Eddie's lap

WC: 778

Divider credit to @saradika (also, Dum-Dums are a brand of lollipop)

Knock knock.

The sound of someone at the door startles you, drawing your attention from your unfinished sketch and to the curly-haired boy clutching a piece of paper in his ringed hand.

“Sorry, uh,” Eddie says with a nervous laugh, “didn’t mean to scare you.” When you don’t reply, he looks around the otherwise-empty classroom. “Is now a bad time, or…?”

You gather your thoughts, heart pounding a mile a minute at the sudden interruption. “N-No, you’re fine,” you stammer. God, he’s so cute. Cheeks tinged red with bashfulness, free hand shoved into his back pocket, frizzy curls brushing against his denim-clad shoulders. “Something I can help you with?” you ask when he remains standing in place.

“Oh! Um, yeah.” He shuffles over to you, as though reminding himself to put one foot in front of the other. “You draw, right? Like, sketches and stuff?” He winces at his stilted attempt at an opening, especially given the fact that your sketchbook is open right in front of you.

“Mhm.”

“Cool.” Eddie nods. “Could I ask you to draw this? It’s for my uncle’s birthday next month.” He hands you the photo, and your heart instantly melts. It’s a picture of him and who you assume is his uncle, and Eddie can’t be much older than ten years old. He’s wearing a blue shirt with an S in a diamond hastily drawn on the front. A faded red towel is tied around his neck in a makeshift cape. The older man stands behind him, half a KitKat bar hanging from his lips like a cigarette. “It was my first Halloween with him.” The first time I ever celebrated Halloween, actually, he thinks, but keeps that information to himself.

You carefully study the photo, careful not to leave fingerprints on it, even though there’s already a smudge in the corner. “I, uh, I don’t know what those stains are,” Eddie mumbles. “I can’t offer a lot of money, but if you smoke…” he mimics taking a pull from a joint, “I can hook you up for free.”

“You sure?” You wrinkle your nose. “I don’t want you getting in trouble or anything.”

Eddie dismisses the notion with a wave. “What’s he gonna do, call the cops?”

“Fair enough,” you agree with a smile.

You hadn’t realized that when Eddie had offered to smoke you up for free, he’d meant smoking with him. Over the next few weeks, any free time that wasn’t spent drawing the photo of him and his uncle–whose name was Wayne, you’d learned–you spent with him in a haze of marijuana. Sharing giggles, splitting family bags of potato chips when the munchies inevitably hit, snuggling up on his couch and sleepily watching sitcom reruns consumed your afternoons. To an outsider’s perspective, it looked like you two were together. Truthfully, you had no idea what you and Eddie’s status was.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” you sit up suddenly, shifting under the blanket and reaching for your backpack. “I finished this last night.”

Eddie’s bloodshot eyes go wide, and you swear that their glassiness is fueled by more than just pot. “This is…wow,” he breathes out, shaking his head in disbelief. “This is even better than I imagined.” He doesn’t know the technical terms for what you’ve done, but you’ve perfectly captured their enthused expressions, the joy in their eyes evident even just through pencil shading. “You’re amazing.”

And maybe it’s the compliment, or the high, or the way he’s been nestled into you for the last forty minutes, but you tilt his head towards yours and kiss him. Your mouths collide clumsily, and he seems shocked at first, but he quickly eases himself into it to deepen it. One hand cups your cheek while the other pulls you onto his lap so you’re straddling his lithe waist. 

“Wanted to do this for a long time,” he murmurs into you, not wanting to fully break the kiss. “Ever since I first saw you, I thought you were so goddamn pretty.”

“I’ve had a crush on you since you jumped on the cafeteria table and called Billy Hargrove out for leading all those poor girls on,” you admit with a laugh. “He turned bright red.”

Eddie inhales, shrugging his shoulders haphazardly. “Earned myself a pretty little black eye for that.” His nose nudges yours as he leans in to kiss you again. “But it was totally worth it if it meant you noticed me.”

You pull back slightly, taking in his beautiful brown eyes, the tiny patch of stubble where he’d missed shaving, the flyaway hairs on his temple. “Can I keep noticing you?”

“I’d be sad if you stopped.”

--

[underratedmurder]

Richie Jerimovich/Reader "I Would Like a Blanket Please" (Part 1/2)

Reader works at The Beef and is having some housing/financial troubles, Richie offers his apartment as a place to stay! <3

Stuff in this: Soft Richie, Reader is kind of awkward, Soooo many hands on shoulders, They are so sweet and tender with each other, They both know how much the other one is hurting, They are each others comfort person!!! They have some sexual tension, Carmy is totally onto them

Stuff that will be in part two (if you don't want spoilers then just skip past this): Chicken nuggets (hell yeah), Richie when he was in college <3, Reader sleeps on his sofa which is much nicer than his twin bed?, Sharing blankets, Intense cuddling, The softest kisses

I know its been more than a week since my last update I am sorry dear friends, but trust I will deliver !!! Second part should be up tomorrow night or Monday.

Please enjoy, and leave a comment or like if you want to see more/have any requests !

____________

You were sitting on the ground of the walk-in, fingers getting colder, digging into the sleeves of your thick knit sweater. The one Richie called you crazy for wearing in the kitchen, but also one of the last pieces of physical comfort you had left.

Life was… rough, and you were currently struggling to find housing. You just spent your last bit of money on last night's stay in a motel room downtown. You were hoping you could pull through and figure something out by the end of the day… but that time was now, and you had nothing. 

You tried to collect your thoughts, breathing hard and freaking out a little bit. Your nerves were getting the better of you, and you had been nothing but filled with tension the whole day. 

You breathed in and out, slowly letting your body relax, and your fingers loosen their grip. You looked at the ground intensely, almost studying it, to remind yourself where you were. And to remember that the world wasn’t actually ending, it was just your life! Just yours! 

Don’t worry! At least the restaurant is okay!

Even that was an overstatement.

You felt yourself finally come back to the moment.

“Alright well just don’t put it on the stove again Fak! It’s not fuckin rocket science- Oh,” Richie's voice was booming even before he opened the door.

He had snapped you out of your tranquil state immediately, and you could already feel yourself tensing up again. Being around people and trying to act like everything was normal and okay all day was very hard. Especially around Rich. The guy you almost desperately wished to be close to. 

The fear was pungent though, you didn’t want to be a burden on anyone, especially on him. You feared getting tangled up with him in any way would only make life more painfully complicated.

These thoughts and feelings did not cross your mind though when you were actually around him in the kitchen, and you got to talk to him and watch him ‘work’, as you fought back the carnal urge to violently makeout with him.

It was far too easy to be comfortable around him, it was only after your shift everyday that you reminded yourself you were not in the position for a relationship.

If he even liked you-

“Hey, uh, what are ya doin' on the floor?” you were back to reality again, and Richie was looking down at you, one arm on the door and the other at his side. 

You looked up at him with the most honest and unintended look of pure dread on your face, eyes sad and fearful. His own expression dropped.

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” he lowered his voice and knelt down to look you in the eyes, face to face.

You furrowed your brows and smiled in adoration. His words were somehow instantly comforting.

You shook your head, “It’s nothing. I’m just tired,”

He didn’t look convinced, instead he went to place a hand on your shoulder, his palm was warm in the chill.

“You sure you're ‘aright? You can tell me, ya know? Promise I won’t tell Mr. Crazy Chef,” he joked, referring to Carmy, and you let out a huff. 

“Did you spill a giant jar of pickles or somethin?” 

“Ha ha,” you said sarcastically, a half smile escaping your somber expression. Though, it didn’t last long.

Richie dropped to your level on the floor, sitting next to you.

You shook your head again, looking down.

“Its just been a long day,” you hesitated, but Richie just waited.

“Things have been… hard,” you let your words out with an exhale, your arms and legs becoming a bit less stiff.

“Home troubles?”

“Yeah,” you half whispered, fiddling with your fingers as that last bit of tension escaped you.

“Yeah… I get it,” he said with a sigh, and he let his head lean on the wall.

You sat there in silence for a second, the humming of the freezer accompanying your barely audible breaths.

“I take it you don’t wanna go back huh?” he asked you, turning his head to look at you.

You furrowed your brows and looked at him puzzled.

“Back home, I mean,” he clarified.

Oh

You put it together he assumed your home life wasn’t very good. Which technically it wasn’t, just not in the way he expected.

Obviously, you hadn’t alluded to anything else.

You nodded, barely mumbling another yeah, as to not embarrass yourself, though you could feel yourself getting there.

You leaned back against the metal shelf, tilting your head back and running your fingers by your scalp. 

You half smiled at him, afraid to look into his eyes for too long or you might get lost in them.

“You know you can stay with me if you want?”

“What?” you blurted.

“If yur really not feelin like… goin back tonight, you can crash at mine. I got plenty o’ room,” 

“Are you serious?”

“Course I am, I’m not an asshole,”

“Well…” you grinned and looked at him cheekily.

“Shush, I aint no fuckin asshole aright? I can be nice,” he expressed with his hands, signature of a pointed Richie opinion. 

“Yeah like now?” you joked, your arms hooked around your knees as you leaned forward again.

“You don’t have to come over if you don't wanna-”

“I do,”

Richie stopped and looked at you, surprised and… relieved by your answer?

“I do, want to,”

He opened his mouth to say something, but the longer he looked at you it seemed he couldn’t come up with anything. He smiled a little bit instead, a pleasant sight. His cheeks just a bit pink.

“Well, then we better get goin’, it’s ‘bouta be closing and I don’t recommend staying overtime,”

He popped up from the floor, lending his hand for you to grab and propel you up. 

“I already work overtime, Richie,” you reminded him as he brought you to your feet.

“Right uh, I really should get Carm to pay you more for that,”

“You should,” you said, nodding a bit and just barely smiling, it seemed to be something neither of you could stop doing.

“Consider it out of my paycheck. A little catch up in your check for this week. I’ll get Carm to fix it tomorrow, promise,”

You nodded, then looked down, grateful but also a bit guilty. Anything out of Richie's pocket could basically be considered right out of the restaurant. Richie seemed to catch your worried look.

“You ‘aright?” he let a hand rest on your shoulder, leaning over to get a look at you. 

You nodded, sheepishly, but Richie just held onto your other shoulder.

“You sure?” you made eye contact, and willed yourself to reassure him.

“Yeah,” you nodded, and he let go.

“Kay, let’s get outta here,” he sighed, opening the door to the giant fridge.

“I promise you won’t regret this. I've got a nice 50 inch flatscreen, the most shining bathroom you’ve ever seen, and a pretty damn good bed,” He said, his eyes bright still but his face smug, until he caught your expression and dropped his own.

“That’s not what I uh…,”

“What’s goin on here cuz?” Carmy rounded the corner,

“Nothin, we’re just headin out,”

“We?” He looked at Richie, incredulous.

“Y/n was uh-”

“I’m staying at Richie's tonight. Just a temporary thing, my parents are having some friends and relatives over right now and I’m not really into opening the can o’ worms that is my life and career at the family function,” you chuckled nervously. You thought of the lie quicker than you were proud of, but knew it might resonate with Carm.

“Yeah no, that's… fine. Yeah, I uh, I understand,” he paused, ”I get it,”

He looked you both up and down, and it was only then that you noticed you were standing so close together your arms were touching. In the time the conversation started, neither of you made an effort to move away from the other. 

His brows raised, “Have fun you two,” he smirked and turned to leave.

“Very funny, Carm. Fuck you too!” Richie called after him, 

“Hope your playdate goes well!” he called back, just barely audible.

“What a dick,” Richie mumbled.

Remove the word ‘play’ from that sentence and the prospect of your staying over completely changed. Though you wondered, if the word 'play' really insinuated anything else, if not… other activities that could happen at a potential hangout. Was the word ‘play’ in ‘playdate’ in the context of two adults being around one another really any more appropriate than just simply saying date?

“Don’t listen to him,” Richie assured you, blue eyes wide and totally in your face.

You snapped out of zoning out, eyes flitting from the spot on Richie's neck where they rested.

“Sure,” you said half mindlessly, nodding your head and scrunching your nose.

“We are just two coworkers, who are going to one person's apartment, where we will do regular coworker things,” Richie stressed, as you two made your way to the back door, expressing it all with his hands and arms.

“Mhm mhm,” you nodded your head again, walking quickly, but not forgetting to swipe your bag of stuff from off the floor by the lockers.

“Like… sleeping,” he exclaimed a little too loudly, and you both paused in the doorway as soon as he said it.

“That keeps coming out wrong, doesn’t it?” he looked down, and then up at you, smiling a little bit.

He needed to stop doing that, it was starting to become addicting to watch.

“Yeah, it does,” you said with a sympathetic look of worry and also amusement.

“Yeah,” he flattened his mouth, his hands landing on his hips.

“I think maybe you should just stop talking about it for a bit,” you suggested.

“Yeah you're right, you're right. It’s a little weird huh?” he looked side to side, then down at the ground again, scratching his neck.

“I mean, not weird. Just a little, odd,”

“Just a little?” he looked up, smile growing on his face and cheeks still very pink.

“Just a little!” you chimed, and it looked like his eyes were smiling before his lips could.

“Yeah… good on ya babe. I should keep my mouth shut more often”

“Maybe not, completely shut?”

“Ah,”

“But just… mostly, shut,” you let your mouth curl into a smile.

“Right. Like a ventriloquist,” he offered, smiling back, a bit bashful.

“Yes, like a ventriloquist. Exactly,” you grinned and rubbed the space between your brows, he laughed a little.

You laughed as well, just barely, air escaping your nose and mouth. You exhaled, and let your smile fade with his. You both paused, eyes meeting in the comforting silence. Richie's mouth parted, before he clicked his tongue.

“My uh, my car is just at the end of the lot,” he grinned, 

“Right yes, lets go to that,”

“As you wish,” he swayed his hand out in front of him.

You simply smiled, and walked past him down the step to outside. He stopped before he could even walk forward.

“Wait, hold up. I gotta get my jacket… I’ll be right back,”

“Yeah, sure,”

He turned towards the lockers but promptly turned right back around.

“Do you need anything? You got all your stuff?”

“Yep! It’s just my bag,”

“Okay, alright, cool,”

He disappeared down the hall, and you turned to face the cold, all too familiar with the chill on your skin. You watched your breath in the air, as you exhaled, trying to slow the rising tempo of your heart. You hoped Richie's place was warm. You hoped he was warm.

“Alright!” you jumped a bit, but met him with kind eyes.

“Let's get this show on the road,”

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Midnight 

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~4.7k

Summary: Wanda has been gone for work and you miss her

A/N: Hurt/comfort and fluffy fic because I can’t help myselff. 

Warnings: Hurt, comfort, some angst

You’d abandoned the popcorn in front of you long ago as you try to pay attention to the movie playing on the television. It’s Saturday night and you’re in your apartment trying to get out of a funk you’ve been in for a while with a horror movie marathon. It’s not working too well because you’re only on the second movie and your mind has already started to wander. Despite how much junk food you’ve eaten tonight and how excited you were to try and wind down after finals week, this night is a little bit of a letdown.

You only have one semester until you graduate and you can move on to vet school. You wanted to celebrate being finished with finals and finally being able to relax for a while. You did well on them and you should be relieved to be finished, and you are, but you’re also lonely. You’d been lonely these past two weeks, but you’d been able to distract yourself studying for the seven exams you’d had to take. Now that you were done, you had time to think about your girlfriend that you hadn’t seen in far too long.

You had been dating Wanda for a few months now, and to say that they were what you expected would be a complete lie. You had learned during the time you spent together that she was smart, thoughtful, and hardworking. You’d also learned fairly quickly that when she’d said that her schedule was unpredictable, she wasn’t kidding.

Sometimes you’d see her every day a week and you’d spend the night catching up and cooking dinner for each other. Other weeks you saw her twice, and sometimes you went days without seeing her, let alone hearing from her.

After Wanda had admitted that she wasn’t a student, she’d only told you the bare minimum about her job. She said she worked with her brother and they owned the family business that they’d inherited from their parents. When asked what the business entailed, she’d told you ‘a lot of things’ or ‘just boring shipping and manufacturing stuff’ and you got the hint that she didn’t want to tell you.

It wasn’t until more recently, right before her most recent disappearance, that Wanda told you that she wasn’t on the right side of the law. You’d suspected this, but having her tell you that it might be a while before you saw her again made it clearer.

You hated when Wanda went dark on you. When she didn’t text for days, it made the insecurities that you could push away when Wanda was with you come back with a vengeance. You’d question whether or not she actually liked you, and if she was just using work as an excuse to be away from you. Maybe she was seeing someone else who was far better than you were, and this thought put you into a slump similar to what you’re in now.

So yeah, you enjoy spending time with Wanda, but when she’s gone for extended periods of time, you’re at your most miserable. You sigh as you continue to pick at the popcorn in front of you as you consider what Wanda could be doing right now. You hope that work is going well, and that she comes back soon because you could really use a pick me up.

You fall asleep on the couch a little while later so you don’t hear your phone go off. It’s not until you wake up and decide to go to bed that you realize you have a few notifications. You ignore them because you’re too tired and you brush your teeth half-heartedly before crawling into bed. It’s almost midnight and you figure you’ll sleep in tomorrow. That’s the least you deserve from finishing all of your finals.

Wanda frowns as she reaches your voicemail again. She knows it’s late, but she really had wanted to see you today. You’d had your last final today and she hates that she missed the entire two weeks that you’d been so busy. She’d wanted to be here, but work called her away yet again and for far longer than she expected. She sighs as she gives up calling and decides to just check on you herself.

She’d driven over before she’d even gone home, so she’d been sitting for a while. She wanted to lie down, but she also wanted to check on you first to make sure you’re okay. Despite the late hour, Wanda can’t help but worry about you not answering the phone. She climbs the stairs to your apartment and takes note of how quiet it is. She tries to be mindful of this as she knocks on your door and waits to see if you’ll answer.

She checks her phone again before knocking one more time slightly louder. She waits for almost two minutes before she tries the door just to make sure. She’s alarmed when she realizes it’s not locked, and she’s quick to investigate. She opens the door and locks it quietly behind her as she pulls her gun and looks around the dark apartment.

She looks to the kitchen first to see that it’s empty, and the living room is equally so. The night light that you keep in the hall illuminated the area just enough for Wanda to see that your bedroom door was shut. She checks in the bathroom and then the spare bedroom before trying to figure out how to check on you.

She knows that if she surprises you, she might get a fist to the face as well as the neighbors calling the cops. The last time she’d scared you while you were sleeping, you’d screamed so loudly that your neighbor’s dog two floors up started barking.

“Y/n?”

You’re sleeping soundly and don’t hear her as she shuts the door behind her. She sees that nothing’s amiss and figures that you must have just fallen asleep and forgotten to lock the door. She plans on chastising you for this later, but for now she’s mostly just glad to see you again after so long. She sighs and puts her gun away before she reaches out for you carefully.

“Y/n, wake up. It’s Wanda.”

You think you’re still dreaming when you hear her voice and you shift so your face is under the covers. You want to stay sleeping so you can keep hearing Wanda’s voice, but something is trying to pull you from unconsciousness. You grumble under your breath as the covers are pulled away from your face and you roll away in annoyance. It takes you a good three seconds before you realize that someone’s in your room with you. You only keep yourself from freaking out by opening your eyes and turning back around to confirm your suspicion.

“Wanda?”

It’s dark, but you see her standing by your bed with a small smile. She’s dressed for work and looks tired, but she doesn’t hesitate to reach out for you.

“Hey, detka. Good to see you.”

You briefly wonder how she’d gotten into your apartment, but figuring this out quickly becomes unimportant when you realize that Wanda’s here. You haven’t seen her in too long and the excitement is enough to wake you up from your deep sleep and you sit up quickly. You smile widely as you reach out for her offered hand to pull her closer. It’s a little bit of an awkward hug given that she’s still standing, but neither of you mind as you hide your face in her stomach with a happy hum.

“Wanda, you’re here! I’m so happy to see you, but how did you...?”

You trail off as you release the redhead for two reasons. You notice as you hug her that she stiffens, and not in the way you expect. You want to ask about this, but first you would like to know if your girlfriend broke into your apartment. She seems to know what you’re asking and she shoots you a look that makes you wonder what you did wrong.

“The door was unlocked, Y/n. You should be more careful.”

You cringe slightly at the reminder that you’d completely forgotten to lock the door tonight. You had been wallowing in your self-pity and gorging on junk food, so you’d forgotten basic security. Luckily it was just Wanda who had come knocking, but you know that she’s right. You need to be more careful. You nod in agreement before you scoot over a little so Wanda can at least sit down.

 “Sorry, I fell asleep. Here sit.”

You smile as Wanda sits down beside you, but you’re quickly reminded of your second question when you notice that the redhead is still stiff. You frown as you reach out for her again and she realizes she’s caught as soon as you open your mouth.

“Are you okay? You seem tense.”

You know this could be a loaded question given that Wanda is coming off of what was undoubtedly a stressful two-week work stint. She just nods before she takes off her jacket and sets it aside with a sigh. You wait until she stands up again to take off her shoes, and gun before setting them aside. You think you almost have where she’s injured only seconds before she tells you what happened. You’ve always worried about her when she disappears for a while. You know that if she’s working there’s always the risk of her being in dangerous situations. So far, you’d both been really lucky and she hasn’t gotten too injured, and you just hope that tonight you’ll continue to be.

“It’s nothing serious, detka. I’m just a little sore.”

You don’t have time to ask or even let your mind run wild before Wanda’s unbuttoning her shirt. You wait with increasing anxiety as she finally reveals the angry, dark bruise that runs along her ribs on her left side down to her abdomen. You can’t stop the horrified gasp that leaves you when you see it, and you’re already moving to get out of bed.

“Shit, Wands. That looks awful. What can I do?”

You don’t even wait to hear her answer before you’re on your feet and heading to the bathroom. You have some pain meds from when you’d gotten your wisdom teeth removed that you never used. You’d never gotten around to throwing them out, and once you started dating Wanda, you figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to hang onto them. You didn’t want to use them, but as you return to your room to find her wincing slightly, you’re glad that you have them for her.

“Here, let me go grab you some water. Then I’ll get you a change of clothes.”

“Y/n, it’s okay. You don’t have--.”

Wanda trails off as you shake your head and disappear through the door despite her protests. She just sighs in defeat as she takes off her uncomfortable shirt with a grimace. Despite this injury being a couple of days old, it still hurts like a bitch. She should have stopped by the compound before coming here, but she was exhausted and just wanted to see you as soon as possible. She hadn’t meant to wake you up and make you fuss over her.

“Here, this should help.”

Wanda thanks you before taking the offered medication with a smile. She doesn’t even bother asking what it is, but she hopes it’s something strong enough to put her to sleep for a while. She sets the glass down on the bedside table next to her gun as you bring her a change of clothes. You help her put the t-shirt on before helping her stand to finish getting changed. You wait until she’s under the covers before speaking up, and it’s not until she shakes her head that you go to lie down next to her.

“Is there anything else I can do?”

Wanda reaches out for you and you hurry to her side as she smiles at you gratefully.

“No, thank you. I feel better already.”

You roll your eyes at this as you get settled in bed with a sigh. You are too worried to simply go to sleep, and you can’t help but want to know what happened during Wanda’s absence. She turns to face you and isn’t surprised to see you shooting her a concerned look. She knows she needs to address it, and she will, but first she wants you closer.

“Come here, detka.”

You don’t resist the urge to cuddle close to your girlfriend, but you make sure not to hold her too tightly against you. You let her pull you close and you sigh tiredly before daring to ask.

“What happened, Wands?”

You lie in silence for a bit as Wanda recalls what had happened a few days ago. She’d been working on dealing with a new competitor that was trying to steal her business. They were unorganized and reckless, and confronting them had been as chaotic as expected. Wanda had killed more people in the past two weeks than she had in a long time. She’d been pressured into confronting them before she was ready because she had to stop an attempt at sabotage, and as a result there’d been a blood bath.

Bucky had been shot in the arm, but mostly everyone made it out with just some cuts and bruises. She’d only been injured because she’d gone off on her own to chase the self-proclaimed mobster. If getting hit with a bat wasn’t painful enough, her brother berating her for being reckless definitely made her regret her actions. Whenever he gets on her about something, she knows she’s really screwed up.

She conveniently leaves this part out because she knows you’ll probably get upset at her too. She doesn’t want to fight. She’s just glad that she’s here with you and that she didn’t get too hurt in the process of eliminating an annoying threat.

“Someone snuck up on me, but we took care of them.”

You don’t have to ask what this means, and you frown at the idea of someone hurting the woman next to you. You know that she deals with criminals, professional or otherwise, and they’d likely just shoot you before you could even touch them, but you still fantasize about punching them in the face. You know it’s a little more complicated than you’re imagining, but you try not to worry too much about what Wanda gets up to. You look up to see she’s watching you carefully for your reaction and you just sigh before shooting her a suspicious look.

“Did you see a doctor for this?”

Wanda is at least grateful that she can confirm that she did this. She’d honestly thought that she’d broken a couple of ribs, but luckily they were only severely bruised. She says this and claims that she got scanned and only left with pain meds and orders to rest. You nod at this and smile slightly as you dare to hope that she can stick around for a while. You’d never want her to be hurt, but you won’t complain about getting to have her around for a while as she recovers.

“How long are you around for? I’d hope you’re taking some time to get better.”

Wanda had thought about this for a while before coming to see you. She was told that she should take a couple of weeks, but she knew that this wasn’t going to happen. She was still busy and had some things she needed to do as soon as tomorrow. That said, when she’d left her brother earlier, she’d promised to remain scarce for at least tomorrow. Now that she’s told you what happened, she’d be surprised if you didn’t demand she sit out for longer.

“I’m supposed to take it easy for the week, but I still have work to do.”

You frown at this predictable answer and you’re already trying to figure out how you’ll convince Wanda to hang out for a couple of days. You’d already given her some oxy, so hopefully she’ll at least sleep through the morning, but you didn’t want to keep drugging her to keep her here. You’d prefer if she wanted to hang around opposed to being forced to do so.

“Well work can wait for at least a day. You’ll hang out here tomorrow.”

Wanda just smiles at you before she kisses the top of your head with a nod. She’ll take at least the day to relax with you and recover. Hopefully you didn’t have any plans that she was interrupting. She can already feel herself getting sleepy. She might end up sleeping through most of tomorrow.

“Yes, ma’am.”

You roll your eyes but say nothing as you lie down beside Wanda with a yawn. You are getting sleepy again, and now that Wanda’s taken care of you are able to relax. You close your eyes and breathe in deeply before turning your face into Wanda’s neck with a smile. You’re about to fall asleep to the soothing smell of her shampoo when she speaks up again. You open your eyes in confusion until her words register and you laugh quietly.

“How did your finals go?”

You hum in contemplation before kissing Wanda’s cheek with a smile.

“They were fine, babe. Go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow.”

Tomorrow comes sooner than either of you are ready for it. Wanda is still asleep at 10, but you need to get out of bed and make some breakfast. You’re careful not to wake her up as you sneak out of bed and retreat to the kitchen. You make sure that the front door is locked, even though you’re sure Wanda locked it, before you start on breakfast. You clean up a little from last night as your food is cooking, and once it’s done you set a plate aside for Wanda for whenever she wakes up.

You eat on your couch as you consider what you’re going to do today. Originally, you’d planned on going grocery shopping before relaxing for most of the day. Now that Wanda was here, you didn’t really want to leave, so you decided to just skip the store and go straight to relaxing.

A little later you’re in bed with your computer on your lap and your headphones in watching a movie. Wanda’s still asleep beside you, and you try not to disturb her as you watch your second favorite horror movie. You don’t notice her stir immediately because the best part of the movie has started, but once she groans and rolls onto her back, you pause it and take out your headphones.

“Hey there, sleepyhead. How are you feeling?”

Wanda doesn’t answer immediately as she blinks the sleep out of her eyes. She’s exhausted and she feels a little drunk from her extended sleep. She feels the familiar ache in her side and she sighs heavily before scooting toward you with a yawn.

“Tired. What time is it?”

When you tell her it’s nearly 1, her eyes fly open and you think she’d going to jump out of bed. You reach out to stop her as you try to reassure her that she hasn’t missed anything important. You run your hand through her hair as you list off what you’d already checked on.

“It’s okay, Wands. No one’s called you, or me, or shown up demanding your presence. Today’s about relaxing, okay? For both of us.”

You smile as Wanda frowns slightly as she thinks about this. She’s still tired, and she’s sure you’re tired from all of your finals, and given that it’s Sunday she really doesn’t have anything pressing to do. As realization sets in, Wanda lies back down and sighs in defeat before she shoots your computer a curious look. She nearly rolls her eyes when she sees what movie you’re watching. Again.

“I will need to get out of bed for food at some point.”

Wanda watches as you close your computer quickly before tossing it aside with a smile. You shake your head as you move to get out of bed, but you don’t quite make it before Wanda grabs your arm to keep you from leaving.

“I made you some breakfast, but I can also make lunch instead if you’d rather have that.”

Wanda shakes her head before tugging on you lightly with a pout that makes you cave far too easily. You fall back into bed and Wanda moves closer to you with a smile.

“Thank you, but later. I want to cuddle now.”

You can’t help but laugh at this, but you don’t refuse as you get back under the covers and pull Wanda closer. You wonder if the people in Wanda’s life knew how snuggly she was. You decide not to bring it up as you lie down with a groan. You could honestly spend all day in bed. Your brain was mush and your body ached, and you finally had Wanda back. You couldn’t think of anywhere else that you’d rather be.

You don’t realize that you both fell asleep until you are woken up by the sound of knocking reverberating through the room. You groan in annoyance before you realize that Wanda is still asleep. You mutter a curse under your breath as you get out of bed and go to investigate. You close the door behind you before heading toward the sound of increasingly loud knocking. You glance at the clock in the kitchen and realize it’s almost 6. Time for dinner.

“Hi, can I help you?”

You’re unprepared for the person on the other side of the door when you open it. He’s tall, blonde and built like a solider, and you have no idea who he is. If he wasn’t smiling at you, you’d be thoroughly freaked out. That said, you’re on your way there when he speaks up.

“Hi, my name’s Steve. I’m looking for Wanda, is she here?”

You have several questions that you’d like answered before you answer his. How did he know that Wanda was here? Who was he? And why the hell hadn’t you grabbed your phone? You frown feigning confusion before you shake your head in response. You’re not sure if Wanda has ever mentioned a Steve, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. You don’t care who he is because unless someone is dying, Wanda isn’t going back to work today.

“Sorry, you’ve got the wrong place, Steve.”

Instead of appearing apologetic or defeated like you were hoping, he just continues to smile as he looks over your shoulder into your apartment. He knows that Wanda’s here. He followed her here to make sure she got here safely, and now there was a problem that Pietro needed help with. He didn’t want to bother Wanda who he figured was sleeping considering she wasn’t nearby, but he did need her. He sighs quietly before opening his mouth to ask again, but you beat him to it.

“Who did you say you were again? Are you a friend?”

He takes a minute to consider how he should answer this. He’s not sure how much Wanda’s told you. He only recently found out about your existence, but the fact that Wanda was here now is very telling. She must trust you, and like you a lot, but still, she’s probably only told you the bare minimum because she’s always been paranoid.

“Yes. We’re friends and we work together. Steve Rogers.”

The last name doesn’t mean much to you, but he holds out his hand to you, a smile still on his face. He seems genuine, but if being with Wanda has taught you anything, it is to be cautious, borderline paranoid really. Still, you don’t think this man means you any harm. Other than trying to take your girlfriend after you just got her back.

“Nice to meet you, Steve. I’m Y/n, but I’m guessing you already knew that?”

You shake his hand, dropping it quickly as he smiles guiltily at your question. You’re not going to think too much about that and you sigh in defeat before trying to figure out your next move.

“I did.”

“Great, well Wanda’s resting, and she’s going to keep resting at least until tomorrow, so…come back then please.”

Steve opens his mouth to argue, but you shut the door in his face. You know you’re being rude, but you’re not letting Steve stress Wanda out after she slept nearly 12 hours. She clearly needed the rest and you don’t want her running off anywhere only to hurt herself more. You head back to your bedroom and are relieved to see that Wanda is still asleep. You sigh before getting back into bed and trying to relax again.

This lasts for 30 seconds before you hear a phone start vibrating. It’s not yours and you look around only to find Wanda’s phone on a chair in the corner with her folded clothes. You grab it and see that it’s Steve and you sigh in defeat. You answer it and can’t help but smile as you walk back out into the living room.

“Hello?”

“I really need to talk to Wanda, Y/n. “

You sigh loudly before you hang up the phone and walk back to your front door. Unsurprisingly, Steve is still standing there with his phone in his hand and a slightly annoyed look. You shoot him one back before you try to strike a deal.

“What’s so important that it can’t wait until tomorrow? Is someone hurt?”

Steve thinks about this for a second before he shakes his head. He’s not going to tell you the details because you won’t understand since he doubts Wanda told you about what happened to her, but he can tell you’re just as stubborn as he feared when you just frown.

“No, no one is hurt. We just need to talk about next steps.”

“You mean after she killed a bunch of people?”

Steve’s not expecting you to say this and he hesitates before shaking his head. He realizes he’s lying to you though, but you don’t give him time to take it back. You tilt your head slightly before asking the last question you plan to. Unless the answer is yes, you’re not letting Steve leave here with Wanda.

“Is Wanda in danger?”

Steve considers lying, but he’s really no good at it and he can tell you’re probably too smart to fall for it. So he just sighs before shrugging slightly and telling the truth that does nothing to convince you.

“Not any more so than usual.”

You smile at this despite hating the truth of the words and you prepare to close the door again.

“Okay, well not to be rude Steve because it’s nice to meet you, but please leave. Wanda will call you tomorrow.”

Steve just sighs in defeat before he decides to call it quits for now. Pietro can figure this out until at least then, and he can tell short of forcing his way in, he’s not going to get to talk to Wanda. He just offers you a wave before leaving.

“Alright fine. Nice to meet you too, kid.”

You frown at the name, but don’t bother arguing as you shut and lock the door behind him. You sigh in relief before you walk back to your bedroom. That was far more stressful than you anticipated it would be, and you felt wiped out. You notice that Wanda’s shifted since you left, but she was still asleep which you were grateful for. You were not looking forward to try and explain what happened just yet. She needs to sleep, and unless something drastic happens and Wanda is truly needed for an emergency, you plan to keep her here with you for at least the rest of the day. You were promised today, and you’d be damned if it was taken from you.

You kiss Wanda’s forehead and smile widely when she grumbles in her sleep.

“Night, Wands.”

Masterlist

[rustingcat]

Midnight

"Kara, can you come over to look at something?" Lena asked with clear worry in her voice. 

They’d spent the past 6 weeks since the decision having their lunch breaks in the lab, checking daily on the pods. So it was unusual for Lena to call her in the middle of the night, Lena's concerned voice woke her up in a second. 

Kara made it to the lab just as the clock struck midnight. She hurried to Lena's side, feeling a shot of anxiety run through her body. In those few milliseconds she already had the worst scenarios run through her mind; did their baby have a terrible mutation? Did they develop a terminal disease? Were they already dead?

Kara swallowed hard as the air around her felt thicker and harder to breathe. "What's wrong?"

"It could be a problem with the machine, I'm just not sure I'm reading it right. Look at this." Lena pointed out to the live ultrasound view on the terminal. They only got it working recently, prioritising it last in favour of more important tests. "It could be the angle, or I don't know, I might be reading it wrong." Lena continued.

Kara studied the screen closely, following Lena's finger as she pointed the anomaly out. The image on the screen was clear, as Kara's eyes grew bigger with the realisation and her smile spread bigger on her lips. "Oh, Rao." Her hand went to cover her mouth in shock as she took a slight step back. Joy and anxiety spread freely in her body.

"So it's-"

"Twins!" Kara exclaimed loudly. "Oh Rao, we're having twins!"

"Dear lord." Lena slammed down on the nearest chair, clearly not as excited as Kara was. "I really hoped I was reading it wrong."

"What? Why? It's great news Lena! Double the excitement!" Kara always wanted a sibling growing up on Krypton, specially she wanted a twin like her mother.

"It's double the trouble. Kara, do you know how hard it is to handle twins? It's two human-Kryptonian hybrids running around causing trouble and refusing to sleep."

"I know, I know, but it's still exciting! They'll have the perfect playmate to play with, someone to always understand them at every stage of their life, someone to confide with when things are tough and the world doesn't make sense."

"I… it's still going to be super difficult."

"Being super is kind of my speciality." Kara said with a smirk.

"Don't play cute with me Supergirl, you know what I mean." Despite the jab she seemed to have calmed down a bit. "I didn't even know that twins were possible to get in the machine to be honest." She added.

"Oh yeah, it is. Twins actually run in my family, I probably should've mentioned that." Kara bit her lip. 

"Yes," Lena muttered. "Speaking of sharing important information, I think this is probably a good time to have that talk." Lena said reluctantly as she got up from the chair and gestured for Kara to follow her to the couch.

Kara did and took the seat next to her. She wasn't sure she was ready to confront it yet, to make it real, but then again the image on the screen was very real, and Kara promised to do everything in the world to keep those two little beans safe and sound.

"What should we start with?" Kara cleared her throat, preparing herself mentally and physically for it.

"God, we have so much to talk about. We're going to raise half Kryptonian children together in a few months, there's a lot to cover. We'll probably not get to everything today, but we can start with what we can for today. Like where are we going to live? Are we even going to live together?" 

"Of course we'll live together!" Kara quickly responded. "If you want to of course, I wouldn't force you to do anything, I just think that it would be better. For the babies and stuff." Kara cleared her throat again.

"Yes, I think that would be for the best." Lena agreed, her cheeks slightly flashed. "Now, the question is which house. Considering your house doesn't even have one bedroom, I would say it's out of the question. My penthouse has only two and a half extra rooms, which in the long run might be a problem if we wanted to include a home office and a room for each child."

"Right, well, getting a new place is expensive. And I know you have money but this is a responsibility we share, so I want to be able to contribute equally. We're gonna need a really big house with lots of rooms, preferably in the downtown area. That's gonna be really expensive. I am making much better money in my new position, so I can start saving up and might be able to afford something in a year or so if I get a good mortgage."  And cut off some of her food supplies and any fun purchases and so on. It wouldn't be ideal, but it was doable.

"Hmm." Lena's eyebrows furrowed as she pondered their options. "Well, the apartment below me is actually empty for security reasons, we could possibly take over it and connect it to my place. The renovation should be much cheaper and give us more time to save up for if and when we want to get something bigger." Lena was obviously a genius. She never doubted that, but she still felt herself filled up with pride and joy every time Lena made it apparent.

"What about the security measures?"

"We can figure out new ones. Plus we can probably open up a convenient roof entrance for when you need to leave quickly." 

"Right. Well, how big are the renovations? Do you know how long they'd be and how much it's going to cost?"

"I'll have to get back to you on both once I settle on a construction company, but I would imagine it would probably take a couple of months." Lena shrugged.

"Okay, so if you need a place to stay, you can stay with me and once it's done we can move in together, as a family." Kara smiled at her excitingly, reaching out to take her hands. Lena's eyes darted immediately to their joined hands, but made no move to take them away. "I assume the place is yours so you don't pay rent."

"Haha no." Lena chuckled.

"Mortgage?" Kara tried.

Lena raised an eyebrow "Kara, need I remind you that I'm an actual billionaire?"

"Yeah, okay. I just feel bad because this is your place, like you paid for all of this."

"And you're gonna help me pay for the renovation to make it ours. Plus, don't worry, we'll have plenty of expenses. We still have a whole lot of shoppings to get done."

Kara's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Not before the three month mark. We want to make sure before we buy." She had a point.

"Yes I know," Kara nodded in disappointment. "I should probably talk to Kal at some point, maybe he and Lois can give us some advice on raising half Kryptonian twins." She suggested.

"Good idea. Although, it's best to talk to them after we tell everyone else, meaning after three months."

"Why does it feel like forever?" 

"Eager to become a parent?" Lena teased.

"A bit." Kara answered honestly.

Lena only squeezed her hands in response. They sat together in silence for a moment before Kara made a realisation.

"Oh!" She got up from her seat, startling Lena as she rose.

"What? Kara is everything alright?" Lena asked, concerned.

"I first thought it was some new parts in the machine, but it isn't." Kara felt her eyes getting blurry with tears. "I can hear them." She turned her head to Lena once she reached the pod. "I can hear their little hearts."

Lena walked up to her and interlocked her fingers with Kara once more. "They'll be here soon." Lena promised. Kara put her forehead to Lena's, closing her eyes and focused on the tiny beating sound. "I can't wait to meet them."

Read in order in AO3

[meichenxi]

Hanzi update (+accidental trauma talk)

tw illness, trauma, vomiting, weight loss, recovery. I didn't plan to write about this but because of what happened in the last year I can't really write about how I studied Chinese without talking about it. so. but it's mainly about hanzi lol

I've been learning how to write traditional characters with the vague idea that I'd go and study in Taiwan, and also that if I want to write Classical Chinese or Japanese they're far more useful - but the program I want to go to Taiwan for requires HSK7, which I DO not think I can achieve and have the results of before March. Who knows! Perhaps within me lies untold brilliance and dedication!!

...well, I wouldn't rely on it. (I am also busy with a job, a partner, studying an A-level course to begin tutoring it in September, and writing the second draft of my novel.)

And even if I ended up going to Taiwan with my absolutely fantastic HSK7, there's no way I could handwrite all of those words within a year. If I learn 10 characters a day, that's like 3650 characters in a year, but realistically that will never happen - and you still have to actually remember them.

I also know from my last experience where I learnt a stupid amount of characters very quickly (about 800 in two weeks) that I can technically do it, I have a very large swollen brain, but then the brain, being very large and very swollen, promptly burns out. And leaves me to not do any Chinese again for like two months. So basically - completely pointless, because after those two months of rest I had forgotten most of them anyway. I will not be doing that again.

This time around I have been slowly, very slowly, learning things on Skritter. I have about 400 characters so far. I'm not doing words but doing characters, which is a bit slower, but I figure it'll be more useful in the long run. After I have the first 1000, I'm planning to then systematically go through the HSK and TOCFL lists and check I know how to put characters together and which 'jing' is used in 'yijing' etc.

This approach is only really going to work because I know a lot of vocabulary and can read a lot of stuff already - otherwise I wouldn't recommend to anybody without that backbone of vocabulary to just learn random isolated characters, unless you're masochistic or much harder-core than I am.

As I have said in a lot of posts before, I had a very difficult experience in China last August and have basically taken an entire year off studying because in all honesty I just couldn't bring myself to face the language again. Every time I tried I had this crazy grief and nightmares and stress response. What I went through was so stressful that during those two months in China that I lost seven kilograms, as I couldn't eat much without vomiting it back up due to stress and fear, didn't sleep, and ended up having to leave for Thailand pretty severely malnutritioned - which then made me susceptible to illnesses there and I spent the next two months after with awful health, vomiting and weak and generally sick. Luckily I was with friends and I gained the weight again and my period and digestive system sorted itself out.

And I never expected that a language itself could carry trauma? Like. Nobody died, it wasn't like that, I wasn't abused or assaulted or anything but still...for just under a year, every time I spoke or heard or read Chinese I couldn't help thinking of those two months. Even now it's still hard. I'm finding my way back to it but, to be honest, I didn't expect how hard it would be. I thought I could just - move past it, because I'd already had so many great experiences in China and Taiwan and with Chinese, that they would cancel each other out or at least be aided by the huge amounts of love that the language has shown me. Alas, it was not the case.

Anyway. All of that to say - I have only managed to do about 400 characters in a year, because I essentially gave up studying completely.

Now I've just finished reviewing and re-remembering those 400 characters on Skritter, so I'm ready to start again! I don't know what's changed, I guess just time - I feel more positive, I feel curious and interested about the language again. I don't know. I'm not going to question it too deeply. But for these past two weeks, I've been having a lot of fun :)

I'll update everyone on my progress as I go! Next post - 500.

[theosconfessions]

if youd like to read the stephens from the beginning you can over here :)

if youd like to read the stephens continued you can over here:)

robin- you and river break up or something?

blake- [mumbles] being that we werent dating..kinda hard to do that.

robin- jesus. attitude.

blake- its five am,bobbi.

robin- mmhmm okay. weve been doing this before school everyday for the past few weeks but sure the problem is the time. come on.

blake- come on?

robin- yeah this is the first time..besides when you were grounded ..i didnt find you in rivs room.

blake- maybe i just wanted to sleep on the couch?

robin- NO ONE wants to sleep on that couch. you now how many times ive caught my dads humping on that thing?

blake- WHAT NO?! actually... [smirks] you know what im kinda into it..

robin- youre gross.

blake- ive been told. can we study or?

robin- i can help. i can talk to river?

blake- you can help? theres nothing to fix,bobbi. everythings fine. everythings normal.

robin- yeah i dont think so.

blake- and why dont you think so, bobbi?

robin- because i heard you two last night.

blake- ah okay well. NOT having this conversation with his little sister. sorry you heard shit. but bobbi, leave it. we're good. back to normal.

robin- mmhmm seems like it.

blake- bobbi. seriously. lets just study. please leave the river stuff alone. if its not okay we'll figure it out . promise.

robin- okaaayyyyy..if you want to keep dancing around your feelings for him like you have been for the past i dont know a long ass time ...okay. BUT

blake- but nothing bobbi. we crossed some lines he wasnt ready to. thats it. we're fine. we talked about it. we're good.

robin- you didnt talk about shit i heard you. you guys friendzoned eachother and then you spent the next few hours crying

blake- okay i wasnt crying. first of all. second like i said bobbi. we'll figure it out. i dont need more interference from the stephens-kline sisters in this shit. PLEASE the last time i ended up in my room for two weeks.

robin- okay i just have seen him as happy as he is with you..like ever. and i kinda miss my best friend being happy instead of being in his room mad or sad or whatever. you guys are kinda..cute togehter.

blake- appreciate it. but hes not into me. can we let this go

robin- okay yeah. so book report right?

blake- right.

robin- maybe just go talk to him.

blake- BOBBI!

[sirianasims]

Chapter 42

Mind The Gap

“Hailey, can you start on the cookies?”

“Sure, mom.”

My mother’s movements were precise and efficient as she and Hailey moved around the kitchen like choreographed dancers, measuring, stirring, and chopping.

“Mom, the table is done. Anything else I can do?”

She shook her head. “No thanks, sweetie, I think Hailey and I can take it from here.” My mother knew better than to let me cook anything more advanced than cup noodles.

Hailey turned to me.

“Actually, could you go check on Grayson? It sounds like he’s still awake.”

I went to the living room and picked up my wiggly nephew. He cooed happily when he saw me.

“Hi, Gray-Gray! Look, it’s your favourite aunt! At least until your grandpa brings aunt Ivy back from the airport.”

The living room was littered with toys and baby stuff. Hailey and her husband Mark lived just around the corner, and spent almost as much time here as they did at their own house.

On the coffee table, yet another gossip magazine speculated wildly about Paul Romeo’s new fling. The picture of us outside his hotel had been everywhere for the past two weeks, and it had almost stopped bothering me every time I saw it. The writings still hurt, though.

“You should be glad you can’t read, Gray-Gray. You’re already busy eating and pooping and sleeping, you don’t need to also worry about silly people calling you a gold-digger or saying that you’re just a child playing dress-up.”

He giggled and blew a spit bubble, and I felt a surge of affection for him.

“I know, right? Some of them even say nasty things about your uncle Paul too. Or, well – he’s not really your uncle, but maybe some day…”

I paused. I hadn’t really spent much time thinking about what ‘some day’ would look like. Would Paul ever want to get married? Have kids? Most people his age had a family by now. What if he wanted kids soon? We never talked about it.

Grayson sleepily tried to grab a tiny fistful of my hair. I moved it out of reach and began rocking him again.

“You’re a good listener, Gray-Gray,” I muttered softly. “And very cute. But you need to sleep so you won’t be cranky during dinner.”

I rocked him for a while. Outside, the powdery snowflakes danced in the wind while I listened to his breathing, deep and steady. When I was sure he was asleep, I put him in his crib and flopped down on the couch to check my phone. No new texts.

I ignored the angry red dots telling me I had 99+ notifications on most of my social media. At least they didn’t have my phone number. My friends and family knew to only text or call me directly by now.

My phone vibrated in my hand, and I checked it eagerly. Marten wished me a happy Winterfest.

I reacted to his last message with a heart and put the phone down. I liked Marten, we sometimes played games online when he wasn’t too busy with his studies. I was glad that he still wanted to be my friend even though he probably had something else in mind when he asked for my number, but it was Paul I really wanted to hear from.

Grayson was still sleeping peacefully, and I could hear my mother and Hailey talking and laughing, their voices mixing with the clatter of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. The delicious smells from the food and the ever-present scent of pine enveloped me and I was almost drifting off when my phone vibrated again.

This time it was Paul, saying he’d be calling in ten minutes or so.

I leapt up from the couch to put on something warmer. I wasn’t really supposed to go outside alone, but I didn’t feel like talking to him around my family, and I doubted any paparazzi would be spending Winterfest freezing their butts off in case I left the house.

beginning / previous / next

[lilacella]

Nightsky

Song recommendation: (this one is not very serious at all xD)

Chapter 2: By Merlins beard!

First Previous Next

"It is really not that hard! Just vanish it with Evanesco! It is one simple spell Remus!" Sirius threw himself back into his chair, crossing his arms in annoyance. They were sitting at their usual table at The Three Broomsticks, a supposed respite between Remus furious study sessions and Sirius had decided that just now was the right moment to scold Remus cleaning habits.

"I'm sorry I just forgot this morning...I don't get why it's such a big deal though. It is just some hair in the sink," Remus tried to defend himself.

"It looks nasty! Right Prongs?" Sirius turned to James for help. But James just shrugged.

"I don't think it is that bad."

"Well thanks mate," Sirius snapped.

"I will try to do it in the future, Sirius. I just have to shave every morning. You dont know what that's like."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well you dont exactly have much facial hair to shave do you," Remus said with a smirk. Teasing Sirius was just a little too much fun sometimes.

"Excuse me? I do?! I just shave and then remove the remnants of it from the sink, unlike some other people on this table."

"Do they know that they sound like an old married couple?" Lily chuckled into James ear and he tried to suppress a grin. Sirius ignored her.

"If I wanted to I could grow an full beard in no time."

"Sure you could." Remus was still in teasing mood.

"Oh, you dont believe me? Fine, let's make a bet. Whoever has got the longes moustache at the end of the exam period wins." He stretched out his hand towards Remus. The other hesitated for a moment and then grabbed it with a sigh.

"Fine, I guess it won't hurt. If that makes you shut up about the hair."

"It won't." Remus surpressed a smile. Sirius was so bloody stubborn and he loved it.

**

Two weeks had passed and Remus had cultivated a pretty sightly moustache. It was starting to get into his mouth while eating and he thought he looked ridiculous, but that was not important, because he was winning. This might be his only opportunity to win something against Sirius and he could not let that chance slip. While his opponent did have some growth, it was merely a stubble. A pretty hot looking stubble that made Remus wonder what it felt like to brush over with his lips...an unwelcome distraction during this time of the year, when exams drew closer and Remus anxiety levels were at an all time high.

The last weeks of the term were spent in the usual whirlwind of exams, study sessions and the plotting of this years final prank. The last prank of the year had always been a special occasion for the marauders and kept Sirius and James busy while Peter and Remus desperately tried to cram the class contents of the past year into their heads. The only noticable difference this year was that they had been joined by Lily Evans and because Lily was sitting in the library, James was sitting in the library. And because James wss sitting in the library, Sirius was sitting in the library, showing only vague interest in the books strewn across the table and instead busying himself with shooting little paper balls in the hair of Severus Snape, who was sitting across them, facing away.

"How many do you think I can do before he notices?"

"I'd be disappointed if you couldn't at least do fifty." Sirius and James shared a mischievous look. Another paper ball whirred through the air before it hit Snapes head and got stuck in the greasy strands of his black hair. Lily looked up from her book, disgruntled.

"Can you stop that? It is really distracting."

Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed but put his wand down.

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"Study. How about that. This is a library after all," she replied sharply. Sirius snorted.

"Why should I? I already know all of that and the actually interesting stuff is locked away over there." He looked wistfully over to the forbidden section.

"Oh," Sirius eyes fluttered shortly before he regained his usual nonchalant demeanor. "You've really got her wrapped around your finger, huh? Prefect boy." Sirius smirked and grabbed the keys from Remus hands. The brief brushing of their fingers made Remus breath hitch a little. He watched Sirius saunter towards the forbidden section, not without casually pushing Snapes face down into his book in passing. He dragged his eyes away from Sirius figure and turned back to his book. He could feel Lily nudging him under the table, seeing her wiggling her eyebrowes from the corner of his eye. This had to end.

"I could get you some books from there if you want to. McGonnagall lend me the keys," Remus pitched in, dangeling the keys over the table. Sirius turned to him, a look in his eyes that Remus couldn't quite discern. It was almost soft.

**

The final exam came and went and finally, the final day of the challenge was upon them. Remus spend a little time in the morning to examine his moustache and was overall quite happy with it. He had almost reached two centimeters and was absolutely certain that Sirius did not. He had seen the pathetic stubble yesterday after all.

So you could imagine his surprise at the breakfast table, when he saw Sirius and James walking in, a thick layer of black hair covering the top lip of the former.

"What on earth?!"

"Wow, padfoot how did it grow so fast?" Peter admired.

"It is not real." Remus claimed.

"Of course it is! Here, touch it." Sirius leaned down to Remus offering his face. Remus heart did a complicated maneuver in his chest but he did not have time for this now. How had this happened? Sirius must have cheated! He gingerly pulled on one of the hairs. It was surprisingly soft. And definitely attached to Sirius face. He crossed his arms.

"What did you do? Is that a spell?"

"A potion," announced James proudly. One of my dads. We brewed it ourselves." He looked over to Lily, hoping to impress her with his potion expertise. Lily only raised an eyebrow.

"You brewed it youself? Oh my, whatever could go wrong with that."

"Relax Evans, it clearly worked, didn't it," Sirius said while sinking into the chair next to Remus, turning towards him. "Guess that means I won."

"You cheated!"

"We never said, how you have to grow the beard. Only to grow it." Remus huffed.

"I cannot belive you would be so...thats such a Slytherin thing to do." He immediately regretted his words when he saw the look on Sirius face.

"No that's not what I meant, I'm sorry," he quickly backpaddled. The hurt glimmer in Sirius eyes searing in his heart. "I just, it was just a little unfair." His voice was small now. He didn't mean to. Sirius let out a breath next to him.

" 's fine," he said toneless and started piling toast on his plate.

"Right." James slapped the table, trying to relieve the tension. "So who is exited for the final day of school? I wonder if anything interesting will happen today." He smirked. Lily sighed and put down her cup of tea.

"What will it be this year? Flooding the dungeouns? Tying ribbons on the whomping willow? Or vanishing all the doors again, locking everyone out of class?"

"I could imagine worse than the last one," said Peter. James shook his head and grinned brightly at Lily.

"Just you wait, it is a surprise."

They finished their breakfast and started to get up for class when Remus noticed something.

"Is it just me or did it get even longer?" he asked, pointing at Sirius moustache, which was now hanging down the corners of his mouth. Sirius reached up to touch it and James turned towards him to check.

"Oh yeah, looks like it did. Weird. It should have stopped after the first 20 minutes." Lily pressed her lips together, half annoyed half amused.

"I bet you got the potion wrong." James waved off her concern.

"Ah, I'm sure it will stop growing in a sec."

**

James was wheezing. Peter was giggeling. Remus and Lily tryed their hardest to keep a straight face and to not burst in to laughter as well. Prof. Hawthorne, their current DADA teacher, was the only one not amused.

"It is hardly against any dresscode, Professor. I am a wizard after all! You of all people should understand." Sirius twirled the right strand of his moustache around his finger. Silky black hair coiling around it multiple times.

"It is a distraction for the rest of the class!"

"And since when is it a students fault if others are distracted by their apperance? If my mere existence in your classroom serves as a sufficient distraction, maybe your teaching method is lacking." Prof. Hawthornes face turned red.

"Unbelievable! Out!" he yelled pointing towards the door. Demonstratively slow Sirius got up and gathered his things. When he had finished packing his back he turned to to Prof. Hawthorne.

"I will file a discrimination suit. You will be hearing from me," he stated, mockingly imitating his mothers voice. And, after dramatically flipping his moustache back over his shoulders he marched out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him.

Remus buried himself in his book, one hand over his mouth to muffly his laughter.

The rest of the day was spent in similar fashion. Sirius beard kept growing and growing, much to the entertainment of the other students and the dismay of the teachers. Sirius would amuse his classmates by empathically pushing the two tendrils behind his ears, whenever he had to read something out if his book and while he strode through the hallways, James and Peter walked behind him, carrying his moustache so it wouldn't drag on the floor.

The focus on Sirius luscious locks was briefly interrupted during lunch, by the excited and amazed calls of some students. Suddenly, the stone floors of the ground floor where covered in an ocean of pink and purple flowers. Lily gasped in awe.

"Irises and primroses. Your favorites." James smiled proudly and Sirius rolled his eyes, fondly smirking. Lily turned towards her boyfriend.

"That was the prank? You did that...for me? How do you even know what my favorite flowers are?"

"You mentioned it once in 2nd year during botany," James replied and sheepishly rubbed his neck. Lily shook her head smiling.

"You're a git, you know that?" She kissed his cheek. James grinned over both ears. Sirius groaned.

"Alright enough with the sap. Prongs, when you're done being lovey dovey I might have an idea for a prank that isn't unbearably cheesy."

"I like the sound of that," James perked up.

"I don't," Remus and Lily sighed at the same time. The two prefects exchanged defeated glaces.

"This is an awful idea," hissed Remus into Sirius ear. "What if he falls down?"

"He won't. He's got his broom with him, just in case," Sirius whispered back. They were standing on the astronomy tower, barely paying attention to their professors musings. It was late in the evening and you could already make out the waxing moon in the darkening sky. Remus winced at its sight. He was not looking forward to next week. Meanwhile Sirius tried to, as inconspicuously as possible, throw his moustache over the balustrade. Lily was watching them with concern.

"Are you not worried that he will pull you over the railing?" Remus asked, worries unstilled.

"Sticking spell," said Sirius and pointed at his feet. "Should keep me up here." Remus still wasn't convinced.

"What about your neck? James is quite heavy, I think you are underestimating how dangerous this is." Sirius smirked at him.

"Are you worried about me, Moony?" Sirius was just teasing but Remus could still feel his face flush.

"I just think this is stupid. And unnecessary."

"It will be hilarious. Trust me...Oh, there he is." Sirius waved down into the darkness below. Followed my a thumbs up towards James, who, many meters below them, was getting ready for his rapunzelesque ascend.

Sirius had in fact underestimated James weight and had to, still trying to remain innocuous, brace himself with his whole strength against the balustrade of the tower. Lily snorted a laugh which she quickly tried to pass off as a sneeze. Remus pressed his lips together, trying not to grin. As funny as this was, he stood by his point. Sirius seemd like he had to use equal parts of energy to keep himself from toppling over and to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. Remus had stepped closer, to obscure Sirius a little from the sight of the professor. He could hear his friend giggeling behind him.

"Remus," Sirius pressed out "I fear you might have been right about that one." Quietly laughing he pressed his forehead against Remus shoulder.

"How far until he's up?" Remus asked, trying to ignore the sensation elicited by Sirius touch. Sirius carefully turned his head to peer down.

"Almost done," he wispered. "Thankfully. My neck hurts." Sirius started chuckling again.

"Mr. Potter!"

"Sir!" James calls in answer as he clumbers over the railing onto the tower, Fists still tightly wrapped around Sirius moustache.

"What in the universe is this about?" The professor was absolutely unamused by the circumstances of James arrival. Remus and Lily fought tooth and nail to keep a straight face.

"You see, Sir, I happened to be a little late to class, absolutely my bad I apologize, and running up all these stairs would have taken ages. So my good friend Sirius here," he slapped Sirius shoulder "offered to help me out by giving me a lift." There was a short pause, before Sirius and James could not stand it any longer and burst out into fits of laughter. Lily turned her face away, to hide her laugh.

"This will have consequences! After class you two will report to your house teacher immediately!"

**

Professor McGonnagall looked at them tiredly.

"Mr. Potter. You climbed the astronomy tower using Mr. Blacks moustache as a rope," the corners of her mouth twitched. "Is that correct." Sirius and James nodded sheepishly.

"I have to say, I expected more if you at your age. You are both legal adults!" The two boys exchanged a look. Each of them trying not to laugh again.

"What is going on whith your beard anyway, Mr. Black?"

"Oh this old thing," Sirius nonchalantly threw his moustache around his neck like a scarf. "I find it quite fashionable. Don't you agree Professor?" Professor McGonnagall shook her head.

"It is not my job to judge my students fashion choices. And, considering this is the last day I will let you off with a warning. But this thing," she gestured at Sirius beard, "better be gone by tommorow, lest I overthink my decision. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Now off to your dorm. You've got a long trainride ahead of you tomorrow."

**

"I can't believe she just let you off like that."

"Hey! You should be happy for me! Also, this was hilarious. One of the best, non-magical ones we've pulled off so far."

Sirius and Remus where standing in the washroom getting ready for bed. Sirius had tied his moustache behind his head, so it wouldn't get in the way while brushing his teeth. He now opened the knot and looked wistfully at the strands that were pooling next to his feet.

"McGonnagall said I have to cut it off. Such a waste. We will never find out how long it would have gotten."

"I think it is good, that it's coming off. You could strangle yourself in your sleep with this."

Sirius chuckled. "Still concerned about me?" Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius turned towards him.

"Will you do me the honours? Since you won, I suppose..." Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I won?"

"Well, yeah. I mean this was fun and all but it technically was cheating. So, you won. Now will you free me of this beard or do I have to do everything by myself here?"

"Yes, wait." Remus quickly pulled out his wand, activating the shaving spell. "Hold still." He carefully moved his wand towards Sirius upper lip and began to shave. Absentmindedly his left hand wandered to Sirius chin, holding it to keep his head from moving. He realised too late, how close they were. Sirius looked at him with a gaze that Remus couldn't read. The ceiling lights reflected in his grey eyes, making them shimmer even more than usual. Remus could feel his soft skin under his fingertips, the warmth radiating off of him. If he leaned just a little closer, he could... He quickly pulled away. His heart beating hard in his chest. He cleared his throat.

"Happy?" Sirius slowly turned to the mirror.

"Yeah, thank you," he answered softly, turning back to Remus. They spent a minute too long, looking at each other, before Remus forced himself to turn away.

"I should...I should get rid of mine too. Now that this is over." He gestured at his own moustache and quickly shaved it of, sending a shower of short hair into the sink. Sirius scoffs and flicks his wand.

"Evanesco!" The cut off hair vanished from the sink and the ground. "See how easy that was?" Remus groans, relieved about the change of vibes.

"I'll do better next year, I promise."

[ros3ybabe]

Life Update After a Few Days: October 18th, 2023 🎀

I’ve been a little busy with school, work, resting, and starting my workout routine back up, so here’s a little update!

I’m getting a tattoo soon! I know the aesthetic of my blog is pink and girly and coquette and I love everything that comes with the aesthetic and the lifestyle but I have an affinity for gothic style/spooky tattoos, so I’m getting a decent sized spider tattoo on my right thigh and I’m super excited! This is the first big ish sized tattoo besides the two small ones I have, and it’s the first tattoo appointment I’ve ever made so I’m really excited. A little anxious, especially for the shading portion of it, but I’m looking forward to how good it’s going to look when it’s finished and how much more confident it’s going to make me!

I’ve started working out at the gym again! My current schedule is three days of weightlifting (pull day, leg day, push day), and two days of just cardio. It feels so nice both mentally and physically to be taking care of myself like this again. I even bought some new workout shorts and gym clothes and I’m feeling better than ever! I’m focusing on improving my mental health right now and working out is doing wonders for me!

I’m working so much right now, but it’s worth it because I need the money for rent, tattoos, gym stuff, groceries, and whatever other necessities and wants pop up. I’m pulling doubles most Saturdays and it’s a little tiresome and energy draining but I’m managing pretty well. I won’t pull doubles every Saturday tho because that drives me straight into burnout and I’m trying to avoid that.

I hit 31 days on Duolingo and I’m at 28 days on Busuu, super proud of myself for keeping up with those two goals for now! I’m still working through the first two lessons of Genki and I’m still using the Kanji app but my studying has been a little bit more spread out because of my busy schedule. I’m trying to learn how to better balance multiple things without hyperfixating on just one and forgetting about everything else. I’ve noticed I tend to do that and that’s not the most productive thing for me.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I spent a lot of money on stuff from Amazon (and Ulta) and most of it is here already besides the last couple Amazon items coming in today! I love the workout clothes I bought and the fitness/health tracker planner I bought is really interesting. I also got my language tracking bullet journal stuff in the mail so I am super looking forward to starting that up soon. Again, I noticed I tend to hyperfixate on one thing at a time but right now I’m trying to balance all my interests and things I need to do. My current “balance breakup” is: fitness/nutrition, Japanese language study, school/classes and academic success, work/making money, self care (sleep, skincare, reading, journaling, etc), boyfriend time, appointments, and chores/cleaning/housework. Sounds like a lot but there’s 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. Not everything has to be done in one day and as long as I manage my time efficiently, then I’ll be successful. I also try to take into account my energy levels, daily tasks, possible “curveballs”, and my current physical and mental/emotional well being. Flexibility is a must in my life but I do like having routines and things to stick to, plan and schedule wise.

I’ve been working on some posts ideas for this blog so it’s not just daily updates and stuff, but actual tips, advice, and my current routines and schedules too, to maybe help motivate and inspire you guys! I have some things in mind currently, so hopefully I can find the time to type them up and post them!

Thank you guys for 850+ followers! I never thought my blog could grow like this and I’m super happy it has! This community has given me such a safe and comforting place where I can just be myself without worry. I appreciate all of you so much!! I hope all of you have amazing days, amazing sleep, amazing skin, amazing grades, and that life is going great for all of you!

that’s pretty much all I have to update you on for now. I will be posting a Daily Check In tonight about how today went as well, to help me get back on track with posting!

til next time, lovelies 🩷🤍

[anqelfries]

OKAY ITS DUE TIME FOR ME TO SEND U A YAP ASK ‼️‼️😋 LINA SUGARPLUM MUFFIN LOLLIPOP HONEYPIE (by jawny???) HOW ARE YOU DARLING HOW WAS YOUR DAY GIVE ME THE RUNDOWN ‼️

so like im gonna yap about my week CAUSE IT FELT LONG AS HELL I PHYSICALLY TWEAKED OUT JUST REFLECTING BACK ON ALL OF IT‼️‼️

so as u know i was ill last week (was that even last week I CANT REMEMBER BUT IT WAS RECENTLY) and i was coughing up a storm at school on monday and tuesday IT WAS HELL ITSELF I SWEAR.

SO I HAD LIKE,, 7 TESTS? THIS WEEK? I THINK? a ton!! like wdym im getting a test thats not writing in journalism class? WHY ARE WE HAVING A HISTORY TEST IN THIS CLASS THATS SO WEIRD TO ME??? anyway... that and a spanish test and two math tests and two tests in my ap class and an english comprehension test i was not thriving this week

AND BY THE WAY, THE TESTS IN MY AP CLASS WERE LITERALLY RETAKES BECAUSE I WAS GONE REVIEW DAY CAUSE I WAS SICK AND HAD TO TAKE THE TESTS WITHOUT STUDYING AT ALL. THE TEACHER WAS LATE TO CLASS THAT DAY SO IT TOOK ME LIKE THREE ADVISORY PERIODS TO FINISH THE STUPID TESTS 💔💔

erm anyways all of that happened AND IM NOW THRIVING I FINISHED ALL MAJOR WORK AND MY GRADES ARE LOOKING UP SO YIPPEE!!! 

yesterday i went to the school football game with my friends!! our team kinda demolished the visiting team dude 😭😭 IT WAS LIKE?? 68-0???? LIKE DAMN OKAY LET THEM GET UP BROTHERS 😭

ALSO AT THE GAME THERE WAS A KISS CAM AND MY FRIENDS ENDED UP ON IT WE WERE ALL SCREAMING SOOOO MUCH 😨 IT WAS WILD LINA!!! BUT THE GAME WAS A TON OF FUN AND WE ALL HAD FUN SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS AND DOING RANDOM STUFF IN THE STANDS!!

SO THERES MY YAP! TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAY AND WHATS BEEN GOING ON W U POOKIE 😋 HRU HOWS LIFE WHAT ARE WE DOING TOMORROW

HONEYPIE BY JAWNY !!!!! erm big yap under cut methinks..

HELLO HELLO MY DEAR SWEET LITTLE BIRTHDAY CAKE CARDBOARD BOX CARAMELIZED SUGAR STICK !!! iM DOING LIKE.. OKAY I THINK. SUPER TIRED OMW HOME FROM SCHOOL i slept 1.5hrs last night..

my freaky english teacher likes me. a h a h a anyways ive been getting into art moar >:3 again so i spent like half the time drawing and stuff help .. not when i needed to concentrate tho !!! i drew a fish person ish i will show u later. apparently everyone flunked the maths test so like i may end up on the news tho... my last three assessments were all straight A's but the highest grade in the entire class in this one is a B and idk man i might Die. also i think i did well in english bc.. the teacher seems satisfied w me.. SCHOOL IS CLOSED TMR SO I WILL LOCK IN AND WRITE MY SILLY SMAU METHINKS

my friend who i sat beside today let me draw my fish on her bandaid :33 she calls me fish too and i call her cat it's a long story basically but in eighth grade like.. back in 2022 we exchanged discords and my nickname was fishie and hers was neko so like .. fish and cat. oh and once a physics teacher referred to me as fish too help

im super eepy rn help.. started raining in the morning n i got hopeful that school would be cancelled but NO bc the universe HATES me

im going to change & pass out now i think highkey.

OK NOW !!! UR THINGS LETS SEE omg yes this week was so fkn long ewwww

IM SO SORRY AB UR STUPID TESTS <//)3 I HAD THREE ON SUNDAY ALONE LAST WEEK IT WAS SO BAD I FAKED BEING SICK ON TUESDAY (?) KIND OF.. LIKE I FELT BAD BUT NOT BAD ENOUGH TO NOT GO TO SCHOOL

IM GLAD UR GRADES ARE LOOKING UP !!! IF U LISTEN CLOSELY IM ACTUALLY CHEERING SO LOUD FOR U RN 😹

football game is insane (never seen one) 68 - ZERO ??? IS THE HOME TEAM THAT GOOD OR IS THE OTHER ONE JUST BAD PLS... ALSO LIKE WHAT !!!! kiss cam sounds like sm fun !!!!

okay pause to say that this ask is literally makign me so happy rn idk bro but im kicking feet i feel all warm n fluttery inside

OK BACK ON TOPIC im so glad u had fun <333 that experience seems so amazing like omg !!! ik youll remember it for a WHILE i long to experience that kind of fun again omg

OKAY ANYWAYS MY DAY RIGHT !!! i cancelled on my maths teacher + postponed his class to tmr bc i want to sleep and grind genshin and watch a movie or 2 !!! im thinking everything everywhere all at once ive wanted to watch it forever but never really had the independence to do so like i do now !!!! my big toe hurts for some reason idk :/// AND IVE BEEN HAVING SUCH BAD NAGI BRAINROT RECENTLY OMHHHH LIKE MY MAN.. MY MAN..... SAVE ME NAGI SEISHIRO SAVE ME..........

aaaaa where was i !!! oh yesyes so i was thinking moot tags right ... bc i need smth cute for u.... bc ur so cute....

UM YES THATS ALL FOR TODAY I HOPE UR SLEEPING WELL & DM ME WHEN U SEE THIS !!! not for any specific reason just say hi bc imy (we literally talked a few hrs ago) ily sav !!!! PS CONGRATS ON MAKING THE MAGAZINE TEAM IM SO PROUD OF U !!!!

[charliespringsleftconverse]

Kiss Me Again

Word Count: 8,645 | Masterlist | Read on AO3

Writer’s Notes: I was going to have a friend proof this for me but they were busy so I did some multiple self-revisions in the past few days in hopes that I caught as many grammar errors as possible. Apologies if I missed any! Anyway! This is a college AU ACOTAR Feysand fic. The concept was idiots in love. As in, they’ve baaaasically been doing couply stuff but they were too blind to see or acknowledge that they’d been in love and acting as a couple for a while. <3 

I don’t typically write AU fics, so this is a first for me! That being said, it was so much fun to write. It’s actually the longest one-shot I’ve written! A HUGE Happy Holidays to @thegloweringcastle <3 I hope you enjoy it and finally find out who got left at the supermarket! 😂

Thank you to @acotargiftexchange for putting this event together once again! I LOVE participating in this every year! <3

Squinting at the scribbles below, my eyes attempted to decipher the notes I’d borrowed. I had been able to make out the date thanks to the simple fact that it hadn’t been written in cursive like the rest of the details. It was a lost art form for me just like any other calligraphy-related configuration. I would have written down my own notes for the humanities course I was taking, in plain print, had my younger sister not lost the key to her dorm room. With her roommate out of town for the week, there wasn’t much Elain could have done outside of calling her Resident Assistant, which, to her dismay, also happened to be her ex-boyfriend. So, rather than having to face Grayson more than she needed to, she’d called me. 

Lucky for Elain, I kept a spare. All of my sisters and I did, actually. Nesta, Elain, and I all had a key to each other’s place. It had been especially helpful when we all lived on campus last year. We could just walk into each other’s rooms at any time. Like when I needed help with my homework for Calculus with Analytic Geometry and borrowed Nesta’s notes from her sophomore year. Or when Nesta needed to borrow my curling iron for a date. And, of course, how could I forget the night that Elain and her then-boyfriend broke up. She had refused to leave her room for two days. I had never been so grateful to have access to a spare key. Nesta and I had been so worried having not heard from her for more than a day. We spent that entire weekend taking turns bringing her food from her favorite places across town in hopes that they’d brighten her spirits. Thai food from Adriata’s Palace, Italian Cuisine from Neve’s Garden, and Mexican from Rita’s Margaritas. I had never seen my sister so devastated in her life. Although to be fair, Elain had never dated a boy before Grayson. 

I turned the notebook a bit to the side in hopes that the lighting from the new angle would bless me with a hint as to what words hid behind Mor’s beautiful script. Mother above. Shaking my head, I bit my lip. I should have listened to my mother when she said that learning cursive would be an invaluable skill. She was certainly right in thinking that it was a dying skill. It was dead on me for sure. Hell, the only people I knew who still wrote in cursive were sorority recruitment leads when they made their colorful, extravagant banners with fancy lettering and doctors. Which would make sense at the moment given who I had borrowed these notes from. Zeta Tau Alpha’s latest Chapter President. My mother was certainly wagging her finger at me from wherever she was. 

I sighed.

“You look more concentrated than my morning orange juice,” said Rhysand, sitting across the table. His violet eyes studying me, his brows raised in concern. We’d—he’d been studying for the past thirty minutes, meanwhile, I’d just been heavy-breathing and decoding what looked like a cipher like a treasure hunter in search of the coordinates to an ancient Greek secret temple. But unlike an archeologist, my work proved unfruitful.

“I’m trying to decipher Mor’s handwriting,” I said. Leaning back on the chair, I let out another loud sigh. “It’s beautiful. But I can’t read cursive for shit.”

Rhys and I had known each other since freshman year. More specifically, ever since I accidentally dropped a shoe on him from the fourth floor of the residence halls. I had originally been aiming for my roommate Viviane to catch, who to this day still wanted to room with me. She hadn’t wanted to come up again to retrieve the missing shoe and I didn’t want to go downstairs in a towel as I’d just come out of the shower and was still undressed. 

The natural decision was to just fling the sneaker out the window of our dorm room, obviously. What we didn’t account for was my terrible aim and Viviane’s lack of hand-eye coordination. Not only did Rhys get bumped in the head by a single white platform Vans but he also got pushed into a bush by Viviane. She had been so busy looking up, that she forgot to look forward and completely missed the 6-foot man inches from her. It had been a miracle Viviane herself hadn’t impaled the shrubbery along with him. I’ll never forget the mortified look Viviane and I mirrored, eyes wide and hands over mouth. All I could think was, he’s concussed. I concussed a man. 

Personally, if someone had smacked me on the head, I would have at least yelled at them. Maybe even called them a prick. Rhys, however, was a different breed of man. He had certainly groaned on impact but as soon as he realized he had backflipped into a small hedge and held a women’s size 8 shoe on his lap, he laughed. He let out a full belly laugh. This man—this stranger—had the audacity to laugh given the circumstances. I suppose I should have realized from that moment that nothing could truly take him by surprise or upend his day. A trait I admired. One I hoped seeped into my bones by osmosis or whatever symbiotic science allows personal characteristics to flow from one person to another. 

I apologized profusely to this man. In a towel from my window. In my pajamas after I ran downstairs. In his residence hall, after Viviane helped me put together an apology basket when we discovered he lived across from her boyfriend Kallias. Even then, this 6-foot-something of a man thought it was funny. Every. Single. Time. To which I convinced myself, I’d more than concussed him. I convinced myself I’d done serious damage for a man to laugh at that level of pain. Although, I suppose that if two people showed up in their dinosaur onesies at 9 pm on a Thursday evening with a basket for me, I’d also laugh. But still.

It wasn’t until that very week that I realized Rhys and I shared similar classes. We were both in English Composition, Principles of Chemistry, and Introduction to Sociology. Which, quite honestly, are more than enough courses for you to figure out if you have the same schedule as another student. What can I say, I’m oblivious—an ongoing theme in my life.

Another thing I’ll never forget, the smug look on Rhys’s face when we were paired together in English Composition for a research paper on the portrayal of minorities in the media. I’d wanted to find the nearest cliff and jump off it but destiny had other plans. No, fate looked me straight in the eye and said, “Hold my drink, bestie” because two years later, here we are. Best friends. 

Rhysand snatched the paper out of my hands. “The Gate of Athena Archegetis was dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens, Athena.” 

My hand rushed to jot down what he said. The table vibrated from the ferocity with which I scribbled on my notebook. What I couldn’t crack in thirty minutes took Rhys all of two seconds to read out. Why our professor for that course didn’t allow laptops or tablets for note taking, I’ll never understand. I was just grateful I had something legible transcribed now.

“You can read that? It might as well have been written entirely in Latin,” I said.

“I’ve had practice reading my cousin's handwriting for years. I’d be disappointed if I couldn’t, at this point.” Rhysand chuckled. Passing the page, he eyed the notes, likely reviewing the contents from the course he’d taken himself the semester before. 

“I, unfortunately, was blessed with my father’s handwriting.” I tugged at the sleeves of my V-neck indigo cardigan and shyly pointed at my hideous penmanship. It might as well have been written by a third-grader. It was practically childlike. There wasn’t much fixing that could be done at this point in my life when it came to my writing unless I signed up for a calligraphy course. And even then, life had no guarantees.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. An art major who couldn’t read or write a visual art form. Who could paint true-to-life full-body portraits, vivid illustrations of natural landscapes, and dramatic high-colored oil paintings but couldn’t read or write in cursive. I dropped my shoulders, frustrated with myself, and propped my legs up on the tufted dining chair pulling them against my chest with my arms wrapped around. 

Rhys’s eyes were back on me. He had a way of reading me like a billboard sign, and I could tell he was trying to figure out what was going on through my mind, what today’s bold neon letters were. I was never sure how he did it but he always knew exactly what I was thinking. Which either meant my face was easy to read and I had the worst poker face of all time or…he just knew me. 

“The ‘A’ in cursive is not a sharp letter. It’s more rounded and looks the exact same in both upper and lowercase. Similar to the way you’d write it in print,” he said.

There were several traits I admired about Rhys outside of his keen observations and nonchalant perspective on life. Like his level of empathy. I knew what his academic grades looked like but boy did I also want to know what his emotional quotient score was. Whatever it was, that score was certainly high. He never made anyone feel like their shortfalls were a hindrance. Nor would he want to. That wasn’t his style. Rather than point out my flaws and make me feel embarrassed, he read the notes aloud. 

“The Greek language served as a lingua franca,” he continued.

“That last phrase was actual Latin,” he added. Rhys flipped through the pages of Mor’s notes. I could have asked him for his own from last semester since he’d been able to sign up on time. I, on the other hand, had been wait-listed. Hence why I was taking the course in the spring. It was one of the few classes we all needed to graduate as it was one of the general requirements for all offered degrees. I probably should have asked him for his notes since I could his penmanship but I’d been too caught up with Elain yesterday to even consider asking.

“Here’s another one, in vino veritas,” said Mor, raising two bottles of wine toward us. “In wine there is truth.”

“Amen,” said Cassian, lifting a third bottle. 

“I thought you two went out grocery shopping,” said Rhysand. Laying the notes on the table, he crossed his arms eyeing the two figures by the door. The corner of Rhys’s mouth twitched as he raised an eyebrow at his cousin and roommate. 

“We did. We brought back the essentials,” said Mor. Smiling back at her cousin, she winked at him before closing the door to the apartment with a kick of her red platform heels. 

“Hmm,” Rhys hummed. 

Bringing his eyes back to me, Rhysand continued reading off the notes while the other two flocked into the kitchen. I bit the inside of my lip as I followed along the soothing sound of his voice. His warm tone always calmed me when we studied together. Which was why I was his favorite audience member when he needed to practice his presentations. I’d listen attentively, the first time. I’d even provide feedback, the second time. But I’d almost always fall asleep to the sound of his enchanting mellifluous voice any other time after that. 

“It’s wine night, Rhys. You know the rules,” said Mor from the other room. Every Friday was wine night, the one day of the week our friend group could get together with no interruptions or excuses. No one had an evening class on Fridays or a night shift so things worked out this semester. Most of the extracurriculars each of us participated in typically held events over the weekend so we’d truly lucked out with everyone’s schedules this time. It wasn’t something we were likely to have again so we were taking advantage of every Friday we had before some of us graduated. 

Though, that was one of the rules. No talks about graduation. The point of wine night was to live in the moment and enjoy however many Fridays we had left as the “Inner Circle.” It was a silly name Cassian spewed one night after downing 3 bottles of wine, and it kind of stuck. We didn’t exactly call our group that but we did change our group chat name accordingly. 

“You too, Feyre.” Mor’s voice echoed.

Another rule. No homework. That rule was more of a precaution so none of us would accidentally email professors the wrong file while inebriated. To be fair, I was only taking notes but we all tried to abide by the no homework rule as best as we could. 

“Give me a few minutes, and I’m all yours,” I said. 

“You’re telling me you’ve had all day to write those and you still haven’t?” asked Mor, her voice trailing from deeper in the apartment as she stepped from room to room. She had her apartment across town but, like me, she practically lived here too.

“Yeah, well…there have been some delays,” I said, fidgeting with my pencil. My face began to feel warm as blood rushed into my cheeks. Biting my lip, I kept my eyes down. I didn’t want to let Mor know that I hadn’t been able to write her notes because I couldn’t read her notes. Not that she would make fun of me for it but I knew that if I confessed the truth she’d barge me with questions. And I simply did not feel like answering any of that in front of everyone else. All I wanted was for something to distract her from prying right now. Just about anything would do. A pigeon flying in through the window. The fan in the living room mysteriously falling onto the table. A fire alarm. A knock on the door. Anything would do. Please. 

“Weren’t there three of you when you left?” asked Rhysand.

I felt my body relax, and my shoulders dropped. I hadn’t realized the muscles down my back had tightened and tensed so firmly until my body loosened and eased back into the chair. My eyes lifted, meeting Rhysand’s whose amethyst orbs were right on me. He winked. The man knew I’d been on the brink of jumping out a window and needed assistance to divert the tall blonde in the kitchen and I loved him for it. 

“Azriel!” said Cassian and Mor in unison. The sound of shoes running filled the kitchen accompanied by that of drawers shutting in a hurry, and the jingle of keys. The pair dashed around the apartment like parents who’d just forgotten their child at the supermarket, which was exactly what had happened. Somewhat.

A knock sounded at the door. 

The four of us froze and exchanged glances. The only thought I had in my mind was of Azriel, hoping he hadn’t walked all the way back here. Mor took slow steady steps towards the entrance and when she reached the doorknob, she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, took a deep breath, and pressed her lips together. Ever so delicately, she turned the knob and pulled the door towards her.

"Today was not my best day. I dare say it didn't even make the top five," said Azriel. He had one hand reaching the top of the doorframe, leaning slightly. His handsome face held no clear emotion but his eyes. His cold eyes stared down at Mor, making her smaller than she was. Oh, he is pissed.

“You left something at the grocery store,” said Nesta, pushing past the brooding body. Her heels clicked as she waltzed into the room wearing a black satin sleeveless dress that hugged her in all the right places from her chest to her hips. The slit on the right side exposed her up to her mid-thigh with every step. Cassian’s eyes immediately caught the movement as they slid up her body, stopping once they met her eyes.

“I would never have left you, Nes,” said Cassian. He took a step toward her, almost challenging her gaze. She held it, eyed him up and down sizing him up, and spun to face the rest of the room. With her back to him, she placed a hand on her hip, blatantly ignoring the door-framed-sized man behind her. 

Cassian stepped closer and slid his hands around her body, holding her closer. Nesta didn’t fight him. If I had blinked, I might have missed the slight shift of her body against him, leaning against his chest even closer. It was beyond anyone’s pay grade to understand where they stood in their relationship if it was even that. They’d been on and off for so long that their situationship was like the weather, something that had to be measured in every room. 

“I despise you,” said Nesta, with a hint of a smile on the corner of her lips.

“Keep telling yourself that,” said Cassian.

“Are you headed out tonight, Nesta?” I asked. 

“I only came to deliver the lost puppy,” said Nesta, taking a step forward and away from the figure wrapped around her. Cassian’s jaw ticked as she untangled herself from his embrace. “I’m headed out with the girls.”

Gwyn and Emerie, I thought. That’s who she almost always referred to. They’d been her closest friends since freshman year and they’d been inseparable from the moment they met. It was surprising that they hadn’t come up with her since they all lived together. 

“Gwyn’s downstairs waiting for me, and Emerie is already in the car,” she said. 

There it was. 

“You should take better care of pretty things,” said Nesta, walking towards the door. Elegantly spinning, her eyes met Cassian’s from beneath the doorframe. Her fingers slipped up her thigh to her waist sensually, her eyes never breaking contact as she spoke. “Someone else might steal them.”

She closed the door on her way out, leaving the rest of us too stunned to speak. 

“I’m gonna marry that woman,” said Cassian.

“Wine, anyone?” said Mor.

——

"I almost fist-fought you last night when you took the blanket," I said. Tugging on the dark blue throw-over, I pulled it over myself enough to cover my legs entirely as I sat criss crossed on the couch. The star-filled spread was dark and fluffy like Amren’s black Bombay cat. With three glasses of wine in me, if I closed my eyes and traced my hand down the blanket, I could almost picture Ruby on my lap. She was soft and cud—

A pull on the blanket brought my thoughts back.

“You snore. Loudly," said Rhys.

"I do not snore, you liar." I scoffed, tugging back on the blanket. 

We’d both fallen asleep on his bed last night after an intense studying session. Although our schedules were no longer as identical as they’d been during freshman year, we still shared one or two courses every so often. Like this semester, we had Solar System Astronomy together. We’d stayed up late on the balcony of his apartment looking up at the constellations seeing how many we could name and then placing their locations on a star map.

With 88 constellations in the sky, as recognized by the International Astronomical Union, we’d been able to spot at least seven. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, and—my face was beginning to feel very warm. 

"How did the blanket end up on the floor? No wonder I was freezing," said Rhys. He was leaning against the backrest of the couch, one hand on the armrest holding his glass of wine. Rhysand’s dark lilac eyes sparked with mischief. He was baiting me and I was definitely too inebriated to ignore his comments. 

“How could you be freezing? You’re a freaking furnace!” I exclaimed. 

“Then why’d you steal the blanket? I’m basically primed for cuddles.” Rhys’s other hand reached around me and tugged me towards him. I laughed against his chest, and let my body lean into him. 

“Mother above, you two bicker like a married couple,” said Mor. She was leaning against the doorway leading to the balcony. With the door open, the cool breeze blew in, brushing her long golden hair past her shoulder. Her eyes darted between where Rhys and I sat on the couch and then shifted to something behind us. I was too focused on the elegant way she held her glass to glance away from her posture. 

“It’s not bickering if I’m right.” I slapped Rhys against his chest playfully. His chest vibrated with a chuckle.

“Az, play that one song from the other night,” said Amren. With her wine glass inches from her lips in one hand, she pointed at Azriel with her other. There was a lot you learned about a person while under the influence. In Amren’s case, during the day, she was a short-tempered finance major student who ate boys and numbers for breakfast. There was no doubt that she’d be valedictorian of the College of Business Administration. She studied hard, but she also played hard. 

“Thisssisss my jaaaaammm.” Amren’s words slurred. She raised one of her hands as if meaning to touch the ceiling lamp like a fly attracted to a zapper light. Swaying to the rhythm, Amren praised the white light above.

“Oh, she is gone,” said Mor, taking a sip of her wine.

All eyes were on Amren now as she led an interpretive dance to the beat of Dance the Night by Dua Lipa. Her choreography involved a lot of hands swaying in the air. While her claps to the music were slightly off-beat, she was giving it her all. She was the choreographer—the lead dancer. She was Barbie at the giant blow art party and the rest of us were just Ken.

“Here’s another piece of Latin for you, Feyre. Nemo saltat sobrius,” said Mor, nodding at Dance and Flex Barbie™.

“What?” I asked. Clumsily leaning forward, I propped one hand on Rhy’s thigh as I leaned closer to Mor in hopes I could read her lips over the music. I felt a hand steady me from behind. 

“Nobody dances sober,” said Azriel.

“Unless you’re Azriel, then you don’t dance. At all,” said Cassian. The couch bounced as he threw his body on the empty spot on the other side of me. He smiled at Azriel, threw his hand over the sofa's backrest, and leaned back.

“I’ve definitely seen him dance,” said Rhys. 

“No way. In his room?” Cassian chuckled.

I took this as an opportunity to make myself more comfortable, while they were distracted. Shifting my body, I leaned further into Rhys, the shape of his own welcoming me back to my spot. A soft giggle escaped my lips as Cassian grabbed my feet and placed them on his lap. Somehow my body had slid down Rhys’s and I was fully lying across the sofa on top of the boys. I was comfortable. So comfortable, I could fall asleep.

“At a party, actually,” said Rhys, his eyes glanced at Azriel while a small smile edged on his face.

“With a girl?” Cassian’s voice sounded surprised.

“With a girl.” Rhys nodded.

“No fucking way,” said Cassian. He couldn’t help but smile at Az, his mouth gaped. 

I understood Cassian’s reaction, Azriel didn’t dance let alone run or jog for anything. He was an enigma; an unsolvable riddle. The man was calm, cool, and collected at all times. Always unfazed by things that would distress the common Joe. It was slightly unnerving. If someone spilled wine on the carpet, Azriel wouldn’t panic at the thought of a huge red stain on the rug. He’d walk into the kitchen, no questions asked, and come back with a dry cloth, dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide, and blot the patch until it made you doubt if anything had actually been spilled. Whereas Mor and I would have stared at the ink-stained rug and exchanged wide-eyed looks before quietly agreeing that the room could do better without a rug.

Azriel shrugged completely unbothered. 

“With wh-

“I don’t kiss and tell,” said Azriel. Cold eyes stared back, silently telling Cassian to back off without any need for words.

“You’re just jealous he didn’t kiss you,” said Rhysand. He was trying to diffuse any rising tension. I could feel the sound of his voice vibrating across his chest. At some point, I’d given him my glass of wine or he’d taken it from me very smoothly. It would have been a disaster if I’d spilled it over the three of us on the sofa. I would have felt especially bad about it considering it was new. Their last one had moved on to a better place after Cassian put a hole in it from jumping on it during a karaoke session two months ago. 

“Hell yeah, I am!” Cassian exclaimed. 

Azriel raised an eyebrow, a lopsided grin on his lips. "Are we about to kiss right now?" 

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” said Rhysand. 

“Come here, you,” said Cassian. Throwing my legs off him, he jumped across the room embracing Azriel. The room filled with laughter at the show the two of them were putting on. Even through the loud ruckus, the short-tempered finance major was far too deep into her slumber to awaken. At some point, Amren had tucked herself into the armchair by the window and nodded off. She looked cozy and peaceful with her head lying on the armrest. We’d learned long ago that it was best to leave her alone when she dozed off. A lesson learned the hard way.

Through the open doors leading to the balcony, the sky was briefly illuminated with a bright light followed by a faint sound of thunder. I glanced at the digital clock beneath the TV sitting on the television stand. It was late and I needed to get home. There was still a buzzing feeling that tingled across my body from the earlier drinks but I didn’t live far. It was ten minutes max walking. Plus, if I left now, I could avoid the rain.

Sitting up, I scanned the room looking for my shoes. “I should get going,” I said.

“Let me call you a ride,” said Mor, already taking out her phone.

“Mor, I live within walking distance,” I said, gathering my shoes.

Azriel jumped in, “I barely drank. All I had was a sip earlier. I could give you a ri-

He didn’t finish his sentence as his eyes glanced toward the other side of the room at the sound of boots hitting the hardwood and the sofa shuffling. I didn’t think too much about it, not that I could in my current state. I was more focused on figuring out where I’d placed the key to my apartment. 

“Do you want us to walk with you?” asked Mor.

Holding on to the wall, I hooked two fingers into one of my white platform Nike and pushed my foot into the shoe. Was it counterintuitive to own sneakers with shoelaces if I never had any intention of tying them? I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought as I did the same with my other shoe. It was unclear to me if I genuinely found the thought funny or if it was the alcohol coursing through me. Before I could respond to Mor’s question, I felt the close warmth of a tall figure standing near me. 

“I’ll walk her,” said the familiar voice.

“Rhys-

“That wasn’t an offer, darling. That was me making a statement,” he said.

I sighed, looking up at him. It was late, and I didn’t feel like arguing knowing that it would delay my departure before the oncoming storm. Having someone walk you home wasn’t the end of the world. It was an act of the purest love. That someone cared about your well-being enough to ensure you’d made it home safely. That’s what I loved about my friends. The genuine love we all had for each other. 

Sliding my baby blue nylon backpack over my shoulder, I double-checked I’d gathered everything. I went through my mental checklist. Phone, wallet, keys. Patting my pockets, I ensured I had them. I made sure to hug everyone goodbye before heading out. Well, everyone except Amren, who was ever so sweetly tucked in the armchair with a blanket twice her size. Likely one of Cassian’s massive blankets. 

When I turned, Rhysand was already by the door holding it open for me. Slipping his hand over my shoulder, he grabbed my powder blue bag and placed it over his. With the motion, my white plush bear keychain swung against the two baby penguin pins on the cerulean fabric. My backpack had a very soft aesthetic that stood out when held by Rhys who was dressed in dark tones from head to toe. It didn’t fit his aesthetic. At all. I was about to object that I could carry my own bag but his voice interrupted my thoughts. “Don’t put the top lock on the door, I’ll be right back.”

As we headed out, the sky flashed again. The air felt cool against my skin and smelled like dew. It was a calming, fresh scent. It reminded me of potted flowers and succulents like the ones I had by the window in my room. The ones I always forgot to water but always survived, courtesy of one Elain Archeron. She knew I couldn’t keep anything alive, plant or fish, so she’d made sure to get me greenery that required minimal attention, which reminded me that I hadn’t watered them in a week. If it started pouring by the time I got home, I could stick them out the window and have them be watered au naturale. 

I jumped at the sound of thunder and instinctively grabbed Rhys’s hand. His fingers wrapping around mine were warm and rough whereas mine were cold and soft. He squeezed my hand and held on to mine as we continued walking. “It caught me off guard.”

“Mmhm,” he said.

The wind picked up slightly as we headed down the illuminated path amongst the trees and apartment complex gardens that stretched across an open space. Rain was certainly on its way, it was just a matter of when. We likely had a couple of minutes before the downpour began. Thunder sounded all around us, and one, two droplets landed on my cheek. Damn. Other than being way off in my calculations, I’d also forgotten to borrow an umbrella before we left. There was no avoiding that we were going to be caught in this. 

“I’m glad I grabbed this before we left,” said Rhys, opening an umbrella large enough to cover us both. At what point he’d grabbed the umbrella was beyond me. I stepped closer to him as he fumbled opening it. He gave it a slight jiggle with one hand that became more aggressive by the second as he attempted to push the sliding metal piece with his fingers. After about a minute, the section loosened up allowing for more movement. The issue now lay with the broken stretchers that were meant to hold the fabric. 

“Who the hell leaves a broken umbrella in the umbrella stand?” said Rhys. 

“Someone who forgot to throw it out?” 

“That’s why trashcans exist,” he sighed. Rhys let go of my hand and continued fumbling with the umbrella trying to see if the pieces would lock into place. Thunder sounded above us and more drops of water began falling slowly picking up.

“If we pick up the pace, we can make it before it really hits,” said Rhys. His eyes surveyed mine and I could tell he was both disappointed and worried that he’d let me down somehow. But unless he was secretly in cahoots with Mother Nature, there was no way any of this could be his fault or something for him to blame himself for. 

“I’m sorry about the weather,” said Rhys. The way he rubbed his neck and his brows drew together, I couldn’t bear the look of disappointment on his face for something out of his reach. 

I shook my head and smiled up at him. “What are you sorry about? A broken umbrella that you had no idea was broken? The sky? Rhysand, unless you secretly own a weather machine, there’s nothing to be sorry about. Forget the umbrella.”

“In fact,” I continued, “I think this is an opportunity.”

I took my bag and the umbrella from his hands, chucked the latter in the nearest bin, and placed my bag on the ground.

“An opportunity?” 

I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the moment, but I’d always wanted to dance in the rain like in movies and musicals. I felt bold and giddy at the idea of doing so now. All I could focus on was this tune from the third High School Musical installment. “Take my hand, take a breath.”

Standing in front of him, I stretched out my hand and offered it to Rhys. He looked puzzled but accepted my offer. “Pull me close, and take one step.”

“A song with instructions? I can follow that,” he said. A small smile formed on his lips.  

“Keep your eyes locked on mine,” I continued. 

His violet eyes twinkled beneath the moonlight and it almost looked like stars danced across his eyes as they softened, placing his other hand on my waist. He knew exactly what song I was referencing. After all, I’d made him watch it enough times with me. “And let the music be your guide.”

I nodded, cuing him to step with me. With his eyes wholly fixed on me, we slowly stepped into time, our shoes gently tapping against the pavement.

“Won't you promise me,” Rhys chimed. 

Pulling me closer against his chest, Rhysand guided me across the makeshift dance floor—the walkway between the trees—with a step here and a half turn there. We were dancing through the gardens illuminated by the night sky and lamp posts down the pathway as we waltzed further in. 

“Now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget.” 

“We'll keep dancing,” added Rhys. 

 “To keep dancing.” A smile curved across my lips. 

“Wherever we go next.” Our voices intertwined as we spun together, my hands held on to him tighter as the rain picked up. Swaying through the path of greenery, the scenery around us dissolved. It was just Rhys and I.  

Thunder crashed above, and the true downpour began. 

“It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you,” we continued. I couldn’t help but smile brightly up at him as rain trailed down his face. The buzzing feeling from earlier that had coursed through my body now turned into a tingly feeling that reached from where Rhys was holding my hand—my fingers—to my chest. No, my body wasn’t buzzing, it was humming. We might have been dancing but I was floating in his embrace. I couldn’t look away from him. 

With every lyric, raindrops painted our clothes a shade darker. My indigo cardigan was now inked navy as we swayed to the invisible music. My feet splashed against puddles, drenching my white shoes in rainwater. They’d likely be gray by the time I got home but that didn’t matter. As our feet shuffled across the pathway, the sky reflected itself over the water on the trail creating an illusion of stars beneath our feet. We were dancing among the stars. 

We sang the rest of the song, never messing up the lyrics or missing a beat. We might have been recreating a moment by singing a song from one of my favorite films but this waltz was entirely made up by us. Rhys’s hand still grasping mine, spun me around as we brought the sound of the music in our chests to a slow end. His eyes were still on mine as we held our soaking bodies close. Was he always this beautiful?

I couldn’t help but marvel at his handsomeness and let an intrusive thought get the better of me as I ran my fingers across his cheek. He leaned into my warm touch, eyes softening. His eyes glanced from mine down to my lips. Please, I pleaded. I could feel my heart racing and my chest tightening at the thought of his lips on mine. Rhysand cleared his throat as his hands gently let go of mine, breaking the spell. 

Taking a step back, he scanned me from head to toe and chuckled. “I bet we look like drowned rats to anyone looking out their windows.”

I shook my head, holding back a smile.

“I feel like one too,” I said. Looking down at my jeans, there was not a dry spot on them. 

I bit the inside of my cheek. Had we just had a moment? I must have hallucinated it in the dark lighting. There was no way that Rhysand had looked like he’d wanted to kiss me two seconds ago. I wasn’t ignorant, I’d known Rhysand was objectively attractive. He had a strong jawline and he was fit from working out every week with Cassian and Azriel. He had nice cheekbones, luscious lashes, soft lips, and intelligent eyes. He was delightful to look at. He was…

Who was I kidding, he was handsome beyond compare. I just had never seen him in that way until now. Mother above, I was oblivious as they came. And I wished I could have blamed the alcohol for all of it—the way I was feeling, the thoughts I was having—but the truth was, I’d burned it out of my system with that dance. 

‘We should get going,” said Rhys. 

He grabbed my bag off the ground and we walked the rest of the way in awkward silence. I kept glancing sideways at him every so often. I’d definitely hallucinated that moment we’d had for a split second. The rest of the way to my place, I spent it looking at the ground contemplating while Rhysand stared at the stars as if searching for a cosmic answer. 

By the time we made it to my place, we were full-on drenched. I was sure my hair looked like a wet mop attached to my head. I patted my pockets in search of the key and found it in the left back pocket of my jeans. They jingled in my hands as I fumbled looking for the right one.

“I hope you’re not planning to walk back in this. At least let me offer you a towel.” I glanced sideways as I turned the key.

He didn’t argue. In fact, he didn’t say anything at all. He’d stayed quiet and simply nodded as I led him in. With Viviane at her boyfriend’s for the weekend, there was no one home. All the lights were off as we walked in. I flipped the light switches as we stepped through the place in search of something dry. In the hallway closet, I found some towels for us. Meanwhile, I could hear Rhys in the kitchen opening and closing the cabinets. 

As I turned the corner, I could see him pulling out two teabags from a box before his head turned in my direction. "I'll put the kettle on."

"So sweet of you, you're an angel," I said. 

On top of being handsome, he was very thoughtful. Was I really falling for my best friend? I couldn’t help but keep my eyes locked on him as he turned on the stove and prepared tea for us. I bit my lower lip and turned towards the dryer that was hidden behind a sliding door. Neither of us was shivering or in any danger of getting frostbite, but a warm towel would certainly go well with tea. After a few minutes, the machine beeped just as the kettle began hissing. I pulled both towels out of the dryer and practically moaned at the warm touch against my skin. 

“Would you like a dry towel?” I offered.

“You don’t want my wet handkerchief to dry your wet face?” He glanced sideways at me as he poured water into each cup with a smirk painted across his face.

I giggled and walked further into the kitchen. As soon as he placed the kettle back on the stove, I threw a towel over my shoulder and placed the other one on his head as he turned around to face me. I ran the towel over his head, drying his hair before sliding it over his shoulders and wrapping it around his body. 

I looked up at him. “My hair is soaked, Rhys.” 

The clothes we were wearing could have easily squeezed out two gallons of water. I could have probably fed my succulents with the amount of liquids soaked into our outfits. If I could have thrown myself in the dryer too, I would have knocked out two birds with one stone. 

Standing in front of me, wrapped around in my towel, he looked adorable. Rhys’s eyes met mine and I could have sworn time stopped. All I could do was stare up at him. Oh gosh, was I staring? I blinked rapidly and dropped my gaze.

“You still look beautiful,” he said.

I felt my heart stop and my breath hitch. My hands stilled on his body still holding on to the light blue towel. Did he mean it in a friendly way? I glanced back up. His eyes peered down at me searching for something in mine. My lips parted as if to speak but I wasn’t sure what to say. Instead, I closed my mouth and swallowed. 

“Feyre.”

The way he said my name made my heart skip. He took a step, closing the gap between us. My name sounded low like a prayer on his lips. If he was praying, then I wanted to bless him but I needed a sign. I wanted a clear sign that he wasn’t just whispering my name in an empty apartment for no reason. 

“Why didn’t you kiss me earlier?” I half whispered.

His eyes glanced from my eyes to my mouth and back in a triangle manner. A small smile painted itself across his lips like a prayer answered. “You caught that.”

It wasn’t a question, he was making a statement.

“I wanted to be sure your head was clear when I kissed you,” said Rhysand.

“Rhys?”

“Yes?”

A pause.

“My head’s clear now,” I said.

Rhysand's head slowly leaned forward, stopping inches from my face, giving me time to take a step back if I wanted to back out. I didn’t. I wanted—needed, to know what his lips felt like on mine. If they were truly as soft as they looked. His fingers titled my chin up and kissed me. Gods, his kiss was more than soft, it was life-changing. His lips were gentle against mine, so sweet and delicately slow like he’d been waiting an eternity for this moment and now that he had it, now that the moment had arrived he wanted to savor it. If I’d been floating earlier when I danced with him beneath the rain, then I was soaring above the clouds and beyond the moon now. 

His hands cupped my face as mine slid into his hair, pulling him closer by the neck. Neither one of us parted to take a breath. I could tell this wasn’t just any kiss, this was the kiss. The one that would change our lives—my life—forever. The kiss I’d compare any other to. I could feel his chest against mine as our legs brushed against each other. Rhysand's hands slowly slid down my shoulders and arms and made their way down and around my waist. We pulled each other closer, our bodies seeking contact where they could as we continued wrapping ourselves against each other. We were two colliding stars, bursting with sparks and ever-changing hues.

After what felt like forever, I pulled back slightly, eyes closed. Blood had rushed into my cheeks, and there was no doubt that the heat against my flushed face had painted them rosy. I could feel his head leaning against mine, both of us breathless. Mother above, I truly was oblivious to everything. That definitely wasn’t a friend kiss. That was an I-want-to-be-more-than-friends kiss. 

Rhysand’s hand came up against my face tucking strands of semi-wet hair behind my ear. It felt like he was looking at me for the first time or trying to memorize every freckle on my face. A beat passed and he broke the silence. “I think I’m falling in love with you. I think I have been for a while.”

My heart skipped at those words—at his confession. My mouth gaped. There were no words. I wasn’t sure what to say. All I could focus on was the rising and beating in my chest as I focused on taking the next breath. Had this really just happened? Had we truly just kissed? Did he just say that he—

“I’m hoping you didn’t just kiss me to then break my heart, Feyre, darling.” He cupped my face as he spoke the last two words. 

“I never knew you liked me,” I said, stumbling on the words. 

“Now you do. And correction, I said I love you.” The corners of Rhysand’s mouth turned up. I couldn’t help the way my eyes widened in disbelief. He’d said the words again. 

“You love me?”

Rhys chuckled as he shook his head. He lifted my head with a hand beneath my chin as if inspecting me. “Did you hit yourself with the dryer door? Do I need to kiss you again? Or maybe hold your hand as we walk through a storm? Or dance in the rain while quoting your favorite movie?” 

He loved me. He loved me, and he not only meant it with the words he’d spoken, but Rhys had demonstrated and proved time and time again that he truly meant it, body and soul. A man who could talk the talk and walk the walk. Dare I say, he was a man after my own heart. 

“If you let me, I promise I’ll spend every day making sure you never doubt how worthy of love you are,” said Rhys. The back of his hand caressed my cheek.

“I’ll do anything with you, Rhys. As long as it’s you,” I said. 

His lips met mine again, this time with more passion and intensity. Wrapping my hands around his neck once more, I felt the towel slide off his shoulders and plop to the ground. Rhys's hands traveled around my hips, to the back of my thighs before he lifted me into his arms. Instinctually, I wrapped my legs around him and deepened our kiss. I wanted him closer. I wanted his body against mine without the barriers of our wet clothes. 

As if he’d read my thoughts, I could feel us moving down the hallway to my room. Every kiss turned deeper than the last and I knew I couldn’t deny myself the truth. I was completely and utterly in love with him. And I was a fool for not noticing before that maybe I had loved him longer than my body knew. Longer than I truly knew. He was my safe space, my person, my best friend. He was everything I could want in a man. He was everything. Rhys was everything.

Gently laying me against my bed, he pulled back slightly to look down at me. His eyes were like lilac-blue stars glistening against the moonlight as he marveled at me. It was almost like he couldn’t believe that this was real. I placed my hand on his cheek, rubbing my thumb. His lips smiled against my warm touch.

“I can’t stop smiling when I look at you,” said Rhys.

He gazed at me like a painter setting eyes on their muse. Like he’d been seeking inspiration his entire life and now he’d found it. Rhys shook his head in disbelief. “How did this happen?” 

The question wasn’t for me to answer, it was rhetorical. He was speaking his thoughts aloud as if waiting for a cosmic answer to shine through the window. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Feyre. 

“When I wake up, when I’m about to fall asleep, even in my dreams I can never stop thinking of you. When you’re not with me, it feels like something is missing. And, gosh, I hate poetry, but when I think of you…I can’t help but imagine that this is what the greats write about. This feeling. It’s like poets are reciting their writings in my head.”

I could feel the corners of my eyes becoming damp. I could spend the rest of this night in his arms simply admiring him. His honest eyes were full of more unspoken words of love. I could feel the wetness of my clothes seeping into the blanket below but I didn’t care. I thumbed his lips, his Apollo’s arched bow, memorizing this moment. I could feel my shaky voice escaping me as I spoke.

“All these years, I thought we were just friends, and I was okay with that…but now I realize that maybe I’ve felt like this for a while about you. That I’ve loved you without knowing that this is what it was.”

“You love me?” A smile spread across his lips.

“Did you hit yourself with the door coming in? Or do I need to kiss you again?” I mimicked his earlier question. 

He gently rubbed his nose against mine, his lips inches from my own.

“Kiss me again,” he whispered.

I moaned against his lips this time. I wanted him to hold me, to touch me, to kiss me, to say my name. I wanted everything and more. We tugged against wet clothes, which were much harder to take off thanks to their added weight. They stuck to our bodies and made it difficult to slide out of them. But we didn’t care. We kissed and laughed our way out of the heavy wet clothing until we were skin to skin. Until we were finally warm in each other's embrace. And for the first time in a while, I prayed.

Rhys.

I prayed the rest of the night as his body melded against mine, pulling prayer after prayer from my lips. His name, the only one I wanted to whisper against the moonlight shining through my window. It was only our names echoing from the other’s lips against soft I love yous with every touch and shift against hips. We were dancing like stars in the night sky, and holding on to each other as if we’d collided into one. Our whispers and sighs grew more uneven. He was my gravity, my center, and I was his. With Rhys’s eyes on mine and a final waltz around the universe, I felt my world burst like a nuclear fission. Like a star reaching its last evolutionary stage. 

Rhys kissed me again, softer this time, and wrapped me in his arms as we lay beneath the comfort of warm blankets, tangled in each other. Pulling me against his chest, he whispered. "Did you know that rainy day cuddles are two times more effective than sunny day cuddles?"

“Don’t you have to tell Cas to lock the door for you,” I said. 

“That can wait,” said Rhys, kissing the top of my head.