#i also dunno if i should respond to their message with the photos even though i put an offer in

[beehop]

ugh got an offer auto rejected on ebay and now i feel like i was an asshole for lowballing as much as i did. hate it here.

[roxannarambles]

title: second chances (chapter five)

ship: goldenlight (luz x hunter)

notes: takes place sometime after ‘reaching out’ but before ‘hollow mind.’ (set in my standard canon-divergent AU where everything’s the same except no L*mity)

other chapters: chapter one chapter two  chapter three  chapter four

The next day, it seemed that Hunter’s lunch break had rarely coincided with a reasonable hour for lunchtime, because Luz sent him a photo of what she was eating that day. (It appeared to be a mud grub sandwich, which she didn’t look especially thrilled about eating.) He sent back a photo of his cafeteria food. She responded with some emoji.

Luzura_Warrior:

... 🤢🤢🤢

Rulerzreachf4n:

what do those even mean

Luzura_Warrior:

whatdo you mean? theyre sick faces

Luzura_Warrior:

can't you tell? they're green

Rulerzreachf4n:

why does green mean they're sick?

Rulerzreachf4n:

the only thing I think of that turns you colors when you're sick is the rainbow fever but that's all the colors

Luzura_Warrior:

no it. it's metaphorical, not literal.although. rainbow fever sounds kinda fun ngl

Rulerzreachf4n:

it's not, trust me. you spend most of your time violently expelling fluids from both ends

Rulerzreachf4n:

the fluids are also rainbow colored

Luzura_Warrior:

okay, yeah, nevermind, I don't wanna catch that.

Rulerzreachf4n:

yeah.

Rulerzreachf4n:

what's this one mean by the way? 🥺 I see it sometimes

Luzura_Warrior:

that's supposed to be puppydog eyes, you know, when you're begging somebody for something

Luzura_Warrior:

pleeeeease hunter come visit me sometime so we can make pancakes 🥺🥺

Luzura_Warrior:

like that!

Rulerzreachf4n:

oh

Luzura_Warrior:

I promise my real puppydog eyes are way more effective then the emoji, though

Hunter began to type a reply out, feeling unsure of what exactly to say, but another message came through before he could finish.

Luzura_Warrior:

any other emojis you want me to translate?

Ah. All right. That subject was a little easier to deal with. He scrolled through the list of little faces.

Rulerzreachf4n:

what about this? 😑

Luzura_Warrior:

uhh . . . hm. I dunno I never use that one, I guess it's like ... dead?

Luzura_Warrior:

oh wait, I think I've seen some people use it to mean annoyed. like really fed up with something.

Rulerzreachf4n:

ok. I guess that makes sense.

Rulerzreachf4n:

what about this one? 😤

Luzura_Warrior:

that one's like 'determined.' stubborn.

Luzura_Warrior:

oh but it also can mean really angry. depends on the situation.

Rulerzreachf4n:

oh, I was way off, I thought it was maybe a sneeze?

Luzura_Warrior:

lolol no this is the sneeze emoji 🤧

Rulerzreachf4n:

... 🤔

Luzura_Warrior:

that's for when you're thinking

Rulerzreachf4n:

... 🧐

Luzura_Warrior:

that's for when you're thinking but you're also FANCY

Rulerzreachf4n:

okay there are WAY too many of these

Luzura_Warrior:

lol, don't worry, you'll learn them eventually

Rulerzreachf4n:

I'm not so sure. I feel like this is an entire language.

Rulerzreachf4n:

and like what even is this one??? 🥴

Luzura_Warrior:

I...have no idea actually. I never understood that one.

Luzura_Warrior:

I guess it's . . . uhhh . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

god I don't have a clue. let's invent a new emotion for it

Rulerzreachf4n:

what

Luzura_Warrior:

hey hunter, just finished my lunch and I'm feeling so snorflimppet 🥴

Luzura_Warrior:

you know TFW you're hella gasterplastecked 🥴

Rulerzreachf4n:

no.

Rulerzreachf4n:

stop.

Luzura_Warrior:

yknow we should teach you about memes too if you're gonna be on penstagram

Rulerzreachf4n:

oh, yeah. willow and gus have shown me a few of those. I think I saved one. hold on . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

I . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

I've become a MEME??

Rulerzreachf4n:

is that . . . bad?

Rulerzreachf4n:

I thought it was a good thing

Luzura_Warrior:

it's . . .uhh well I don't know if I'd call it good or bad, really, it's just . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

hmm, honestly I'm not sure how to feel about it. guess I feel 🥴🥴

Rulerzreachf4n:

well if you don't like it, I can delete it

Luzura_Warrior:

nah, it's fine, no need

Luzura_Warrior:

tbh it's kinda neat.

Luzura_Warrior:

so the meme you have saved to your scroll was the one that had me in it . . . interesting 😏

What was that one? They hadn't discussed that emoji yet. This texting thing was stressful sometimes.

Rulerzreachf4n:

I saved it because it was about flyer derby

Rulerzreachf4n:

it just happened to have you in it

Luzura_Warrior:

mmm ok. if you say so.

Luzura_Warrior:

oh hey, before I forget, you wanna help me start a new meme on penstagram?

Rulerzreachf4n:

how?

Luzura_Warrior:

it's easy! just choose a basic format first . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

like, say, mmm, the old bait-n-switch . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

choose a video . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

and voila!

A link popped up. Hunter followed it to see it led to Luz's Penstagram page, to her newest public post. 

You know, it’s not often that I’m impressed by speeches, but the statements that one of the Coven’s top officials has recently released are really worth checking out. Find it here:

It was a link that led away from Penstagram. When Hunter clicked on it, it brought him to the video of Kikimora falling flat on her face and then wriggling around to dance music. Hunter had already seen this video many, many times, but he laughed again anyway.

Rulerzreachf4n:

ok, if that’s how you make a meme, then I’m a fan

Luzura_Warrior:

great! so all you need to do is post something on your penstagram that claims you’re linking a particular thing . . . but link to this video instead

Rulerzreachf4n:

that’s honestly kind of childish

He paused on his Penstagram page, thinking about it.

Rulerzreachf4n:

…but, she acts very childish anyway, so turnabout’s fair play

Luzura_Warrior:

haha, there ya go.

 Late afternoon, Hunter was in the middle of his usual patrol through Bonesborough, keeping an eye out for troublemakers or any civil unrest. It was a very slow day, though, and hardly anyone was around. He’d gone out to one of the massive demonic appendanges that existed in the town (this one was called ‘Dead Hand’ because it was unusually still compared to the other, twitchier hands). There had been a minor complaint lodged that somebody was trying to paint graffiti on the huge, scaly hand. When he got there, though, he found it was just a couple of kids that looked hardly older than toddlers, and they didn’t even know how to operate a spray paint can. He chased the kids away and then was left standing there in the silent streets of Bonesborough, sighing. Sometimes he felt like most of the duties he did for the Coven was just busywork.

Pulling out his scroll, he logged onto Penstagram and scrolled idly. Luz had ‘shared’ his Kikimora meme post and so it had a fair number of ‘likes’ and a few replies. This kept him amused for a few minutes, but eventually he grew bored. 

His scroll buzzed with a new message.

Luzura_Warrior:

look at themmmmm 😍

A picture was included, and it had King curled up on the couch, with the Owl Lady’s palisman snuggled into his fur, both fast asleep.

Rulerzreachf4n:

nice

Rulerzreachf4n:

this is what I’m doing

He pointed the scroll at the Dead Hand and took a photo to send to Luz.

Luzura_Warrior:

on patrol? cool, I’ve never actually gotten that close to that thing before

Luzura_Warrior:

eda, uh, told me they grab people sometimes, so I’m a little careful

Rulerzreachf4n:

they can sometimes but only when they’re cranky. dead hand doesn’t though, it’s very docile.

Luzura_Warrior:

huh. good to know!

Luzura_Warrior:

hey, I have a question, how come you never send any selfies? I don’t think I’ve seen a single one from you yet

Luzura_Warrior:

you even changed your pfp, it used to be you and now it’s flapjack. 

Luzura_Warrior:

obviously I ADORE flapjack but, well. I dunno, I guess I’m just curious if there’s a reason

Luzura_Warrior:

sorry if that’s prying too much

He thought about when he first made his Penstagram account and all the time he spent trying to get a photo to use for his profile. He probably spent over an hour doing it, only to later decide it looked awful anyway and took it down.

Rulerzreachf4n:

not sure if there’s really a reason

Rulerzreachf4n:

I just don’t feel the desire to, I guess.

Rulerzreachf4n:

I..don’t really like how I look.

Luzura_Warrior:

wait, really? 

He hesitated as he read her message, but she didn’t seem to be teasing him. He decided to take a chance and tell her the truth.

Rulerzreachf4n:

yeah. that’s part of why I like my mask. better to cover it up when people would rather not see it anyway, you know?

He waited as the dots on the scroll indicated Luz was typing.

Luzura_Warrior:

okay, so, I guess it kind of makes sense you wouldn’t realize this, since you probably don’t talk to a lot of people. 

He frowned, confused.

Rulerzreachf4n:

realize what?

Luzura_Warrior:

that you’re actually really cute

He froze, his heart leaping at the blunt reply. Staring at the message in shock, he tried to make sense of it. What? She really thought-- she--

Wait, no. That couldn’t be right. His skepticism returning fast, he typed,

Rulerzreachf4n:

that’s not a nice thing to joke about

At the same moment he’d entered that text,  Luz entered one as well;

Luzura_Warrior:

I mean, objectively speaking. you know?

He narrowed his eyes, confused. She quickly followed up with more texts.

Luzura_Warrior:

what? I wouldn’t joke about that. I’m serious.

Luzura_Warrior:

did somebody tell you that you weren’t?

Luzura_Warrior:

because that’s wrong, you’re definitely. yknow, teenage heartthrob material. 

Luzura_Warrior:

honestly I’m surprised you don’t know this? when I first met you, you were so confident, it seemed like you were all ,’i’m sexy and I know it’

Luzura_Warrior:

uh I, mean, you know. like. objectively! haha.

In an intensely short amount of time Hunter felt like his head was going to possibly explode, the phrase ‘teenage heartthrob’ on repeat in his mind. Flustered, he tried to type out a reply.

Rulerzreachf4n:

you’re really serious? I. but. 

This didn’t make sense. But it really did seem like she was being sincere.

Luzura_Warrior:

ok, you gotta tell me who told you all this BS about how you look, because they’re not only a jerk, theyre apparently blind

Starting to feel a bit warm, he confessed,

Rulerzreachf4n:

nobody really told me that, I just. it’s what I’ve always kinda thought.

Luzura_Warrior:

oh.

Rulerzreachf4n:

but. now that I have your perspective, I. 

He struggled to figure out how to reply.

Rulerzreachf4n:

well it’s.

Rulerzreachf4n:

 good to know

Luzura_Warrior:

okay well great glad i could clarify that!

Luzura_Warrior:

annnnyway

Luzura_Warrior:

anythgig  ecxiti ng ever happen onyour patrols???

Hunter glanced up as he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. It turned out to be a Coven scout, carrying a spear, also out on patrol. Not really a surprise; it seemed the only people out today were Coven members.

The scout waved as he approached. 

“Hello, sir! Run into any problems today?”

Ah, it was Steve. There were a great many coven scouts in their ranks, and Hunter admittedly didn’t recognize them all by name, but he recognized Steve. He had a rather decent . . . well, “friendship” was not the word. He had a rather decent acquaintanceship with him. It mostly consisted of Steve sitting next to him sometimes during lunch and rambling about whatever random things were rattling about in his head, while Steve in turn would listen to Hunter rant about Kikimora. It hadn’t ever gone beyond that, but still, it made Hunter feel slightly more at ease to be around a semi-familiar face. Well. A semi-familiar voice. He’d never actually seen any of the scouts maskless. 

“Nah. Just told a couple of kids to go home before their mothers worry about them. Truly a test of my skills and training, I know, but somehow I prevailed.”

Steve laughed. It was strangely nice to have another person actually laugh at his snarky comments.

“Hey, at least it wasn’t one of those days where we had to clear out a sligguth infestation, right? I’d relish a little boredom in comparison.”

Hunter frowned.

“I guess so.”

The coven scout leaned casually against the Dead Hand’s wrist as he began to ramble idly.

“This job’s not quite what I expected, I’ll tell you that, but it does give me a lot of time to think, you know? It’s kind of nice on these slow days when nobody’s around to bother me and I can just do my own thing.”

Hunter raised a brow, even though his face was covered by his mask.

“You mean goof off?”

Steve chuckled again.

“I know I’m not the only one, weren’t you just looking at your scroll?”

Hunter jolted a little, even though he still had the scroll in his hand and it wasn’t a surprise the scout had seen. Accepting that he’d been caught out, he lifted the scroll back up and glanced at it. He answered wryly,

“As far as you’re concerned I was just monitoring social media for any potential rabblerousers.”

The scout nodded.

“Of course, sir.”

Hunter looked at his scroll thoughtfully for a few moments, considering the human he’d just been conversing with. He was struck with a sudden impulse. It was pretty out of character for him, but there was something about the human that seemed to make him do strange things. And in the moment, he didn’t really care.

“Hey, um, Steve? You wanna help me take, uh . . . a ‘selfie’?”

He handed his scroll to Steve. The scout shrugged.

“Sure. Although I don’t think it’s technically a selfie unless you take it yourself.”

Hunter hopped on his artificial staff and quickly flew up to the top of Dead Hand.

“All right, well whatever it’s called.”

He landed on the open palm of the giant hand and set his staff down. After a moment of hesitation, he reached up and pulled his Golden Guard mask off.

From below, Steve was pointing the scroll at him, fiddling with settings.

“Hmm, why don’t you try something a little more dynamic, sir?”

Hesitantly, he asked, 

“Dynamic?” 

“Yeah! Pose or something.”

He thought about that a moment, his mind casting back to when he’d first met Luz on the airship. Oh. Sure, he could do that.

He got down and sprawled casually on his side, leaning his chin into a palm, propping it up with an elbow. He held his mask in his other hand loosely against his waist and fixed the scroll with a steady gaze.

“Oh, that’s perfect, sir! Hold that. Hmm, the angle is a bit weird down here. Maybe if I backed up a little. . .”

Hunter had a better idea. He grabbed his staff and sent it down to the ground.

“Here, just ride that.”

“Oh, that’s genius, sir.”

Steve seemed unperturbed about this taking a little work, and he rode the staff up around Hunter’s hight and carefully adjusted his position.

“All right, good, now smile for the camera?”

Ugh, this felt kinda weird. He really did hate pictures. But he was determined to do it.

All right, just imagine it was Luz floating there. She wanted a selfie, he’d give her one.

He quirked his brow a little and slipped into a cheeky grin, gazing intensely into the scroll as if she was right there in front of him. He heard the scroll snap a few pictures.

“Wow, you’re a natural, sir. I feel like this would make a great recruitment poster! The old one is a little plain, you know?”

Hunter stood back up and shook his head as Steve returned the scroll to him.

“Nah, this is only for friends.”

He sat down on the hand, his feet dangling off the edge as he fiddled with his scroll. Steve landed and sat down beside him, humming,

“Of course, you need to keep the mystery of the original poster. People respect and fear the mask.”

Hunter nodded.

“Exactly.”

He hesitated as he looked at his picture. Did it look stupid? Should he actually send it, or maybe retake it? Was it too weird? Too . . . much? Maybe he should–

Oh, screw it.

He sent the photo to Luz before he could question it any further and chicken out. After that was a tense wait, but it didn’t last for very long.

Luzura_Warrior:

ohmygod 

Luzura_Warrior:

asafdjh;lgfju

Luzura_Warrior:

what have I done, I never should have told you the truth 

It was unclear what exactly that meant, but Hunter had hoped it was positive. He answered cautiously. 

Rulerzreachf4n:

you said you wanted a selfie

Luzura_Warrior:

hahaha I did, it’s true

Luzura_Warrior:

but boy, you REALLY delivered 

Rulerzreachf4n:

is that a good thing?

Luzura_Warrior:

yeah uhh 

Luzura_Warrior:

definitely a good thing.

Luzura_Warrior:

it 

Luzura_Warrior:

it’s really good, haha.

He started to type out a reply, but she followed up with more texts before he could.

Luzura_Warrior:

jeez, that look you’re giving is smokin’

Luzura_Warrior:

do you practice that in the mirror or

Luzura_Warrior:

hey wait, who took the picture?

Rulerzreachf4n:

thats not important

Luzura_Warrior:

you actually enlisted somebody’s help to take this for me?

Luzura_Warrior:

I feel so special :3 Rulerzreachf4n:

yeah, yeah, just don’t show it to anyone else alright

Luzura_Warrior:

whuh wait

Luzura_Warrior:

this really was just for me??

Luzura_Warrior:

 so i really AM special :3c

Growing uncomfortable with how perceptive Luz was being, he tried to derail.

Rulerzreachf4n:

I don’t know what that emoji means

Luzura_Warrior:

oh sorry. it’s like…. a kittycat smile? there isn’t really a good official emoji for it.

Rulerzreachf4n:

a cat smile?

He wasn’t sure how a cat could smile and what the heck that would even indicate.

Luzura_Warrior:

yeah it’s like . . .

Luzura_Warrior:

hold on a sec

Luzura_Warrior:

Luzura_Warrior:

like that!

Hunter studied the picture, which you’d think would help clarify things, but really all it did was confuse the issue even further.

Rulerzreachf4n:

what exactly is that look supposed to mean though

Luzura_Warrior:

:3c hehehehehe

Rulerzreachf4n:

luz that doesnt help

“So does your friend like the picture?”

Hunter jumped in surprise, having entirely forgotten that Steve was even sitting there.

“Uhh.”

His scroll buzzed and spammed him with indecipherable emoji.

Luzura_Warrior:

😏😏 😼😼🦦🦦😈😇

“. . . I think so? Yeah.”

 The rest of patrol was just as stunningly uneventful, so Hunter spent the rest of it walking his route and talking with Steve. Honestly, it wasn’t so terrible a way to finish out the afternoon, which mostly was just letting Steve ramble on about his little brother and his newfound interest in Illusion magic. When Hunter returned to the castle, he had some very boring tasks that included taking stock of some new supplies (again, he found himself wondering if Belos just assigned him duties as mere busywork, but it wasn’t his place to question things). It took him several hours to complete and then he had a cold, unpleasant dinner at the cafeteria, but for some reason, none of it fazed him much, and he spent the whole time humming to himself, a little smile on his face.

When the evening came and he was finally free to return to his room, he gratefully collapsed onto his bed and stuck his face into the nearest book. It was a pleasant diversion for about an hour, and then his scroll buzzed. Eagerly, he grabbed it and found that it was Luz asking if he could help her with a few questions on her Beast Keeping homework. He agreed to help. 

What had started out as just a few questions quickly grew into a much larger discussion.

Luzura_Warrior:

I just am having a hard time because I had no idea there were so many kinds of dragons

Luzura_Warrior:

in the human realm I only really heard of the basic ones

Luzura_Warrior:

not all these weird wingless dragons and the legless dragons and the dragons with only two legs and all that

Rulerzreachf4n:

well they’re not really dragons. 

Luzura_Warrior:

what?? what do you mean.

Rulerzreachf4n:

the common ancestor species is a wyrm, which eventually evolved into lindwyrms and loongs over time. the ones living at higher elevations developed into drakes. and then potentially dragons arose from the drakes. 

Rulerzreachf4n:

they’re all in the wyrm family, though, a dragon is just a kind of wyrm

Luzura_Warrior:

seriously? I thought a wyrm was just . . . a legless and wingless dragon?

Rulerzreachf4n:

no, it’s the other way around. a dragon is a wyrm with legs and wings. 

Luzura_Warrior:

man, this is weird. so what exactly is a wyrm then? 

Rulerzreachf4n:

well, wyrms branch off from the sea serpents because of their scales, regenerative abilities and pyrorespiration. sea serpents of course belonging to the larger family of serpents, which in turn of course branch off from the true worms

Luzura_Warrior:

hold on, slow down a little. not sure if I’m getting you because it seems like you’re saying that . . . dragons evolved from snakes and that snakes evolved from worms?

Rulerzreachf4n:

snakes are a smaller sub-family of serpents, really

Rulerzreachf4n:

but your statement is mostly correct, yeah.

Luzura_Warrior:

snakes evolved from worms??

Rulerzreachf4n:

yeah? didn’t they cover this already?

Rulerzreachf4n:

everything evolved from worms, they’re nature’s ideal form

Luzura_Warrior:

buhhuhuwhaaa? 

Rulerzreachf4n:

you haven’t covered the Great Ancestral Worm yet??

Luzura_Warrior:

um, well. I kind of haven’t had one of the pre-reqs for this class. I begged the teacher to let me take it anyway . . . 

Luzura_Warrior:

but please, I gotta know about anything called ‘the Great Ancestral Worm,’ because this is getting wild

Rulerzreachf4n:

okay, well. 

Rulerzreachf4n:

in the beginning, when the Titan first fell, the first creature to immerge from the decomposing muck was a worm

Rulerzreachf4n:

the Great Ancestral Worm, from which all beasts sprang. the ratworms, the trash slugs, the giraffes, the sea serpents, all that

Rulerzreachf4n:

and from the beasts, branched off the bug demons and the bipedal demons

Rulerzreachf4n:

many bug demons still retaining body forms quite close to the original ancestral worms, but developing sentience alongside the bipedal demons

Rulerzreachf4n:

bipedal demons of course ended up quite distant from the ancestral design, and needed to compensate for it, develop bile sacs for their own magic

Luzura_Warrior:

okay hold on 

Luzura_Warrior:

so you’re saying EVERYTHING is based off worms

Luzura_Warrior:

what about, uhh. echo mice?

Rulerzreachf4n:

they evolved from the ratworms.

Luzura_Warrior:

okay, how about the selkiedomuses.

Rulerzreachf4n:

sea serpents that developed fins and blubber.

Luzura_Warrior:

what about birds??

Rulerzreachf4n:

they came from the wyverns and feathered serpents.

Luzura_Warrior:

there’s feathered serpents too?? oh god

Luzura_Warrior:

this is getting a little overwhelming

Rulerzreachf4n:

let’s just focus on wyrms for now. you said you only needed to know the basic groups for now, right?

Luzura_Warrior:

yeah. yeah, ok.

Rulerzreachf4n:

So we have the Wyrms, and then the Lindwyrms which evolved front limbs to help a little with traction, but still move with a serpentine body motion. And next are the Loongs, with four limbs which can walk awkwardly on land but who mostly prefer to swim or fly. 

Luzura_Warrior:

wait. fly? I thought Loongs don’t have wings?

Rulerzreachf4n:

that’s correct, they don’t.

Luzura_Warrior:

asdgrsrjyyj

Luzura_Warrior:

THEN HOW

Rulerzreachf4n:

they fly via magic. loong’s magic is fairly potent, they also have some control over weather and can shapeshift.

Luzura_Warrior:

oh, right, magic is a thing. haha . . .

Rulerzreachf4n:

next are the drakes

Luzura_Warrior:

those are the wingless dragons! right? they first found them at the knee

Rulerzreachf4n:

well, ‘wingless dragons’ is... not very descriptive. 

Rulerzreachf4n:

but yes, the drakes evolved at higher elevations and had stockier bodies, sturdier limbs that made for good walking and climbing, and stronger fire breath.

Luzura_Warrior:

can THEY magically fly?

Rulerzreachf4n:

that’s a good question! no, the drakes lost the ability to fly, as well as their shapeshifting and weather control

Luzura_Warrior:

okay, gotcha

Rulerzreachf4n:

then we have the dragons, which fly with the help of their leathery wings. and then wyverns

Luzura_Warrior:

hold on a sec one time I heard Hooty say HE’S A WORM

Luzura_Warrior:

does that mean hooty’s a bug demon???

Rulerzreachf4n:

uh… do you mean your house demon?

Luzura_Warrior:

yeah!

Rulerzreachf4n:

yes, house demons are a type of parasitic worm. 

Luzura_Warrior:

holy crap this makes so much sense now. now that I think about it, he was saying something one time about an ancestral worm

Rulerzreachf4n:

uh yeah so, anyway

Luzura_Warrior:

wait did you say PARASITIC??

Luzura_Warrior:

he’s a parasite???

Rulerzreachf4n:

yes, house demons parasitize living houses 

Luzura_Warrior:

I thought hooty WAS the house!!! that’s not his body??

Rulerzreachf4n:

it’s technically not. once a house demon attaches to a house, they gain some control and nerve sensation, but it’s technically their host.

Luzura_Warrior:

oh my god. this is blowing my mind

Rulerzreachf4n:

ok, I think we’re getting a bit off track here

Luzura_Warrior:

right, sorry, sorry

Luzura_Warrior:

back to dragons. I mean, wyrms, back to wyrms and not house worms. I’m listening.

Hunter did his best to get Luz back on track and explain the basic wyrm families, as well as the two competing theories on whether drakes evolved into dragons, or ampitheres evolved into wyverns and then some wyverns developed into dragons. Although Luz was a bit distractable at times and prone to chit-chat, she was also very enthusiastic and seemed genuinely interested in the subject. She also seemed to pick up the information fairly quickly. When they’d finished, she thanked him profusely and said she was going to spend another hour studying to make sure it was solidified in her head for tomorrow’s quiz. He bid her a goodnight and returned to his reading.

He continued to read until it grew very late, at an hour when his mind was very fuzzy and his thoughts were disjointed. He browsed Pentsagram a little, very amused to find Darius had shared his Kikimora meme, and it seemed to be spreading rapidly. He giggled at that for a bit and then his thoughts started to turn slowly along the memories of his day, over the discussions he’d had with Luz. There was a very pleasant feeling that flickered through him as he pondered things, like the bright little embers that popped off a crackling fire. 

When his scroll buzzed, he sleepily picked it up and checked it.

Luzura_Warrior:

hunteeerrrrrr

Luzura_Warrior:

I’m booorrreddddd

He chuckled outloud and typed a response.

Rulerzreachf4n:

thought you were studying

Luzura_Warrior:

yeah it got boring

Luzura_Warrior:

whatre you doin?

Rulerzreachf4n:

well I WAS reading peacefully

Luzura_Warrior:

awhjyyhd why are you even still up it’s like almost 2am

Rulerzreachf4n:

why are YOU still up

Luzura_Warrior:

that’s evading the question, I asked u first

Rulerzreachf4n:

im always up this late

Rulerzreachf4n:

it’s the only time to myself i really get, so. thats why.

Luzura_Warrior:

that makes sense.

Rulerzreachf4n:

k so now you

Luzura_Warrior:

well I was just cramming for the quiz

Luzura_Warrior:

I am bad at time management, I admit it

Luzura_Warrior:

but I’m in bed now like a good girl, I swear

Luzura_Warrior:

see look

A picture popped up, showing a dimmed bedroom. Hunter squinted at it. Luz seemed to be on the floor, sitting inside a strange fabric . . . cocoon? 

Rulerzreachf4n:

what. the heck is that, that’s not a bed.

Luzura_Warrior:

it’s a sleeping bag. 

Rulerzreachf4n:

that doesn’t seem very comfortable.

Luzura_Warrior:

no, it’s okay! it’s not so bad. not as good as a bed, I admit, but eda didn’t have any spare mattresses, so I’ve just been using this.

Rulerzreachf4n:

huh. she should get you a bed.

Luzura_Warrior:

well moneys not exactly pouring in right now

Luzura_Warrior:

I know you probably have a nice fancy bed at the castle but not everyone can be so luxurious, ya know

Hunter frowned, considering his bed and his room.

Rulerzreachf4n:

actually my bed’s really not fancy

Rulerzreachf4n:

or my room. belos gave me quarters that are the same size and furnishings as any other scout

Rulerzreachf4n:

said that i shouldn’t grow soft or complacent

Luzura_Warrior:

oh

Luzura_Warrior:

whoa I didn’t realize that.

Luzura_Warrior:

ok now I’m curious. whats it look like?

Luzura_Warrior:

send me a picture?? 😃

Hunter aimed his scroll, trying to get a shot, then grumbled because it didn’t look like much from his angle. He got out of bed and snapped a photo so she could actually see things.

Luzura_Warrior:

oooh okay, it’s not so bad. seems cozy. that pillowcase looks pretty ratty tho lol

Luzura_Warrior:

oh my god wait, you have a PLUSHIE?? I see that lil head poking out there!

Hunter quickly re-checked the photo, and to his horror, you could in fact see the hot pink head of his goofy little frog plushie sticking out behind a pillow.

Rulerzreachf4n:

please pretend you didnt see that

Luzura_Warrior:

no way, oh my god hunter this is adorable. I love this. you like plushies too!! I wanna get a better look, send me a pic! 😃

Rulerzreachf4n:

no way you’ll just make fun of me

Luzura_Warrior:

no I won’t!! I swear. pleeeeease?? 

Luzura_Warrior:

do you actually sleep with it too? aaaaa thatd be so CUTE

Hunter grunted, dropping back down onto his bed with a defeated sigh. There was no way she was gonna drop this, he knew her well enough by now for that. Gruhhh.

He reached over and pulled the plushie out from behind the pillow. Wrapping an arm around it, he hugged it tight against his chest and aimed the scroll at himself, sticking his tongue out and snapping a photo. 

When he sent it, Luz nearly combusted.

Luzura_Warrior:

saftrrerghewyhrw

Luzura_Warrior:

aaaaaaa  hutner!!!!

Luzura_Warrior:

SO CUTE

Luzura_Warrior:

you giant dork i LOVE it

Luzura_Warrior:

look at youuuu aaaaa!! 😍

Rulerzreachf4n:

you show that to anybody and I will hunt you down

Luzura_Warrior:

hehehehehee

Luzura_Warrior:

hunt me down. cos you’re hunter

Rulerzreachf4n:

yes. you don’t want  that, trust me

Luzura_Warrior:

heeehee, but maybe I do 😉

Hunter’s thoughts halted, stalling at Luz’s text as he struggled to form a coherent response. Fortunately, Luz just continued to ramble.

Luzura_Warrior:

ughh I should get to sleep 

Luzura_Warrior:

i have a really busy day tomorrow

Luzura_Warrior:

all these quizzes and exams at once, I swear the teachers do it on purpose

He had to focus to type out a reply that sounded normal.

Rulerzreachf4n:

yeah, I should sleep too

Luzura_Warrior:

ok you might not hear from me tomorrow until real late, i got a lot going on

Luzura_Warrior:

but i’ll say bye for now!

Rulerzreachf4n:

okay

Luzura_Warrior:

so gnnnighty night for now, my goldie dork boy~~ 😘

Luzura_Warrior:

talk to you later 💖💗💜

Rulerzreachf4n:

bye

Hunter stared dumbly at the scroll for a while after she’d logged off, his fuzzy sleepy thoughts rolling about in his mind like a tangled ball of yarn. Letting the scroll drop down onto his bed, he fell asleep before even bothering to get changed for the night.

[teddy06writes]

Gonna Fix It

requested by this anon: “hi!! could you maybe do something angsty and fluffy with Fundy (or anyone really) where the reader is a trans guy? he/him”  

Fundy x transmale!reader

trigger warnings: transphobes, homophobes, some swearing (I used the words tranny and fag) {I am both gay and technically trans please don’t come for me}

premise: When your dead name is leaked, along with photos of you pre transition the entire internet is quick to judge hypercritically, but your boyfriend is quick to take care of it

(y/n/n)- your nickname

(f/l/y/n)- first letter of your name

(y/d/n)- your deadname

“blep” talking

‘blep’ texting/messaging

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“(y/n/n)!”

“Yes Tommy?” You asked.

“How’d you feel about selling drugs?” 

You snorted, glancing up at your face cam and the messages in chat before turning your character to face Tommy’s, laughing, “What?” 

“Do you want to sell drugs with me and Wilbur?” He repeated. 

You blinked, moving your character to look at the van and then back at him, “Tommy, I would love to sell drugs out of a van with you.” 

“Yes! We have secured another one lets go! Pogchamp!” 

You chuckled as Wilbur joined vc, following Tommy’s character over to the van as he announced, “Gentleman! We have a problem, we need to find a better cover for our operations.” 

You looked around the inside of the van, filled with brewing stands and furnaces, “A hot dog van.” 

“Pfff- a hot dog van?” Tommy laughed. 

“It would be a decent cover.” Wilbur admitted, “We should do it.” 

Almost reluctantly Tommy nodded, and Wilbur moved on, “Next on the order of business, we need new recruits beside just (y/n).” 

You grinned, “I know just who to ask!” 

You started to leave vc when Tommy warned, “No Americans and no women.” 

“You got it.” 

You left vc, talking to your twitch chat as you messed around in discord, “Weird lot, them boys. Anyway- apparently I’m a drug dealer in Minecraft now! And I’m gonna recruit someone else!” 

After a few messages through discord your boyfriend called you, “Hello?” 

Upon hearing Floris’ voice chat started spamming about you being a simp.

“Yeah so Tommy and Wilbur kinda roped me into selling drugs on the smp and they told me to get more people, so I’m calling you.” You explained. 

“Angel why didn’t you just come ask me? Was the call necessary?” 

You rolled your eyes, “Shut up chat I’m not blushing! It was easier than getting up. Are you in or not?” 

“Yeah sure.” 

~~

Child: ‘(y/n) big man’

Child: ‘big (f/l/y/n)’ 

(y/n): ‘what do you want Tommy’

Child: ‘get on the server we’re making plans for our country’ 

You sighed, quickly moving to boot up Minecraft, starting stream along with it and quickly giving an intro before logging on to the smp and joining vc. 

“Ayyy! Big man!” Tommy yelled. 

“Tommy!” You responded, though significantly less enthusiastically. 

“(y/n) come to the hto dog van we’re making important decisions.” Wilbur said. 

“Okay.” You headed down the prime path toward the van, listening to the others chatter. 

“Okay so we need a name for our country,” Wilbur said as you arrived, “Something that fits. I am open to suggestions.” 

“Pog something.” Tommy offered.

“ehhhhh.” 

“Pogtopia!” He exclaimed. 

You punched his character, “That’s so stupid.” 

“Well- hmm, we’re all men here soooooooo Manburg!” WIlbur mused. 

“It needs to be more European.” Eret said, tossing you some of the block to start helping with the walls. 

“L’manburg.” You offered. 

Wilbur and Tommy burst out laughing, “Perfect!” 

“No Americans and no women! Just the way I like it!” Tommy yelled. 

Everyone began to laugh at that, and you grinned, entirely unaware of the chaos beginning to unfold all over twitter, and even in your twitch chat.

~~ Later that night you ended up flopped across the couch, Floris sending you a text from his office, ‘Don’t forget to take off the tibby prison angel’ ‘I’ll be done with this soon and we can cuddle’ 

You chuckled, dragging yourself up off the couch and shuffling off to the bathroom to change out of your binder, and pull on a different hoodie, a bigger one that you had stolen from Floris.

By the time you were done and had come back out into the living room Floris had also emerged from his office, and was staring in horror at his phone. 

“What’s wrong?” You asked. 

“You haven’t been on Twitter lately have you?” 

Immediately you were going for your phone, taking it off silence to be bombarded by notifications, “uhhhh.” 

Floris bit his lip, “I think you should read it for yourself.” 

Quietly you opened twitter, checking first the hashtag that appeared at the top of your mentions ‘#y/nisalie’ 

Your breath hitched as you opened the hashtag, immediately seeing the original tweet, ‘#y/nisalie y/n has been lying to all of us a thread: apparently this tranny didn’t have the guts to put out that “he” was lying’ 

You scrolled through the tweets, ‘Man, I can’t believe (y/d/n) thought (y/n) was a good fake name’, ‘well at least we know Fundy isn’t actually a fag’ and then worst of all, ‘Guys I found what (y/d/n) actually looks like!’ followed by a picture of you, pre transition. 

The world felt like it was caving in as you slowly sank down against the wall, tears starting to flow, “How did this happen?” 

Floris was quick to sit down next to your, pulling you into his arms, “I dunno angel.” 

You turned, sobbing into his shoulder, “Why are they like this? Wha- what am I gonna do?” 

“I’m gonna fix this,” He murmured, “I promise.” 

You curled further into his embrace, tears soaking his shirt as he rubbed circles into your back.

“It’s gonna be okay angel, it’s gonna be okay.” 

~~ You avoided the internet at all costs for the next few days, not streaming, not being active on twitter or any other socials, hardly ever leaving Floris’ embrace for more than a few minutes as more and more notifications filled your phone. 

It took a lot of coaxing from your boyfriend to check your twitter notifications after two days, and when you did you were delighted to see dozens of positive messages from real fans, and messages addressing the situation from all of your friends.

Eret: ‘dudes (y/n) is litterally trans, is you can’t deal with that then get out of this community; it’s seriously not okay to disrespect someone like that.’

Wilbur: ‘guys remember when I said trans rights and trans rights until I’m dead? Well that applies to (y/n) as well so piss off and stop bothering them’

Tommy: ‘listen up, serious tweet for once: you guys really need to learn how to recover someone and there pronouns, stop calling big man (y/n) by his dead name or get off the platform’

Along with countless others, and of course one from Floris as well, who had made a thread as soon as he saw what was going on:

‘Guys, listen. My boyfriend is the most wonderful human being in all the world. Whoever leaked his dead name or went looking for pictures of him before his transition is honestly a monster and I hope you realize the weight of your actions. Apparently we as a community have a few things to go over,

1: respect creators boundaries, if (y/n) didn’t want to tell you he wasn’t born male it’s not your business, 2: respect people’s pronouns, if someone tells you to use he/him they probably know if there right or not, 3: you can’t fucking invalidate someone like that, and put them on display as a fucking hashtag.

4: if anyone ever tries to talk about my boyfriend like this, (using the wrong pronouns, misgendering, using his dead name or in any other way invalidateing him) I will personally make sure you are never allowed on social media again’

You looked up from your phone, “Y- you got them to stop?”

Floris smiled, “I told you I was gonna fix it.”

[4stars-uswnt]

If I Hated You [Alex Morgan x Reader]

requested by anon: Hey I love your works!! I was wondering if you could do a fic based on fletcher’s new song ‘if I hated you’ with Alex x reader, if possible with an eventual happy ending? If not I totally understand but thank you so much for all the fics you’ve shared and done for us.

requested by @eclipses77​: Hey I was wondering if you could write a fix based off Fletcher’s new song ‘If I Hated You’ with any person you want but with a happy ending if possible.

A/N: thank you to both of you who requested this! and to the anon: i’m so glad you enjoy my fics. i have a great time writing them for you guys. 

this isn’t really a song fic with lyrics and everything. it’s mainly just inspired Fletcher’s song, so i hope y’all still enjoy it anyways :) also i may have gotten a little carried away with it.

ps. thanks to @sauceysonny​ for talking through this prompt with me and letting me rant through my ideas

warnings: swearing

Listen to “If I Hated You” by Fletcher here

You throw the sheets off your body for what feels like the hundredth time that night. You had been tossing and turning, unable to sleep with the other side of the bed being so empty. You reach for your phone to check the time. 2:13 am. The photo on the lock screen makes your heartache. It was a photo of you and Alex that Kelley had captured in the locker room after the World Cup, your foreheads pressed together, oblivious to the rest of the world. Shutting your phone off, you turn over and stare at the ceiling, trying to figure out how you’d gotten here.

—————

“I can’t wait to see you this weekend.” You chirp, smiling at your girlfriend through your computer screen. There had been a week break in the NWSL season, so Alex had decided to visit you up in Seattle for a couple of days.

Alex gives you a sheepish look. Being able to read your girlfriend like a book, you feel yourself deflate with defeat.

“You’re not coming, are you?”

“Babe, I’m sorry. I have to go to LA for some meetings with the Olympics committee and with Angel City. I am so sorry.” Alex apologizes.

Her apologies felt useless at this point, as your girlfriend was always cancelling on you, putting you second. You look down at your hands, ignoring Alex’s gaze.

“(Y/N), I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I’ve been really busy lately.” She tries again, hoping to get a response out of you.

“You’re always busy, Al.” You mumble.

“I know, babe, and I’m sorry, but there’s not a lot I can do about it.” Alex defends.

You roll your eyes, annoyed at your girlfriend’s excuses. “Yes, Alex, there is something you can do about it. You can tell them that you already have plans. Or that you have to go visit your girlfriend, who you haven't seen in almost two months. Or that they can fucking wait because Angel City isn’t happening for another year and the Olympics aren’t for another eight fucking years.”

Alex sits on the other side of the screen stunned by your outburst. In your arguments, you were usually the calmer one, Alex being the one with the temper, but you just couldn’t hold it in any longer.

You sigh, tired of fighting with the other woman. “Al, maybe we should just take a break.”

“What?” Alex sits up at that, leaning closer to the screen.

“Look, I know we love each other and everything, but recently it just feels like our relationship is strained by the distance and all of our commitments.”

“You mean my commitments.” Alex countered.

“I didn’t say that, Alex. Stop putting words in my mouth. We are both to blame here. I just feel like we need some time to ourselves to figure out what we want from this relationship.”

Your heart aches, as the words leave your mouth, and as you see tears form in Alex’s eyes.

“Are you sure? Because I don’t wanna take a break.” She whispered.

“Al, I don’t wanna take a break either, but all we’ve been doing lately is arguing, and I just think we should take a little time to evaluate our own lives.” You feel tears pooling in your eyes.

“Okay, if that’s what you want, love.” Alex nods, wiping her face.

“I think it’s what we need.” You swallow the knot in your throat. “This isn’t the end, Al.”

“It better not be.” She lets out a watery chuckle, and you fondly smile.

“See you later, Ali-gator.”

Alex smiled at your nickname for her. The two of you vowed you would never actually say ‘goodbye’ to each other because you always knew you’d see each other again.

“See you in a while, crocodile.”

—————

That conversation was almost two weeks ago, and since then, you had been an absolute mess. Although you were used to being alone in Seattle, being on a break from your relationship made you feel even more lonely. In the past couple of weeks, you had barely left your apartment, only going out for training, games, and the necessary grocery shopping.

Your phone had been blowing up with text messages from your national team teammates, who were all concerned about you after hearing the news. Not bothering to give any of them any details, you responded to the group chat with an ‘I’m fine, you guys. Please respect me and Alex’s privacy.’ Alex soon replied, adding ‘What (Y/N) said. We love you guys, but we need to work through this ourselves.’ Both of your texts received many hearts and likes, following with ‘We’re here’ and ‘Love you guys’ from the women, and the texts stopped after that.

In Orlando, Alex hadn’t been faring any better. After returning from LA, she spent most of her time moping around her house in sweatpants and a hoodie she’d stolen from you. Ali, Ash, and Syd would all stop by or invite her over to cheer her up, but Alex was heartbroken without you.

—————

The next morning, after having gone to bed at around 3 am, you slip on a pair of shorts and one of Alex’s Cal hoodies and drag yourself to training.

As you walk into the locker room, Allie and Megan exchange a look of concern, noticing the bags under your eyes and your hood pulled over your head. Your two national team teammates had been worried about you for the past couple of months, even more so in the recent weeks when you and Alex had decided to take a break. They knew the distance was causing you stress, and now the separation was causing you heartbreak. But every time either woman tried to approach the subject, you shut them out, insisting you were okay, when you clearly were not.

Towards the end of practice, after another one of your passes goes awry, Farid calls you over.

“(Y/N), you doing okay?” He asks, eyebrows furrowed. He had heard the whispers in the locker room, your teammates voicing their concerns, and he could tell something was bothering you, so much so it was disrupting your play.

“Yes, coach.”

Not wanting to push you, he hums. “Okay, then you better start playing like you’re doing okay.”

You nod, embarrassed by your own unprofessionalism. “Of course, coach, sorry.”    

He blows the whistle, ending practice, and you scurry back to the locker room.

Back in the locker room, as you’re taking off your cleats and packing up your bag, Allie slips into the seat next to you.

“(Y/N), you wanna come over later?” Allie places a hand on your knee. “We’re having a barbecue. Megan and Sue will also be there.”

You snort. “And be a fifth wheel? I’m good, Allie, but thanks for the invite.”

“(Y/N),” she starts again, “even though I’m Alex’s best friend doesn’t mean I don’t care about you either. Megan and I, and the whole team really, are here if you ever wanna talk.”

“Thanks, Allie.” You smile, as you stand up, swinging your backpack over your shoulder. “Maybe I’ll stop by for a little bit.”

“Awesome.”

—————

Later than evening, you made your way over to Allie and Bati’s place, ultimately deciding that being a fifth wheel was better than sitting at your apartment alone with another box of takeout.

You enter through the side gate, heading into the backyard, where Bati is barbecuing and Megan, Allie, and Sue are chatting around the table. Hearing you open the gate, Bati looks up from the grill.

“Hey! Look who made it!” He gives you a big grin, opening his arm up for a side hug, which you accept.

“Hey, Jose. Thanks for having me.” You softly smile.

“Of course, (Y/N).”

“Aye! (Y/N)! Get your butt over here!” Megan calls from across the yard, waving you over.

“The queen is calling, so I must go.” You joke, making your way over to the table.

“(Y/N/N), I’m glad you could make it.” Allie gives you a brief hug. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“Water would be great.” You thank her, before turning to Megan and Sue.

“Long time no see, Birdie. Good game the other day. You played, eh, okay.” You smirk at the basketball player, who just rolls her eyes.

“It’s good to see you too, (Y/N/N). Thanks. A triple double is okay. But I dunno if I could say the same about you. I hear you’re not playing like the superstar you are.” Sue teases, resulting in a slap from Megan, who gives her girlfriend a warning glare.

You ignore the pink-haired woman and the ache in your chest. “Just having a couple of bad practices. I’ll be tearing up the field in no time.” You boast flippantly.

Seeing past your confident facade, Megan narrows her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay, (Y/N)?”

“P, I’ve told you a million times. I’m fine.” You give her a tight smile, silently telling her you don’t want to talk about it.

Before Megan can ask you anymore questions, Allie and Bati approach the table with plates of food in their hands.

“Time to eat!” Allie cheers. “Oh, and, (Y/N), here’s your water.”

You mutter out a ‘thanks’, and take a large gulp, pushing down the knot forming in your throat.

—————

Dinner went smoothly the five of you discussing an array of topics, ranging from the upcoming NWSL and WNBA season to the election to the newest Italian restaurant that opened downtown.

By the time you all are finished eating, it’s dark out, leaving only the fairy lights to illuminate the yard. You go to clear your plate, but before you can stand up, Bati grabs it from you.

“Don’t worry, (Y/N/N). I got this.” He motions for you to sit back down, before reaching to collect the rest of the plates. “Why don’t I clean up and leave you ladies to chat?” Bati quickly pecks Allie’s cheek, before heading back inside.

Once it is just the four of you, Megan turns to you.

“(Y/N), seriously, how are you feeling?”

You internally groan. You should’ve known this was gonna turn into an intervention. Before you go to respond, the older forward continues.

“And don’t give me that ‘I’m fine. I’m good’ bullshit.” She raises her eyebrow, daring you to challenge her. “Because obviously you’re not fine, and you’re not good. For the past two weeks all you’ve been doing is moping around your apartment, wearing nothing but sweats. You’ve barely eaten an actual meal until today, nor gotten a good night’s sleep. And to top it all of you’ve been playing like crap!”

Sue hits Megan’s arm and scolds her. “Megan!”

The pink-haired woman faces to her girlfriend. “No! I’m not going to sugar coat it. (Y/N) needs to hear this, and she needs to talk about.” Megan turns back to you and softens. “(Y/N/N), you can’t keep bottling up all your feelings. We care about you, and we’re here to listen, so please talk to us.”

Both Allie and Sue nod along with Pinoe’s words.

“Honestly,” you take a deep breath, before starting, “I’m a mess. Like before, I was annoyed and angry that Al was making me a second priority, but now I’m just sad and heartbroken that she’s not here with me.” You finally confess to the other women, feeling like a weight has been lifted off your chest. “And, I mean, I didn’t want to take a break, but our relationship just felt strained. Like we weren’t communicating, and I think the distance was getting the best of us, especially with all of our commitments. I don’t know. Do you guys think I made the right decision?”

Not knowing what to say, the three woman look at each other, searching for answers. Finally, Sue speaks up.

“(Y/N), none of us can know if you made the right decision.” She reaches to squeeze your hand. “Only you and Alex can know what’s right for yourselves and your relationship.”

You nod in understanding. “I love her so much, and I wish we could just be together because all I want is to be by her side.” You whisper, your eyes getting misty. “Ugh, I just miss her so much.”

“I miss you, too.”

You whip your head around. There, in all her glory, stood Alex Morgan. She doesn’t look any better than you, your Reign sweatshirt hiding her muscular frame and dark circles forming under her eyes. Your lips part, as you’re completely speechless.

“You’re car wasn’t in your lot, so I assumed you were either here or at Pinoe’s. This was my first stop, and here you are.” Alex shifts uncomfortably in the silence, her usual confidence faded.

You turn back to face Allie, Megan, and Sue, your eyes narrowing. “Did you three know about this?”

“No!” They all exclaim, Megan holding up her hands in innocence. You continue to stare at Allie, not convinced she had no part in this.

“I swear, (Y/N), I had no idea about this.” She insists, as you relent your accusatory glare.

“(Y/N),” Alex comes up from behind you, “they had nothing to do with this, so please don’t be mad at them. I came here all on my own because I wanted to talk to you. I needed to see you.”

You nod. “Ok.”

“So, can we talk?” She sheepishly asks. “Alone, if that’s okay with you?” She adds, pleading her friends to leave you two to talk.

The three women take the cue and head back inside, leaving you alone with Alex, who sits in Pinoe’s seat across from you.

You sit in awkward silence for a few minutes, neither of you knowing where to start.

You decide to break the silence. “How’ve you been?”

She looks up from her fidgeting hands. “Uhh. Good. I’ve been good.”

You smirk, raising your eyebrow. “Al, c’mon, I know you like the back of my hand. How have you actually been?”

Alex sighs. “To be honest, I’ve been miserable.” She looks up, locking eyes with you. “I missed you, and I just wanted be with you, or even just hear your voice.”

You nod, knowing the feeling. “I missed you too, Al.”

“But you were right.” She confesses, as you tilt your head, confused. “We, or at least I, needed this break. It helped me realize what was important in my life, and that’s you, (Y/N). I can live without all those brand deals and sponsors, hell, I can even live without soccer, because none of that means anything if I can’t share it with you.”

By that point, both you openly had tears streaming down your faces.

“So, I promise to be better and to be more committed to our relationship. And I’m sorry that I ever put you as a second priority because you’re not. You’re my number one.” Alex concludes, wiping the tears from your cheeks.

You let out a small chuckle at her cheesiness. “Thank you for your apology.” You take her hand. “And I’m sorry that didn’t make enough of an effort either.” Before Alex can protest, you squeeze her hand. “Al, a relationship is between two people. This wasn’t just your fault, okay? We both played a part.” You assure, quelling her guilt.

“So can we end this break and be back together?” Alex whispers hesitantly.

Beaming, you pull her in for a searing kiss, your first in almost three months. Her soft lips melt against yours, and you could taste the sweetness of her vanilla chapstick mixed with the saltiness of her tears. Before you could deepen the kiss, you hear Allie call from inside.

“No sex in my yard please!”

You rest your head on Alex’s shoulder, as the two of you laugh at your friend’s antics. Your girlfriend caresses your cheek, guiding you to lock eyes with her pleading blue orbs.

“Do you forgive me?”  

You nod. “Yes, Al, I forgive you.”

“Good. I thought you hated me.” She mumbles.

“I could never hate you, even if I tried.”

Alex smiles, leaning in for another kiss, before you hold up your hand.

“But, Al, your words are nice and all, but I have to see it. You have to prove to me that you’re committed to this relationship, especially if it’s long distance. And I will work to do the same. Okay?”

“Of course, (Y/N/N).” She nods her head eagerly. “So, I’m guessing it’s okay if I stayed here with you in Seattle for the next week?”

Your eyes widen. “What?”

“They had to cancel training and matches for the next week because of some flooding issues at the facilities. So I’m all yours until next Sunday. That is, if you’ll have me.”

You jump off your seat and into Alex’s lap, pulling her in for another kiss. “Who am I to refuse such a pretty lady?” You tease, giving her nose a kiss.

“Alex and (Y/N) sitting in a tree…!” Allie sings, as her, Megan, and Sue approach the two of you.

“I take it you two made up?” Megan gestures to your position in Alex’s lap.

“Yes, we made up.” You grin, as your girlfriend kiss the top of your head.

“Good. I’m glad.” She returns a smile, and you mouth a ‘thank you’ to her.

“Me too.” Alex beams, turning to look at you. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” You bring her in for a sweet chaste kiss.

“Hey! What did I say about no sex in my yard!” Allie playfully scolds.

“It’s not my fault (Y/N) can’t keep her hands off me.” Alex smirks.

You gasp, jumping out of your girlfriend’s laugh. “Hey!”

“I’m only kidding, babe.” She rolls her eyes, pulling you back into her lap.

You cross your arms and pout. “I hate you.”

Alex chuckles, as she buries her face in your neck, giving you a kiss. “No you don’t.”

You smile, turning to the woman you love, and give her a quick peck. “You’re right. I don’t.”

[vintagedolan]

no service (gbd)

the boys do their first no tech challenge since you and grayson get together, and though they make it, something goes terribly wrong at home

word count: 5k

warnings/tags: angst, worried!grayson, hurt!y/n 

feel free to send in requests! i’ll write most things! hope you enjoy :)

Your POV:

“I dunno, I just have a weird feeling about this one.” Grayson’s fingers were twisting and untwisting the hem of your shirt, his nerves evident as you laid next to him in bed.

“Gray you’re gonna be fine, it’s just like before. You’ve got the van, and you’ve done survival stuff. Everything is gonna work out. I am gonna miss you though,” you gave him a sad smile.

Since you’d started dating, you’d been attached at the hip. You still had an apartment of your own, but if you were honest you needed to just bite the bullet and sell it - you practically lived with the twins, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. But that also meant that this was going to be the first long-ish stretch that you weren’t with each other. 

“It’s just 7 days baby, it’ll go by so fast.” Now he was comforting you, of course. 

“You’re gonna have the best time, I can’t wait to see the video when you get home.” 

“I’d send you pictures, but you know we won’t have our phones,” he sighed, running a finger along your jawline. “Not being able to see this face all week is gonna suck.”

You blushed deep red, warming his fingertips before you pulled away and crawled across the bed.

“Hey, where ya goin’?” Grayson pouted, but you ignored him for a second, going over to the dresser where you kept some of your clothes full time. You reached down, pulling out the little album that you’d been making as a gift for Grayson down the road. You pulled out one of your favorite pictures; from one of the first weeks that you’d been dating, it was the two of you with the LA skyline in the background, with you looking up at him as he smiled. 

“Here, take this with you.” You handed him the photo. “I know E will probably give you shit, but just hide it somewhere. Make sure you bring it back though, that one’s my favorite.”

“I love you,” he responded, but you barely heard it, because at that exact moment Ethan was banging on the door and yelling “GRAY! C’mon it’s time to go!” 

“And i’m going to kill my brother,” he groaned, reaching out and pulling you to him tightly, falling back on the bed. You landed on top of him, and his lips were on yours before you could say anything. He kissed you roughly for a minute, a bit of urgency there as he knew you weren’t going to be able to do this again for a while. Ethan knocked on the door again, and you felt Graysons arms tighten as he rolled over, putting you underneath him

“Go Gray, before he beats the door down,” you teased, pushing gently on his chest.

“I could just stay here with you,” he countered, raising an eyebrow.

“Go,” You giggled, pushing harder.

“Fine, fine,” he grumbled, kissing you again before getting up. “Alright E, I’m coming!” 

You followed him to the door where Ethan was standing in the doorway.

“Finally get him to stop crying and leave?” E asked.

“Oh shut up,” you teased, pushing on his chest so you could get by. He followed you, slinging an arm around your shoulders as you headed out to the van, which you knew was already packed.

You stayed out of the shot as they filmed a little intro explaining what they were doing. Grayson was so much more excited these days in all the videos, but even more so in the ones that had to do with adventures. You watched as the locked their phones in the box they’d used before, storing it under the benches in the van. 

Once the cameras cut, Gray made his way back over to you, wrapping you up in a tight hug.

“I love you. I’m gonna miss you so much,” he murmured into your hair.

“I love you too Gray. Be safe.”

“You too. Call Ricky if you need anything okay? He’ll still have his phone for emergencies.” 

“I’ll see you soon.”

-----------------------------------------------------

Grayson’s POV

His mind was already wandering as he continued driving down the road, already in Arizona. They were headed to Big Bend National Park, with the new challenge of not using their phones for navigation. Ethan was actually a good navigator, so once he got on the right highway it was just a matter of driving through Arizona and Texas, then down to the Mexico border to get to the park. 

“I think all this footage is gonna be sick, and I’m excited to get some star shots once we get to the park,” Ethan said. Gray just nodded along, watching the road.

“You good bro? You’re off, I can feel it.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a pit in my stomach about this whole thing. It’s makin’ me anxious,” Grayson explained, fists tightening on the wheel of the van. Ricky was in the back, sound asleep.

“What about it though? Is it something specific?” Ethan asked.

“I can’t put my finger on it. I just have a weird feeling. I’m sure it’s nothing, I’m just in my head.” 

“Is it Y/N?”

Sometimes, Grayson really hated sharing a mind. And this was one of those times. He stayed silent, which was enough of an answer for Ethan.

“She’s a fully capable person Gray. She’s gonna be fine without you for a few days.” 

“Thanks asshole, I know. Just drop it.” 

“Whatever,” Ethan shrugged, settling down into his chair a bit more, crossing his arms and getting comfy for the long trip ahead. 

And a long trip it was. They made it to the park around 1am, and were amazed at what they saw. Above them was the whole milky way, clear as day. 

They shot a quick clip explaining the main reason they’d come all the way to Big Bend.

“It’s a certified dark zone, which means no one is allowed to have building with lights out here. So theres no light pollution at all, it’s one of the best places in the world to see the stars,” Ethan explained. Grayson wasn’t paying too much attention; instead he was gazing up, and suddenly missing who he wanted beside him more than anything. 

It was going to be a long few days. 

Your POV:

The first four days were alright. You spent your time wandering around the house, enjoying all the space. You sat in Ethan’s comfy chair in the living room while you watched netflix, cuddled up in one of Grayson’s blankets from his bed that you’d dragged with you. It smelled like him, and it was comforting.

When that got boring you’d change into a swim suit, heading out to the pool - you’d given it a good cleaning, which you knew the boys would be thankful for when they got back. You were determined to get more of a tan than Gray by the end of the summer, and if you had any chance at all you needed to get a head start. 

By day five, the boredom was starting to get to you. You wanted to talk to Grayson, see his face, see his smile, hear his laugh. You even resorted to going back and watching a few of your favorite videos of theirs, just to hear his voice. You felt pathetic while you did it, but you also couldn’t really bring yourself to care too much if you were honest. All throughout the day you caught yourself pulling out your phone to text him, but you knew he wouldn’t see them. 

Still, you’d send a message just for fun, knowing he would see them once he got back and was allowed to have his phone. You could just imagine his face when he got back and saw all the little messages you’d left. 

miss youuuuu

hey u should come home now, k thanks

I stole your favorite hoodie and you’re never getting it back oops

im gonna hide all your building stuff, that’s the level of boredom i’m at

this shit sucks 

i love you

I wanna go on the next adventure :(

But as you sent the last one, it sparked an idea. 

You could make your own adventure. Nothing was stopping you, and you had nothing better to do. The weather was nice, and there was supposed to be some good surf coming in.

And so, that was that. You packed up a towel, your wetsuit and some sunscreen, heading out to the car. You decided to take the Bronco, just because it had the surf rack on top. Grayson still wasn’t too keen on anyone driving his car, but he trusted you with it more than Ethan, and you knew he wouldn’t really care.

So you packed up your surfboard, struggling a bit to get it on top of the roof and strapped down - Grayson always made it look so damn easy. But you managed, finally getting in and heading to the beach. The drive was beautiful, as always, but you missed being in the passenger seat with Grayson’s hand on your thigh. 

Damn. These last few days were gonna suck. 

Grayson’s POV:

“I think we’re really getting the hang of this bro. I’m excited. We could do this full time, for real,” Grayson grinned, packing up a few things in the van while Ethan filled up the packs with water. Ricky was filming, so he took the opportunity to explain what was happening.

“So guys, today we’re going on the longest, and most difficult hike in Big Bend. It’s called South Rim, it’s about 14 miles total, but we’re gonna split it up and actually camp about halfway so we can get even cooler views tonight. Now, Ethan and I like to say we’re hikers, but honestly, we kinda suck.”

“Yeah, we uh, we’re not great,” Ethan chimed in. 

“So this should be fun!”

“Oh yeah, great time.” 

“And obviously we don’t have our phones, so we’re gonna have no idea what time it is, we won’t be able to call for help if we get, ya know, mauled by a mountain lion or something.”

“Bro, why would you say that!?” Ethan groaned.

“It’s the truth! Well, I guess Ricky has his phone though, so we’d be alright.”

“My phone hasn’t had service since we got here,” Ricky countered from behind the camera. 

“Oh we are so fucked dude,” Ethan grumbled.

And in all honesty, it put a bit of a pit in Gray’s stomach, knowing he wouldn’t be able to contact anybody if something happened. But he pushed the thought from his mind, moving to help his brother pack up the tent and begin their trek.

Your POV:

The beach wasn’t too crowded, which was a blessing. When you said you liked to surf, it usually meant that you liked to catch 1 wave out of the 50 you tried for. You were a beginner, that was for sure. There were only about 20 people on the entire beach, and a few surfers out on the break, with the lifeguard keeping a close eye on them.

Even if you didn’t feel it, you looked the part in your wetsuit, board tucked under your arm. You snapped a quick picture, sending it to Grayson’s non-existent phone just for kicks.

wish you were here! you’d be laughing at how much I’m gonna suck. love you!

After it sent, you put it away in the waterproof box you’d brought. You made your way over to the lifeguard station, waving up at the man sitting atop the chair.

“Hey, I’m here by myself, do you care if I leave this box here with you?” You asked politely. 

“Yeah that’s fine. Be careful out there,” he responded, not taking his eyes off the water. You put it down by the legs of the chair, jogging towards the water. The ocean was cold when it hit your skin but you adjusted quickly, diving in and heading out to the break. 

And as you predicted, you missed practically every single one you tried to get up on. You hit the water over and over again, your arms sore from pushing up to standing, even if it was to no avail.

You began paddling in after about an hour, accepting defeat, when suddenly you noticed everyone beside you paddling out instead of in. 

The lifeguard’s whistle came too late. By the time you turned around, the wave was already there, towering feet above any that had come prior. 

And you were right in the break.

You’d read about these before. Rouge waves, you remembered. Random waves that come from nowhere, with no apparent cause. You had just enough time to suck in your breath before it crashed directly over your head.

It felt like the inside of a washing machine looked - that was the only way you could describe it. And then you felt something warm on your head, and everything went black.

Grayson’s POV:

It was the morning of day six, and Grayson had never been more ready to get home. The pit in his stomach was a rock now, and he had no explanation for it at all. 

“Bro we’re actually disgusting. Like we need a real shower somewhere, or we’re never gonna get the smell out of this van,” Ethan said. And he was right. After all the hiking and sleeping in the tent, the three of them reeked. 

“We could do a gas station shower, we just gotta map our way there without our phones. I don’t think that breaks the rules, we just aren’t supposed to use technology,” Ricky shrugged.

“Alright sick, we might as well start driving. Gray, you okay?” E asked.

“Yeah. Just don’t feel good,” he mumbled. He kept himself curled up in the back of the van, head resting on the table as Ethan found his way out of the park and towards the nearest town.

Grayson couldn’t figure out what was bothering him so much. He wasn’t dehydrated, he hadn’t eaten anything bad. He should be having the time of his life, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. It was like the time that Ethan had cut his leg open when they were kids; Grayson wasn’t near him, but he just knew. It was exactly that feeling, except Ethan was right there in front of him, perfectly fine. So he just kept his head down, hoping whatever it was would pass.

They found the gas station about 45 minutes later, and the three of them headed in eagerly. Maybe a good warm shower would clear his mind. 

And once he was done, he did feel better. But only slightly. It was getting harder to breathe. He headed out, noticing that Ricky was already in the van and Ethan was waiting outside. 

“Gray, dude you don’t look good. What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m getting sick man. I’ve been sick to my stomach since yesterday, and I feel like I can’t breathe now. Maybe I’ve got a really bad allergy to something out here. I’m sorry man, I’m trying to shake it so I can be up for the video, but I don’t know where it’s coming from.” 

“Guys.” Ricky’s voice was serious, much more serious than normal.

“What’s up?” E asked. 

“I just got service again, and I’ve got 12 missed calls, all from the same number. I don’t recognize it though. LA area code.”

“Call it. Call it now.” Grayson’s answer came before he could even think about it. He felt like he was going to hurl.

Ricky dialed it back quickly, holding the phone up to his ear. The twins climbed in the back, sitting down across from him at the table.

“This is he.” Ricky said. “Um, yeah, yeah he’s right here.”

Grayson’s blood went ice cold when Ricky held the phone out for him.

“It’s for you.”

He felt robotic and he reached out, taking the phone and putting it up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Mr. Grayson Dolan?” 

“Yes.”

“Hi Grayson. We’re just calling on behalf of Ms. Y/N Y/L/N from King Hospital, you’re listed as her primary emergency contact.”

“Is she alright? What happened?”

“She’s stable right now. We don’t have all of the details, she’s been in and out of consciousness. She was in an accident -”

“Accident?” Grayson’s voice cracked, and Ethan stiffened up beside him. As if it was instinct, he felt his brothers hand on his shoulder, anchoring him just enough that he could listen.

“She was out surfing at Manhattan Beach, the lifeguards said there was a rouge wave. They got her out quickly, but they think she hit her head on some rocks when she went under. She wasn’t breathing when they got to her, but she was stabilized in the ambulance. She told us to call Ricky off her phone when she was conscious because you wouldn’t have your phone. We’ve had her sedated so her brain could rest, but it looks like we’re going to need to take her in for surgery, because we found some deep lacerations on her head and want to check for anymore significant damage.”

“Surgery?” Grayson expected himself to go numb, but he almost had the opposite. He was so overwhelmed that it was crippling. “How soon?”

“As soon as we’re able. She isn’t able to give consent, so we needed to get in contact with you if possible. Are you able to get here quickly?”

“I’m - I’m not in the state, I’m in Texas.”

“Well, a telephone consent will do,” the nurse said.

“Oh. Okay, yeah. Yeah, I consent. Do what you need to, please just be careful.” It was dumb thing to say, he knew that, but he couldn’t help himself. 

“Thank you Mr. Dolan, we will. And we’ll keep you updated. Should we call at this number, or the one you have listed?” 

“The one I have listed is fine, I have it now.” 

Ethan knew exactly what that meant and was immediately scrambling to find the box with their phones while Ricky got the key ready off his keychain. 

“Alright, speak soon Mr. Dolan.” 

And with that she hung up the phone.

“I’m gonna be sick,” were the only words that Grayson could manage as he crawled to the back of the van and hurled over the bumper. Ethan followed him, holding onto his shoulders and trying to stabilize him so he didn’t fall out.

“What do we need to do Gray?”

“Drive. We need to get home, now.”

Without further questions, Ricky climbed into the drivers seat as they closed up the back of the van, immediately heading in the direction of California. 

When Gray finally managed to get enough air in his lungs, he was able to look up at Ethan, who was sitting opposite of him. 

“Y/N’s hurt. I think it’s pretty bad.”

“Tell me what happened.” 

And so he did, to the best of his ability. He didn’t have very much information, which was the hard part. But he told his brother everything that the nurse did.

“Well, if she was with it enough to give them Ricky’s number instead of yours, that’s good. That means she was alright when they got her in the ambulance.”

“Right. I wonder if she tried to call me.” The thought made his stomach tighten.

“Your phone was dead, it’s charging up front right now. Either way, we’re headed back as quick as we can.” 

Grayson noted that the van was moving quite quickly - Ricky was definitely speeding, but he didn’t care. 

“E.”

“I know Gray. I’m scared too. But she’s gonna be alright. She has to be.” 

She’s gonna be alright

She’s gonna be alright

He repeated the words over and over again in his head, sometimes mumbling them aloud. A few minutes later, his phone was charged. Ethan climbed to the front to get it. Without having to ask, Ethan knew that Grayson wanted him to screen his texts, just to see. And he could tell there were texts from her just by his face.

“E. If she text me about all this and I didn’t answer, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind.” 

“She wouldn’t have been able to, she didn’t take her phone in the water. These are all from before.” 

He held out his hand.

Looking at the texts was his undoing. He could hear her voice, clear as day in his head as he read them, making it all the much harder. He began to sob, uncontrollable ragged sounds. Ethan put an arm around his shoulder in silent support, as he often did. And Ricky continued down the road.

------------------------

It was the longest 15 hours of his life. They’d checked to make sure it wasn’t quicker to stop in Phoenix and put Grayson on a flight - driving straight through was faster. But god it felt like it was taking years. He held the picture he had of him and Y/N in his hand, but he couldn’t look at it for too long without losing it. 

Ethan was driving now, with Grayson in the passenger seat - he hadn’t been forced to take a turn, everyone knew he was in no shape to drive. 

Everyone in the car was on edge, which meant they all jumped practically to the ceiling when Grayson’s phone rang. He answered on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Dolan?” It was a different voice this time.

“Yes.”

“Hi, this is Y/N’s surgeon, just calling with an update. Y/N is out of surgery, and she did great! No complications, and the damage seems pretty minimal, though we’ll have to see once she wakes up.” 

He took his first real breath in the last 15 hours. 

“That’s great news. Thank you.”

“So she’s in recovery right now, but she’s gonna be unconscious for the next 30 minutes or so. Should we be expecting you?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m headed there right now, I should be there in about 25 minutes according to my GPS.”

“Alright perfect. Well, she’s in room 828 on the post op wing when you get here, just sign in at the desk and we’ll bring you up. We’ll take good care of her.”

“Thank you so much doctor.”

“She’s alright. Out of surgery, should be waking up soon,” he explained as soon as he hung up. The relief was obvious, especially for Ethan. Gray had been so caught up in his own worry that he’d forgotten how worried Ethan must be - Y/N was practically his sister. Grayson watched as his brother pressed just a tiny bit more on the gas, racing towards the hospital.

When they arrived, Grayson couldn’t get out of the van fast enough. He bolted for the entrance, with Ethan in tow. Ricky stayed in the car out of privacy, offering to get them anything they needed. 

They went through the motions of check in - something they were all too familiar with - and Grayson followed the nurse up to the post op floor, where he was transferred over to the nurse that had initially called him. 

“She’s starting to stir just a bit. Just to prepare you, we aren’t sure how confused she’s going to be when she wakes up. With the mixture of anesthesia and her concussion, she may be very out of it. Just be patient with her, she should come around to her normal self within the next few hours. She’s right through here.” The nurse stopped outside the door, opening the door with a gentle push. 

“You wanna go alone, or do you want me with you?” Ethan asked, hesitating.

“With me.” He didn’t have to think about it. 

Grayson went in first, and if Ethan hadn’t been behind him, he probably would have fallen to his knees. Y/N was in the hospital bed, gown over her still form, her head partially wrapped in gauze. She had oxygen tubes in her nose and was breathing deeply, laying flat on her back, eyes closed. Just the image of her in the whole hospital garb was enough to bring tears to his eyes. He hated it more than he could have imagined. 

Once he was stable enough on his feet, Grayson headed to her bedside. As he got closer, she started to stir a bit, fingers twitching as he sat down as gently as he could on the side of her bed. It was as if she knew he was there already, even though he hadn’t said a word or touched her at all. 

“Mmmmmm.” She started to make a noise, her dry lips parting.

“Baby?” Grayson leaned forward, taking her hand in his, careful not to move her IV. 

“Mmm- mad.” She mumbled, eyes still closed.

“Mad?” He looked back at Ethan for clarification, but he just nodded. Grayson raised a hand up to cup her cheek, and she smiled, resting her head in his palm. He revealed in the feeling, taking it in. 

“Bronco.” This time, her word was clear, though it didn’t make anymore sense. 

“Baby. Y/N, can you open your eyes sweetheart?” Grayson coaxed, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone. 

“Tryin’. It’s heavy,” she said, scrunching her eyebrows. He could tell she was really doing her best, which made his heart squeeze a bit tighter. When she finally managed to lift her eyelids, he could tell she was exhausted. 

“You’s gonna be mad at me,” was the first sentence she managed to string together, though all her words were drawn out and slightly garbled. 

“Why would I be mad at you baby?”

“I drove the bronco, left it at the beach. Probs some homeless guy living in it,” she said, resting all the weight of her head onto his hand. 

“It’s okay. I really couldn’t care less about the car right now.”

“Don’t say that, Ethan will be big sad.” She gasped then, sitting upright a little more. “Ethan! Hi buddy!” She had just noticed him at the end of the bed. She blinked hard, like she was trying to bring him into focus.

“Hey girly, how yah feelin?” 

“Got a cracked skull, but i’ms okay. But guess what?”

“What?” He asked.

“Still smarter than youuuuu,” she shrugged, and Grayson couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

She really was back to normal.

“You want me to go get the car?” Ethan asked, sitting on the opposite side of her bed and for once, choosing not to throw a comeback. He really had been worried.

“I don’t have keys. Or my phone. I left em with the lifeguard,” she pouted, her lip curling down. If it wasn’t so pitiful, he would have found it adorable. 

“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about it,” Grayson reassured her, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. 

The nurse came in then to check on her. Ethan moved out of her way, and Grayson was about to move away, but Y/N grabbed his hand, using all her strength to hold him there.

“Don’t go,” she whimpered, and he swore he could feel a piece of his heart crack.

“I’m right here, just getting out of the nurses way,” he promised, kissing her hand and standing next to the bed.

“You guys are fine, I’ll let you know if you’re somewhere I need to be,” the nurse smiled. “How’re you feeling Y/N?” 

“Sore, but okay.”

“Well, you’re a trooper. I’ve never seen anyone come out of anesthesia so clear headed before. Now, you might get confused in a little while, but that’s just the concussion, and it’ll pass, okay? Just gotta give it time. You just rest and give your body some time to heal. You should be ready to rock and roll out of here in the next few days, okay?” 

“M’kay. Is my phone lost forever?” She asked.

“Actually the lifeguard that pulled you out dropped off your box with your things earlier. It’s over there with your other belongings.” 

Grayson made a mental note to find that guy and thank him profusely in the future. Ethan went over to the personal items bag, bringing it over to the bed. Y/N started to rummage through it, pulling things out one by one. 

When she got her wetsuit out - which took some effort - she frowned, running her finger over the new cut that Grayson assumed was made by the paramedics. He tried as hard as he could to not picture what the ambulance looked like when that cut was made.

“They cut it,” she pouted. “That was my favorite one.”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” Grayson reassured her. 

“M’kay,” she mumbled, satisfied. She cuddled down a little bit into her pillow, obviously exhausted. Grayson continued going through the bag, getting the keys and her phone out of the box. 

“I’m gonna get the car before it gets towed. Give you all a minute,” Ethan said quietly, having a hand out for the keys.

“Thanks bro. I’ll keep you updated.” 

He was extremely grateful, but he couldn’t find the words. He hoped Ethan knew.

“Gray,” Y/N said quietly. 

“Hey baby, I’m right here.” 

“M’tired,” she murmured, holding a hand out. “Can we sleep?” 

“You can sleep sweetheart,” Grayson reassured her. 

“C’mere. Come up here,” she said, patting the bed next to her. 

Grayson obliged, sliding his arms under her knees and behind her back, scooting her over just enough so that he could slide into the bed beside her. 

“Much better. I missed you. Maybe don’t go for so long next time,” she said, curling up against him and getting as close as she could.

“Don’t worry. I’m not leaving you for a long, long time.”

“Sounds good to me,” she mumbled, but she was already falling asleep before the end of the sentence. So Grayson held her close to him, relishing in the feeling and lulling off to sleep. 

[livinginfictions]

Tag/Ask Game

This is a sort of Check-in Tag game thing? I was tagged by @vikingstrash, so thank you dear!

1. Why did you choose your url?

I used to have a different tumblr, and then my sister saw me on it and literally took the mouse and made me follow her own tumblr, and it made me So Immensely uncomfortable, I immediately went and made a whole new blog, and messaged all my mutuals privately to tell them I was moving so my sister wouldn't find out. As I struggled to come up with something more creative than 'time-lady," I remembered one of my mom's favorite sayings, "Reality sucks, live in fiction" and since livinginfiction was taken, my friend (who was helping with the crisis) and I added an 's.' Voila. Seven years later, it's the only username i have online. XD

2. Any side blog?

Three, actually. We've got @merthurismycrack where I reblog Merthur shit, @samspsychicpowers for some SPN stuff, and the side blog that's basically my main blog at this point: @asterekmess which is where all my Teen Wolf and Sterek stuff goes.

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

Uhhh, I've been on this blog since August of 2014, but my old blog was started in....March 2013. I've been around a fucking while.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

HA. Fuck no. Do I look that organized? Y'all get three hours of spam reblogs, and then I disappear into the aether. How it should be. XD

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

This is essentially the same as I said for question one. Sister found the old blog, and I needed a new one. I tend to make my side blogs for more pointed material, so that my main blog can have like...the amalgamation of general stuff i like, and then I can keep the fandomy content more concentrated into the side blogs.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Originally, I did not have this icon. I had this pic I found online with these Beautiful bronze wings against a black background. But then, around the time I decided I wanted to sort of...simplify things and make my username for my online stuff all the same, with all the same pfp's so that I was easily recognized, etc, I realized that....that picture was not mine. I didn't design it or anything. And i couldn't find its source to ask for permission to use it. And it started making me feel shitty for using it in the first place. So I spent like an hour and a half trying to make my Own Wing pic to use, and failed miserably. As a last ditch effort, i went through my 'artistic' photos on my phone and found this one. I adore sky pics, and cloud pics, etc, so it was super my thing, and I just slapped it on there. Still not sick of it. XD I also went to my side blogs and changed out the pfp's for photos that I'd taken, except the sterek blog, because that one is literally just a black triskelion on a white background, and it's a pretty non-specific thing. I would have used a picture of my Own Tattoo, but it's very hard to get a picture of my back that doesn't have weird lighting, and I'm just too lazy.

7. Why did you choose your header?

All my headers are also photos that I've taken or art pieces that I've made. In the case of this blog, it's a picture I made with a 'galaxy maker' online thingy. I love green. I love blue. Ta dah. In general i just try to find something that gives me the right vibes or has the right color palette to match what it's for. (orange and blue for sterek, trees for merlin, and wings for spn)

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

On this blog? I.....just spent two hours digging through all my posts tagged 'personal' bc i wanted the post that I MADE with the most notes...and i have no idea. I mostly respond to other posts, rather than making my own. The highest note count i can find is a post i made abt having friends that aren't in your fandom, which means you can use inspirational quotes to help them through tough times without them realizing ur quoting doctor who or something. 22 notes. *fingerguns* I'm famous, i know.

9. How many mutuals do you have ?

Is...is that a thing i can check?? or do you expect me to hand count??

10. How many followers do you have right now?

Uhghhghghgh, this blog has 439 at the moment, and i'm pretty sure not a lot of those are porn bots, bc i usually screen new followers for it. a lot of them have come over from my sterek blog though.

11. How many people do you follow?

hehe....uh...36.....one of which is my husband....

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

I don't even know what the requirements for something being a 'shitpost' are....but i think no?

EDIT: I Take it Back, I just found a post I made with "Hot Take: PIneapples are an honorary citrus fruit" and I believe that counts? So YES.

13. How often do you use tumblr?

Uh, nearly every day, multiple times a day. Sometimes i forget it exists for a couple days, though. It's my only social media. I dont use twitter or facebook or instagram. I Have Accounts, but I literally dont open those apps more than once a month.

14. Did you have a fight /argument with another  blog ? Who won?

My sterek blog gets in fights more often than it should. XD I'm feisty. And I dunno who wins, i think no one. it's tumblr. there's no real winning or losing.

15. How do feel about “ you need to reblog  this” post?

Oh 90% of the time I'll fucking ignore it on principle. I come to tumblr to enjoy myself and escape. I refuse to guilt the shit out of myself and my followers for not reblogging something deemed Essential. I don't care how deep the topic is or how heavy. Sometimes that's WHY I'm not reblogging it, because I don't want that shit on my blog. The other 10% of the time, I'll go to most recent reblog that Doesn't have the guilty shit on it, and then reblog that.

16. Do you like tag games?

It sounds narcissistic, but I like being tagged in them and doing them. I just Really Really Really hate tagging anyone else.

17. Do you like ask games?

Yup, I think they're fun, though I really don't think anyone wants to know this much about me.

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

Uhhh...I have no clue. I think...I think I might be the tumblr famous mutual, or at least my sterek blog is....

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Yup. My husband.

20. Tagged?

Uh, no one. makes me anxious. XD If someone wants to do it, go ahead and claim i tagged you, i promise no one'll call ur bluff.

[amerrierworld]

Curtain. (i)

Carol (2015) fanfiction 

Summary: An on-and-off job as photographer can only pay so much, so Therese Belivet has taken a job at an elementary school's art program to help pay the bills. One of her last jobs before the school year begins is photographing a preview night of a successful play where she meets the well-known artistic director of the show, Carol Ross. She forgets about their meeting until September rolls around and she starts teaching an inquisitive young six-year old by the name of Rindy.

Characters: Carol x Therese

Word Count: 1,491

Warnings: none yet!

June.

Therese was staring intensely at her laptop, watching as all the little photo icons from her camera began transferring over to her drive. Rain tapped gently against her windows and a can of Coke sat on her desk, half-empty. She had shut all the windows to avoid any light or outdoor distractions as she tended to daydream while looking out in the distance, but this time Therese was determined to get this job finished.

As she waited for the files to continue transferring, the brunette arched her back, yawning as her body creaked and popped from sitting for so long.

It had been three days since her lucky photography gig at the Hudson Theatre. Thinking about it still made her limbs jittery. It was a smaller theatre, but being the oldest theatre in the city and having hosted many successful shows, it was still a landmark. Therese had been overjoyed at the prospect of working inside the theatre for once and seeing all the ins and outs of the show she had been asked to document.

Her phone pinged from where she had haphazardly tossed it on her bed. She stood up and shuffled over, stretching again and giving her legs a shake as she opened a message from Dannie.

preview done. again.

how was it?

tbh a little messier than when u were there, richard kept missing his mark

of course he did.

yeah ross wasn't too pleased with him...

At the mention of the director's name, Therese's stomach lurched a bit, though she couldn't tell why. They had only exchanged a few words during the preview when she'd been there.

...anyways, manager wants to know how ur doing with those photos

workin on em right now actually

tsk that's too bad

why? did she need them now? i thought i had until next week

nah i was just gonna ask if u wanted to get some food and then get plastered w me and phil

Therese snorted and looked back at her laptop, which lit up, indicating all the files had been successfully imported. Temporarily forgetting about her conversation she hurried to glance through them, immediately noticing the faulty pics that she knew she wouldn't be able to use.

Her phone rang and she picked up.

"Is that a no?" Dannie asked from the other end. Therese rolled her eyes.

"Dannie, not responding in 30 seconds does not automatically mean no. But yeah, I don't know if getting drunk right now is such a good idea, I have a lot to go through. Plus, don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Preview isn't until the afternoon, Belivet. I have all morning to sober up."

Sighing, Therese flicked through a few photos, stilling as she found one of the director whose back was to the camera as she directed Gen, the lead actress, who stood off to the far side of the stage.

"Therese?"

"Hm? Yeah, for sure. I'll come for food, but I'm going home afterwards, I really don't want to be hungover. I've had three cans of Coke already, alcohol and caffeine don't mix well for me."

"Alright, sounds good."

"When do you wanna head out?"

"...now?"

At that, the intercom buzzed at Therese's front door, indicating someone was in front of the apartment building.

"Jesus, Dannie, really?"

"I know you're always hungry, Therese. Plus, getting off the subway from work at your place is so much closer than mine. Forgive me?"

"Ugh fine, give me 20 minutes to get ready though. I don't care if you're stuck in the rain outside. That's what happens when you constantly drag me out for last minute plans."

"Yeah, yeah, Belivet, just hurry your ass up. We're not going anywhere fancy cause God knows I don't get paid enough to afford anything like that."

"Is Richard coming?" Therese asked, brow furrowing in a split second of worry.

"Him? Nah. I actually think he somehow managed to lure Gen into a date tonight. I saw them talking after the show."

"Oof, poor girl."

"Yeah, maybe I should warn her, y'know. Get her out while she still can."

"Terrible idea, McElroy. You know how actresses are with stage hands."

Dannie barked out a laugh. "Shut the fuck up, Belivet. You're one to talk, considering you were ogling the director the entire night."

"I was not."

"Yeah you were. Now get going, or I'm gonna melt in this downpour."

Therese smiled and ended the call, closing her laptop and hurrying to put on some decent clothes before meeting Dannie outside.

-

"C'mon Terry, not even one shot? As a celebratory drink for this job and the next."

"No, Phil," Therese laughed. "I already told Dannie, I have work to do later."

"Alright, suit yourself, but that means I'm gonna drink extra just to make up for you!"

After having grabbed a bite at a cheap Thai restaurant, the McElroy brothers had dragged Therese to their usual bar even though she was still determined to stay sober.

"Do you even know how to deal with kids, Therese? Elementary school can be vicious, y'know," Dannie said, sipping his beer as he ignored Phil stumbling from his seat to order another drink.

"It's only part-time, Dan," Therese shrugged. "Plus, what kid doesn't like art? If one of them throws a temper, I'll just let him go ham on a canvas with some paint, no big deal. It's therapeutic that way."

"How'd you manage to get a job there anyway?"

"Well, their usual art teacher had to take a break for a year 'cause of an injury, so I'm just filling in for the younger grades. They were desperate for more staff for their programs."

"Jeez, is that allowed? You've barely worked with kids until now."

"I dunno. I did a full police check and stuff, besides I'm not hired for the school, just the programs afterwards so I'm not technically a teacher. But it's a small school with a shit ton of younger kids that often need an after-school program. Chances are they won't even need me in the New Year if the other teacher comes back."

"So they just really need extra hands on deck?" Dannie concluded and Therese nodded. Phil came staggering back with a glass of water, grouchy and mumbling something about the bartender not letting him have another.

"Yeah. What about you though? What's happening after Woolf?"

Danni sighed and slumped back in his seat. "Who knows at this point? Ross is taking a break too, from being artistic director-,"

"Wait, really? She's not retiring is she?"

Dannie smirked at Therese but ignored her sudden eagerness in the conversation.

"Nah, just something about needing to be home with her family. She's worked her butt off for the theatre more than anyone, so it makes sense she wants a break for a little while after this show's done. But she'll probably be back in no time, cause she's like that. In the mean time, Gerhard is taking over. I don't know what she has up her sleeve yet, but I'm thinking a typical Christmas show is coming up."

"Any idea what it might be?"

"Nope. Everyone's talking and wanting to do A Christmas Carol but it's been so overdone, and Abby's always doing unexpected things."

"Damn, I wonder what it could be," Therese chewed her lip in thought.

"You sure you're not just upset at the idea of Ross not working there anymore?" Dannie teased. Therese smacked his arm.

"Dannie," she scolded.

"What! Even a blind person could see she's literal eye candy, though she can be a tough boss. I'm not blaming you for liking her, but I am telling you that she's not as sweet as she looks."

"Hmph, whatever. She's probably got someone anyways, if she's taking a break with family."

"I dunno, Belivet, I've never noticed a wedding ring." He winked at her.

"God, you're the worst y'know?" Therese sighed, though her eyes were twinkling. "I never should have come out to you when all you do is tease me about every girl who I just happen to find kinda cute."

Dannie grinned. "That's what you get for being besties with the McElroys, Belivet. Besides, since Phil doesn't like girls, who am I supposed to go to when I get lady problems?"

Therese shook her head and chuckled before checking her watch.

"Damn, it's getting late. Alright boys, I'm going home. I really need to work on those photos. Don't drink yourselves to death, please?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Belivet!"

She grabbed her purse before going to hail a cab as Phil and Dannie waved goodbye, her mind whirling with thoughts of the intriguing blonde director. Therese wondered who she was, besides the 'literal eye candy' that she'd managed to capture on camera. Sighing, Therese shook her from her mind during the brief cab ride home, deciding it was best to leave her daydreaming behind for the rest of the night.

A/N: heh... hi. here's my take on carol/therese because i can’t get enough of them honestly. Let me know what you think; this’ll be a pretty packed series so enjoy :3 

I’ve also been posting my stuff on AO3 if any of you use that as well so you can find this and my other stories there too! <3 

[aquariusrunes]

The Superfriends AU (part 12)

Damian kept his eyes on Marinette. 

She had been off all day, and their talk that morning had only proven his suspicions. Something was bothering her, and it was all Adrien Agreste’s fault. His fists clenched as the woman in front of him began working on him. Thinking about that blonde tom cat made his blood boil. Whatever he did, Damian would kill him for it. His cousin was sweet and naive despite her vast genius. She wanted to trust people, and when she did, she did it with her whole heart. And that blonde buffoon had broken it in to a million pieces. 

It wasn’t just the boy though, no. It was also that stupid video, it had to be. He hadn’t enjoyed it when it was sent to his phone. It was messy and loud, and while he had misjudged the small blonde girl, he still thought the spectacle was stupid. Anyone who poked a cadged animal was stupid, and that was obviously what that Italian girl was.  

At least he was finally able to put a face to the name of Lila Rossi.

It was a tactical failure for sure. His cousin had mentioned that she had everything involving the girl under control, but this was not what she could have planned. Marinette looked like she was on the verge of puking all morning, Damian recognized regret easily enough. That had been why he’d tried to talk to her, only to find out that it was the mistake of the morning and something that awful model had done that was upsetting her. 

Now his phone was being blown up with messages from the small blonde french girl who was, for some reason, still in his phone as ‘Sweetness.’ She wouldn’t stop texting him, hadn’t since the video had arrived. She apparently got the wrong idea from their earlier correspondence and was now under the impression that they were friends. And she kept asking for pictures of him and Colin.

Said boy was currently the one in possession of his phone. His boyfriend was switching between gleefully rewarching the video with a wickedly satisfied grin and texting with the blonde girl. Damian found the whole thing ridiculous, seeing how Colin didn’t know any French. Yet somehow he and the girl were holding some sort of conversation and he was, apparently, taking immense joy from the video that he couldn’t even understand. 

Suddenly a brush was in his face, painting foundation onto his skin. Damian could make a list fifty feet long detailing how much he hated makeup. He would growl at the woman currently caking his face in the disgusting stuff, but Colin was sitting in front of him on the edge of the platform, and the last thing he needed was for the redhead to be mad at him.

Marinette was currently in a changing room, trying on the brand new outfit Edna’s people had slapped together in just under an hour and a half. Chloé was, strangely, also in the changing room his cousin was in. The two girls had been inseparable from one another’s sides since coming back from lunch. 

It was strange. 

Damian didn’t like it. 

The blonde bitch was surely just trying to get his cousin to stop being upset with her precious model, which would not fly while Damian was here. He wouldn’t let Marinette be manipulated like that. Honestly, she was far too trusting. And here he thought she knew better than to trust that bitch. He’d have to talk to her later about Bourgeois. Even if Jon liked her, something was off about the girl, a feeling he couldn’t rip from his gut despite trying for the half Kryptonian’s sake. 

Damian’s eyes scanned the room, his mind suddenly being alerted to an absence. Something was missing. Someone was missing. The person’s absence had been nagging at him all morning, but then the empty space was filled during lunch. But it was gone now once again. 

“Colin.” he nudge the boy’s back with his foot. “Where did Jon go?” 

“Dunno, he got a call from his dad and wandered off to take it in private.” Colin looked up, neck twisted to stare at his boyfriend. “It’s actually weird, because he was on the phone with his mom all morning.” 

“Why did Lois call him?”

“I don’t know.” The redhead shrugged. “But it seemed like it really messed with him. I tried to ask him about it but then Mr. Kent called and he disappeared.” Colin’s eyes went back to Damian’s phone, texting out a few more messages before looking back at his boyfriend. “Actually, I haven’t seen Mr. Wayne around either. Do you know where he is?” 

“He informed me last night that their was some business he had to attend to, something to do with Diana Prince’s exhibit at The Gotham Museum of Antiquities.” Damian leaned back in his seat, the look Colin gave him making it clear he understood the code. A Justice League Emergency.  “He said he should be back before the festivities at the end of the week.” 

“Do you know what happened?” Colin asked, turning his whole body to face the boy, scooting over a tad so that the makeup artist wasn’t blocking his view. “At the museum, I mean.” 

Damian shook his head, his chin quickly being grabbed by the woman working on him, forcing him to stay still. He bit back a growl before responding. “Wouldn’t tell me a word. Maybe Kent’s filling Jon in on it. If my father’s involved I would assume his father is as well.” 

Colin tried not to laugh at his boyfriend’s obvious discomfort. “Guess we’ll just have to wait for him then.” Colin turned back around, eyes going back to the phone. “God she is so nice,” He whispered. 

“How are you even holding a conversation with her?” Damian asked. 

“Rose is fluent in four languages, English being one of them.” Colin smiled back at him. “I think I’ve made a new best friend.” he teased. Damian just sighed. Between his cousin and his boyfriend, he was never going to get his phone back. 

Suddenly Colin’s head whipped back around. “Wait, what would Mrs. Lane have to do with the museum?” 

Damian thought for a moment. Lois wasn’t overly involved in Justice League affairs. She was a deputized civilian, meaning she was technically a League member. It was a complicated system that was hard to explain and sometimes difficult even for Damian to decipher. But he did know that Lois handled the bulk of the League's publicity. Thanks to how she handled Superman, and a handful of other heroes, before she even knew their identities. 

But what kind of disruption could need Lois, Clark, Bruce, and Diana?

“I don’t know.” Damian resisted the urge to rub his chin. The only thing involving the League and Lois at the current moment was Lex Luthor Senior. The man had been in jail for several months now and his trial was quickly approaching. They’d tried to get that man arrested on several charges including tax fraud, terrorism, and other things, for many year, but nothing ever stuck. But now, now they had him on attempted murder, attempted murder of Lois Lane. Usually this wouldn’t fly, with the public knowing Lois’s loyalties to Superman and the League it would be assumed anything she said to reflect negatively on Luthor would be for the heroes, but they had a witness now. 

“The case maybe?” He whispered, hoping to god nothing bad had happened. If that man got out so many things would go up in flames. He would have to get in touch with Tim, ask him to ask Conner. He hated Conor being so involved with his half brother, put if Lex Jr. really was so great, maybe he would have some useful information. 

“Case?” Colin asked.

“Look up Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, see what pops up.” Damian turned his attention back to the woman currently painting his lips an ice blue. He didn’t want to discuss such sensitive things carelessly out in public. He also didn’t want Jon to magically appear while they were discussing it. He knew the whole situation was bothering him. But, no one took the attempted murder of their parent well. At least, that’s what Damian’s experience told him. 

… 

Marinette was living for this redesign. 

The tube top had been changed to black, the shall had disappeared, a silver collar, like Chloé’s golden one, now adorned her neck. Instead of the skirt she now wore a pair of high waisted black short shorts, a thick silver belt wrapped around her abdomen. Silk straps in silver, lavender, dark blue, and a lighter black made up the overskirt that hid most of the shorts, only exposing them from the front few. She was also now given shoes, heeled gladiator boots in silver, matching all of her jewelry. The diadem, earrings and bracelets from earlier had also stayed apart of the outfit. 

Was it less revealing? No. 

If anything it was more so. 

But it was a million times more fashionable, and by Edna’s smile said that she knew it too. 

Marinette still felt awful, and if anything was a million times more confused after her talk with Chloé, which was still on going. Every time they had a break, the blonde girl would start whispering more of her story, basically retelling the past three years from her perspective. 

Chloé was in her outfit from earlier that morning, the two girls were on a platform filled with fake pink, orange, blue, and whtie clouds. Currently Marinette’s back was leaned against the blonde’s, repositioning her head as the photographer dictated. 

“I’m a little pissed.” Chloé whispered. “The boy’s get to-” The flash of the camera went off, several photos being taken. “Get to do their photoshoot with bows and arrows. Like that’s so unfair.” 

“Bows and arrows?” Her cousin? Angry at Adrien? With a bow and arrow in his proximity? That would not be good. 

“Totally unfair, I want to play with weapons too.” Chloé’s pout only lasted a moment before the photographer was ordering them to pose in different positions. The group shots the other day hadn’t been awful, mainly because she was only taking pictures with Damian. It was beyond strange to be all over Chloé, especially with how sensitive her thoughts towards the girl currently were. 

She had known.

She had known for years.

She’d been akumatized multiple times with knowledge of both her and her partner’s identities in her head and Hawkmoth never found out. She didn’t even know how that was possible. Just how much control did Hawkmoth really have? 

But possibly what had taken her by surprise the most, what she still couldn’t quite believe, was that her sweet, idiotic, adorable partner, outed himself with Physics. 

“Physics?” Marinette was in disbelief at the blonde’s words, her sandwich barely half eaten.

Chloé simply nodded. “Yup.” She leaned forward, having laid down on the bed, she propped her chin on her hands. “See, back before Adri started school, I would go over to his house and try and get him to do some of my homework for me, cause he’s crazy smart ya know?” 

“I think only Max can surpass him in book smarts.” Marinette nodded. 

“Well, he would never actually do anything for me. But he’d explain everything.” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Adrien has a very specific way he explains things, especially physics.” She leaned forward a little further. “So, when Ladybug instructed Chat Noir to watch over me after Nathaniel got akumatized I tried to get him to do my homework.” 

“Oh my god.” Marinette mumbled through a mouth full of sandwich. 

“And he started explaining in that special Adrien way. He even said, ‘You go this Chlo’ which is what he always said whenever I would get frustrated while he was helping me.” 

“Physics.” The bluenette mumbled, after swallowing. “I always thought he’d out himself with a pun.” 

“You okay?” Chloé’s voice brought her out of her thoughts, Marinette blinked a few times, smiling at the woman touching up her lipstick. The woman smiled back before leaving the platform. 

“Fine.” Marinette huffed. “Just lost in thought.

“I know everything we talked about was a lot, sorry to dump it on you so suddenly.” Chloé looked down, eyes on her clasped hands. 

“Honestly, it was probably for the best. If you hadn’t told me when you did I would have just been worrying about it all day long.” Marinette’s hand raised, landing on Chloé’s shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. “But you do know that I’ve got to tell Adrien, or if you want to-” 

“I think I’d prefer it if you did.” Marinette nodded. 

“Alright girls!” The photographer clapped. “I want Artemis laying on that cloud, and Apollo on her stomach on that one!” He pointed as he spoke, both girls going where told, adjusting their bodies at the man’s command. 

Marinette’s eyes ran over the room before focusing back on the camera. Damian still wasn’t in his outfit. It still hadn’t been fetched from Italy. Edna had mentioned Violet’s younger brother. The bluenette’s mind was filled with memories from her last visit to the Mode Building, when she’d first met Violet and a very eager eleven year old who would not stop aggressively hitting on her. 

If who she thought was really going to collect this garment, she could only hope that he wouldn’t be let up onto the floor where the shoot was happening. Violet probably wouldn’t allow it. She’d collect it from him in the lobby or something and bring it up herself. 

She’d just been dealing with so much today, she didn’t know if she could handle-

‘ ding ’

She really did have the most fantastic luck.

The elevator door slid open, a short muscular fourteen year old sauntering out with a black garment bag slung over his shoulder. A self satisfied smirk plastered across his chiseled jaw. His cheekbones hard and square, the bridge of his sloped nose splashed with light brown freckles. His blonde hair was swept back, resembling someone who’d just gone for a joy ride in a ferrari. He swaggered across the room, a free hand stuck deep into his khaki slacks. His clothing suggesting he’d just come from a private school of sorts.

“Have no fear!” He announced, holding up his free hand. “Your hero is here!” He pressed it to his chest, mumbling something along the lines of “hold the applause please.” 

Violet came into the room from behind him, smacking him across the back of the head and snatching the bag out of his hand. “You’re late.”

“Ow!” He said very pointedly at her, so pointedly that Marinette doubted it actually hurt. “You said asap, well, I had a test.” 

“Like you actually try in any math class.” She walked past him, taking the garment straight to the changing rooms, several other assistants flocked to her, checking the outfit for possible damages from transit. 

The boy shot his sister a dirty look before turning his attention to Edna, the woman was standing in the middle of the room. “Dashiell!” She called, arms open wide. 

“Edna!” He opened his own arms, but instead of hugging they high fived, resulting in a complicated handshake that reminded Marinette of her and her cousin’s own. “So good to see you!” 

“I trust you had no trouble?” The woman asked. 

“Not an ounce.” He smiled wide. “I assure you, I took this job as seriously as possible, I even went a longer root so that I would be on the water for the shortest time possible.” Marinette didn’t know Dash well, but she did know he was god awful at keeping his secret identity underwraps. She had never been more thankful for the fact that a specific person didn’t know she was a superhero. 

“Who is that?” Chloé whispered harshly to her. 

“Dash Parr.” Marinette said dryly, watching as Edna handed Dash a thick stack of American dollars. “Violet’s little brother.” 

“So, we don’t like him?” The blonde asked. 

“As promised, double the normal fee, in assorted bills.” Edna said, patting Dash’s hand once the money was in his grip. 

“Happy I could be of assistance.” 

“And if your parents ask?” The short woman’s eyebrow quirked up. 

“As far as mom knows, I just wanted to see my lovely sister.” The boy’s grin turned into a smirk. “And as far as dad’s concerned, I ran across an ocean today in under three minutes.” Dash winked, the two girls, and several other workers, watched as Edna pulled a fifty dollar bill from her coat, placing it on top of Dash’s stack. 

“Always a pleasure Dashiell.” She patted the boy’s cheek before turning back to the photographer. 

Marinette was hopeful for a moment, finally responding to Chloé’s question. “It’s not necessarily that we don’t like him.” The boy turned, most likely to leave, but for a moment he faced Marinette and Chloé’s platform. His eyes locked on her. And suddenly he was walking towards them. 

All hope was lost. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheg!” he called. 

“Cheg?” Chloé whispered. 

Marinette held back her grimace. “Hi Dash.” She bit out through clenched teeth. 

“Well,” His eyes ran up and down her body and Marinette had never felt more icky in her entire life. “Don’t you just look awesome.” 

Chloé’s eyes narrowed. “How old are you?” She whispered, watching as Dash hopped up on the platform. He was a few inches shorter than Marinette, meaning he was several inches shorter than Chloé. 

“Fourteen gorgeous,” Dash winked at her and Chloé’s face twisted immediately. 

“Oh god no.” She spat. 

“How’ve you been Mar-Mar?” He asked, leaning against one of the clouds, he immediately began to flex. 

“Mar-Mar?” Chloé asked, eyes narrowing. “What is happening?” She began looking around, trying to find someone to explain. Damian had been shoved into a changing room now that his garment was here, and Adrien was getting his makeup touched up for his and Damian’s shoot. 

Chloé was curious as to what would happen when the boy noticed, but seeing as Gabriel was in attendance today, she thought it best not to draw his attention. When she turned her attention back to Marinette, the girl’s face had grown extremely pensive. The short blonde boy was bragging about how much he could bench press. 

Chloé took a step closer to the girl, leaning close to whisper in her ear. “No, seriously,” She hissed. “Who is this kid?” 

Marinette only shook her head. Both girls turning back to face Dash as he launched into a story about how the entire cheerleading team was currently arguing over who he’d be taking to prom. “Course I haven’t said yes to anyone yet.” He winked at Marinette again, this time Chloé was close enough to feel the girl shiver. “Incase a special little lady shows up intime.” 

Chloé grabbed Marinette’s hand, unsure what else to do in the moment. 

“DASH!” All three of them jumped at the noramly calm Violet’s angry shout. “Oh my god! Get off of there! We are in the middle of a shoot.” Violet reached up and grabbed Dash’s ear. She yanked him off the platform that surprised Chloé but didn’t seem to phase Marinette. 

“Ow! Ow! OW! Violet!” The boy cried. 

“No!” Violet began to march toward the elevators. “No! No! No! You need to leave now! You are disrupting the shoot! Demarcus!” a large black man suddenly appeared, he was dressed in a nice suit and was very obviously security. “Please escort Dash here out of the building, in fact, make sure he leaves the city.” 

“Yes ma’am.” Demarcus took Dash’s arm. “If you’d come with me please sir.” 

“Wait! Wait! Wait! Vi!” 

“What?” Violet crossed her arms, face set in a glare.

“There are a bunch of robot pigeons that keep showing up at the house, and Mom is starting to get really frustrated cause JackJack keeps fighting them and-”  

“Oh my god.” Violet slapped her forehead. “Okay, just please leave. I’ll talk to Hiro.” Violet turned away as the door closed on Dash and Damarcus. “Jesus christ I hate all of them.”

Chloé slowly turned to Marinette, releasing the girl’s hand. “No seriously,” She said. “What-who was that? What just happened?” 

Marientte sighed, slumping against one of the clouds. “That was Dashiell Robert Parr.” 

“I hated that.” Chloé said. “I never want to experience that again in my entire life.” 

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” The bluenette crossed her arms. “He’s a lot.”

“He called you Mar-Mar Dupain-Cheg.” Chloé pointed out. “Like, what the hell? Cheg? Mar-Mar?” Chloé looked around, almost like she was trying to find proof of what she just experienced. “Did I dream that?” 

“More like nightmared it.” Marinette commented. 

Chloé stared at her wide eyed. “Mar-Mar.” Chloé said monotone. “And I thought Bugaboo was a stupid nickname.” 

… 

Adrien rolled his shoulders, trying to regain some sense of comfort now that he was strapped into the white silk tank top. Thick leather straps in brass and gold had been draped tastefully around his abdomen, then wrapped tightly  around his bare arms, constricting his muscles to the point where it was hard to move. But he didn’t want to make the jobs of the two men working on sorting his outfit any more difficult than it had to be, so he stayed as still as possible. 

“God she’s a genius.” He had heard something along those lines so many times in the past two days, he’d lost count. He had greatly underestimated just how much Edna Mode was worshiped by her followers. Not that he disagreed, or not a lot, but he definitely thought that for some of the designs he’d seen so far, Marinette could easily make a better version. His point only being proved by Marinette’s amazing redesign of her own outfit that very morning. 

And she did that while not even functioning at a hundred percent. 

It was pretty obvious to Adrien that his partner had been off all morning. Heck, he had been off all morning. He was hoping to talk to her over lunch, see if he couldn’t help her and maybe discuss some things that had been distressing him as well. But Chloé had dragged her off before Adrien could even get to her. 

Now that was distressing. 

The two girls showed back up to the shoot together an hour and a half later, looking thick as thieves. While the thought of his oldest friend and his best friend (best female friend as Nino was his best male friend and that was the only way he could sort them in good conscience because they both meant so much to him) finally getting along made him so happy, he would be lying if he said their time alone didn’t worry him. 

One of the men wrapped a gaudy golden belt around his middle, it was thick and rested heavily against his hips, but he didn’t complain. “You really do look like an everyday adonis.” The other man commented. 

“Thank you.” Adrien gave a polite smile as one of the men started adjusting the straps that fell over the belt. Soon four sets of hands were at work on the straps hanging off the slim dark brown pants he wore. A woman came over, fixing his quiffed hair to be a bit more messy. Edna had referred to the style as ‘sex hair’ but he preferred to think of it as a windswept look. Once the woman was done with his hair she moved on to his neck, placing a heavy golden collar around his throat, letting it rest against his shoulders. It reminded him of a cat collar. 

Next to him stood Damian. The boy wore a black vest with silver accents, his arms wrapped in similar leather straps to Adrien’s, but his were colored silver and ice blue. He wore loose black slacks, silver leather straps hanging off the sides of his hips in hooped fashion, the straps having similar black details to the vest. 

In terms of jewelry, Damian had a silver collar like Adiren’s gold one, but he did not have a belt like Adrien. Instead Damian’s wrists were clad in long gauntlet like silver bracelets. He also had a silver diadem placed on his forehead. A brilliant blue stone set in its center, it matched Marinette’s eyes well, and also matched the matte color Damian’s lips had been painted. 

“You know, when Edna referred to these as strappy ensembles, I was kind of hoping she was kidding.” Adrien said, eyes moving back to focus on his reflection.

“Edna doesn’t kid, especially when it comes to her work.” Damian’s voice was monotone, his hands raised to push back the curls of his bangs.

“Seems like that runs in the family.” Adrien whispered, hoping Damian hadn’t heard him once the words left his mouth. “So…” God, this silence hurt. 

“We don’t need to talk while this happens.” Damian said, eyes firm on his reflection, it looked like he was glaring at himself.  

“Oh-o-okay.” Adrien looked down, as the woman who put the collar on him placed a golden diadem on his forehead. His stone was a much darker blue, possibly Lapis Lazuli but he wasn’t sure. All the knowledge he had in regards to gemstones came from Steven Universe. 

“Couple of Princes the two of you.” The woman said, smiling at the boys. “No wonder Edna fought so hard for you.” 

“She fought for him, I agreed rather seamlessly.” Damian corrected. “Am I done?” He looked over at her, eyes cold. 

“Oh, um yes.” 

“Good.” Damian walked away from the two, going to sit down on one of Edna’s platforms that’s only purpose, Adrien was roughly seventy-percent certain, was to make the woman taller. His boyfriend greeted him cheerfully, but seemed to be mainly preoccupied with Damian’s phone.

“Well isn’t he a ray of sunshine.” The woman commented, resting her hand on her hip as she cocked it out. 

“No kidding.” Adrien whispered, eyes downcast. It didn’t necessarily bother him when people didn’t like him, he’d had fans and haters since day one of his career. But it was bothering him that someone so important to Marinette disliked him, or at least it seemed like Damian didn’t like him. Adrien could see Damian in the mirror, he was glaring at him. 

It also didn’t help that he’d had a knot in his stomach since he found out Marinette’s plan that morning. Nino’s video only amplifying his pains. While he didn’t like Lila, and knew she needed to be stopped, he couldn’t help but think there was a better way to do it then publicly humiliate her in front of the whole school. She wasn’t a good person but she wasn’t down right evil, she deserved a little sympathy. 

Or maybe Adrien was just too nice. Which was something Chloé had insisted that morning when he complained about not liking what was happening. Plagg had agreed with her when Adrien relayed the story to him. Saying that Adrien was far too forgiving for his own good, and insisting once again, that it was okay to be angry with someone. He knew that. He wasn’t a child. Nor was he as innocent and helpless as people around him seemed to think. He just didn’t like conflict. 

He wished, once again, that he could have discussed these feelings with Marinette at lunch. He knew he would feel better once he talked things out with her, he always did. That is why he originally started visiting her as Chat Noir. Marinette, as herself or as his lady, she always made things better, made people feel better, made him feel better. He just needed a few minutes with her, to discuss what happened, explain why it caused him such unrest. He needed to hear her side. Needed to talk to her, or maybe just be in her close proximity again, after she dodge him all morning long. 

Just a few minutes. 

She was like a battery, super charging him whenever she was near. 

Suddenly a large ornate golden bow was handed to the blonde boy. It was heavy in his hands, and he had to wonder amidst his marveling at the details, if this was a real weapon. Had someone just handed him, a sixteen year old boy, a real weapon? 

He looked around, sure this must be a mistake, but instead of someone taking the thing away, he was taken by the arm. One of the men from earlier leading him to the platform, a forest scene. His stage for the next photoshoot. A photoshoot that involved weapons? 

He saw someone handing Damian a silver bow identical to his golden one. Adrien couldn’t put his finger on why, but it made his stomach drop. Now Damian had a weapon, a real weapon. That couldn’t be a good idea. This couldn’t be right. There had to be a mistake of some kind, right? 

Suddenly he was on the platform. Damian facing him across the fake grass. His eyes still set in a galre. Adrien gulped. He had an awful feeling. 

“Okay!” The photographer shouted. “So I want these photos to have a bit more aggression to them. You boys think you can give me that aggressive vibe?” 

“Yes.” 

“Maybe.” 

Damian’s quick answer only made the blonde boy even more nervous. 

“Good!” The bald man clapped his hands. “Someone give them their arrows.” 

Arrows!?

… 

Damian couldn’t help the smirk that stretched across his features as he placed his arrow against the bow’s string. It felt good, natural. You never forget, it’s like riding a bike. Weapons always made him feel so comfortable. He knew how to deal with weapons, unlike people. 

His cousin was in distress, and now she was avoiding him. She was upset because of Adrien Agreste. He upset her and she was still worried about him, it was obvious. She was worried Damian would do something, which he wouldn’t of course. But he wanted to. He wanted to do something to make her feel better. 

“Wouldn’t piercing that pretty face with an arrow make her feel better?” Something wicked whispered in his ear. The voice was icky and made his skin crawl, evil. It sounded like his grandfather, but at the same time like his mother. 

Hurting Adrien wouldn’t make her feel better, just Damian. 

He pulled the drawstring back, stopping when it grazed the corner of his lips. The photographer told them to do it, but Adrien wasn’t doing it quite right. Someone had to get up on the platform and help him, show him how to position it correctly. 

He reminded Damian of a baby deer, fumbling on new legs.

“Easy Pray.” The voice whispered. 

It was like riding a bike. His senses were always on fire, acutely aware of how to take down everyone around him. Even with all the training, all the philosophies his father had spent years shoveling into his head, his inner assassin never slept. His beast was always awake, waiting for a week spot in Damian’s defenses, waiting to break out and cause havoc. 

Damian barely registered the flashes of the camera. 

He was so angry, the longer he stared at Adrien’s face. The blonde’s glare was fake, he knew that. The boy didn’t seem like he had it in him to hate. Damian had too much capacity for hate, or so people told him. 

Damian’s glare was real. 

He had a large capacity for hate, currently that hate was mostly directed towards Adrien. Marinette trusted too easily, she trusted her heart to people too easily. Why would she pick someone to love who could hurt her so easily? 

More flashes, he registered these even less. 

They were told to walk forward a few paces, they both did. Adrien had to have that same assistant come and help him reposition his bow. How was he a hero? How was Paris not destroyed? How was his cousin still alive with a partner who was so useless, with a partner who so carelessly hurt her. 

“He hurt her.” 

Did he care that he hurt her? Damian hadn’t seen the two of them speak since Adrien left them that morning. Adrien was avoiding Marinette, that was the only explanation. Of course, he was hurting her and he knew it. 

“He wants her to hurt.”

Damian was so angry. 

... 

“Now some without the bows!” Edna had clapped, clapping while giving orders, it was something she had always done. But Damian had lost focus on the world around him, he was just so angry. He’d lost focus. The noise startled him. 

He hadn’t meant to. 

He didn’t mean to. 

His eyes widened as a scream filled the room. It was his cousin, he knew that. She screamed. Marinette screamed and then his arrow sunk deep into the fake bark of a prop tree. He’d missed Adrien by a millimeter, he was sure there was a cut on the blonde’s cheek. It wouldn’t be more than a hair's breadth. But it would be there. 

Edna would know it. 

Marinette would know it. 

Damian knew it. 

He wasn’t trained to miss. He always hit his target. Not always lethally, but he always hit them. He had just been so angry. He was startled. He hadn’t meant to. He really hadn’t. It was an accident, he was startled. 

“Damian!” 

“Oh my god!” 

“Adrien!” 

Suddenly Marinette and Chloé were on the platform. The girls flanking the blonde’s sides. For his worth, Adrien hadn’t moved. It was like the arrow hadn’t even phased him. All he had done was lower his weapon. 

Enda was at Damian’s side. He hadn’t lowered the bow yet. She ripped it from his hands. She was yelling at him but he wasn’t quite registering it yet. He had been startled and his hand slipped. 

Marinette’s eyes hurt. 

His eyes had the power to cut people, cut them down, crush their strength, strike fear. Her eyes had the power to hurt, to cause hearts to break. He felt that hurt, felt his chest ache as she stared at him, eyes narrowed, frown set. 

Adrien had hurt her. 

Damian had hurt him. 

Had Damian hurt her?

“Damian what the hell was that!” He was hit by the bow, his head ached now along with his heart. Edna was still at his side, she was fuming. 

“I-” He didn’t know what to say, honestly. He hadn't meant to. His fingers slipped, he was startled and it made him release. It was an accident. “I don’t know.” He whispered. 

“You don’t know?!” Edna shouted. “You shot at him!” 

“I’m fine Ms. Mod-Enda. Really, I am.” Adrien raised his hands, why was he trying to help? Damian had just shot at him. 

“Adrien you’re hurt.” Marinette’s fingers traced the cut, the boy flinched barely. Tender flesh. Damian knew she’d be able to see it. 

“It’s just a cut.” The blonde whispered. 

“Edna that psychopath just shot an arrow at my son!” Gabriel Agreste’s voice cut through the crowd. Now the asshole cared? Damian couldn’t help the thought. 

“Why are these real arrows?” Chloé asked, getting Marinette’s attention. “Shouldn’t they just be props?”

“Did you seriously give him a real weapon?” Marinette’s words were quieter, but Damian caught them. He was dangerous with weapons, everyone in his family knew that. They feared him when he was armed. 

“Edna.” Gabriel pulled the woman a way. 

Damian had to wonder if he would be getting sent home. They were only two days into the shoot. His father wasn’t here to defend him. Would Father defend him? Edna could easily replace him, eat into a few safety days to reshoot. Maybe it was for the best? If a Justice League emergency was brewing they might need him. 

They wouldn’t ask him to leave, he would ask to be dismissed. It was only right after all. He caused such an incident. He should leave. They would want him to. 

Damian stepped down from the platform. He felt an odd sort of emptiness, not even necessarily regret. Just nothingness. He was used to that feeling, it was much safer than anything remotely close to an emotion. 

Suddenly he was grabbed by the arm and pulled off to a secluded corner. He hadn’t even registered the person until they were yelling at him in harsh whispers. 

“Damian what the fuck was that?!” Oh, it was his boyfriend. 

The dark skinned boy blinked a few times, probably more times than necessary, but he still wasn’t quite back yet. Still wasn’t quite sure what had happened. His eyes focused on Colin. He was angry, it was obvious, he was disappointed. 

With focus came his emotions, back and at full force. 

They hurt like a bitch. 

Marientte was upset with him, he hurt her. Edna was upset with him, she was angry with him. Colin was disappointed with him. Colin was disappointed in him. “I-I’m I don’t-” Damian tried to figure out his words but everything wasn’t quite back yet, not back in focus. 

“Damian you just shot that kid with a freaking arrow!” The redhead growled. “Why? Why did you do that? What the hell was that!” 

“I-don’t know.” He finally managed. God, now he was the baby deer wasn’t he? 

“You don’t know?” Colin hissed. “Damian you almost killed him!” 

“It was just a scratch.” Defensive. He was defending himself, his actions, that’s right. Because he’d messed up, he’d slipped up. “I didn’t mean to.” 

“You didn’t mean to?” Colin asked, eyes scrutinizing. “Damian you aimed, you shot, you hit him.” His jaw was set. “Why? Why did you do that? What the hell Damian!” 

He’d only used his full name this whole time. No nicknames, no shortening it, no pet names. It was strange, but that hurt more than Marinette’s eyes. 

“I don’t know.” Damian choked. “I don’t-I didn’t mean to. Enda startled me and I just let go-my finger slipped I didn’t mean to.” He was drowning, that’s what it felt like. Colin was so angry at him. He had never seen Colin angry at him quite like this. Though, typically, when Damian hurt people, far past the point that he should have, it was a very bad man. Sometimes Colin even helped him. 

“I didn’t mean to.” Damian whispered, eyes falling to the floor. 

He should apologize, shouldn’t he? Yes, say he was sorry for hurting the model. He should apologize to Colin and Marinette and Enda. So they wouldn’t be hurt or angry or disappointed any more. But the problem with him wanting to apologize was that he could never get the words out. 

Colin sighed, turning away from Damian. His head shook as he began walking away. He was still angry and hurt and disappointed. And Damian still couldn’t breath or focus right. He was in trouble, his father would be upset. Everyone was upset. 

He headed for the changing rooms as quickly as possible. He needed to be out of this environment. He needed to be somewhere else. 

He needed to breath. 

… 

Well, today was just going swimmingly. 

First Damian got woken up and torn away from his warm and cuddly boyfriend. Then that distressing video. Then his cousin, who was obviously upset, wouldn’t talk to him. Then Colin stole his phone and got a brand new best friend in the form of some random french girl. Then he tried to defend his cousin’s honor, but instead got yelled at by his boyfriend and aunt and by Gabriel Agreste. And his cousin, his cousin looked so upset with him. Colin wasn’t talk to him either. He was being ignored and possibly suffered a panic attack in the changing room, but wasn’t quite sure. He’d never been good at diagnosing his own symptoms, just the symptoms of others. 

And now Damian was alone, going back to his room to take Titus for a walk. He needed to blow off steam. Today had been awful. He needed to move around, be angry and sad and mostly alone, but walking Titus would help, it had to help. 

The elevator opened and he began walking down the hall, but stopped when he noticed a figure in the small lobby area. The tall muscular boy leaning against the window, all his focus directed towards something outside. Damian recognized him immediately as Jon Kent.

That was the other thing. 

What the hell was going on with the Justice League and the two boys’ fathers.

“You okay Kent?” The boy didn’t turn around at his name. He didn’t even respond. That wasn’t good. 

Damian took several steps forward, slowly. He reached out and placed his hand on Jon’s shoulder, the boy didn’t move a muscle. “Jon?” Damian asked, voice a little softer. “Are you alright?” 

“Trisha Bailey was killed last night.” His voice was emotionless, and Damian took note that the boy wasn’t wearing his glasses. “It was a hit and run.”

“Trisha Bailey?” The name sounded very familiar but it took Damian a moment to place it, when he did, his stomach dropped. “No.”  

“Lex Luthor was released from prison this morning.” Jon’s face grew angrier. “No witness, no crime. Or whatever.” He spat. “Forget the fact that man had mercenaries hired to kill my mother. Forget that he planted bombs to killer. Snipers following her. Hitmen. All so she wouldn’t write a damn article.” His fists clenched against the glass window. 

“Jon calm down.” Damian increased the pressure of his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Lex-” The boy’s Jaw clenched. “Lex Jr. stopped returning Conor’s calls. He also left the country late last night.” Jon’s eyes narrowed. “They can’t figure out where he went but they’re trying to track him, unsuccessfully I might add.” Jon turned away from the window and Damian. “God we were so stupid! Conor trusted him!” He banged his fist against the wall, a small dent forming.

“Jon.” Damian’s voice was a tad sterner. “You need to calm down before you break something you can’t fix.” 

“What if he comes after my mom again Damian?” The boy turned around, tears in his eyes. “What if he comes after me or Conor or my dad? Kara? Grandma! He could come after any of us!” 

“We won’t let him hurt any of you!” Damian tried to assure. 

“What about Lena Luthor!?” 

Lena Luthor? Damian didn’t know a hefty amount about her, just what was outlined in her file. She was the younger sister of Lex Luthor Senior. Slightly less evil, known for having a conscience, and eventually turned against him. She was in JLA witness protection, had been for eighteen years now.

“What about Lena?” Damian asked. 

“They can’t find her Damian.” Jon let out an angry breath, resting his back against the window. “Mr. Queen went to Rome yesterday, that’s where she’s supposed to be. But he can’t find her. People are searching the whole continent of Europe. No one can find her.” 

“Okay,” Damian looked to the ground trying to think. “That’s not great but her brother may not know where she is either.”

“Be real Damian.” Jon looked up at him. “I may not be smart, but I’m not dumb. And you aren’t stupid enough to believe that Jr. isn’t cozying up to his aunt right now.” His fist clenched again, Damian could see it smashing into the glass, but thankfully Jon seemed to still have some semblance of control. 

“Damian the Luthors have enough kryptonite stock piled away to fuel two nuclear bombs.” The boy’s eyes suddenly looked so empty. “Lena Luthor was the only thing we had on him, along with Trisha. Now we don’t have either, and my family is his number one target.” 

“Yeah well, I hate to break this to you but Batman had double that amount of kryptonite.” It was meant as a joke, but as anyone who knew him knew, Damian was bad at those. “Luthor, Luthor isn’t going to be able to pull shit. I’m sure the whole League is working on this as we speak.” 

Damian walked in front of his friend, he wasn’t a hugger. Typically he wasn’t one for prolonged contact at all, save for a handful of very specific circumstances, like a warm cuddly sleeping boyfriend. But this was his friend, his perky, never not happy friend who, no matter what, was always there for him. 

It was easier than he was expecting to pull the half-kryptonian into a tight hug. “We will figure this out.” Damian whispered. “I swear Jon, I won’t let him hurt you or your family. If there’s one thing that scares the shit out of Luthors, it’s Waynes.” Jon was fully crying now, but Damian could swear he heard something along the lines of a small chuckle escape the boy’s mouth. 

“I just don’t know what to do Damian.” Jon’s arms were suddenly around him, tightly hugging him back. “M-my mom, she’s staying with Dinah while Mr. Queen is in Europe. Damian I’m scared.” 

“I know.” Damian wasn’t good at this, comforting wasn’t what he was good at. He was good at getting even, at defending people he cared about, at pissing people off and arguing his point. “Do you remember that ridiculous thing you always tell me?” 

“N-no.” He sniffled. 

“Good always triumphs over evil, right?” 

The Kansan let out a stronger laugh. “Right.” He was still crying, but he was still laughing too. “Good always wins.”

“Well we’re good. And they’re evil.” Damian hugged his friend a little tighter. “So that means that everything is going to be fine. Jon I promise.” Even as Damian said the words he couldn’t help the thought that crossed his mind. “Everything will be fine.” Famous last words. 

_______________________________________________________________________

(part 1)  (part 2)  (part 2.5)  (part 3)  (part 4)  (part 5)  (part 6) (part 7) (part 8)  (part 9)  (part 10)  (part 11) (part 12) - Here  (part 13)

Photoshoot Part 4! Y'all I don't know what happened. I sat down to study for finals last night and instead turned on Hamilton and cranked this mess out. Anyway, Dash is finally here and I love him. But he’s also the worst, hence why he isn’t a prominent Character in this fic, but who knows, maybe he’ll show back up at some point. So a lot of what I was excited for at the end of part 11 actually isn't’ in this. It started getting really long so I had to chop it in half. Hopefully part 13 will come just as quickly as this part did. And hopefully I can actually get some studying done before my test tomorrow. I hope you all enjoyed this part as much as I did writing it! Please leave comments! I love reading everyone's thoughts on the chapters, they always make me smile. Like comments, I have discovered, can change my whole outlook on a day. And I could seriously use some positivity heading into my finals! As always if you have any questions about the story or AU feel free to ask, I love getting them and will happily answer any question you got (even if it’s not about this AU)! And if you want to be tagged let me know! 

Also for future reference in this fic, the version of Lena Luthor that I am using for my writing is the character Tess Mercer from Smallville. 

@graduatedmelon @northernbluetongue​ @violatiger8​ @bamagirl513​ @vixen-uchiha​ @beaversuenightly​ @tumbling-down-hills-and-stuff​ @todaylillypads​ @laurakinneylance​ @vgirl-10123​ @wellcrud-blog-blog​ @silvergold-swirl​ @crazylittlemunchkin​ @an-ahez​ @queencommonsense​ @ladybug-182​ @meganemily231​ @driftingmoonlitpetals​ @kand-roo​ @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry​ @theatreandcomicfreak​ @paradoxal-occurance​ @miraculousl4dybug @thanks-captain-obvious​ @sassydepression​ @multishipper1needshalp @wegan97​ @surprisebishhhhhhhhh  @redscarlet95 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @synnesstra @fandomkitty8 @tired-yeetling @saluteswifties @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @dast218 @naclychilli @royalchaoticfangirl @panda3506 @nataladriana9 @shreky-boi @my-name-is-michell @dawnwave16  @thethirdwheelfriend @quiet-oracle @heaven428 @dabub167 @kris-pines04 @severelyenchantedwonderland @urbanpineapplefarmer @goblinwhoships

[shingekinosimpson]

Chapter 9 of You had me at B minor now on Ao3

It’s a dumb thing to say and I know I sound like a total dork, but...texting Marco might be my new favourite thing. We text each other A LOT over the next few days, but the weird thing is, it isn’t weird in the slightest. Once we start it feels like we’ve been doing it forever. I’m proud to say I’m the one who got the ball rolling. After everything that happened on Wednesday night, I made damn fucking sure I reached out the second my sleep deprived brain was coherent enough.

HeresJeany:

Hey bud. You doing okay today? Hope you managed to get some sleep when you got home x

Yeah I know, a kiss on the end. If I had a fan club, I'm sure they’d be pissing their pants with excitement right now. I must have deleted and retyped it about five times before I said ‘fuck it’ and hit send. The message just didn’t feel sincere enough without it. And if he decided to rip on me for it, I wouldn’t care. I don’t care if he teases me - actually, I quite like it when he teases me.

I also got the gossip from Connie that same morning. He was up and looking super perky when I eventually rolled out of bed and went in search of some breakfast.

“Morning! D’you want a coffee?” he chirped.

I could tell last night had gone well – it was written all over his face - but when I pressed him for details on why he’d had an ‘amazing night’ he got very coy.

“You kiss her?”

“No, but she gave me a kiss on the cheek before she went home.”

“…Aaaaaaaand?”

“And nothing!” he chuckled. “Nothing else happened.”

“Connie c’mon. You’re grinning like a Cheshire fucking cat. What else?”

“Look I swear all I got was a peck on the cheek but…I dunno. We just, we had a really good night. I think she likes me too. I think…I think this might actually happen finally.”

“Really?”

He had shrugged his shoulders, but I knew he was ecstatic.

“I think so. I’m not rushing into anything - things are good the way they are now – but I’m not being an idiot either. I’m not pushing her away with mean jokes or playing games like I used to.”

“You mean you’ve finally realised being a stroppy little bitch isn’t exactly a turn on?”

“Hey!” He chucked a tea towel at my face. “Cheeky bastard! But yes. I’m just being straightforward, and things are…things are good.”

“Man. I can’t believe Sasha might finally give you a chance. You’ve been crushing on her for like, how long?

“Too long. Hey,” he smirked. “If Sasha and I finally get it together, you gonna try again with Mikasa?”

“Ha! Yeah right. She’d probably laugh in my face, which I guess is a step up from punching me in the face like the first time I tried it on with her.”

I’d felt weird in that moment, knowing I have this big crush on Marco and not telling Connie about it. I knew it was for the best – if no one knows then Marco can’t find out – but still, it didn’t sit well with me. I felt guilty for keeping it from Connie, but also a little down that Connie could talk about his crush and I had to keep mine a secret. I kind of wanted to talk about it.

“So, you lusting after anyone at the minute then?”

The words had barely left his mouth when my brain did a complete one-eighty and started freaking the fuck out.

Oh god no. I take it back. Please don’t ask me anything!

“You’ve not been on any Tinder dates for a while. Is nobody swiping right for my little Jeanbo?”

“N-nah,” I’d said in a fluster. “Doesn’t matter anyway. Once I get that uniform I’ll be beating them off with a stick.”

Pretty typical of me to deflect something with cockiness but thankfully, Connie took the bait and we started talking about my ever-closer start date – two weeks left to go.

Later that day, I had a reply from Marco waiting for me and we’ve text each other every day since. We started off reasonably civilised, but it didn’t take long for things to escalate into the ridiculous or just random shit we knew the other would like - he sent me a video of Chino Moreno singing with the Pumpkins captioned ‘the planets have aligned’, I responded with a gif of Ned Flanders screaming. I sent him a slideshow of baby sea otters I found on Instagram, he replied with a picture of himself with heart eyes that nearly made me spit my coffee out. He sent me a (weirdly brilliant) 80s remix of a Linkin Park song, I sent him a boomerang of me dancing like a twat.

Don’t get me wrong, we do actually talk in between all these daft pictures and videos. I just can’t help that my first thought when I see something funny is ‘I need to send this to Marco!’ and I really love the idea that he thinks the same thing about me.

I feel a little guilty today though. We were texting each other ‘til quite late last night even though I knew he was at work today. We somehow got onto the subject of Lord of the Rings and then fell down a huge rabbit hole about Frodo and Sam and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Yeah, I know - what a couple of nerds.

I woke up around 10 and sent him a text, apologising for keeping him up. I get a reply at lunchtime.

ItsaMeeMarco:

Hey! Don’t be daft. I’d say it was more my fault anyway. Sorry for keeping you awake with my nerdiness B-)

HeresJeany:

Dude I work in a bar, I’m used to late nights ;) What you doing with the kids at nursery today? Quantum physics and modern philosophy no doubt

ItsaMeeMarco:

We managed to cover quite a lot of that yesterday so we gave ourselves a break with a messy morning today

HeresJeany:

What the hell is a messy morning?

His next message is a picture with the caption Well my pants now look like this so have a guess :p

It’s a photo of one of his legs, stretched out, with a few red and green handprints smushed into the fabric of his joggers.

Is it wrong that I still think his leg looks sexy? Probably.

HeresJeany:

Haha! Hope you weren’t too attached to those pants

ItsaMeeMarco:

You should see the state of some of the kids. One literally painted himself top to toe and then lay down on a pile of cornflakes

HeresJeany:

Fucking hell that’s hilarious!

We send a few more messages back and forth while he’s on his lunch break and when his last one promises to text me later, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning.

Continue reading on Ao3

[bel0vedmendes]

Inevitable: AU Part 4

BrothersFriend!Shawn x Reader

Words:3,570

Warnings: Language, Drinking, Smoking, MDMA usage.

Description: When Jason left, he made Shawn (his best friend) promise to keep a watchful eye on Y/N. He swears that we will. Along with the help of Brian and Kyle, he keeps his promise. As Y/n gets older the dynamic of their relationship begins to change. Will they figure out what they mean to each other or will Shawn always see her as his best friend’s little sister?

A/N: Parts 1-3 are in my masterlist! Please, please, please let me know what you think, any feedback is appreciated <3

*Not my GIF*

The next few weeks were brutal. Thankfully, I passed all of my Mid-Terms and I had some time to breathe before I needed to start prepping for Finals. Which meant I spent a lot of my free time with Sam.

“Babyyy…” Sam whined from his bed, as I stood at his sink getting a glass of water. I groaned silently. He was so fucking whiney sometimes.

“Yes?” I asked from the kitchen, hearing him shuffle to his feet in his bedroom. He finds me in the kitchen and wraps his arms around my neck and instantly starts to kiss his way from my shoulder to my ear. I turn around slowly pushing him away from me, with a grin. 

“I need a second to recoup, okay?” I say giggling, but in my head I wanted call him a crazy person. He bites his lip and tilts my head up to kiss him. I kiss him quickly, before walking to the kitchen table and grabbing my phone. I read my missed text groaning when I realize I have one from my Dad’s fiancé, Lauren, telling me to pick up my bridesmaid dress. I rolled my eyes, still in shock that the crazy lady wanted me to be a Bridesmaid.

“What’s up babe?” Sam asks making me jump, I forgot he was even there.

“Nothing, just have to pick up a dress for my Dad’s Wedding.” I reply as I quickly respond to Lauren letting her know that I got the message.

“Your Dad’s Wedding?” He asks quietly, as he sips from my cup of water. I instantly feel the heat rising to my cheeks. I hadn’t told Sam anything about the Wedding. To be fair, it wasn’t something I talked about a lot. Its not like I was excited for the damn thing. I should have mentioned it though, right?

“Yeah, uhm, I should have told you I just forgot.” I start to explain as I sit down in the chair across from him, looking down at the cup of water I made for myself that he decided was his too. Ugh.

“No prob babe. I have a tux, when is it I’ll request off work.” He says calmly as waits for me to respond. My throat tightens as I try to respond. I didn’t know what to do. Do I like him enough to invite him to an event with my entire family, especially my brother? Before I knew what to say I was word vomiting the information to him. Just like that, I had a date that I didn’t even want to my Fathers Wedding. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go with him, I just hadn’t thought about the pros and cons. It was too late now.

Sam showed me his tux and all his different options for a tie, while I pretended to be impressed. Then finally we cuddled on the couch, and started to watch a movie. Of course, Sam picked the movie. It was some gory, cheesy, slasher film that I absolutely hated. He didn’t bother asking, so I decided to scroll through my phone instead. My stomach dropping when I scrolled across a picture on my feed posted by Shawn’s girlfriend Jessica. They were at some Bar, the background was blurry but the photo was focused on them. His head was buried in her neck, and his arms were wrapped around her waist. She was oblivious to the fact that he was giving her this attention, as she posed for the camera. The caption read ‘Nothing matters when your around.’ I scoffed out loud as I read it, coughing to distract Sam. She used the wrong form of your and she was a fucking liar. She never paid attention to him when they were together. I could feel the anger building, as my foot tapped against the end of the couch. I threw my phone down, taking a deep breath to prevent making myself angrier. I didn’t know why I felt so mad when I saw them together, I had no right to feel that way! I needed to learn to accept her, even if she was a lying asshole. Shawn was accepting Sam, I needed to accept her. I took a deep breath as I turned to cuddle into Sam, he tightened his arm around me pulling me closer.  

“Let’s do something tonight.” I mumble quietly.

“Like what?” He asks, still fully distracted by the movie. His eyes quickly darting down to me.

“I dunno, anything besides staying here and fucking.” I say sarcastically, with a giggle. A hit of seriousness in my tone. It was all we ever did, I was over it.

“We can go to the bar my buddy works at, he can get you in.” He mutters, still not breaking away from the T.V.

“Sounds fun. I’m gonna go home and get dressed,” I say kissing his cheek as I get up from the couch.

“Kay, Babe,” He confirms barely kissing me back. I roll my eyes hoping he knows what the fuck is going on.

I quickly walked to my car, visions of my closet flashing through my brain. I needed to look good tonight. I got home deciding on black ripped skinny jeans with a cam print crop top and a pair of black booties. I didn’t dress up that often so it felt nice to dress to impress for once. A few hours later-and a few jabs from the boys later- Sam came to pick me up. He waited for me to come to the car opening my door for me after hugging my waist and looking me up and down with hungry eyes. It always felt good to be wanted, and Sam made sure I was never deprived of that feeling.

“Baby, you look so fucking good,” Sam rasped, driving away from my house and towards the city. I instantly started to blush. I reached my hand to where his was in the center council lacing my fingers with his and giving him a wink.

I took a deep breath remembering the reason I wanted to go out to begin with. I wanted to make Shawn feel as jealous as I was. I shook my head at how childish that was. Shawn viewed me as a sister. Nothing more, and nothing less. My feelings for him were a combination of complicated and confusing. I wanted nothing more than to be his person. The person he came to at the end of every day. The one he relied on for everything, just like he has always been for me. I needed to learn how to be that person, but also be okay with him loving someone else. I could do that. In that moment I decided I was going to really try with Sam. I wanted to know everything, I wanted to fall in love with this man. I needed to connect with him on more levels than just physical. I turned to him, smiling, chuckling at the way he would mess up the lyrics to the song on the radio. Kind of annoying actually-NO kind of adorable. He was trying with me and I needed to do the same. We finally arrived at the bar, parking in a lot a few blocks away. Sam called his friend and he told him to come through the back entrance of the bar so that I wouldn’t get carded.

Sam complimented me on the way to the bar, on things I didn’t even think men noticed. Everything from, the bounce of my curls to the way my boots made my butt look. Okay well maybe I knew men noticed the last one. He was so attentive and I had to appreciate that. We walked into the bar and we were greeted by a tall man with a short mohawk. His arms were huge and covered in black and white tattoos. He pulled Sam in by his hand giving him the manliest of hugs. Then his eyes shifted over to me, looking me up and down making the hairs on my neck stand still. Why would you ever look your friends girlfriend up and down like that? Sam introduced us and he held on a little too long when he awkwardly forced himself to hug me. I pushed the corners of my mouth up into a smile, trying not to look as uncomfortable as I was. Finally the tattooed man went back behind the bar and Sam pulled me to his group of friends in the corner of the room.

The group consisted of four guys and one of- what I assumed to be- their girlfriends. I smiled and waved to them as Sam introduced me to them. The two guys and the girl at the end I recognized all ready from parties at the house, I wondered if they were friends of my boys. The creepy bartended eventually brought over drinks for us. I lifted my glass up suspiciously wondering if he would roofie his friend’s girlfriend, also wondering how close he and Sam really were.  I took a drink anyway not wanting to make a scene. I took the seat next to the other girlfriend, introducing myself to her more personally. Her name was Madison, and we instantly got along. She told Sam and I that she was being DD tonight so if we wanted her to take us home she could. We took her up on her offer and instantly started drinking heavily with shots of Tequila being bought for the group. The alcohol started to affect me quickly, making my veins run warm. Sure, Sam’s friends weren’t exactly the type of people I would chose to hang out with, but it was nice to change it up for a bit. Sam and I started to dance in front of our table, as the bar started to fill up. His hands were on my waist and his lips were on my neck, then the creepy bartender told all of us to meet them him outside on the patio. In my drunken state I followed Sam, who followed the rest of the group to the outdoor patio of the bar. I walked out and was instantly confused by the vacancy. There was nobody out there besides us. I started to worry, thinking that maybe he got caught letting us in- or letting us drink at a discounted price. Before I could start to freak out about potentially getting kicked out, he pulls out a baggie of little colored tablets. Giving me and entirely different reason to freak out. My mind goes hazy as I watch Sam and the other boys crowd the tattooed bartender and give him money for the colored pills. Sam walks over to me with one, all smiles.

“Want some Molly, babe?”

He pops one into his mouth instantly making my stomach drop. My mind started to race, trying to make sense of the situation. It wasn’t like I thought they would die, or that I would, I was just uncomfortable. I had never done anything that extreme, and I definitely didn’t want right here and now to be the first time.

“No, Im okay,” I swallowed thickly trying to play it cool. I didn’t want him to think I was freaking out. Which I was. He squints his eyes and furrows his eyebrows like he’s confused about me telling him no.

“What do you mean, no?”

“Im good,” I slurr, leaning into him brushing his hair back, “I’m super drunk.”

“Whatever,” He scoffs lightly pushing me away and finding his was back to his group of friends. I take a step back, analyzing the situation.  I knew he was drunk but I never thought he would act this way. Before I could over analyze the situation I feel Madison’s hand around my forearm pulling me away from the group. I hear her yell that she’s taking me to the bathroom. I mindlessly follow her.

We get into the bathroom and she locks the door behind her.

“You okay,” She asks quietly as she walks towards the paper towels grabbing a piece and starts to run it under cold water. She brings it over to me and starts to pat my chest, then she sets the rag on my neck, “You weren’t looking too good.”

“I’m- I’m fine. Just drunk.”

“Sam can be an ass sometimes when he doesn’t get his way,” She says fixing the curls falling around my shoulder, seeing right through the façade I was trying to put on.

“Yeah, I just didn’t want to do it. I don’t know why he acted like that,” I ask myself softly but loud enough for Madison to believe it was directed towards her.

“You we’re clearly uncomfortable, ever done anything like that before?”

“No, I’ve smoked weed but my three guy friends did it with me and made sure everything was fine. They knew I was nervous, but they didn’t get mad. Shawn would never get mad at me for something like that,” I scoff started to get pissed about Sam’s reactions.

“Well if you want to Uber, home or have someone come get you, I can say you got sick,” She explains, as she fixes her own makeup in the mirror, “They always get pretty crazy when they take Molly.”

I look at her, finally understanding why she opted out of drinking in the first place, this wasn’t her first rodeo. Next thing I knew my fingers were taping on my phone screen and I was texting Shawn to pick me up from the bar. He of course told me he would be there soon and was on his way to get me. I stayed in the bathroom with Madison until he texted me and told me to meet him outside. I looked in the mirror making sure I still looked decent, then I walked to the familiar Jeep. As soon as I walked out side as saw him standing against the passenger door, all of my anxiety disappeared. I knew that whatever was wrong, he would make it better. He would make me feel better. My drunken feet took me to him and I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tight. His arms around my waist I could feel how tense he was. He knew something was wrong. After he helped me get into the Jeep and started to drive away, I could feel his stare burning a whole in the side of head.

“What’s going on,” He asks quietly returning his gaze to the empty road before us. I sigh. I want to tell him everything, exactly how I feel. I knew that it was a horrible idea, I shouldn’t get him involved in my relationship drama. However, Shawn was the person I told everything too. I knew that he would want to know about this, I just had to make sure I didn’t hold it above my head.

“You cant get mad,” I slur, facing my body towards him. I watch the heat rise to his cheeks, he’s already pissed and I haven’t even told him why he’s mad, “Shawn! You can not get mad okay? Promise me.”

I stick my pinky finger out for him to see it, requesting his own to wrap around mine. He sighs loud and annoyed, but he promises me nonetheless.

“If he fucking hurt you, I’m breaking the promise,” He mutters with a serious tone, his jaw bone tensing as he does.

“He didn’t.”

“What happened then?”

We pull into my drive way, he puts the Jeep into park. We both unbuckle our seat belt and face each other in our seats. I lean my head back against the window, biting my cheek. He gets impatient for my answer and raises his eye brows.

“He wanted me to take Molly.”

His eyes widen, and he adjust in his seat. Fuck, he’s pissed.

“Did you take it?”

“Of course not,” I yell, slapping him in the arm, “You know I freak out about stuff like that.”

“Swear? You seem pretty messed up,” He leans in looking at me closely, causing me to laugh in his face. He instantly smiles, which makes me feel a little better.

“I am pretty drunk,” I mumble, dragging the T in pretty out.

“I know you are.” He leans back, still smirking at me. I smile back and decide to face away from him because he was making my stomach do flips with that smirk.

“He was mad at me, or something.”

“Mad at you for what, not taking the Molly?”

“I guess so, he just kind blew me off when I told him no,” My voice got quiet at the end of the sentence. I turned my head away from him so he wouldn’t see how upset I was about it.

“That’s really fucked up,” I hear the sincerity in his voice, he’s trying not to sound as mad as he is.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay, he’s just drunk.”

His hand finds mine, rubbing small circles with his thumb. He stayed silent, I turned to him waiting for him to respond. He wouldn’t even look at me. He knew what I wanted to hear, he just knew he couldn’t say it.

“You would never make me feel that way, Shawn,” I whisper, trying to keep my emotions under control was a lot more complicated when I was drunk.

“You’re right,” He slowly raises his head, bringing his eyes to meet mine, “ I would never.”

“So tell me what to do Shawn,” I sit back in my seat, the tear streaming down my face now. His hand still holding mine tightly.

“Lets go inside and get you to bed.”

He gets out and walks over to open my door, taking my hand and helping me out. Before I start to walk inside, he pulls me back into him, hugging me tight. His hands start massage my scalp, and I instantly calmed down. I always did when his arms were around me. Before I turned to walk away, he hold my hand not letting it go. I turn around looking at him as he smiles at me, he looks me up and down but in an approving way.

“You look really good tonight, like an Adult,” He says with a smirk.

“Thank you,” I mumble as I drunkenly spin, showing him my entire outfit, earning a belly laugh from him.

We walk inside and the guys start to ask questions about the night, obviously defensive since they know if Shawn picked me up something was wrong. Shawn waved them away, silently telling them that now was not the time. He takes me to the bathroom and helps me wash my face, giggling because even in my drunken state, my skin care routine is still the same. As I finished up in the bathroom, Shawn went to my room picking out a huge t-shirt that used to be Jason’s, and a pair of soft shorts. I followed his orders and went to my room and put them on. Shortly after, he came in as I was scrolling through all of the messages from Sam I had gotten. He took the phone out of my hand, quickly reading them and shaking his head in disapproval before setting my phone on my night stand to charge. He sat down at the end of my bed, looking down at the floor.

“Thanks for picking me up.”

“Anytime.”

“Ill figure this out, Shawn,” I whisper, leaning back against my head board.

“I know you will, y/n,” He sighs turning to look at me, “I wish I could do more, I want to fix this for you so badly, but I can’t… I shouldn’t do that for you anymore.”

“I know you shouldn’t.”

“If you need me to though, I will.”

“I know you will.”

He silently laughs, making me smile at him. Our conversations were easy. We used few words, but said exactly what we needed to. He knew that he had to let me make my own mistakes, and I knew I had to fix this on my own. I loved him even more than before for understanding that. I cozied under my blankets and he got up from my bed and disappeared from the room. He came back a few minutes later with water and Tylenol, I sat up to take the pills.

“I am an adult,” I say before swallowing my pills.

He turns around slowly and squints his eyebrows together.

“What are you talking about, weirdo?”

“Earlier, you said I looked like an adult, I am and adult,” I smirk at him, maintaining eye contact as I sip water from my mug, “You’re only two years older than me, ya know.”

He nods his head as he listens to my argument, biting his lip to keep him from laughing at my seriousness.  

“You’re right, You’re definitely an adult.”

“I definitely am,” I agree with him, disappearing into my covers once again. I hear him laughing and I fall asleep just as he tells me good night. I dreamt about the days when I wasn’t an adult, and when I didn’t have to deal with feelings. Unfortunately when I woke up, I had a mess to deal with. I didn’t want to be an adult anymore. 

Taglist: @within-nd-without, @hollymollymomsravioli @peterbrokenparker @alinashawn @allaboutthatdrummer @ilsolee @sweetheartmendes @colourfulraidrops @shawnwyr

Let me know if you would like to be added :)

[agentkgent]

Song Insp. 1 - “Undrunk”

Inspired by “Undrunk” by FLETCHER; Eddie and Richie are in their freshman years at separate colleges, and broken up since high school (Richie didn’t think long distance would work); Anyway, Eddie sees Richie post photos with a cute boy and he gets drunk and he gets voicemail-happy. Enjoy. (Mild sexual content, some profanity, underage drinking, mention of throwing up, but overall pretty tame; Oh, also Pennywise never existed ok thanx)

Cleaned-up and updated version available on AO3

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[Please enter your password.]

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[“Richie Tozier, mothafuckers!” You have. 19. New Voicemails.]

Voicemail 1 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:20 A.M. “Fuck-“ *low thud*

Voicemail 2 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:33 A.M. “Hi fuckface. It’s Eddie Spaghetti ... I fuckin hated that nickname, so it’s PRETTY WEIRD to call myself that, right? ... Like, do you call yourself ‘Trashmouth’? ... *a loud fake “HA!”* ... You probably do, nothing ever fuckin bothers you-”

Voicemail 3 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:43 A.M. “-don’t know why I’m even messing, but I just wanted you to know that this ‘cute little wimpy boy’ as you used to call me is drunk as FUCK right now in a bar full of hot dudes who are all touching me and buying me jello shots and shit-”

Voicemail 4 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:45 A.M. *shuffling noises* “-eriously Bev, FUCK OFF”

“Eddie, give me the phone!”

Voicemail 5 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:50 A.M. “The lovely Beverly Marsh would like me to tell you she says ‘hi’ and that she’s not condoning my bullshit ... but guess what, bitch? I don’t need anyone to condo my bull-” *hiccup* “-shit. Oh no. Oh fuck. How do I get rid of hiccups? BEV-”

Voicemail 6 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:53 A.M. *hiccup* “-ou think you’re the only fuckin person in the universe, you think you’re hot shit. I’m hot shit. I’ve kissed like, A LOT of dudes tonight, how about that?! Okay? They’re all buying me shots and shit and one guy even picked me up. Remember when you did that? Guess what, other guys can do that too! You’re not fucking special-”

Voicemail 7 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:54 A.M. “Richie, it’s Bev ... Hi, I’m sorry we haven’t talked in a while.” *bass rumbles from a song change in the background* “Listen ... I’m sorry about Eddie. He’s upset about something you posted on Instagram earlier today, I didn’t see it, so I don’t know what he’s pissed about. I dunno, it’s none of my business, but he’s just drunk and being stupid. I’ll try to get him to stop calling you ... Um, so, ... I hope you’re doing okay! Like I said, I’m sorry we haven’t, like, talked or anything in a while but I’d love to catch up! Maybe you can come visit NYU sometime? I mean, you can visit me at NYU. I don’t mean-” *a loud, drunk yell* “It’d just be nice to see you, Rich. Text me!”

Voicemail 8 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 1:56 A.M. “Hey dipshit your voicemail system keeps cutting me off, what the fuck?”

Voicemail 9 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 2:18 A.M. *silence* ... *a deep breath* ... *shuffling*

Voicemail 10 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 2:20 A.M. *club music and background noise is gone* *groan* ... “It’s just so fuckin’ easy for you to just MOVE ON, huh? Fucking bullshit. Mr. ‘I Love You But Long Distance Never Works.’ Mr. ‘Oh But This Guys Got Great Hair I’ll Fuck Him.’ He’s ugly, by the way. All the guys you go to school with look fucking ugly online. And you know that I don’t make shit up when I drink tequila, I just get more honest, so those fuckbois are ugly as hell-”

Voicemail 11 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 2:23 A.M. “I guess the best part of living far, far away from you is forgetting what you look like. Are you even still good-looking? You might be ugly, now too.” *quiet shuffling* ... *tapping noises* “I still got the photos you sent me ... I probably should have deleted them, but I guess I figured if I needed to have ammo ready in case you decided to be a dickhead-”

Voicemail 12 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 2:26 A.M. “Fuck... I forgot...” *muffled noises* ... *a deep, throaty breath* “Fuck...”

Voicemail 13 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 2:50 A.M. “Richie, I... I’m sorry ... This just ... Sucks.” *a deep breath* ... *quiet shuffling* “I don’t think it’s worth anything now and I’ve gotta-” *cough*

Voicemail 14 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 3:14 A.M. *clears throat* “...Well, I feel a little bit better after throwing up ... I’m also now realizing some of the horrible shit I’ve said tonight, so if you stopped listening to these voicemails, I’d understand ... But I’m just ... This is really hard. And I saw that photo of that fuckin guy, and you have your arm around him-”

Voicemail 15 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 3:15 A.M. “Dude, seriously, what the fuck is your voicemail’s problem? It keeps cutting me off. I’m trying to open up here.”

Voicemail 16 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 3:28 A.M. *deep breath* “I’m sorry. This is stupid ... Bye, Rich.”

Voicemail 17 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 3:57 A.M. *quiet sob* “I just... I wish I never met you, sometimes.” *sniffle* “Because now I always compare everyone to you ... And you’re gone, we’re done, like I get it. But it just sucks ... I really wish I could just like, ‘un-fuck’ you. You’re all I can think about when I - ... I hate that I miss you so much. I hate that I drank so much and got so fuckin- ugh, god, I kissed strangers.”

Voicemail 18 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 4:01 A.M. “This is gonna be the biggest regret of my fucking life, leaving you 300 voicemails. Please don’t abuse this. I’m not proud of it.”

Voicemail 19 | NOVEMBER 3, 2019 at 4:31 A.M. “Yeah, jus-” *soft thuds* “Just tell him-” *gentle taps* 

“Rich? It’s Bev again. Hey, so. I’m with Eddie now, I’m making sure he gets to bed and doesn’t choke on his own puke. He said he’s really sorry. Um, but yeah, please don’t humiliate him? He’s kind of an emotional mess. Sorry again.” *shuffling noises* “Jesus, Eddie! How many voicemails did you leave him? He’ll probably send the police looking for us-”

[End of messages. To save messages, press-] *beep*

[Messages saved.]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Eddie’s head is pounding as his ears recognize the familiar digital noise ringing next to him. He instinctively picks up his phone and checks his screen.

*Incoming Facetime request from Richie Tozier*

He thinks he might throw up.

*Accept* and the video call connects.

“...Before you say anything, I’m paying for it dearly.” Eddie groans.

His eyes focus on the figure on his screen. It’s obnoxiously close and familiar and makes Eddie ashamed of himself. Richie doesn’t say anything. He just raises his eyebrows and waits for Eddie to say... something?

“And... I’m sorry, Rich.” Eddie rubs sleep from his eyes and feels a strong ache developing in his skull. “I’m an asshole. I’m really sorry. I’ll leave you alone forever now, bye-”

“Eddie!” Richie interrupts ferociously. “You left me. Almost 20 voicemails. What the fuck is your problem? Do you understand that when you leave 20 voicemails for someone, they’re gonna think you’re dead? Or kidnapped? Or trapped under a fallen vending machine, or some shit?!”

“Okay well, if I was kidnapped, it wouldn’t have done me any good. Why didn’t you answer?”

Richie scoffs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Fuck off. First of all, you really think this would go any better if you’d talked to me?”

Eddie swallows. “No.”

“And SECONDLY, I left my phone at Stan’s house. We watched Zombeavers and I had my phone on silent.”

“...What the hell is Zombeavers?”

“Eddie are you fucking serious? Don’t ever fucking do that to me again!” He spits faster than anything Eddie’s heard him say and brushes his curls away from his face. “Thank your lucky stars that Beverly was taking care of you. I talked to her this morning.”

Eddie swipes down on his screen to check the time. 1:01 p.m.

“Goddamn it.” Eddie moans. His head is the swampiest he’s ever felt. Like his brain is sloshing around in alcohol. He gags visibly at the thought.

“Whatever you’re feeling, you deserve ten times worse.”

Eddie wipes his mouth and fidgets with his hair, brushing it away from his increasingly warm face. “Okay, I get it. I’m fucking sorry.” He can feel tears forming behind his eyes. “I’m fucking sorry. I was a drunk idiot. I was a jealous asshole and I need to mind my own fucking business.”

Richie doesn’t respond.

Eddie suspects the conversation is concluding, so he prepares to hang up as fast as he can say ‘goodbye’-

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“What?”

Richie sighs. “The guy in the Instagram photo isn’t my boyfriend, I haven’t hooked up with him or anything. He’s Stan’s roommate. He’s also extremely straight. Like, next level hetero. Annoyingly hetero. I really like making him uncomfortable.”

Well, if Eddie didn’t feel ashamed before, he sure fuckin does now.

“Oh.”

“Yep. So, uh. Nothing to get jealous over, Eds.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “Still? Can you stop?”

Richie’s face twists in disbelief. “You have no room to tell me to stop anything right now.”

“I’m sorry, though. For being jealous.”

Richie pauses. “It’s okay. A lot of the guys I go to school with are pretty ugly.” He leans away from the phone and shouts, “STANLEY INCLUDED!”

Eddie hears an echoed, “FUCK YOUUUU” from a voice somewhere behind Richie, who laughs. Proud of himself.

Eddie tries to smile, but he’s still empty.

“You have plenty of guys to keep you company, sounds like.” Richie says in a less-than-thrilled tone.

“I gave them pecks on the mouth.” Eddie says without looking back at his phone. “They bought me shots and tried to hit on me, but I don’t want to exchange saliva with strangers. I think I exaggerated in the voicemails, though.”

“Well, you always compare them to me, right? To the Trashmouth?”

Eddie’s own words are restored in his memory. “Jesus christ, I-”

“It’s okay, Eds. After my rage subsided and I talked to Bev and figured out that you were okay, I actually admired the honesty.”

Eddie can’t help but laugh mockingly at himself. “Yeah, that’s me. Super honest. To a fault.”

Richie smiles. “Bev and I talked about hanging out next weekend. Got any plans?”

Eddie’s eyebrow twitches and he looks back to his screen. “What?”

“I’m gonna come up next weekend. Bev invited me to stay for a weekend. I’ve never been to New York.” Richie shrugs.

Eddie can’t form words. He almost forgets that Richie can see him right now via digital video. He shouldn’t want to see Richie, but he does. He knows it now. It’s out of his mouth, out there in the universe. Fuck, it’s recorded in digital audio format.

“Are you free?”

“I uh...” Eddie stutters. “Yeah. Yeah, I- I free.”

“You’re still cute as can be, Eds.” Richie’s smile is sickeningly sweet.

Eddie lets a smile show on his face for a half-second, then presses his lips into a firm line. “Don’t call me Eds.”

Richie’s face changes immediately. “Oh! By the way!” He’s wearing a sleazy grin. “You kept photos of me? ...Like, those photos?”

Eddie has to take a moment to remember.

His face immediately goes neon red at the memory of resurfacing sext pictures and dick pics of Richie that they’d shared their senior years at Derry High School. He’d dug them up in his photo stream and... looked... too long at them. He can’t help but slap his own hand across his expression.

“Dude!” Richie laughs and is fixated on Eddie’s reaction. “Are you serious? You kept those? I thought I was an asshole for keeping a photo of you shirtless. You kept pictures of my dick?”

“Ok.” Eddie tries to punctuate the conversation.

“What else? I think I remember sending you my ass a couple times.”

“Alright, Rich. Don’t rub it in. I’m not proud of what I did.”

Richie pauses. “What do you mean ‘what you did?’”

Eddie feels like he might drop dead from self-inflicted humiliation. He doesn’t respond, he tries to think of a deflect.

“Eddie Kaspbrak...” Richie’s breath hitches in his throat. He’s not smiling. “Did you jerk off last night between voicemails?”

“Okay Rich, I’m sorry again about all the voicemails. But we’re good now, right?” Eddie presses.

“EDDIE DID YOU JERK OFF TO PHOTOS OF ME?” Richie yells, giant grin on his face and his eyes going dark. There’s a muffled, “What the fuck?” that comes from Stanley somewhere in the background, and Eddie is going to throw himself into oncoming traffic because certain death is better than the absolute tormenting embarrassment of this situation.

“You’ll figure everything out with Bev and we’ll see you next weekend, yeah?“ Eddie rushes to end the conversation.

“Hey! What the fuck! All I have is a shirtless pic to work off of, you’ve got like, Spielberg angles on my anatomy!” Richie chuckles. “Send me some new material, fucker!”

“Wow. Oh my god. Okay, good to talk to you, Rich.”

“Eddie.” Richie says, softer.

He looks at his screen one more time. “Yeah?”

“Text me next time?”

[staytheb]

Like Oh 2.0 - Concert Day and Pool Party

Previous Chapter: Halfway Around the World Word Count: 2,818 Summary: Serena and Melanie attend GOT7′s Fly in the US tour and get invited to Mark’s private pool party. Should be fun.

Like Oh 2.0 masterlist

honestly, i wasn’t sure if i should have written this or not, but then decided to as it was part of that year. honestly have no idea what really went on, but i tweaked it enough for my own story. anyways... this really happened to be in running into the table while doing the hi touch with the boys lol so anyways, this chapter also gotten shortened from what it was previously and happy with the results. but um, yeah happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

It was concert fan-meeting day for day two and the sisters were excited, but were still apprehensive about surprising the idols during hi-touch. It was because Melanie had found last minute tickets for P2s as she wanted to be closer. The tickets the boys had given them were given to their sister-in-laws to enjoy their first ever K-Pop Concert while seated instead. Anyways, after confirming their spots in the lines outside of The Novo the quartet went to eat. After they got done eating the quartet took a picture for memory before the fan-meeting and would take another one after. They returned to their respective spots and waited.

The lines started moving as one of the staff began to direct them inside the building and the sisters made their way up and hopes that their sister-in-laws would be fine on their own. Once they were atop the building and close to getting inside Serena looked over the railing in hopes of seeing the other two women, but couldn't spot them so easily. "You should've asked one of them to be in pit with you." "Yeah, right. You're my buddy remember." ." Melanie reminded her as she also looked over the railing to the people below. "I know. Anyways, I wonder how the boys are with the kids though."

"Nicholas texted in the group chat that Ethan had ran into Cameron's balls when they were playing baseball." Melanie informed Serena who laughed upon hearing it. "Really? I haven't checked my phone yet." "Yeah. That's what happens when you let those four babysit." Serena nodded in agreement.  Again they waited for the line to move and it slowly started moving forward with everyone going through security which took forever because of this one guy that just had to check every damn little pocket. Serena followed her sister as Melanie spoke loud enough for her sister to hear her. "Do you think we should be on the left side or right side. Because I heard that Mark's usually on the right and JB stays in the center." "You do you. I'm gonna end up at the back, anyways." "Hey, you can't leave me."

"Watch me." Melanie tsked as the duo stood side by side one another in the center, but a bit towards the right side of the stage if you were looking at it. "I'm still surprised about them giving us tickets." Melanie said as Serena took a picture of the screen with their image on them. "Me too. You think they'll be surprised during hi tough?" "Probably." "Too bad you didn't get to see Papa Tuan." "It's okay, but I heard that Mark's friends were rowdy yesterday." "Really? Why?" "Someone mentioned that they drank before coming." "Really?" "Yeah, several fans posted it online and others have been saying the same thing that I've read."

"Wow. Hopefully it's all good today." "Me, too." A moment later the music came on playing Fly and the fans went crazy like always. They sang the verses, but when the rap came out, they went quiet and Serena just found it funny while she mumbled the rap parts to herself and rolled her eyes when the fans sang loud again when the second verse came out. A few more songs played before the lights dimmed and everyone knew it was finally starting. It opened with a dance sequence which everyone thought was GOT7, but were backup dancers as seven other figures appeared alongside the four. They did two more songs before introucing themselves.

An hour later the fan-meeting flew on by. Melanie was in the middle of the pit with fans pushed up against her and Serena had drifted near the back. "Sorry, Lani." She had chuckled upon noticing it as her sister finally joined her when it ended and the MC announced they were about to do the group photo opportunity first and then hi touch. "That was rude. I told you to stand beside me." Melanie glared as Serena smiled. "The fans started pushing. It's annoying." "True." the MC told them to start lining up so that they could get the perks underway while everyone else that didn't have a wristband for either the photo opportunity or hi touch had to leave the building and that no one could take any photos either while it was going on.

They received a text message from Vidia that she and Savannah would be at Fatburger by the time the duo got done. Melanie responded back with an 'okay' and that they would see them there afterwards. While the sisters were waiting they once again grew anxious in doing the hi touch with the idols now that they were friends because before they were just strangers. Serena looked at Melanie. "You go first." "Why?" "Because you've always gone first and I go second since we've been doing this." "Oh, right." The line moved slowly as the staff started to announce people in groups of ten for the photo op part as some fans were eager and others confused.

Soon enough it was hi touch time and the sisters looked at one another anxiously as they got closer. They noticed that the boys looked tired, but were still happy to be there. Youngjae was reported to have gotten sick when they arrived in Texas and he still seemed out of it tonight. "Poor Youngjae." Serena commented as Melanie nodded. "Yeah, but luckily this is the last day." "I know right." Serena spotted how Jinyoung was dressed and couldn't help but comment, "Jinyoung looks so boyfriend material." "I know right. I'm so glad he's first. He looks so good sitting there atop of the table." "True." The line began moving again as Melanie and Serena held out their right hand to make a connection with the idols as they walk by.

For Melanie it was a blur as it went by way too fast as she high-five all the members. She wasn't sure if she had said "thank you" in her head or out loud. She couldn't even remember if she even looked her bias, Mark, in the eye as she found Jaebeom a bit distracting due to him being weird while swaying his hand back and forth. Melanie did noticed Jinyoung had given her the biggest smile upon seeing her while Jackson who was the last one had shot her the friendliest smile and knowing look ever. As for Serena, she said "thank you" in four languages, smiled the biggest at Jinyoung, gave her bias, Jaebeom, a weird look, but Mark had caught her attention the most as he was waiting for his moment.

Serena shot the idol an awkward smile before moving down the line. She gave Jackson a high-five and too distracted with his teasing look she had run into the table near them, and just passed it off while moving on forward to where Melanie was laughing at her. Serena was too embarrassed to turn around to see if any of the boys had notice it. "You're so dumb." "Jackson distracted me." "Sure. Anyways, the two are at Starbucks and were waiting for us to go to Fatburger." "Alright, but when did GOT7's hand become so smooth and soft?" "Dunno, but two seconds is too short to get anything." "True. Luckily we were the first part of the line and they didn't have to rush us." "Yeah, but you're man is weird." "Yeah, but yours didn't give me time to check out JB."

"I just went to be hoenst." "I thought you would have stood there longer with him." "It is what it is." "At least we saw them over the summer." "True." The sisters made their way to Starbucks that was only a minute away, met up with Savannah and Vidia, ordered their drinks, and walked to Fatburger where they would wait for one of the boys to come pick them up to go home after getting something to eat. When they arrived back home it was a complete mess and the males were relieved to have them home. Vidia and Savannah gathered up their kids to put them to sleep with their husbands following suit leaving James and Nicholas to clean up the mess while begging the other two to help, which they all ended up doing before retiring for the night.

~~~~~~~

The next day around ten in the morning Melanie and Serena found themselves in front of Mark's home upon the invite from BamBam about a private pool party with family and friends. "I dunno, Mel." Serena said in a doubtful tone. "No one's going to know us besides GOT7." "I know, Rere, but BamBam kept blowing up my phone to come see them because we didn't come see them yesterday." Melanie explained. "Let's just say hi." "You already rung the doorbell so of course we have to say hi." Serena said as the door opened revealing Mark's older sister, Tammy. "Hello. How may I help you?" Serena looked over at Melanie to talk.

"Hi." Melanie greeted shyly. "We know it's a private pool party, but we're friends with the boys and BamBam invited us over." "Oh. Well, yeah, it's a private thing for family and friends. But-" Serena interrupted Tammy with an awkward smile. "No it's understandable. Sorry for the intrusion. We'll just message the boys later. Sorry once again. Thanks and have a nice day." Serena glanced at her sister and spoke in Lao in a quiet tone. "Yeah, this is like way too awkward." Melanie eyed Serena before facing Tammy again with a genuine smile and switched to English. "Yeah, thank you. Sorry about the intrusion."

Before Tammy could say something a shirtless BamBam appeared. "Melanie. Serena. Hey, you made it!" He greeted to them happily as Tammy cast a glance in his direction before looking over at the two females. "These two mentioned that you invited them." Tammy said with a curious gaze. "Oh yeah, I did." BamBam grinned as he looked over at the sisters. "I hope you don't mind. They live in Seoul, too." Tammy cast them a friendly smile while opening the door further. "No, it's fine. As long as you're okay with it. Come inside." Melanie smiled as Serena still felt unsure about it all as the duo followed the two inside the house with BamBam leading them to the backyard while Tammy stayed inside doing something in the kitchen.

When the trio reached the backyard BamBam announced their presence in a loud voice while Melanie felt it was unnecessary and Serena wanted to escape because Mark's friends were giving the duo weird looks. "Noona!" A shirtless Yugyeom exclaimed excitedly as he clumsily made his way towards the sisters. "Are you okay?" Serena asked in Korean as he nodded. "I'm just happy that the both you are here." He pulled the two females into a very snugly hug. "You're being weird, Yugyeom." Melanie stated with a laugh as Yugyeom pouted. "I'm very happy to see you." He slurred and the sisters wondered if the younger male had drank something.

"Let me get you a drink." Yugyeom led them towards the coolers with BamBam running off somewhere while Serena tried to protest. "It's okay Yugyeom. We're just wanted to say hi." The trio passed by a lot of Mark's friends who shot them looks, but still greeted one another. Papa Tuan noticed the two females when they drew near. "Hello. I'm Raymond, but-" Melanie interrupted him with an eager  face. "Papa Tuan." Papa Tuan chuckled. "Yes, that's me. And you are?" "I'm Melanie." "I'm Serena." The pair greeted back as Yugyeom returned while handing them a can of soda. "Thanks." "You're welcome."

A shirtless Mark appeared with BamBam in tow. "Hey, guys. Thanks for coming over." He smiled at the sisters as his eyes seemed to twinkle upon seeing Serena, but she brushed it off as she instead thought about her sister probably enjoying the eye candy before them. "Yeah, of course." Serena feigned a smile as Melanie grinned wider, but seeing the shirtless Mark wasn't as exciting as she thought it would be now that she saw it in person. "I finally got the chance to see your home." "Do you want a tour?" "Yeah!" "No." Melanie agreed while Serena declined as she shot her sister a look as Melanie wriggled her eyebrows playfully. "Well, I'm just gonna go and-" Serena backed away as she talked, but didn't noticed BamBam's mischievous look as she suddenly felt herself being pushed in to the pool.

Serena was unprepared as she tried to reach out for BamBam, but missed and fell backward in to the water. She emerged a few seconds later while moving towards the edge as everyone was laughing at the incident. "You okay?" Melanie asked as Serena nodded while lifting herself out of the pool and standing up with an annoyed look. "Peachy." She muttered. "Super peachy." Luckily Serena was wearing a bathing suit underneath as the two were supposed to meet the others at the beach this morning, but took a little detour due to Melanie.

Serena took off her wet shirt and swim trunks surprising everybody, but her sister. "You do know that the boys have all of the towels, right?" "Damn, I thought you brought one." "I only brought the sunscreen they forgot." "Shit." Serena squeezed out the excess water from her clothing while everyone was checking out the tattoos on her body now that she was only in a two piece swimsuit. "How many tattoos do you have?" Both Yugyeom and BamBam asked as Melanie answered for Serena instead knowing how Serena would respond.

"She has four in total." Melanie then maneuvered her sister around to show off the tattoos on Serena's upper back, lower left stomach, upper right side ribcage, and her upper right thigh like she was on display. "Wow, you've never mentioned those." Mark remarked as Serena turned to face him. "Because you never asked if I had any." Mark rolled his eyes, but was curious about one of them. "Is that one missing a piece or a part of another one?" "Oh, yeah. My friend and I got them like a best friend tattoo sort of thing. She has 'and beyond' while I have this one."

Yugyeom returned shortly after with a towel in hand for Serena to use. "Thanks, Yugi." "Welcome, noona." Yugyeom smiled at her with that eye-smiled of his. "Do you need clothes or anything?" Mark asked a second later. "It's fine." Serena dismissed his offer. "We were gonna go to Hermosa Beach with the others later." "So where are the other four?" Melanie asked while looking around for the others. "Jackson's inside with my mom. The other three are back at the hotel." Mark explained as Melanie frowned a bit disappointed. "Aww, how come?"

"They weren't in the mood. Also Youngjae's still feeling unwell." BamBam answered. "Aww, that sucks." Serena said while securely wrapping the towel around her. "Poor baby." She caught Mark's curious gaze which gave her a funny feeling and she diverted her attention elsewhere towards her sister. "Hey, let's go. The boys must be wondering why we're not at the beach by now." Melanie laughed at the thought. "Oh, true." She looked at the others. "Well, we gotta get going." "So soon?" The younger males pouted. "Yeah. Tell the others we said hi."

"It was nice meeting you." The girls said to Mark's dad as he smiled at the duo. "It was finally great to meet you in person, Papa Tuan." "It was nice meeting the both of you, too." Papa Tuan smiled. "Alright, later." Serena dismissed and before she or Melanie could rush off Jackson finally appeared with items for Papa Tuan to grill. "Here you go, uncle." Jackson spoke in Chinese before spotting the sisters with a surprise look that turned into one of happiness. "Hohoho, hello ladies." He greeted them while pulling them in for an unexpected hug. "No one told me you guys were gonna be here." He glared at his group members before softening upon returning to the sisters, especially towards Serena. "Went for a swim I see, but are you okay, Serena?" "Um, yeah. Why?"

"Because yesterday during the hi touch you ran into the table." He repeated with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" "Oh, yeah. I'm totally fine." Serena dismissed with an embarrassed laugh. "I'm just clumsy." "No she wasn't, Jackson." Melanie disagreed with a playful look. "You just made her flustered." "Oh really?" Jackson leaned closer with that playful look of his. "Did I? Hmm?" Serena pushed him away while answering with a straight face. "No. Anyways, let's go, Lani." "Yeah, yeah, Lina, I know. Bye everyone." She waved around as she and her sister made their way back inside the house also waving goodbye to the others and out the door with Mark accompanying them out.

[thestoryofme13]

Chapter 6: Juggling Gets Too Hard

Summary:  Tension at home hits its breaking point when Virgil can't separate work and home.

Pairing: Analogical

Warnings:  Argument, Swearing, Misunderstanding, Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, Therapy Mention

Virgil sighed as he drove home, while he loved his job and he wouldn’t trade it for the world sometimes it was tiring to be helping so many different people. The call center he worked for tried their best to make sure one worker wasn’t getting significantly more phone calls than the other. Maybe it was something he was doing differently that was wearing him out.

It had been about three weeks since he’d talked to that stranger on the phone whose story was remarkably similar to Logan’s and yet somehow Virgil related to him. It was as if this stranger, Patton, had managed to intertwine the hell Logan and Virgil went through in high school. That had to have something to do with the reason he gave out his phone number even though it was against the rules and it gave him anxiety. In some way, this felt like he was making up for not being there for Logan when he was suffering through a horrible relationship but also he was showing someone the kindness that he had in high school. He may not remember the name of the boy who was slightly older than him who gave him some shred of hope but he would remember how much it meant that someone offered to help, especially a stranger who had nothing to gain.

Once in the parking lot, he breathed a sigh of relief neither he nor Logan had to get up tomorrow so he could just relax. Virgil smiled to himself as grabbed his phone and walked into the complex, very thankful that they lived on the first floor. He wasn’t at all surprised that Logan was still awake especially after having sent him their signal that it had been a hard day. He shuffled over to the couch and sat next to his boyfriend.

Logan smiled feeling the couch dip and set his book down in favor of paying attention to Virgil, “We both already know it was a hard day. Would you like to talk about it?”

Virgil huffed, “I dunno….I’m not working more than I have in the past but---.” His sentence was interrupted by his phone chiming and he grabbed at it opening the message from Patton then replied.

“Virgil, are you going to finish your statement?” Logan asked, biting back the intrusive thought that said his boyfriend had someone better to talk to and help.

Virgil smiled as he sent another reply not having heard Logan. Patton had sent him a gif that made him chuckle, so he responded with a cute cat gif.

Logan sighed, looking over at Virgil this had been going on for a week now...It was starting to hurt that this was their life. He’d always enjoyed talking to Virgil whether it be about their day, weather, just random nonsense. It was nice to enjoy someone’s company as much as he did with Virgil and it was fulfilling in so many ways that he hadn’t known a relationship could be. He looked away for a moment and then back at Virgil finding him still texting, “V, I am trying here. I can’t help you if you refuse to talk to me…” He said quietly, still trying to bite back his emotion but the tiredness showing through.

Virgil heard Logan’s tone and looked up at his boyfriend blinking as he tried to decipher what the other had said, then heard his phone go off and grabbed at it, opening the new message.

Logan bit his cheek and narrowed his eyes, “You have not put that phone down for more than five minutes aside to sleep or shower.”

Virgil shrugged, “Just talkin to someone….”

Logan scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Yes I can see that.” He took a deep breath trying to calm down, “But we were talking, Virgil.”

Virgil turned on the spot to look at Logan, putting his phone down in the process for the first time in a while, “What are you insinuating, Logan?”

“As if you don’t know.” Logan said with a wave of his hand, “I can see the way your eyes light up when you’re talking to that person and the way you can barely be parted from your phone…” He sighed sadly, “Just don’t lead me on anymore...if you want to break up then just fucking doing it Virgil.”

Virgil jumped from his seat, seething as he glared at his boyfriend, “You know what Logan? That was a low blow and I am not dealing with this or you right now.”

Logan watched as Virgil stormed out of the apartment, grimacing and flinching when he heard the door slam.

This was the right choice and if Virgil kept repeating that in his head maybe he would believe it but for right now it fucking sucked. How could he think I would cheat or prefer someone else over him. I’m just trying to help this struggling person. Why can’t he see that?

Virgil scuffed at the concrete only now thankful that he hadn’t bothered taking his shoes off when he got home. He felt his phone vibrate Logan’s signature and looked at the screen seeing a photo of his boyfriend laughing so hard his head was tipped back. He weighed his options eventually settling on declining the phone call.

He heard his phone go off but not Logan’s signature so he looked down at the phone and smiled at the screen it was Patton.

Patton: We talk about me enough. How are you?

Virgil rolled his eyes at that message. Patton shouldn’t feel the need to check on him. He sure as hell wasn’t going, to be honest. He was supposed to be helping Patton not the other way around so he lied.

Virgil: I’m alright. Just winding down from my shift.

The pair of them texted until Patton said he had to go to bed and Virgil realized he’d been out walking for two hours. He took a deep breath and made his way back to the apartment, the couple missed calls from Logan didn’t go unnoticed. While the fact that he had ignored them made his anxiety flare up he had to trust that they would talk it out like they always did.

Virgil pushed in the door to their apartment and saw Logan, “Jesus Christ, Lo.” He said as he jumped, not realizing his boyfriend would still be up but secretly thankful he was since sleep would evade him until they resolved everything.

Logan offered an apologetic smile, “I didn’t mean to scare you...I was worried but I knew you needed the time but I needed to know you’d make it back home.” He said softly. He swallowed hard, looking at the floor and then back up at his boyfriend, “I’m sorry for what I said earlier...I know I was out of line but you haven’t put your phone down for a week.” He whispered, looking back at the floor, “I know your job is important to you and you want to help everyone but what about us.”

The man standing in the doorway sighed and kicked off his shoes, moving to the arm of the couch and seeing the faintest hint of a smirk on his boyfriend’s lips, “I’m still mad….It feels like you don’t trust me.” He said softly, putting his feet under Logan.

Logan shook his head, “I do trust you...I’m just terrified that you’re going to wake up one day and realize that you deserve much better. Which is stupid and we both know that’s not how love works but sometimes our brain can manipulate the reality we know because of our insecurities.”

Virgil sighed softly and reached out to interlace his fingers with Logan’s, “You are all I’ve ever wanted, Lo.” He looked over at his phone and then back at Logan, “I know I’ve been bringing my work home with me.”

“The fact that you can realize that makes me feel better.” Logan said, a soft smile playing on his lips as he pulled Virgil into his lap, “I know you can’t talk about whatever is happening...but if whoever you are helping is requiring this much attention then maybe they should see a professional.” He said quietly, a hand carding through Virgil’s blonde hair, “I know you are studying to become that professional but you aren’t there yet….so please give them the advice to seek out a professional.”

Virgil smiled, feeling some tension ease out of his shoulders and his brain slow even though part of him still wanted to panic. It was all going to be okay. He kissed Logan’s temple and shot Patton a text to talk tomorrow, “I will suggest it to him….” He sighed, “Did you want to go to therapy that first time.”

Logan chuckled, shaking his head, “No I did not. Remember when we told my mother?” Virgil nodded and he continued, “once she knew, at least what I was willing to say, she thought it best I seek help from a professional.” He smiled sadly, “Of course, we both know my mother is not dumb and knew there were things about my relationship I left out. But she trusted that I would tell this professional and if anything was a serious threat then she’d be notified.”

Virgil nodded, the conversation with Logan’s mom had been difficult but they all knew therapy would be the safest avenue and even though Logan fought them both on it, he did eventually give in, “I’ll do my best with the person I’m talking to...I want to help them.”

“You want to help everyone but the fact of the matter is they may not realize they need something more than peer to peer counseling...and while it is not your duty to coddle them or tell them what to do, suggesting to them that a true professional might be better and giving them resources might be how you help them best,” Logan said softly, as he felt Virgil relax further and nearly fall asleep in his lap. He sighed and smiled at his boyfriend, kissing his temple and holding him.

Saving Me Taglist:

@fandomsandanythingelse @nyxwordsmith @michealawithana @fanfictionsideaccount @bubblycricket @moose-1967 @electricdaisycat @coffeestudylive @milomeepit @areyousirius-noheisdead @dragonangel-funandfire @leesacrakon

@sunshine-goblin @ilovemygaydad @thisrandomperson102​ @kittenclever 

[brightlightsfanfiction-blog]

Secret Identity | Jared Leto + Reader | Part 2

Prompt: Flirting between Y/N and “Jay” starts to get more serious, and he starts to get more secretive. He prefers to talk about her, instead of himself, and it makes her wary.  Notes: May dabble some with Jareds POV in this. I really enjoy writing this, amd it’s fun to be a bit of a mystery. I haven’t decided when to have them meet, or how, so if you guys have any ideas, let me know!  Warnings: PG-13 for swearing in some chapters.

Part 1

Letoislove sent you a picture.

The notif came in a good few hours after you’d sent your last message to Jay. Your heart skipped a beat, and you hoped he wasn’t being cruel about sending you a different picture after how your conversation ended.

But as it loaded, you saw he wasn’t. It was Jared and a cute boy outside somewhere. You weren’t sure which part to focus on first - that he had met Jared (you only wished you had) or the fact he was a pretty cute kid. Okay, he didn’t actually look like a “kid”, he looked like he was probably in his 20s, but the emo-ish vibe a lot of their fans had given him that cute kid kinda look. You didn’t mind that he’d been the one flirting with you.

Withtheecehlon: You’re sooo cute! <3 Also lowkey jealous you got to meet Jared. Closest I’ve gotten is being really close to the stage.  Letoislove: It was taken at Camp Mars. Super great experience overall.  Withtheechelon: Ugh. Lucky! I want to go, so bad.  Letoislove: You should sometime =) It’s a bunch of fun. I know it’s expensive but so worth it.  Withtheechelon: I’m working on trying to save up, but stuff keeps coming up. It sucks cause I don’t live terribly far from there either, so it’s not like I’d have to fly. I could drive up, leave my car at a friends house and Uber over to avoid the parking pass.  Letoislove: I hope you can go sometime. You’d love it.

Jared’s POV

Jared hadn’t intended for this to happen. He’d made the fan account on a whim so he could talk to other fans without the massive amounts of messages or backlash that would come from him only talking to certain people. He tried to at least keep up with liking people’s comments on his own Instagram, but even that was a lot. Here, he could talk to people in small numbers, with anonymity. He found a lot of pages and picked some of the best and most active (and passionate) to follow. He was following about a hundred and tried to keep up with his own posts, just sharing stuff he had on his phone.  

He’d messaged a few different accounts, complimenting them, hoping to gain a few followers and start a few conversations. One stuck out to him. The feed was beautiful and looked like there was an artist behind it. It also posted daily. They started talking and he learned her name was y/n. He could be a bit of a flirt at times, and that was only amped up when he saw just how gorgeous she was, and the more they talked. She was passionate about how she spoke and her story behind getting into Mars and the things it got her through was beautiful. 

During the “Munday”, he wasn’t entirely sure what to do. He’d had the account for a week, and wasn’t really thinking about coming out about who he was - if he ever did. But when y/n asked, it was hard to say no. And it would really be fishy if he wouldn’t talk about himself, and wouldn’t send messages. He tried to avoid lying to her (and anyone he talked to), but just avoided certain truths or bent them. 

Shannon had called him back to the studio before he could decide, and he told her he’d think about it. 

Another act of bending the truth came to mind while he was in the studio; he looked through an album they had from Camp Mars and found one of him with a young male fan. He seemed attractive enough, and he was sending her a picture of himself. Just wasn’t specifying which person in the photo he was. His response was vague as well, as she called the kid she assumed next to him cute and expressed jealousy at “meeting Jared.” Oh, if she only knew... It was at Camp Mars. That wasn’t a lie either. He was able to change the subject, shifting it to her desire to go to Camp Mars. If the tickets weren’t as high of a price as they were (an unfortunate necessity for everything they offered), he would have considered offering to get her one; obviously, it wasn’t an issue on his edge, he could get her a ticket easily, but from her end it would look like he was dropping a lot on a girl he hadn’t met. Instead, he just sent her words of encouragement and told her not to give up on dreaming.

A notif dinged on his phone. “Would it be weird if I asked you about switching to text?” It was a message from Y/N. 

He considered that. She didn’t know who she was talking to, and it’s not like his number would give him away, just that he was in LA. She said she was near Mars, but it was far enough from the campsite of Camp Mars that she’d have to leave her car at a friend’s and uber over. Yeah, that meant she had a friend in the area. Fuck, he needed to stop overthinking things.

“Sure. What’s your number?” He responded real quick. It would be nice not to have to worry about her notifs getting buried under all the notifs from his other two Instagram pages; he usually had to have the fan accounts DMs open, or her specific message open. 

She sent back a number, and he copied it, putting it in his phone and send her a text. “Hi, beautiful.” Unless she’d just given her number to fifty different people, she’d know who it was. 

Shannon came into the living room, “hey, we’ve got a meeting to get to,” he told him. Jared nodded and got up, checking his phone when he felt it buzz. 

“Hey =) LA, Huh? So guess that cut some expenses for you for Camp Mars too.” Well... it wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Yep. City of Angels ;P” He was well aware his jokes could be terribly cheesy at times, usually reserved for special people close to him, but he felt he could be open with her.

Buzz. “Well I know that I’m talking to an angel right now <3″ Yeah, she could be a flirt at times too. 

He chuckled softly, alerting Shannon he was involved with his phone for more than business. “Who’s got you all smiley?” he asked as he drove them to their meeting. 

Jared shook his head as he sent a text back, “I promise you, princess, I’m no angel.” He glanced up at Shannon. “Just reading comments.” 

“Mmmhmmm. Then why’s your text open?” he remarked. Damn Shannon and his sunglasses. He could never tell where his brother’s eyes were. And he knew Shannon liked it that way.

“You’ll think I’m insane,” he answered, looking over at him. 

Shannon scoffed. 

Buzz. “Angels are boring anyway :P” He bit back another laugh. 

“Uh, you’re like 40 years too late if you’re trying to prevent me from thinking that, my brother,” he said, turning his attention over as they stopped at a light.

He let out a small sigh, sending you a text first. “If they look like you, they’re *far* from boring.” They were close to the meeting point, so he sent a second as well. “Work calls. Text you later <3″ He set his phone aside, giving Shannon more of his attention. 

“I was looking through comments one day and I came up with the idea to create a “fan account” for the band. It’s all hidden identity, so no one knows who’s behind it. It’s a way to be able to talk to the Echelon, be there, and learn about them without being bombarded with shit on the band account or mine.” He saw Shannon’s eyebrows perk up from under his glasses. “I started talking to one girl, and she’s kinda amazing. Really well spoken, looks at life in a really interesting perspective, we can have little superficial cheesy conversations or really deep ones. She’s super artistic and passionate too, and gorgeous.” 

Shannon had turned back to the road as the light turned green. “Does she know it’s you?” he asked. 

“Nope. I avoid certain truths to be able to dodge her figuring it out.” 

His head turned in a way that told him that he was glancing over. “You don’t think that’ll get weird after a while? Not being able to send pictures or video chat? Maybe not even being able to talk on the phone, depending on how confident you are in your voice acting --”

“I think my different voices are pretty good,” Jared interrupted. 

“Okay, so you can do phone calls. But still puts you at kinda a standing point. One day she’s gonna wanna meet, or video chat. If you’re texting, I assume she’s somewhere in the US, so that only makes it more likely. It’s only a matter of time, man,” he pulled up to park. 

“She’s somewhere in California,” Jared admitted, grabbing his phone and anything else he needed before jumping out. “I dunno, maybe sometime it’d be nice to meet her. I mean, it’s not like dating other fans where it’s a concern if they have ulterior motives or preconceived notions of who I am. She can get to know me as a person before she actually knows who I am.” 

“Just be careful. Don’t want this blowing up in your face. The idea of the Instagram is a nice one, so long as you’re cautious,” Shannon said as they went inside.

“I know.” It was the end of the conversation for now. He checked his phone once more to see if you’d replied and you had “I’ll be thinking of you” with a few kissy face emojis.

Your POV 

Texting felt easier. It was also a surefire way to know if it was him or not, hearing the ringtone you’d set for him everytime he texted. Things were flirtier, and you were a little more into the idea that he was close. It was only about an hour away from LA, though you weren’t sure where exactly in LA. The map that had come up when you looked up the 310 area code covered a large area, and you just knew it was West LA, mostly in Los Angeles County and some of Orange County. 

You were doing some work when your phone chimed an hour later. “I may be free for the night. Now time for exploring one of LA’s many vegan restaurants.” He’d confessed to being vegan like Jared but said it was prior to getting into the band. You thought it was really cool and respectable since he wasn’t one of those “you’re going to hell for eating meat” vegans. 

“I’d love to check some out next time I’m in LA if you have any recommendations. Or maybe you can show me some...” you hinted.

There was a pause, but it was entirely possible he was driving. “Maybe” was all he said. Okay, was he being short cause he didn’t want to meet, or because he was driving like you thought?

“Though I might be sated by a video chat or phone call :p” you teased. He was so secretive about details of his life, and you tried to nudge him out of that. He acted plenty interested unless he was just a flirt. That made you feel a pang in your heart. No, it hadn’t been long, but you had really nice conversations. He had no problem talking about life with you, so long as it wasn’t his life. You’d text for hours about politics, or wildlife, or various other deep topics, but he was shy about talking about his job, or his home life. 

“Maybe one day :P” he teased back. 

That made you frown a little. “You know, I can’t figure out if you’re just super shy, or if you’re really like some 60-year-old dude who likes Mars and younger girls.” It was half teasing, and half serious. 

“I’m not a sixty-year-old guy, I promise,” well that text came quicker than the others.

“You’re under 50, right?” you confirmed. He’d sent a photo, but there were so many online, that didn’t mean anything.

“For a few more years,” he replied again, with a variety of laughing/tongue out emojis to show he was still goofing off.

You thought, trying to figure out other reasons he couldn’t talk on the phone (since he hadn’t confirmed the shy thing.) Another idea came to your head. “You are over 18? I think that’s a requirement for Camp Mars, anyway. And that’d be a lot of money for a teenager to spend too.” 

He sent a laughing emoji at the start of his text. “Yes. I’m not a teenager, over 18, and I’ll even say I’m over 21 if that makes you feel better. Don’t want you getting the wrong idea thinking you’re talking to a pre-teen.”

You rolled your eyes and sent an emoji to show as much. “You’d be a really mature pre-teen. Well. Sometimes.” 

““Sometimes”” he quoted the end of your text. “Yeah, probably accurate...”  He confessed.

You pondered it more as you did some work (him being used to replies getting slow at times.) After a few minutes, you picked up your phone again. “If you’re a girl, that’s okay too. I know some people are shy about their sexuality. Especially if they’re not out. I’m bisexual so it wouldn’t change anything.” You sent a follow-up text. “Or trans.” You really liked him and wanted him (or her?) to be comfortable with you. No matter what, he was someone who made you smile, feel cared about, and you had really nice conversations with. 

Your phone chimed with his ringtone and you looked at it. “Born a guy, and have identified as one for all 21+ years of my life, and don’t think that’s gonna change,” he confirmed. The breath of relief that followed wasn’t one that came from being genuinely worried Jay was a girl or trans, it was more about being worried that you were being lied to.

“Well, that makes me stumped on why you wouldn’t do a phone call then since you didn’t agree with the shy thing, Doesn’t have to be a video call.” 

There was another pause between the texts. “How about one tomorrow?” he responded.

You smiled, feeling satisfied with that. “Sounds perfect.” 

He responded a few minutes later. “I can call you after work? Normally about 8 or so?” 

“I’m off tomorrow, so any time is fine =)”

The rest of the night was spent talking about various other things. Things you wanted to see in LA, places he liked to go, Camp Mars had come back up and you discussed that he told you stories. When it started to get late, he said his goodnights and said he’d be dreaming of you.

Meanwhile he was also thinking he was in way over his head. 

[5hfanfiction]

Snapchat Streaks

Camila was starting to worry. Why wasn’t Lauren replying? She was opening everything Camila sent her. And this was very important! It was the fruit of two years and a half work. And it could all go down the drain in three hours if Lauren didn’t reply!

Even if it was for fun, Snapchat also needed consistency. You had to send snaps everyday or you would lose your streaks with your friends. Friends! They were important too. The app made you remember them at least once a day and send them at least a funny picture of you or what you were doing.

And Camila was more important than that! After all Lauren and her weren’t just friends. No, they were girlfriends. And that put Camila on top, she was more important than anything and anyone else. So why wasn’t Lauren sending her a snap?!

After staring at the seemingly laughing at her hourglass for a few more moments, Camila reached the conclusion it was time for a call. Soon she was holding her phone to her ear, listening to the sound it made whilecalling Lauren.

“Hey babe.” The green-eyed finally picked up. “What’s up?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you what’s up. Why aren’t you answering me on Snapchat? We’ll lose our streak in a few hours.” Camila said slightly annoyed.

“Sorry, Camz. I’m busy with the girls right now.” Lauren answered sheepishly. The Cuban girl could just picture her - looking forward with bored face, shrugging her shoulders even though she knew Camila couldn’t see her. “You know, rehearsing for our concerts and all.”

“Then why are you on your phone, opening every photo and video I send you?” The brown-eyed girl huffed.

“We have breaks from time to time. The fans won’t be happy if we die of exhaustion.” Lauren chuckled quietly. Camila rolled her eyes but still smiled. Yeah, she knew how much the girls worked to make their Harmonizers happy.

“Okay, okay. Just send something on Snapchat, photo or whatever you want. Or we’ll lose our streak and I’ll kill you.” Camila tried to sound angry but failed miserably. Then she got another idea, making her voice go lower and more suggestive. “You’re rehearsing right now, huh? You know, you can send me a photo of you in this big mirrors on the walls. Like, posing or slightly leaning on the bar next to the mirror. All sweaty with tousled hair. Just like when we’re in bed and I’m…”

“Sorry Camz, breaks over, I have to head back. I’ll send you a snap soon, I promise.” And just like that Lauren ended the call in the middle of Camila’s idea for a (very sexy) photo. The brown-eyed stared at her phone for a few moments before huffing angrily and tossing it aside.

That was going to be a long afternoon. She didn’t know what to do, radio interviews and promoting were over for today and she had till tomorrow to rest. But Camila wasn’t tired, she just wanted to talk with her girlfriend, or better - actually spend time with her. And they weren’t even in the same state. So Camila just plopped face first on her bed in the yet another hotel room and yelled into her pillow.

~~~

Snapchat has been there for quite some time now. But Camila finally managed to get Lauren to send her photos there daily just over two years ago. The younger girl knew her girlfriend wasn’t big on social media. But she also knew her girlfriend loved taking pictures of anything she saw or liked. And that was her main argument when she was trying to persuade Lauren to use the app more often.

And while Camila send goofy photos of herself almost always, Lauren send pictures of beautiful flowers or nice scenery from her hotel room or a beach she went to. Or when they were spending time together Camila often received snaps of herself. When she asked Lauren about them, the green-eyed would say that she looked beautiful in this light, or that her eyes were shining really bright, or that the background just asked for a nice picture. But Camila always knew, Lauren was just always looking at her, admiring her.

(And once, when she got to Lauren’s phone when it was unlocked, Camila saw all photos of herself from Snapchat saved on it. Just another proof. Not that she needed it but… yeah.)

In time, little by little, Lauren started sending goofy pictures of herself or the girls, using different filters or just doing something funny. Then, one night, when the girls had all gone to their homes for some holiday, Camila received a… more compromising photo of Lauren. And she received it in the middle of a family dinner. Her parents weren’t very happy when she nearly jumped out of her chair from the surprise, hitting the table in the process, making everything on it tremble.

Needless to say Lauren wasn’t laughing for long when Camila visited her house with some stupid excuse for in front of their parents. Oh no, Lauren was trying (and failing) to keep quiet that night.

Since then the two girls exchanged all kinds of photos and videos on the app. Yeah, sometimes the distance was getting to them and the snaps they sent and received were only for their eyes. But other times it was just normal photos or Camila trying to make jokes with the filters and stickers. And it had been going on for so long.

But now, thanks to Lauren, it could all come to an end. There were less than two hours now. At this point she could just send anything, from a fuzzy picture to just the floor or ceiling, or just black screen. Anything!

Camila was seriously starting to panic. Maybe she should call her girlfriend again? No, better not disrupt FIfth Harmony’s rehearsal. So the brown-eyed girl decided to just spam Lauren’s phone with text messages. Since she had nothing better to do, Camila started writing whole essays about how her day had passed, what she has done recently, how bored she was right now, how she wished her girlfriend was there with her. Of course the two girls talked on the phone every day but Camila didn’t think Lauren would mind hearing, or more like reading about it again. At least the younger girl wasted a few minutes typing on her phone.

Suddenly a notification from Snapchat popped at the top of her phone screen. Camila’s eyes wided as she sat up quickly. But unfortunately the photo that she had received was from her sister Sofi. Not that it was bad that her sister was sending her photos, oh no. Camila loved her sister and cherished every photo she received from her. After all she didn’t see her much lately. So social media, phone calls and news from their mother were the only ways to keep in touch and catch up. And the brown-eyed girl had recently managed to get her sister into the app too with the argument that they could send funny pictures to one another there.

So Camila was happy she got a snap from her sister and immediately sent her one back. But then she saw the sand clock next to Lauren’s name and her mood plumed down again. She sent one snap to the green-eyed, looking sad at the camera, pouting, she then added a few sad emojis and tears, just for a good measure.

A few seconds later came another snap from Sofi, this time a video. The two girls wasted fifteen minutes fooling around before Camila called her sister to talk with her properly.

~~~

Less than half an hour now. It was time for drastic measures. Camila dialed Dinah’s number.

“Hey, Chancho! What’s up?” Came the Polynesian’s voice after two rings.

“Depends if you’re inside or outside. Either the ceiling or the sky.” The brown-eyed said. This time though, her joke lacked the girl’s normally cheery and fun voice.

“No, Mila, you’re not funny. Stop trying.” Dinah said back. Camila was sure she was rolling her eyes.

“Lauren always laughs.” The Cuban proudly stated while smirking.

“That’s only because she’s whipped for you, girl. I don’t see anyone else laughing. Ever.” Dinah sassed back.

“Only because you stupid people don’t understand good humor.” But before Dinah could say something, Camila continued. “Anyway, speaking of Lauren, where is she? What is she doing?”

Dinah huffed. “She’s your girlfriend, you should know the answers to these questions.”

“When I called her earlier she said you were rehearsing but I don’t know about now. Are you still busy?” Camila asked while chewing on her lip.

There was silence for a moment. Dinah delayed her answer. “Oh yeah. Right. We were rehearsing earlier.” She technically repeated Camila’s words.

“I know, DJ. That’s what I said.” Now it was the brown-eyed’s turn to let out a sigh.

“With that attitude I won’t tell you anything, young lady.” Dinah suddenly sounded angry but Camila knew she was joking around.

“Please, Dinah! I need to know. It’s very important!” Camila really sounded desperate.

“What happened? Someone’s between life and death?” Dinah asked curious.

“Something like it…” The brown-eyed mumbled.

Now Dinah was worried.“What’s wrong, Chancho?”

“Lauren isn’t replying to my snaps on Snapchat. We’re going to lose our streak.” Camila nearly whined.

There was silence coming from the other end of the conversation again. Then a bomb went off. “What?! Are you serious right now? That’s your important thing?! Oh my God, Camila!” Then the anger in Dinah’s voice was gone and she started laughing, clutching her stomach with her free hand.

“It is serious, Dinah!” Camila yelled into her phone. “This is two years worth of daily dedication. Come on!”

The brown-eyed could still hear her best friend giggling. But at least the younger girl had calmed down. “Okay, okay. Um… We finished rehearsing nearly an hour ago. And… Oh yeah, and as soon as she was free, Lauren yelled she had something to do and ran out. Dunno where she went. Sorry, Mila.” Dinah said with weird, emotionless voice. Then she added out of nowhere. “Normani is calling me. I’ll go now. Bye, Chancho.”

Camila stood frozen, confused, for a few seconds before responding. “Uh, yeah, of course, go. Tell Mani and Ally I say hi. Bye, Cheechee.” And just like that the call was over.

Something weird was going on.

Well, whatever it was it wasn’t more important than Lauren and Camila’s Snapchat streak. Which was over now. When the brown-eyed opened the app to check if she had miraculously missed a notification from Lauren, she saw it. The hourglass was finally gone. But so were the fire emoji and the number that showed how many days the streak had survived. It had all ended, they had run out of time.

Camila didn’t know whether to feel angry or sad. She wanted to cry, this was something big to her, even if some might think of it as childish game. But she also wanted to smack Lauren. Hard. Her girlfriend knew how important this was to the brown-eyed, she knew she had to keep it up. Was it so hard to send one photo? It didn’t even need to be something specific, she could send anything just to keep the streak going!

Camila lied down on her hotel bed again. She didn’t have anything to distract herself now. She was alone. Her mother had gone home for a while and Roger was busy arranging more interviews and shows. So the brown-eyed couldn’t talk with them right now. Camila knew she was being stupid. She’d been in this position before. She could just watch tv or listen to music. Or play on her guitar and write. But she wasn’t in the mood. The Cuban girl just wanted to talk with someone, spend time like a normal human being, talk about topics people her age talked about. Not only scheduled interviews with the same old, boring questions. But most of all, right now, Camila wanted Lauren…

The brown-eyed went under her covers, not thinking about changing her clothes. She curled into a ball and silently cried until exhaustion overtook her.

~~~

Camila woke up with a jolt. Something had woken her up. But what?

The girl looked around confused. She found her phone and checked it for notifications. Nothing. And it was on silent anyway. So what was it?

Then she heard it. Knocking at her hotel room door.

Camila didn’t remember that she cried before she fell asleep so she didn’t think of washing her face. She just assumed that her hair was messy and maybe she had drool around her mouth. Whatever, the only possible person that could be at her door had seen her like that million times. After all, Roger had seen her in her best and worse times, the latter including waking up in the morning.

But there was another person who had seen Camila in the morning and she was standing at the girl’s hotel door. As soon as she opened the entrance to her room, Camila stood frozen in surprise. There was Lauren, smiling brightly, holding bag filled with junk food. But the green-eyed’s face soon frowned.

“Camz, what’s wrong?” She stepped into the room, closer to her girlfriend and inspected her face. Then she pulled back in shock and horror. “Have you been crying?” She asked worriedly.

Camila was still just standing there, staring at her girlfriend. Was she still dreaming? “What? Uh…” The brown-eyed wiped around her mouth with her sleeve. Then suddenly she released who was in front of her straightened up, trying to fix her hair and clothes.

Lauren chuckled but still looked worried. She grabbed at Camila’s wandering hands. “Leave it, Camz. You’re beautiful as always.” She complimented with a small smile but her eyebrows were still scrunched up. “What happened? Why were you sad?” She tried asking again.

“Oh…” Camila looked down guiltily, remembering the earlier events. “It was nothing.” She mumbled quietly.

“It’s not nothing if it’s making you sad, Camz. It’s very important. Tell me.” Lauren took one of Camila’s hands and let them to the bed in the middle of the room, where they sat down. Then Lauren’s eyes widened. “Shit! Snapchat!” And the green-eyed proceeded to quickly put the bag of chips and chocolates on the floor and scramble to get her phone out of her pocket. When she opened the yellow app her mouth formed an ‘O’. Now it was her turn to look guiltily at Camila. “Sorry, Camz. I thought I had more time. I just wanted to surprise you. I know how important this is to you. Um… isn’t there a way to get it back? Like… I don’t know… Sorry, Camz.” Lauren finally stopped fumbling with her phone, locking it and hanging down her head. “I hurried to get here. You know, our schedules are busy and we can’t spend much time together. So after we finished earlier I basically broke a few driving rules to get to the airport on time. And then yelled a bit at the taxi driver to drive faster to the hotel. I was planning to send you a snap of the hotel or the air port or something. I just forgot…” She suddenly stopped rambling.

Lauren rarely stopped talking, especially is she was passionate about something. And she was definitely passionate about anything and everything concerning her Camila. But that same Camila was also the only person who knew how to shut up the green-eyed.

With just one simple kiss.

Lauren immediately shutted up, melting into the kiss. Then, when the girls pulled apart, Lauren heard Camila’s quiet giggle.

“It’s alright, Lolo. It’s all fine now.” Camila said with a little smile.

“Really? Because… Can’t we, like, call the Snapchat company and ask them to get the streak back?” Lauren asked, running her hand through her hair.

Camila laughed properly this time. Lauren loved that sound, it was her favourite thing in the world. The brown-eyed just shook her head and threw her arms around her girlfriend’s neck, pulling her closer.

“It’s alright, Lolo. You’re here, that’s all I want right now. And maybe the junk food.” Camila jumped away from her girlfriend, launching at the bag of food.

“Of course.” Lauren shook her head. “Do you want to 'Netflix and chill’?” Sheasked, wiggling her eyebrows. Then she laughed at her own antics.

“If you mean actually eat and watch 'Friends’ then yes.” Camila poked her tongue at the green-eyed.

“No, Camz.” Lauren whined. “Can’t we watch 'Orange is the new Black’? Or rewatch 'Game of Thrones’, the new season begins soon.” She tried using her puppy eyes. But so did Camila. Lauren rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright, you win.” The green-eyed kissed her girlfriend’s temple. “Come cuddle.”

And so the two girls lied on Camila’s bed, cuddling and kissing from time to time. Of course, after the brown-eyed went to the bathroom to wash her face and fix her appearance. Even if Lauren didn’t mind if her girlfriend looked like a homeless person, Camila always tried to look better for her. Then the ‘Netflix and chill’ began.

“Wait, do the others know you’re here?” Camila suddenly asked.

“Yep, I told the girls. And Roger knows too, I asked him if you’re busy.” Lauren nuzzled the brown-eyed’s neck.

“The girls know? That’s why Dinah was behaving weirdly when I called her.” Camila said with a thinking expression.

“What, you called her to ask where was I?” Lauren giggled.

“Oh shut up.” Camila slapped her girlfriend lightly. “I was freaking out here.” Then she added quietly. “Wanted to talk with someone, with you. But couldn’t find you. I felt lonely.”

“Camz…” Lauren hugged her girlfriend closer, tighter. “Well, I’m all yours for two days, even if you have interviews. Whenever you’re free, you’ll be stuck with me.” She kissed Camila’s cheek.

“No complaints from me, Lolo.” The brown-eyed kissed her girlfriend softly, smiling warmly when they pulled away, her eyes shining.

Camila really was feeling better now, really good actually. Lauren always helped her, even with only being in the same room.

And the junk food helped too. Lauren always knew that the way to Camila’s heart was through her stomach.

~~~~~

A/N: Happy belated birthday to Dinah and Lauren  <3 ^-^

You can also find more stories from me here: http://my.w.tt/UiNb/YHofKJPklE

[kaywritesthings]

Beauty and the catfish.

Noah (Lucas) knew he was absolutly obessessed with Remy. He followed him and tried to tallk to him on his own profile. Remy would never talk back to him. He could see that Remy surrounded himself with beautiful people like him. Noah hated doing what he was doing. Using his best friend mason's photo and making a profile just to talk to Remy. Mason was good looking. He was here now in his boheime poncho and made from organic material pants, smoking a bong with his mom in the middle of the loving room. Pillows laid the floor like an egyptian type lay out. Above them on the wall a large star of david to remind them where they came from. He cracked a window and sat down on a pilloew.https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1d/dd/8b...

Noah (Lucas): Noah asked softly. "Can I use your photo to talk to a guy?" Mason shrugged. "Mah gawd, yeah.. you be free. You use whatever you need.." He was high. It was obvious. His mom's eyes on his best friend. He knew they sometimes low key hooked up, also not so low key adn that's why sometimes Noah drank.. sometimes.He had Remy on his back ground. "Ph yeah, that one dude. with the big lips.. " His mom laughed. "Yeah, the one he jerks off too. I had to wash your sheets twice!" Noah wished his mom was less cool. "Guys, stop." He took a deep breath before sending Remy a message. Remy had just took a photo of his drink. He knew he was online. Wht should he say? He had no idea wha tto say. "What should I say?" He asked. Mason shrugged. "sup bro.. " His mom laughed. "Say.. thank you for giving me something to jerk off to." Noah threw his pillow at his mom. MOM. He sighed. He tapped his finger and then sent a private message. "What ingredients are in that drink you made?" He sent it. He screamed. "I ASKED HIM WHAT INGRIEDENTS ARE IN HIS DRINK." They both laughed.Mason took the computer.

Remy: Remy knew that being on his social media was as of nearly as much import as going in to run the club itself, but sometimes, he would spend so many hours scrolling through facebook and instagram and it would just be the same. Fawning people and yes men, and people throwing themselves at him in the comments with just because he was attractive and had a lot of money. For the first couple of years, Remy had enjoyed the attention. He still did to some degree, but honestly it was getting boring. He'd meet some guy, and he'd be nice and they'd have fun, but there was never anything deeper. Nothing worth exploring other than men that knew he could offer them a certian lifestyle. And he did want something more. Maybe not forever, but at least something that would last more than a couple weeks. He didn't know if he wanted love, per say, but he definitely wanted more than one night stands. He hadn't had more than that in ages. Remy sighed and sat down, closing the instagram on his tablet and opening up his dating app, scrolling for any new hits. He'd been more covert on this, still using a photo but an older one, indirectly him, and talked vaguely about his job on it. There didn't seem to be any new hits yet tonight though, so Remy sighed and wondered if he should try something else. His phone buzzed and he saw a new notification on his phone and let out a small laugh. That was new. No one had asked him anything like that before. He went back over. He smiled at it and wrinkled his nose before answering. "It's a new one for the bar I'm tryhing out. Tequila, Aperol, grapefrut with some sugar and a citrus peel." "It's not bad."

Noah (Lucas): 'HE REPLIED!" Mason yelled out. "He told you what's in it." Noah looked at the comment. It was his first comment. "Sounds like my kind of drink." He said as he poked a hole in his forth capri sun and sipped anxiously on the straw. He usually had nerdy drinks at his bar he always wen to the. The 80s them bar where he would order the force. He couldnt believe Remy was talking to him, but then agai he hid behind Mason's perfect face. "Do you often try to make new drins? That sort of makes you an alcholic chef? " Mason lifted a brow at that. "What's an alcholic chef/" He whispered. "Like Ramsay.. he could be like.. making masterpieces but with drinks. shut up." He stuck his tongue at Mason. "Wait, he's typing... look!" His mom came over and looked over his shoulder. "He's cuteeeee.. I like that one. Where he has those cute little dog ears. " Noah nodded. "Yeah, it's a filter on snap chat." He bit his lower lip as he waited for him to reply back

Remy: Remy didn't usually do many private conversations on this platform, but it was definitely interesting that it was someone that was asking actual questions and wasn't going right to telling him how hot he was or propositioning him. He clicked over to the profile and looked the photo over in interest. He looked hot and compact, and Remy smiled a little to himself as he added the user as a friend. Lucas. He clicked back when he had a reply. "I don't make them usually. My bar staff does and I try them out to see if they're worth trying to sell." He pursed his lips for a second, wanting to add more but not sure what to say exactly yet. "Maybe you can try one the next time you come by the bar. Which I'm assuming you do. Or you should."

Noah (Lucas): "I don't know where your bar is. I don't get to get out that much. Don't be jealous but.."He snapped a photo of his capri sun and sent it. "I mean you can't beat the fresh high frutose sugar of this drink. AmIright??" He snorted. Mason and his mom left to go out to get nachoes since everyone had the munchies. Noah was just fat and loved nachoes, he didnt have the high reason. He looked at Mason's photo, jealous how he could eat naches and it just disappear. It probably turned into abs on him. He saw him add him as a friend and was surprised. He started to add more photos of Mason.. mostly the selfies he took. He was always sending Noah selfies just because he loved taking photos of himself.

Remy: For some reason, Remy found that all the more intriguing. Most everyone who struck up a conversation had been to his bar, thats whoe they knew him. "You don't know my club? Then what has brought you to me? A love of artistically framed photographs of cocktails?" he replied and then let out a soft laugh a second later when he saw the capri sun photo. "Ah, but did you add alcohol to it?"

Noah (Lucas): "I am sure there is more to you than bar talk. " He laughed. "No, just adding nachoes to it in a bit." He was shocked Remy was still talking to him. "I was lost on this site, saw you and thought I would check what you are all about." Was that cool? Did he saya cool thing? He smiled feeling like he did. He went to get a shot to add more coolness to his talk. He took a second one just to add more wow to his suave conversation. He sat back down. "If you want to tal kabout bars, we can talk about bars. My favorite bar is called max. It's full of video games and lesbians. Safe place for someone like me."

Remy: Remy was a little nonplussed at the response he got and went to go refresh his drink before he responded. He wasn't quite sure what the guy was after yet, and honestly after one or two messages, most guys were asking him to meet up somewhere. This didn't quite feel like that so Remy felt a little out of his depth. "So does that mean you're a lesbian or a gamer?" He replied when he got a new drink, smiling around his straw. "If you are a lesbian, I must tell you, your profile picture is very misleading. And just about every other selfie. The topless ones especially."

Noah (Lucas): laughed out loud. Remy was witty. He liked that. "I am a gamer. I know this might turn you on but I was a level70 war lock on WOW." He snorted. He probablu should be cooler. Mason would never have the patience to sit through WOW. "You like what you see in my profile? What do you think? Could I be a merman? I am asking for a friend." He saw his mom and his best friend come in with naches from taco bell. He grabbed his tray of nachoes and chewed on them thoughfully. "He's talking to me!" He told them. "Good, see.. pretty boy likes you." He sighed. "He likes.. the idea of me." He half smiled,but htis was harmless. It was nice to have him acknowledge him. "Are you at your bar?"

Remy: "So first a lesbian, and now a merman?" Remy replied, chuckling a little. "I have no idea what any of those words about video games were. I'm a model and a club owner, if it's not fashion or dance music I don't know it." He flipped through a few more pictures. "I can say for sure that you're hot, even if I would guess...on the short side?" He teased. "I'm at home now, but I'm going in soon. It's a bubble party tonight, you should stop by."

Noah (Lucas): "The best things come in small packages." He didn't mean his dick.He hoped he got th reference. "I'm fun size." He and Mason were about the same height. "Maybe I will stop by. I dunno. I got quiet the schedule." He left it at that. He ate a taco that was passed his way. He wanted to say more, but knew the less he said, probably the better. He knew not of fashipon outside hot topic shirts and hippy type pants. Jumper pants. "Are you checking me out? Seems like yuo like what you see? " He asked. Maybe that was a bit forward. First he brought up a small package to this.. he was on a roll that would most likely end the conversation

Remy: Remy was surprised at how much he wanted Lucas to show up at the club that night, and felt a little let down that he wasn't all for it right away. But that again was just more intriguing. Most guys would be all over it by now. "With your capri sun and nachoes, right?" he replied. "Sounds like a full night. You know, if you came I could get you a real drink and nachoes on the house.." He thought a moment before adding more. "I think you're hot and interesting enough to hold my attention. Are you going to break my heart and tell me you really are a lesbian? Or worse, straight?"

Noah (Lucas): "Or worst. Bi.." He laughed out loud. Mason and his mom looked at him."Nothing." He shook his head. "You're hot and interesting too. " He typed. "It's a busy night of hookah and nachoes and me time. I love me time. Plus, my hair needs a lot of gel. I dont have the energy to tame the beast." He sent a XD emoji. "you want my number? Is that too forward? I dont get out often.. for social accepting cues."

Remy: "I can deal with bi, I'm prettier than most girls," Remy replied, chuckling as he did. "I have a hard time believing you don't get out often, cute as you are." He sighed. "So there's no way I can convince you to come tonight? I suppose you can have my number. If anything changes."

Noah (Lucas): "Crowds and people. Not my thing." He said probably sounding like a downer. He sighed. "I mean not my thing tonight. Remember bad hair? " He laughed and waited. He blushed when he said he was cute, but knew he meant mason. Mason was cute. But mason was straight. "My number is -insert number- have a good time. "

Remy: Remy pursed his lips, frowning a little. "And here they are, my thing. I'm starting to get a Romeo and Juliet vibe here. But here's my number," he said and added it. "I don't think you can have bad hair, honestly. Curly hair is sort of my thing ;)"

Noah (Lucas): "wait, who is romeo, who is juliet? " He sent in message. "Gotta go. Super busy being one with the stars and my hookah tube. 🙂 Have fun around the drunk snow flakes." He teased. He waited for a moment beore turning of fhte computer to seem interesting.

Remy: Remy was about to add a reply, but then the little icon told him that Lucas was offline. Remy let out a soft huff of breath, annoyed and a little impressed that someone could get to him that fast. He thought a moment and then typed Lucas's number into his phone. "I'm Juliet, of course," he texted. "I'm going to wait in my castle looking pretty for you to come to my balcony and romance me."

Noah (Lucas): Was shocked that Remy. This high profile internet celebrity was in his phone book. People would kill to have this number. He put his name as Juliet. His little secret. "Romeo? I am too young to die. we will have to be the AU version where we live a long life and retire in italy on a boat." He smiled. "I will romance you with cheap wine and mundane hashtagpoetry in hamilton rap fashion."

Remy: Remy was glad he got a text back so quickly since Lucas had put such an end to their conversation by going offline. "France. I want to go to the south of France. I'm French you know. Can't stand the Italians," he teased. "Try me. Your most mundane hash tag poetry."

Noah (Lucas): "Italian food is so good though?" He texted. "French people eat like thick rice pudding and cooked snails.." He teased. "Although. I do imagine I like the french style of kissing. " He teased. "You cant handle my hashtag poems. You'll fall in love with me and i dont have time for that." He teased. "Do you like america?"

Remy: "Are you insulting my people now?" Remy replied, laughing and shaking his head at the text he got back. He couldn't remember being this amused by some random texting before. "If you want my French kissing, you have to take my French food too. America is fine though. You do have quite a lot of fun here."

Noah (Lucas): "French bread seems good? You guys did give us a hunk of metal in nyc a long time ago. Moana lisa is cool?" He texted. He blushed at the french kissing. "You sure have nice lips. I cant decided if they would be good for kissing, or really useful in a marshmellow eating contest." He was getting Remy to reply back soon. He wondered slightly if he was getting cat fished? It would be what he deserved. He flipped over to his realface account. He had his nerd friends wanting to go onlein to play an online game. He got his head set and set up his cahracter, but had the phone out to text. Mason and his mom were having fun with their drugs and talking loudly about universal music.

Remy: "Hunk of metal," Remy replied laughing. "You Americans, so disrespectful." He was smiling though, and nearly missed his Uber to take him out to the club. His usual driver looked at him oddly as he got into the car, since he wasn't usually this kind of happy. He felt a soft shiver at the thought of kissing, already wishing they were. If only Lucas would come out... "Better for kissing, but I'll let you be the judge. If I can get you to come out so I can buy you a drink."

Noah (Lucas): really did want to come out. He wish he could. If only he was Mason. Or Lucas. "Busy. Stopbeing so clingy." He teased. He sent a 😉 emoji to show he was playing. He got online and set up his character, but he wasnt interested in playing like he was to talk to Remy. He ended up telling his guild of friends he was tired. He logged off before they started to protest. He went over to his mom and Mason and laid on his pillows. He took a couple hits of hookah and prayed that he didnt get a random drug test soon.

Remy: Remy laughed at that next text though he did feel a little stung. Why didn't he want to come out? Was this what playing hard to get was? Remy had done it to people before, it was just weird when it was happening to him. "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou," he texted eventually, and then an emoji of a broken heart. "Well I'm working Romeo, text me if you change your mind."

Noah (Lucas): pouted. He wanted to come out. He wouldnt look like he should. He sighed and stood up. He got dressed into the only nice button up shirt he owned. It was for mass.. and nights out. He puton jeans and had uber pick him up. It was far away so it would cost 70 something dollars, but it would be worth it.MAson said he could go, but that would be too weird. He went to the club and sat in the darkeest booth he could find. "Romeo has bad hair and is gonna be MIA. Good night, juliet. Try not to fall in love with Parris tonight." He put his phone away and watched the bar for hi. He saw him and was shocked. He was even more gorgeous in person. He saw him look at his phone and smiled. He actually smiled, but then again. He could have a million people texting him. He always had 200 likes instantly on every post.

Remy: Remy got a little busy when he first got into the club, like always, making sure everything was set for the night. And the bubble machines had been out of order when he got in so there had been a ltitle bit of a drama trying to get them all set. When he got to look at his phone again, right after he'd opened the doors to the club, he saw anoter text. "Good night Romeo. Parting is such sweet sorrow, yadda yadda," he texted and then sighed. He tried not to, but he found himself watching everyone coming in, but Lucas wasn't among him. And someone didn't show up for their bartending shift, so Remy ended up behind the bar, mixing drinks for the guests.

Noah (Lucas): watched him for a couple of hours. He was probably creepy. He didn't send him another text. He read about trying to play it cool. It wouldnt be cool to write more than that tonight. He was shocked when a drink came his way. "Guy at the bar." The waitress said. "Oh." He looked at the guy. It was a mildly attractive guy in his 40s. He was hoping for someone a bit younger. He knew he had no right to be choosy. He never got a drink before. It was that drink from the picture earlier. He took a photo of it. He mouthed thank you to the man. He hoped it wasnt laced, but it aws made by him. It was the closest he would get to Remy. And the drink was beautifully mixed.

Remy: Remy kept busy at the bar, and the party seemed to be a success because the flow of customers didn't calm down once the whole night. He didn't even mind working the bar, though he was usually runing around with the VIP guests, up in their booths. But he didn't mind just being the one to bring him drinks either. As the night started to wind down, Remy started to move through the crowds and pick up drinks. He stopped at one table, and smiled at the curly headed man sitting there, leaning down to talk to him and touching his shoulder gently. "Hey, are you done with that drink? Or would you like another?"

Noah (Lucas): "Done." He said. He couldnt believe Remy was talking to him.He hid his eyes and looked down. "Thank you. It was good. You have talent." He tried to disguise his voice, and wasnt sure why. He acted like he was suddenly very busy in a text. He would scoot out of the bar as soon as he went away. Please go away. Please dont look at me. He felt like some weird modern version of the phantom of the opera.

Remy: Remy picked up the glass and put it on his tray and let oout a soft laugh. "Thanks," he said and started to move away, but then turned back and cocked his head. "Are you sure you don't want another drink? Come up to the bar or something. Unless you're waiting for a date?"

Noah (Lucas): "I'm fine. Thank you." He said. He got out of the barstool. He sounded so rude, but he was anxious. Why did he come here? What was he trying to do? When Remy had his back turned. He slid out of the booth and ran towards the bathroom to hide for a moment. He sent a text to mason. "come get me. This was a bad idea."

Remy: Remy shrugged a little and nodded. "Okay," he said, wondering what that guy's deal was. Remy shook it off and went back to the bar to dump the dishes. And when he came back behind the bar and looked out, the guy was gone. "Werid," he said under his breath, and shook his head, turning to take another order.

Noah (Lucas): looked out of the bathroom. He felt the drink kick in. Dammit. Also they were starting to do karaoke, and he loved that too. And bubbles. Mason said he was sending his sister becasue she wasnt high and drunk. That was fine, he enjoyed his sister. He did want to see how Remy would react. He went to get a napkin and a bag of marshmellows from wal greens across the street. He snuck up to the bar and put the marshmellows on the bar with a note. "For you, my dearest maiden... love romeo." He ran away and hid in a group of dancing people as he waited for his reaction

Remy: Remy didn't even have to look at the clock to know it was getting later. He could just tell by how sloppy the people were getting at the bar. There was one couple making out a little on his counter, and he very politely shooed them towards the dance floor, chuckling and shaking his head. He took a few people's keys too, telling them that he'd make sure they had an Uber home later. He got busy with one customer, and when he turned back around he saw something there by the bar. He reached for it and let out a laugh when he saw it was a bag of marshemllows. He read the note and felt something in his chest swell and he looked around. He couldn't see him and told the other bartender he was going on break and started weaving through the crowd, looking for him, his heart beating hard in his chest.

Noah (Lucas): was dancing wildly with some people and laughing. Then the crowd partied and phones came out to get drive by selfies with remy. "Take a photo with me!" One girl shouted. She super l-o-v-e Remy. uh oh! He turned and started to push people to go behind him to hid him. He made slight eye contact with Remy. That was dumb. Stupid Your joke went too far and Remy was looking for a hot filipeno teen. Wait, that's right. He was looking for Mason. Not him. He still was nervous as he slid his back against the wall towards the exit and started to wall walk sidewise to the exit. "Oh my god, HARRY STYLES." He yelled, people ran towards his voice. He got a heard of peopel big enough to slid outside and run right into mason. "Let's go!" He shouted. Mason frowned."But.. i.." He grabbed mason's hand and ran towards the cab. He got in. Mason turned to see Remy and waved before being pulled into the cab. "HIT IT!" He yelled as the cab drove on

Noah (Lucas): (OHOOPS WAIT)

Noah (Lucas): They got into his SISTER CAR, not the taxi. Mason came for the ride.

emy: Remy kept looking around and tried to deflect other people that wanted to talk to him, but no matter how deeply into the crowd he got, he couldn't find Lucas. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair and turned. When he did, he caught the eye of the guy he'd seen earlier and gave him a small smile, glad he was out having fun on the dance floor at least. And then the crowds moved again and Remy lost him as well. Remy went back to the bar, duckign out of the way of the crowd. He knew for a fact Harry Styles wasn't here- big name people always called ahead, but it did allow him to get back to the bar. He sat behind it and looked towards the door, and just for a split second he saw Lucas there and felt a wide smile split his face. He took two steps forward and then he was gone. What kind of game was this? He went back to the bar and looked at his bag of marshmellows and pulled out his phone. "First you weren't coming out and then you leave too soon? Thanks for the marshmellows either way."

Noah (Lucas): laughed out loud and couldnt believe he did something so crazy. "you owe me pancakes." Mason yelled at Noah.He nodded. They ended up stopping at dennys nearby. He saw the text. "Thought you could use some marshmellows. Nice club." He texted. "Had to get going.. Heard Harry styles was in? Tell him I said hi. I'm a HUGE fan, " Noah's heart was still racing as he sat beside Mason.He told his sister and him the story. "Why dont you just be you?" His sister said. "You are good looking." She whispeered. "Not his type goodlooking." Mason sighed. "WEll, he sucks if he can't see how cool you are." They were trying, but it didnt make him feel better. He wanted to be his type, he just knew he wasnt.

Remy: "You should have stayed for a drink," Remy replied, and couldn't help pouting at his phone a little. "Yes, he is in, and I'll be having a drink with him instead of you," he replied with a little tongue sticking out emoji. "You're going to have to do better than marshmellows to make it up to me."

Noah (Lucas): "marshmellows are pretty rad though? " He texted. He sent a sad face emoji. "Fine, have your drinks. I will have my pancakes. "He ordered pancakes. Mason was making a fort our of sugar packages. Briana was talking about her boyfriend. Noah was trying not to stare at his phone for a text from the very famous REmy.

Remy: "They are rad. Thank you, Romeo," he replied and pursed his lips. He was actively ignoring people now, but he didn't let it bother him. This was important. "You weren't even going to invite me for marshmellows? Maybe I should do the sad face."

Noah (Lucas): "Don't do sad faces. I feel like that would be my weakness." He teased. Was he flirting? Weirdly enough, was it working on Remy? He probably had a lot of flirting going on. Then again, he was busy at the bar. Too busy to be texting. He was gorgeous. "I was giving you a sneak peek tonight. I am actually kinda shy. " He said in a moer serious tone. "Did you have fun tonight? " He asked. "You make bartending look like art work. "

Remy: Remy tended to a few more customers and then went back to his phone and he looked down at hit, his heart leaping a little in his chest when he read the last one. "You were watching me?" he texted, and wondered how long he'd been here and he hadn't even noticed. "I suppose I should say thank you. For coming, even if you were too shy to say hi."

Noah (Lucas): "Is tht creepy to say yes? I didnt like.. stare and take odd photos." He texted. He looked at mason who had two straws under his top lip to do an impression of a walrus. He had such an amazing best friend, and he hated that he was using him for this. Mason didnt seem to mind. He even posed for a photo with his pancakes. "Send him taht one. " He sighed and sent him a photo of masn looking handsomely posed with a plate of pancakes. "Clearly, your bar was impressive but look at my minnie mouse pancakes."

Remy: It was slowing down at the club and Remy made himself a drink and sat at the end of the bar, pouring over his phone. "You should have taken a couple," Remy texted back. "I know I'm looking very good tonight. I made sure just in case you were coming." He sighed a second later when the photo came through. He was such an attractive man. And kind of adorable too, with his little pancakes. "I'm jealous."

Noah (Lucas): his sister grabbed his phone and took a photo of him. "Look how cute. If he cant love this, then he sucks." He flushed and erased his photo. "stop it."he hated how dumpy he looked in photos. He heard so many people say he was good looking in his own way. He was geting some attention he had been craving, and playing with this guys emotions. Mason was so cute and gorgeous. He remembered sending Remy a message as himself and it didnt work out. "He'd never talk to me if I was me." He sighed. His sister didnt understand it, and just quietly at her eggs, upset with her brother for not trying. Mason smiled and took a selfie with noah. "Alright, I took a couple of you. " He didnt send them, becasue that would have gave away where he sat. "How's harry styles?"

Remy: Remy knew he head to stop being such an introvert for the night and made himself put his phone away and go mingle, espeically with the VIP guests. He went and said hi, had a few shots with his special guests and then went back to the bar to see another message waiting for him. "Harry's fabulous, obviously. Doesn't get much better. Of course my msytery man could have hung around and seen for himself."

Noah (Lucas): blushed as they got up to leave. "Your mystery man? When did we become exclusive?" He teased. "I am more of a justin bieber fan. Harry was so last year." He teased as he got into his car. His sister still upset. "Youa re good looking, Noah. I wish you'd see that. Stop taling to jerks." Noah sighed. This is why he wanted mason to just come alone. "He's not a jerk.He's .. more than that." She rolled ehr eyes. "An asshole?" He wished he could go to the bar and have a drink with him, but he couldnt. "Do you ever feel like you know a lot of people, but still feel so alone? Ism't it weird how that is? Did I get deep on you, sorry.. It's what happens to me after 1 am. I should bid you a good night now.. before I start asking about the universe."

Remy: "I can't talk to you anymore.  I am not a Belieber," Remy replied, laughing brightly.  One of the other bartenders gave him a werid look and he flushed a little, taking his phone and his drink and going into the back.  When he got settled he saw another text and it was beyond just simple flirting and Remy bit his lower lip and looked at it for a moment. "Everyone thinks they know me, but no one really does.  I think everyone feels alone from time to time."

Noah (Lucas): "I know what you mean. Sort of. I am not famous or anything. I work at a desk. I have a lot of co worker friends.. and a best friend. He has his life though, you know? " He sent a text. "Well, you don't know. " He heard his sister go on about love and looknig beyond looks. "I know." She meant well.. She did. Mason was asleep in the back seat. "I'm almost home. Do you get to go home soon?"

Remy: Remy looked down at his phone and gave it a small smile, biting into his lower lip as he looked down at his phone.  "I know everyone but I don't really have anyone I'd call a best friend," Remy replied eventually.  "It's why I pick up people on instagram, I guess," he added.  "Soon.  But don't wait up for me, Romeo.  Get your beauty sleep."

Noah (Lucas): smiled softly. "I have a few minutes. I am not sleepy yet." He went to his room, which had bunk beds, mostly because Mason was over so much and slept in them, and because he wanted them. His sister and him use to share them, before she hit pubperty and wanted her own place. She was going to stay with mom tonight anyway. His spare room was just filled with junk he got at comic cons. "Let me know when you got home safe, juliet.. " He knew it was a bit too romantic? He just worried. Was his sister right, should he expose himself? would he think he was handsome or just laugh/ He was scared of the latter. Mason said he was good looking, why didnt he believe him though. Mason went up to sleep on the top bunk.

Remy: Remy smiled.  "Well, I have the club to close up its going to be another hour for me.  And then I'll get my beauty sleep all morning," he said smiling.  He tucked his phone away and started seeing to the closing procedures and one by one sent the staff home as tasks were complete before pouring one final drink for himself and calling his Uber home.  "Juliet is back in her tower," he replied when he got in, and then took a quick shower before climbing into bed.  "Safe and sound and ready to sleep tight."

Noah (Lucas): went online to play Diablo for a little bit. He was trying to get sleepy. He saw the text. "Good night, fare maiden. may you dreams be as beautiful as your cocktail skills." He bit his lower lip and set his phone down. He turned off his computer and went to lay on the bottom bunk. He set his phone under his pillow and went to sleep.

Remy: Remy stayed up long enough to see a reply from Lucas and texted back a quick "xo" before slipping under the covers and going to sleep himself. He'd had a long day and with this new strange and exciting thing in his life, he went to be looking forward to the next day for the first time in a long time.

Noah (Lucas): woke up the next morning to Mason singing. He smiled and started to sing along. They both had good voices. That went well together. It's how they met. In a boy's show choir way back in 5th grade. He saw the xo text and wondered if he should textback? Was 11 am too early? He sighed and sent him a text. "Good morning. I have a major pancake hang over. Hope you have a better day." He and mason were getting ready to go to the flea market for no other reason but to treasure hunt as they would call it.