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gabulousxo · 9 months

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Quogan mini fanfic:

I've decided to write a mini fanfic for Quinn and Logan. (Mini as in I've just kept it as all one chapter.)

It involves....THE BENCH! Lol it's actually based on an envisioned scene I had that I wish we would've seen in the film. With some of my own added dialogue, along with the original dialogue from this particular scene in the film. The original show as well. Though, this fanfic will have moments (post Quinn running out) that lead up to this pivotal moment.

Because, I think we all can agree that a reminiscent scene for their first intimate moment/kiss on the bench was robbed of. 💯

So, here it is:

"I Only Want What You Want..."

After the recent, yet tragic cancellation of the wedding of the century, with a runaway bride and a distraught groom left at the altar, maid of honor Zoey Brooks was alone on the beach nearby with her long time love interest, Chase Matthews, talking about the events that all led to what had just happened and how she felt so guilty to have let her best friend down.. while also feeling nostalgic for their days in high school.

Wanting to make things right and see to it that her best friend still marries the love of her life, Zoey comes up with a perfect idea. "Go back. That's exactly what we need to do", she says with confidence. Chase quickly replies, "What?" That was the idea she had in mind: a nostalgic wedding ceremony at the PCA campus, with no more than Quinn and Logan's close friends and relatives in attendance. She quickly grabs Chase by the hand and goes to find Logan to let him know of her plan.

Logan was back in the groom's stall with his parents, doing his best to hold back tears. He was pacing back and forth as his parents listened to him on the couch. "I just don't understand. I-I-I don't understand how I could've screwed this up. How could I have gotten so self absorbed into trying to make this day perfect for Quinn that I completely neglect her: the most important person in my life whom I always put first." After a couple seconds, realizing the obvious, Logan continued.. "along with you guys and Lyric of course."

Mrs. Reese let out a soft giggle at his last words as she got up from the couch. "Look honey, I know that this isn't what you expected or planned, ..but you've been in a relationship with Quinn for 15 beautiful years. You've stuck by her side through thick and thin, no matter what. And I know for sure that she feels the same way in return. You guys will work this out. You always have." Logan gives his mother a little nod and smirk in response, "Thanks, mom." She then pulls him in for a hug. Logan hugs back, nuzzling into his mother's shoulder, again trying not to break. As Mrs Reese breaks the hug, she asks "Have you tried calling her yet?" - "I've tried at least 4 times. She won't answer or call me back. And I doubt she'll want to see me right now." Logan replied in heartbreak as he walked over to the other side of the room, his mother following behind him. "Well, maybe she just needs a little space to cool off right now. You know? Maybe this just wasn't the kind of wedding she was hoping for. And though your intentions were genuine and honorable, there's nothing wrong with that. Like I said though sweetheart, ..you guys, ..you're "Quinn and Logan". And I truly believe in my heart that you two are meant to be together forever. So just be patient, and when the time is right, you'll know what to do or say..and if Quinn loves you like your father and I believe she does, then she'll forgive you." Logan replies with some uncertainty "You think so?" Mrs Reese places her hand on Logan's cheek and pulls him in for a forehead kiss, then says with a smile, "I know so."

Logan's father then gets up and adds to all that Logan's mother had just said. "Your mother's right, Logan. You and Quinn just need a little space right now. But, don't wait too long to let her know how sorry you are, how much you love her and still want to be with her forever. Don't let your mistakes now ruin what you and Quinn have had for 15 years, nor let them cause you to be at risk of losing her forever." Malcolm glanced over at Logan's mother, feeling some guilt for never taking his own advice, ..leading them to their divorce. "Because you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Logan nods and gives his father a hug, thanking him and his mother both for their advice.

Moments later, Zoey arrives with Chase, I bit out of breath, yet still enthusiastic. Logan looks at her, just as pissed as he was at the altar. "What now, Zoey?" Zoey, catching her breath, replied "Hey..uhh, Mr and Mrs Reese, can I uhh have a moment alone with Logan please?" Logan immediately jumps in, "No! I mean, damnit Zoey, you've done enough, alright? Just go away!" Logan's mother grabs his arm, "Logan...just give her a minute." After drawing a reluctant breath, Logan softy replied, "Whatever.."

Mr and Mrs Reese left the grooming stall with Chase as Zoey walked further in and shut the door. Zoey turned to a back turned Logan, looking out the window in thought. Breaking the silence, she opened up. "Look Logan, ..I know that you're upset with me right now.." Logan interrupted with a scoff, "Upset? Man, talk about the freaking understatement of the year." Trying to continue, Zoey went on. "Logan, just listen to me.." He interrupted again, "How could you do this to me Zoey?! No, how could you do this to Quinn?! She's your best friend! And now, what, your date is some alleged murderer?!" Zoey kept quiet, realizing it was pointless trying to get a word in with him. Logan went on, "You know, if it weren't for you putting more time and consideration into your stupid show than into being there for Quinn, none of this would've happened! She never would've left, and we'd be married right now!" At that, Zoey jumped in with an outburst, "Woah-Woah-Woah! Don't you dare blame ALL of this on me! If I remember correctly, she yelled at you too!" "So, this whole thing," She said, using hand gestures, .."it's on both of us, pal! ..We're both to blame."

Though not wanting Zoey to be right, he realized that this was just as much his fault as it was hers. Logan drew another reluctant breath, and raised his hand in surrender, "Ok, ..you're right. I'm sorry." Logan turned back to face the window, as Zoey tried to regain her thoughts. "You're both right though. I didn't prioritize the wedding the way I should've, and I'm truly sorry for that." Logan turned back to her with a mixture of anger and heartbreak in his expression, "What do you want, Zoey? My heart's been shattered like broken glass, and mind's already at warped speed and I need to be alone right now, alright?" She stepped closer to him, "Look, just give yourself a few minutes to hear me out. Ok?" She replied. Logan agreed, walking over to sit on the couch. "Alright, I'm listening." Zoey went on, taking a seat next to him. "Logan, you and I both know the kind of person Quinn really is. This kind of thing was never her style. You know? Expensive dress, life size cake mannequins, a huge guest list that is only like 5% recognizable, you turning into the biggest groomzilla ever, ..and then there's me: with the show and the whole hugo/todd thing. Stacey is still wrong on that. Well, anyways, I honestly don't blame Quinn for feeling so overwhelmed and feeling no choice but to run off. But, ..I think there may still be a way for you guys to have a do over wedding."

Logan began to get a bit curious, "How?" "We give her a small, intimate, yet still beautiful wedding. Just like she hoped for." Zoey replied. Logan had admit it was a good idea, but he was a bit unsure of the outcome. "So, what, we just start from scratch with a smaller wedding in a different location? No offense, but I don't think that'll work." Zoey paused before continuing, "...What if it was a specific location?" Logan turned his glance back at her, still curious. "What do you mean?" She replied, "PCA. What if we were able to have the ceremony at the PCA campus? You could talk to whoever's in charge of the property, get them to let us have the campus for the day, ..then we could all pitch in with decorations and prep, and you can bring Quinn as a surprise, and then you can propose to her again." Logan stood up, trying to take her suggestion seriously. "What? Zoey, come on, that place has been closed for almost 15 years. What makes you think I'd be able to talk to the person in charge into letting a group of former students throw a wedding there?" He replied. She gave him a straightforward gaze. "It'll work. ..You're Logan Reese." Logan stood still for a second, then shrugged in agreement, thinking "alright, you got a point." Zoey stood up and continued, "So, ..what you say?" Logan felt a sense of nostalgia in this conversation with Zoey. Walking up to her, he replied "You're really are smarter than you look, Brooks. ...Let's do it." Zoey nods and smiles, happy that she got Logan on board.

The next day, after a long and frustrating conversation which ended with a bribe, hand shake, and mutual agreement, Logan got the approval to rent out the PCA campus for the day. Zoey and the gang started unloading their vans and began setting up the decorations. Logan went over to help Zoey, "Look, this idea's great and all, but what if I can't get her here? After our conversation last night about setting this up, I tried to get her to talk to me or see me. I've tried flower arrangements, edible arrangements, a sky writer, ..nothing." Zoey couldn't help but let out a sarcastic laugh. "Uh, ok uh 'Logan Almighty', you're not trying to get Jennifer Aniston to take you back, ..you're trying to get Quinn to still want to marry you. So, here's an idea: have you tried talking to her? Like, in person?" Logan looked encouraged, "No. ..I mean, I've thought about it, but after the rejected gifts and her not responding to my calls, I just didn't think it'd do any good." "Well, then try that. I mean, even Jim Carrey's character in that movie had to realize that what Jennifer Aniston really needed was for him to fight for her; to know that the man she fell in love with wasn't gone. And that's exactly what I think Quinn wants from you." Zoey replied.

She leaned in and put her hand on his shoulder. "Logan, she needs to know that the Logan Reese she fell in love with back in high school is still inside of you. So it's up to you to let her know that." Zoey paused, and then continued. "End of the day Logan, ..all of this, ..all of us, ..it's not what's truly important. You and Quinn. And your unconditional love for each other. That's what's truly important." Logan nodded in agreement, "Ok. I'm gonna do it." Before he left for the exit, Zoey made a suggestion, "Hey Logan, why don't you just take a little stroll around the campus first. You know? To just think about what you wanna say, maybe reminisce about you and Quinn back when it was just you two against the world...maybe that'll help clear your head." Logan gave it a couple seconds of thought, then decided to take Zoey up on her suggestion, and took off in a separate direction around the campus. "Good idea, thanks." He said. After Logan went off on his own, Zoey met up with Chase and the rest to go over all the plans.

While strolling around the campus, reminiscing about all the good times he had at this place, hanging out with his friends, his favorite sun tanning spots, his favorite hideout spots with Quinn, etc he pulled out his new phone, courtesy of Quinn, and pressed number 1, where he put her on speed dial. After a couple rings, it went once again direct to her voicemail, Logan smiled softly every time he'd hear her voice over: "Hey, you've reached Quinn Pensky. Sorry that I missed your call. Please leave me your name and message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you." Logan replied, "Hey Quinn, uh..it's me again." Logan rubbing his face, trying yet again to think of the right words to say, "Look, I'm--I'm really sorry about what happened. Just..please let me explain myself, ..and why I did what I did. Please just..just let me talk to you ok? Alright umm, if you do listen to this message, just please call me back. Bye." Logan then hung up, unsure of what to think or what to do next. In the meantime, he just kept walking. -- Suddenly, he stumbled upon a familiar sighting. Looking up, he felt this rush of nostalgia come right over him, and the feeling of butterflies came back in his stomach. He couldn't believe it was still there, in the exact same spot:

It was the bench. A little dirty and beaten up, but..there it was.

And suddenly, every moment from that day..the awkwardness, the nervousness, the butterflies, the kiss.., all the flashbacks came rushing back to him. He drew a deep breath, with a reminiscing look on his face, as he walked towards that bench. He began thinking, "this bench changed everything for me. Had I not stopped on my jet-x to comfort Quinn here on this bench that day, I don't know where I'd be right now in life. Nor do I want to know. Stopping at this bench was the best thing that could've ever happened to me. It brought me to Quinn. And because I did, that single decision gave me 15 years of love with her." Standing behind the bench, he placed his hand on the back end, simultaneously thinking about the moment they first kissed. The whole conversation. "You been crying? What's wrong?" "Nothing!", "Come on, talk to me." Logan began to slowly circle the bench toward the front to sit down, memories of that day still coming back to him as he sat: "Mark broke up with me." "Why'd he dump--break up with you?" "Cause he fell for Brooke Margolin." "Woah, she's hot! -- hot-ish." Logan softly giggled, remembering that exact response, "You're such an idiot." He whispered.

As he sat there, in their special spot, he began thinking about what Zoey said: about remembering what was truly important. Then as the rest of the memories from that day came back, it was all becoming clear to him. "I guess can't be mad at Mark." "Well if it makes you feel any better, I think Mark's an idiot. -- I mean, he's an idiot for breaking up with you." "Why do you say that?" As he was reminiscing, Logan turned his head to face the other side of the bench, exactly where Quinn sat that day. Suddenly, it was almost like he could see a silhouette of her from that day. "I don't know, I mean.. Look, we all know you're weird. But, you're smart, you're pretty, and you're kind of fun." "Thanks." "Sure. And uh, why are you dressed like that?" Logan had the same expression on his face as he did then, "..I was trying to compete with Brooke." Still able to see her silhouette, he could hear the echo of his response as he said it again simultaneously to himself, ..."Well don't."

All of a sudden, everything became clear. What Zoey said was true, he just needed to remember what made Quinn fall for him in the first place. As well as remember that him telling Quinn to not act or dress like the typical PCA girl was him telling her that not only did he like her for who she truly was, but that he didn't want her to change anything about her in attempts to impress others and get their approval. Since that was never her style to begin with. And it made him realize that Quinn, in a way, felt the same way about the wedding. He then realized exactly what he was gonna do and say. Immediately, he ran straight to his car and headed for the apartment. On the way, he stopped for a bouquet and some balloons. Nervous and anxious, Logan drove back to the apartment, preparing what he was going to say, thinking about the others getting ready on campus, etc. All he hoped for was that Quinn still had hope for their future and that she'd give him another chance to make things right. As well as giving her a surprise re-proposal once they'd arrive at the campus. Arriving at the apartment, he drew a deep breath and whispered to himself, "Ok. Here we go."

(And we all know what happened next. ❤️)

- The End -

Hope you all liked it. ✌🏻❤️

#quinn and logan #quinn x logan #quogan #zoey 101 #zoey 102 #quinn pensky #quinn reese #logan reese #true love #zoey brooks

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rottentiger-art · 10 months

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Honestly, poor Quinn… she was just so overwhelmed with this whole thing. I don’t blame her for running off. 🥺 I love so much that Logan runs after her… my heart…

Everyone on that wedding owed my baby an apology. Ugh that whole scene destroyed me, only thing that made it better was that the let Logan say "fuck" lol, it was kinda funny how we were joking about it on discord and then it actually happened XD.

But yea, that scene was so sad 😭❤

Yea, I ended up a bit glad for the angst. It got us a quogan romcom moment!

It's not clear if he bought it or they broke into private property lol. I hope he did buy it, imagine the possibilities 😍

I actually liked that she dropped the monologue once she was offered more money. It was funny and broke the cliché ending these types of movies usually has. I took it as a way of saying "yea, don't take this movie too seriously" and I really appreciated it. Bc this is what this movie it's about, just fun moments and not great lesson to learn or anything, it's not a masterpiece, we're just here for the laughs and nostalgia. It set a realistic goal and it reached it.

I didn't expect to like Mark and Stacey so much on this movie and their relationship. If we get a series continuation, I'd like to see more of them too.

Their relationship is not very different from the relationship he had with Quinn. I think the problem all along wasn't how he was treated, just that he wasn't into Quinn. Can't relate but you do you, Mark.

I neeeed more of her. I wish we had more scenes of her and Logan, we only got a bit of Lyric annoying him at the rehearsal and a brief cute moment at the end 😭❤

Rewatching the movie, you can see how that would be possible hahaha, I think I pointed it out before but Todd wasn't as dumb as he let people believe. It would be fun to see more of this little plot. Someone said this movie would have worked better as a miniseries, and I agree.

Nah, thanks to you!! I love answering asks, I apologize bc it takes me a while to do so, but it's a really fun thing to do in my spare time. Plus I love to hear about what people think about this movie.

And omg, I insist, we need a spin off/continuation/reboot/whatever, and we need more Quogan and more Lyric!! If Quogan have kids, I just know Lyric would be the coolest aunt ❤

Thoughts of early quogan and toddler Lyric consume my mind lately, is such a cute idea!!!

I watched the movie a few times already, when I get a little more time, I want to see it again, I loved it so much, hope you enjoy it again too!

Ugh, thank you again for the asks, it really was fun. If you're my mutual or a follower, fee free to dm me, and we can keep talking about the movie.

#ask box #anon #zoey 102 #quogan #zoey 101

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adeadhorse · 2 years

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unfinished fic

posting this half baked season 4 AU where chase never left because i'm having a bad day and i'm never going to finish this. only got two episodes in and i sort of skipped around so i don't like the timeline but hey, there is borderline smut so:

4x01

It’s a big campus, but Zoey spots her friends almost the second she gets out of the car. Their squeals and shouts of surprise and glee help, too.

Lola and Quinn practically tackle her to the ground in their eagerness to hug her, Michael and Logan following closely behind, and she can hardly believe that she ever left. It was only a few weeks but it feels like an age, and she can’t wait to stay up all night telling them about everything and anything and nothing. She wants to tell them how much she adores them and how much she missed them and how she’s sorry she ever left them. What comes out instead is:

“Where’s Chase?”

It’s possible she’s a little preoccupied.

Zoey really does care about everyone. She loves PCA, her friends most of all, and she needs to check in on Dustin despite calling him every night and make sure administration processed her transfer correctly because she does not trust Coco at all, even if by the third night of Trans-Atlantic jetlag she had started to miss even her. But ever since Zoey got off the plane the not just desire but need to see Chase had grown, like a physical tether pulling her to him.

“He’s moping in our room,” says Logan, like it’s the most obvious answer in the world.

“He has been pretty down,” Michael concedes. “Even giving him the single bed didn’t help. He missed you. A lot.”

“That’s an understatement,” says Logan.

“We all missed you,” says Lola. “Which is why you need to tell us: why are you here! Did you forget something, are you staying, did Quinn’s hologram technology go too far? Tell us!”

“Lola, calm down!” says Zoey, though it’s delivered with a grin. “Yes, yes I’m back. I’m staying. I missed you guys too.” The group erupts into a cheering celebration, Logan and Michael joining the group hug this time to really make Zoey’s lungs burn as they squeeze the air out of her.

“But…why?” asks Quinn as she pulls away.

“I-I’ll explain later,” replies Zoey. “But I need to talk to Chase. Now.”

And with that she breaks into a run for Chase’s dorm, leaving the rest of them to survey the wide array of luggage she left behind. They all glance at each other, wondering if they should take it to Room 101 for her. Eventually, Logan rolls his eyes.

“This is ridiculous,” he says. “I am rich, and we have eavesdropping to do.”

Zoey slows down as she reaches Maxwell Hall, blaming her constricted chest and shaking hands on the exertion from running. She doesn’t know what she’ll say to Chase, or how he’ll react. Will he cry, faint, do a cartwheel? She doesn’t know how to explain the webcam malfunction (let alone her somewhat flexible moral code on spying on people) or her uncertainty about her feelings. They stopped being friends for a month and she barely coped; perhaps it really is better to protect their friendship and grow out of any romantic fantasies. She finds herself stopping to stare at herself in the glass of the door anyway, primping her hair. She goes to reapply her lip gloss but stops herself at the last second, admonishing herself.

Finally, Zoey knocks on the door and calls his name, almost relieved to say it again, the way it feels so at home in her mouth. A minute passes without any answer and, puzzled, she finds the door unlocked and walks in. The room looks empty at first until she notices Chase lying upside down on the single bed, his legs against the headboard and his eyes closed, headphones blaring. He looks good, she thinks. Very good. Sort of distractingly good, actually. Did he always look that good? The only tangible difference she can point to is that his hair is shorter than when she last saw him, but other than that he’s just…him. Chase. In the flesh.

Zoey almost doesn’t want to disturb him because he looks peaceful, though perhaps a little sad, but she also realises she’s probably surpassed the regular amount of minutes one can stare at their friend platonically and has instead crossed into “lovesick” or even “lowkey creepy” territory, and she should do something. So with a deep breath, she walks over to him and gently pushes his headphones off.

Immediately, Chase frowns and cracks one eye open, blearily looking up at her.

“I told you, I don’t want to play basketball,” he groans, and goes to readjust his headphones.

“I know,” says Zoey. At the sound of her voice, he fully opens his eyes and arches his next back to get a good look at her, his face breaking into a soft smile as he does so.

“Oh, hey Zo,” he says.

“Hey,” she greets.

Casually, Chase looks down to turn off his Pear Pod. He freezes as the realisation hits him.

“Zoey - ZOEY?!?!”

Trying to look at her properly, he quickly contorts himself into a shape she did not actually know the human body could make and promptly ends up somersaulting over the bed and landing on the floor. She covers her mouth, half in genuine concern and half to stifle her fond giggle, but he’s already leapt up to survey her in awed disbelief.

“It - it is you, right?” he asks. “Not Gretchen?”

“Of course it’s me,” she smiles, only for it drop instantly. “Wait, who’s Gretchen?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Chase says quickly, and Zoey wants to disagree with him because since when did he have other blonde girls coming into his dorm room and, yes, she does think she’s entitled to know, even if she isn’t his girlfriend.

Yet.

“So…” Chase starts. “Did you…forget something?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. My parents decided a plane ticket would be cheaper than international shipping,” Zoey replies, rolling her eyes.

“They might have a point,” says Chase. “But really, how long are you here for?”

“When did you want me to go back?” she asks, her mind flashing back to the last time they were together and how coldly he acted towards her as he played darts.

“Never! I mean, of course I want you to stay,” Chase answers. “But you said you wanted to give Covington a try and you’ve probably already made friends, plus their psychology teacher might actually have a teaching degree. The point is that you made your decision and I respect it…even if I wish it was different.”

“I do too,” she says. “Which is why I came back. To PCA. For good.”

Chase’s expression transforms in slow motion, his eyes widening before one side of his mouth quirks into a trademark grin, until finally his face cracks fully into the biggest smile she’s ever seen from him. She can’t appreciate it for long as in two quick strides he’s closed the distance between them to hug her, fiercely wrapping his arms around her waist. She buries her face in his shoulder, allowing herself to breathe him in, and her arms clasp around his neck as he lifts her up and spins her around. Once her feet are safely back on the ground he releases her, like his brain suddenly flicked a switch and settled back into “platonic” mode, and she tries not to miss the warmth of his body pressed against hers.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here,” he breathes, his hand fluttering around her face like he wants to cup her cheek, maybe even kiss her, but it ultimately drops back to his side. “How come you came back?”

Which seems like a great segue into the whole hey, so about this webcam technology conversation. Which is what Zoey opens her mouth to say.

“I missed you,” she shrugs instead.

“I missed you too,” Chase replies, so heartfelt that it makes her chest constrict. She really, really does need to talk to him. So, having delayed it long enough, she opens her mouth to try again.

“Do you want to go to Sushi Rox with me?” is what comes out, her mouth still not cooperating.

Chase looks slightly perplexed, then shrugs and says, “Yeah, of course. I mean, we can do a whole celebration - I’m sure Kazu will be thrilled that you’re back. Just let me text Michael and we can meet them th -”

“No, I meant…” Zoey interrupts, then proceeds to stumble over any arrangement of vowels and consonants her brain can think of. After a moment, she realises she really can’t avoid it.

“Ok, so, I might have overhead you say something,” she tries.

Chase immediately frowns and asks: “Was it embarrassing?”

Zoey considers this for a moment.

“No, not to me,” she says, then pushes on before Chase can tell her to forget it and move on. “It was a few weeks ago, when I was in England and you were here. And you…said something.”

“Can you be more specific?” Chase asks. Zoey nods, letting out a shaky exhale.

“I heard you say you’re in love with me.”

Chase’s jaw drops open at the same time four gasps sound through the door. Chase stares at her for another stunned moment, then snaps his mouth shut and holds up a finger to Zoey. He quietly walks towards the door before banging on it with his fist to the sound of multiple ow’s and ouches. He opens it a crack to growl, “Piss. Off,” and slams it shut, only to reopen it to yell, “and don’t even think about hiding outside under the window!” Zoey is sure she can hear the disgruntled mutters of her friends as they walk away.

“Sorry about that,” says Chase, flashing her a quick smile before the weight of the situation settles back over him.

Sagging onto the couch, Chase rubs a hand over his face, and says, “You were never meant to hear that. The most important thing to me has always been our friendship and - wait. Is that why you came back?”

She nods.

“Oh my god,” he mumbles. “I wonder if my parents will let me move to Guatemala,” he adds, more to himself than anything. His gaze settles back on her, open in its terror and excitement.

Zoey sits next to him on the couch and tries to place her hand on his, though he moves it before she can. He turns to look at her though, his eyes searching for an answer that he can’t divine from her face.

“Ask me,” she says.

“What a question,” Chase says, letting out a soft laugh. Still, he looks her in the eyes, resigning himself to his fate. “Are you in love with me?”

Zoey smiles.

“I think I could be,” she answers. “I’d like to find out.”

“I will take that,” grins Chase. “So what now?”

“Take me to Sushi Rox,” she says.

Chase and Zoey are perfectly content with going to Sushi Rox immediately, Zoey’s plane aired outfit and Chase’s Sunday Glumday clothes be damned. Their friends, on the other hand, present a problem. Having been deafened by Lola and Quinn screaming at a decibel usually reserved for dog whistles and bats, and Chase’s back being broken by the enthusiastic slaps of Michael and Logan, they are immediately separated to be properly primed for their dinner date. The seven hours of makeup and wardrobe preparation and consultation is, apparently, non-negotiable.

“This has been years in the making,” stresses Lola. “Do you want to mess it up?”

“Oh sorry, I didn’t know that wearing the wrong pair of earrings would destroy a three-year relationship,” says Zoey, rolling her eyes. “Stop it!”

“But that’s exactly it. Don’t you want it to be perfect?” asks Quinn. “Imagine that you and Chase are leaning in for your first ever kiss and then bam! You realise you’re wearing the wrong shade of lipstick.”

“I was thinking lip gloss,” says Lola.

“That’s true. Lipstick would be better for the third date,” agrees Quinn.

“Oh my god,” groans Zoey.

“Oh my god, what the hell is that?” shouts Chase, watching Logan’s hand get subsumed by a jar of blue slime.

“You said I could put gel in your hair!” says Logan.

“Yeah, I meant hair product. Not luminescent snail entrails,” Chase replies. “Michael, stop him.”

“His hair’s as fine as it will ever be,” says Michael, waving a dismissive hand at Logan. “The important thing is what you’re going to do tonight.”

“As in not completely and abjectly humiliate myself?” Chase says. “And/or cause bodily harm to myself and others?”

“Those are lost causes,” says Logan.

“Thanks.”

“Chase. This is the girl you’ve been in love with for three years, you have to get it right,” says Michael. Chase gulps. “Like, when you tell her you love her -”

“Apparently I already did that. We should really get that webcam disconnected by the way,” Chase interjects.

“That doesn’t count.”

“Come on lover boy,” goads Logan. “How are you going to romance her? Sweep her off her feet?”

“I’m…I’m going to throw up,” chokes Chase. He bends over to stare at the floor, trying to hold off on wave after wave of nausea, while Logan and Michael evacuate to a far enough safety zone.

Chase and Zoey arrive at Sushi Rox at seven o’clock, escorted by their friends despite them pointing out that they have both been there literally hundreds of times before.

“But not like this,” winks Logan, receiving a united groan from Chase and Zoey.

“If you need anything, we’ll be close by,” Quinn assures them.

“Please don’t,” says Zoey.

“That sounds like a threat,” says Chase.

“They’re already finishing each other’s sentences,” sniffs Michael, trying to blink away tears.

“Yep, just like an old married couple,” grins Lola.

“We haven’t even started our first date yet,” says Chase.

“Speaking of which - bye!” waves Zoey, and promptly pulls Chase by the sleeve into the establishment. They’ve barely been seated, let alone had time to talk, when Kazu comes up to take their order.

“Just the two of you tonight?” he asks. They nod. “Good! I’ve been telling Chase that he should take you out for more dinner dates. More romance for you, and more business for me.”

“Yeah but we weren’t dating before,” says Chase. “Not that I want to be presumptuous and say that we are now. Though, we are on a dat - can I get back to you about this?” he adds, getting visibly flustered in the process.

“So, how was England?” Chase asks after a bemused Kazu has taken their order and they have both dutifully informed the other that they look beautiful and handsome respectively.

“It was ok. A bit dull,” says Zoey. “How was PCA?”

“Boring,” Chase answers. “Though admittedly I’ve been a bit out of it. I think I heard something about Stacey moving in with Quinn and Lola?”

“You heard correctly,” confirms Zoey. “But she’s gone now.”

“Good,” says Chase. They quickly fall into silence, both aware of the pressure to say something interesting or meaningful or witty, and both coming up short.

“Do my eyes deceive me or is that Zoey Brooks?” asks a voice, revealed to belong to one Jeremiah Trottman as he walks up to their table. “And Chase Matthews too. Don’t tell me you two are finally on a date?”

“We are,” says Zoey.

“Juicy,” says Jeremiah, visibly excited. “I call first couple interview. And the exclusive piece about your return from England.”

“Well, you would. Seeing as PCA News is the only actual news source on campus,” says Chase.

“So, how’s the date going?” Jeremiah asks, ignoring Chase as he whips out a notepad. Zoey and Chase look at each other in disbelief. “Don’t be shy now, people have been asking us to report on your love story since eighth grade.”

“Maybe you should let us have our date before you try to report on it?” Zoey suggests.

“Right, right,” says Jeremiah, tucking his notebook back into his pocket and nodding his understanding. He leans in close to Zoey. “But uh, if you get bored, you’re always free to pop over to my table. There are yellowtail rolls.”

“Dude,” says Chase.

“You’re on a date with Martha,” Zoey replies. “Right now.”

“Yeah but for you there’s always yellowtail,” Jeremiah winks. They watch him saunter away in disbelief. Chase turns back to Zoey with his brow creased.

“I feel like I should offer to buy you a yellowtail roll now,” he says. Zoey considers it for a moment.

“Make it an extra spicy California roll and you’ve got yourself a deal,” she says, and their next smiles are easy and free. A moment later a waiter brings them two glasses and a jug of water, which Chase chivalrously pours out for her and then proceeds to spend the next thirty seconds moving the jug around the table.

“Are you ok?” she asks eventually.

“Yep, yep I’m fine. Better than fine,” he answers, deciding on the middle an inch away from the edge. “But my goal tonight is to not spill a drop of that on either of us. But mostly you.”

“Good plan,” says a male voice in what is presumably an attempt at a whisper, but still manages to be quite audible in a chattering restaurant. Apprehensively and somewhat grudgingly, Chase and Zoey look around to find that one of the tables closest to them is now occupied by two people who just happen to be obscured by the fact that they’re reading a newspaper, looking comically oversized and absurd given the setting.

“Wow. The only thing they’re missing are sunglasses and trenchcoats,” says Zoey.

Wordlessly, Chase points to the table on the other side of them, where two people that greatly resemble Lola and Quinn are seated wearing said attire. They at least have the good grace to be turned away from Chase and Zoey, instead angling compact mirrors to try to get a look. Upon both getting a glimpse of their death glares, Quinn and Lola let out an audible “eep!” and try to shrink down in their seats.

Chase looks like he’s about to join them. He puts his face in his hands and groans for at least twenty seconds straight, sounding a lot like what Zoey assumes a frog’s final death croak would. She reaches out for his hand consolingly but he pulls away, nearly taking half the table cloth and his glass of water with him. She lifts his glass up just in time.

“Sorry,” he says, snapping out of his misery. He tries to make the table cloth even again. “You know I didn’t ask these clowns -”

“Hey!”

“- to come, right?”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Zoey assures him. “I didn’t ask Quinn and Lola either. Look, this isn’t what I planned but it’s not bad, right? And I’m sure getting something to eat will help too,” she adds, having spotted the waiter carrying their platter of sushi. Kazu also appears with a small bouquet of flowers that Zoey suspects was picked from one of the PCA flower beds and a vase that he places in the centre of the table.

They proceed to begin eating, trying the array of sauces Kazu has provided including his new “secret recipe” that tastes suspiciously like all the others mixed together. Chase orders an additional California roll for Zoey, as promised.

“What is the sushi’s chef favourite roll?” Chase asks, popping a tempura roll in his mouth. Zoey smiles.

“The payroll,” she answers. “You told me the first time you took me here.”

“Ah,” says Chase. “Ok, well, why did the girl not like sushi anymore?”

“Because her liking was tempura-ry,” says Zoey. “You told me that one too.”

“Right,” says Chase. “Damn it.”

“Psst,” comes a voice sounding a lot like Logan. “Feed her one of your rolls.”

“Can’t you ask for a pack of crayons or something?” snaps Chase.

“Here, have the cartoon section,” Michael mutters, trying to covertly pass Logan two rather large, noisy pages of the newspaper.

“Can I have the crossword?” asks Quinn.

“Well, I don’t see how this could get much worse,” Chase grimaces.

Immediately, their table is swarmed by a camera crew and a newly hairsprayed Jeremiah.

“I can,” says Zoey, while Chase visibly withers in front of her. Turning to Jeremiah, she tugs on his arm and asks, “Hey, Jeremiah, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Why Zoey, you know the news never sleeps,” the reporter answers.

“Weren’t you on a date twenty minutes ago?” says Chase.

“It’s a slow news day,” he says.

“You just said -”

“We’re rolling in ten, nine, eight -”

“Hey,” says Logan. “Why do the cameramen never say the one?”

“Jeremiah,” says Chase, tugging on his other arm. “I will pay you five dollars to [bleep] off right [bleep] now.”

“And that was Chase Matthews giving our live censor button a work out,” starts Jeremiah, turning to the camera to give it a Cheshire Cat grin.

“Oh for [bleep]’s sake.”

“He’s also joined by our newly returned student Zoey Brooks on what my sources tell me is their first-ever date,” he continues. “Do the lovebirds have any words they’d like to share?”

He turns to the mic towards Chase and Zoey, the camera catching the glance they share between them; Chase slumped in his seat with his arms folded across his chest and Zoey gripping her chopsticks in a fist like she’s thinking of ways to stab Jeremiah.

“This isn’t going to work, is it?” Chase asks.

“Trying to date each other when the whole school is watching?” says Zoey. She shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Woah, hey now - you’re not just going to give it up like that, right?” says Lola. “Not after three years?”

“They’re kidding,” says Michael. “It’s a joke. You know, like hey, why did the sushi chef not want to talk about the accident at the restaurant?” There’s a beat. “Because it’s still very raw! Get it?”

“Probably funnier if you haven’t actually burned down a sushi restaurant,” says Chase. Michael’s face immediately contorts into an agonising mix of guilt and horror.

“Well, things have taken a surprisingly sombre turn at Sushi Rox tonight,” Jeremiah declares. The camera begins to pan around the room, lingering on Lola and Quinn’s sad faces and Logan’s frown, the newspaper lying forgotten in his hand. “In the words of our own twice divorced English teacher, young love is but a whisper in the wind -”

“Zoey! Zoey I came as quickly as I could!”

“Firewire?”

“I ran here,” gasps a sweaty Firewire. “And I’m here to declare my undying love for -” he goes to kneel in front of her and trips over Chase’s chair in the process, who jolts the table and knocks over the water jug and the flower vase, spilling it down Zoey’s dress in the process. Firewire looks at the mess covering Zoey, squeaks, and scurries away.

“God, I’m sorry Zo. Here,” says Chase, handing her a napkin. She begins dabbing at her dress.

“Disaster has struck!” announces Jeremiah.

“It’s just water,” admonishes Zoey. “With a bit of soy sauce. And dirt.”

“Yeah, but that’s fire,” says Chase, looking at where Logan’s carelessness has resulted in flames where an innocent newspaper once stood. Immediately, the room is full of shrieks from Logan and Lola, instructions from Quinn and Kazu, and ongoing commentary from Jeremiah.

“Come on,” says Chase, grabbing Zoey’s hand and pulling her towards the door while everyone else’s attention is on the fire.

The pair don’t slow down until they reach the fountain, suddenly surrounded by dark and quiet. Without a word Chase drops Zoey’s hand and shrugs his jacket off, draping it across her shoulders. He runs a hand through his hair and sighs.

“At least we’re finally alone,” says Zoey. He offers her a small smile, then lets it fall.

“I am so sorry,” he says. “For - I don’t even know where to start. All of it. But hey, at least it should be memorable as your worst date ever, right?” He sinks onto the fountain with a sigh, Zoey going to sit next to him. “You still staying at PCA?”

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad,” she says, playfully knocking him with her elbow. “You’re going to have to do a lot more to get rid of me.”

“So we’re still friends?” Chase asks. “No hard feelings about the whole ‘being in love with you from the moment I met you even though you don’t feel the same way’ thing?” Zoey bites her lip and shakes her head, slipping her hand into Chase’s and squeezing it.

“No,” she says. “Especially as I wouldn’t say I don’t feel the same way. Not exactly.”

“Shame that the universe made it pretty clear it just wants us to stay friends then,” says Chase. “But I guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow. As friends.”

“Right, just friends,” says Zoey.

“Same as always,” smiles Chase, and she’s aware of how close his mouth is to hers and how she’s been leaning in closer while they’ve been talking. She’s also aware that she wants him to kiss her more than she wants them to be “just friends” and more than she cares about her damp dress or the prying eyes of others. She knows that this feels like them and it feels right.

So she closes the gap and kisses him.

WALKATHON

"Hey!" says Dustin, making Michael freak out and fling his cue stick into the air and halfway across the table. Chase watches it land with a thud.

"Definitely a unique technique," Chase concedes. Michael glares at him.

"Thanks for messing up my pool shot," he sulks. Dustin stares at him with big, innocent eyes.

"Leave the kid alone, it's not his fault you spook like a cat on Halloween," says Chase, his attention already settling firmly on Zoey as they begin drifting towards each other.

"Well, that was a stupid simile," grumbles Michael, even as half of him still wants to whoop in joy at seeing Chase and Zoey together, despite the fact that they’re still standing several centimetres apart.

"Hey Fuzzyhead," Zoey greets.

"Hey Zo," says Chase.

"What, you guys aren't going to do any cute pet names?" says Michael, feeling robbed.

"Don't encourage them," says a horrified Dustin.

"Shh! I waited three years for this!"

Chase is halfway through the start of a "you waited three years?" rant when Zoey just rolls her eyes and turns back to Chase: "Hey cuteness." He considers for a moment.

"...Thanks for noticing?" he tries out, then shakes. "Nope, too Reese-like. Hmm, let's see: thanks...babe? Sunshine? Darling? Zoey-kins?"

"I'm going to go badger Lola into giving me money," says Dustin, making his escape. Zoey and Chase laugh after him.

"I'll uh, head off too," says Michael. "You know what they say, two's company, three's a crowd! Wouldn't want to cramp your style now, would I? You kids need your alone time." He gives an exaggerated wink, apparently oblivious to Chase's pained expression and Zoey's barely contained giggle, before he gives them two thumbs-ups as he walks out.

"I apologise for him. Just…in general," Chase says. "Anyway, ignoring the last forty seconds, I assume Dustin's pestering is gummy worm-related?

"Not this time. It's for charity," answers Zoey, waving the flyers in her hand. "Dustin's doing a walkathon to raise money for homeless kids. Wanna help us put up flyers?"

"Sure, I'd love to have a virtuous excuse to get out of my Geography homework for a bit," says Chase. He leans closer to Zoey. "So...are we gonna do anything after we put up flyers?" he asks with a suggestive quirk of his eyebrow. Zoey smiles and plays along.

"Well, I was thinking that you could come back to my dorm room..." she says.

"Ew," interjects Dustin from halfway across the lounge.

"And while we're together and alone," she teases, "you could help me...clean the mold out of my little refrigerator?"

"I would love that," smiles Chase, one of the small private ones he's started to save just for her, and it's so sincere that she finds herself a little too breathless to laugh. Instead, she leans in closer, and he's quick to reward her with a kiss, chaste but tender. Dustin gags.

"Come on," he whines, dragging Zoey away by the sleeve of her shirt, Chase following with a grin.

"Ok," Chase starts, clapping his hands together. He begins rolling up his sleeves. "I believe last time I rescued you from an ancient sandwich. What are we looking at this time? Dangerous black mold? The outdated ammunition of a lost grape war? One of Quinn's terrifying experiments?"

"You don't actually have to help me clean the fridge," Zoey assures him. He shrugs.

"I honestly don't mind," he says. "I like spending time with you."

"I do too," she says. After all, they just spent an hour walking around campus putting flyers up, hearing Dustin talk about his grades and friends, all of them cracking jokes as they went, and she's not sick of him at all. Quite the opposite. In fact, she's very aware that her dorm is empty: Lola is off knitting, or whatever other hobby she's decided to take up because it's Saturday, and Quinn is doing whatever post-break up experiment she's taken on to distract herself, seemingly quite effectively.

"But I can think of better ways to spend time with you," Zoey says, and with that she grips the front of Chase's shirt and pulls him against her, eagerly pressing her mouth against his as his arms wrap around her waist. Immediately, her suspicions are confirmed: kissing Chase like a comet is hurtling to earth is an excellent use of her time, and she should really add it to her daily planner more. Secondly, she's quite sure she can justify the uncleaned fridge because really, only she cares, and also she thinks Quinn would be thrilled if it harboured an undiscovered, unidentified life form for her to study.

So Zoey kisses Chase and thinks about how being with Chase is so much more than she was expecting. So much better. Despite herself and all her hesitations, she had started to daydream about it on the plane back from England: the dates at Sushi Rox, the flirty text messages during class, the unasked but welcomed coffee he would bring her in the mornings. Everything they'd done just as friends but had always meant just a little bit more, even if she hadn't always recognised or known it. But even a couple of months in she'd discovered more, like the warmth and weight of his hand as it pressed against the small of her back, or that really quite excellent thing he does with his tongue as it presses against hers or skims across her bottom lip.

He starts to slowly walk her back towards the bed, managing to manoeuvre himself so that she ends up in his lap as he sits down at the end of the bed. She straddles him, her knees either side of his hips, while her hands seemingly incapable of not running through his hair; across his shoulders; tangling in the curls at the nape of his neck. He runs his hands up and down her calves and thighs, never going past the cuff of her shorts, or occasionally he’ll cradle her head in his hands, brushing strands out of her face. She thinks about how easy it was to kiss Danny or Lance once at the end of a date and never want anything more, never even really think about them again and just carry on with her. In comparison, the remnants of her rationality are quite concerned at how much more she apparently values Chase over oxygen, but the rest of her can’t seem to care much.

Unfortunately (or, perhaps, thankfully) Chase breaks away and begins to press kisses along her jawline, before moving down to press his mouth, wet and hot, against her neck which is also really sort of incredible and very effective at stopping the majority of Zoey's thought processes. One creeps through to ask where and how, exactly, he learned this, but she pushes that one away because she ends up thinking of Rebecca and she doesn't want that at all. Doesn't really want to think of Chase as anything except mine mine mine, with maybe an occasional “do that again” thrown in.

"Is this ok?" Chase mumbles against her neck, sounding a lot more innocent than how he’s making Zoey feel. He proceeds to follow up the question by sucking at her pulse point, and she thinks of the butterflies that first fluttered around in her chest when they first started going out and how they have instead begun to pool lower and lower, in a new but not unpleasant way, so she doesn't dignify that question with a proper answer and instead just skims her hand along the bottom of his shirt.

"Off," she demands.

"Really?" he asks, partly asking, is this ok or am I pressuring you? while also meaning there isn't really much to see because I haven't made going to the gym part of my personality unlike some rich boys, which is nonsense because Zoey has eyes and she has seen Chase and he is, as the British would say, fucking well fit. So she rolls her eyes and rucks his shirt up until he relents and pulls it over his head, and then they resume kissing and Zoey pushes him back against the bed for good measure. Naturally, Lola knocks on the door barely two minutes later.

"Zoey, let me in! I don't care if you're in there with your boyfriend, I'm all knitted out and I need a nap," she yells through the door. Barely stifling a groan, Chase reaches for the shirt Zoey flung off, which she quickly stops him from doing. Reluctantly, she hops off the bed, glances in the mirror to see if she looks presentable and opens the door.

"Of course you can come in, it's your room too," Zoey smiles.

"Why is your hair all messed up?" Lola asks, raising her eyebrows.

"You're just in time actually - we're deep cleaning the little fridge. Do you have any baking soda?"

"Ew, labour," Lola shudders. "I'll just...leave you two to it. Go bother Michael and Lisa or something. Call me when you're done."

"Yep, will do."

"Bye Chase!"

"See ya, Lola!"

Zoey quickly shuts the door, making sure to lock it, and turns back to Chase, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Have I mentioned I love how smart you are?" he asks.

"It wouldn't hurt to mention it again," she says with a smile.

She climbs back on top of him and resumes their kiss, allowing it to deepen and build up again before she rolls over and pulls Chase on top of her. Chase recovers from his surprise quickly and tries to make sure he doesn't crush her, but she likes the weight of him against her, the shift of his hips against hers. She thinks of lying underneath him as she fed him grapes years ago and how good he is - has always been - to her. Frankly a little too good, she thinks, as his hand finally slips under her shirt but only to rub a thumb over her hip bone or the arch of her ribs, brushing against the fabric of her bra.

"Hang on," Zoey says, and pulls off her own shirt because Chase does, at this point, have the restraint and patience of a saint, and while it’s impressive and appreciated, it’s also just ever so slightly annoying. She's rewarded with a groan from him and a swear under his breath. He recaptures her lips with renewed vigour, not quite able to stop himself from grinding against her.

Zoey finds herself increasingly breathless, a mixture of anticipation and desire and nervousness and fear, the pamphlets the priest had given her the second her mother had mentioned boarding school flashing through her mind. She thinks about telling Chase to stop and knows he would listen, but she also likes how warm his fingers are as they begin to slide the straps of her bra off her shoulder, stroking his thumb over her clavicle before pressing a kiss to it.

"You are so beautiful," Chase whispers, staring at her and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He kisses her against, softer and with less heat, but still passionate. "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispers, the world narrowed down to just them and the bed they’re lying on. They kiss again and one of Chase's hands finds her, entwining their fingers together, while the other skims along the waistband of her shorts and dares to thumb at the top button.

"Zoey!" calls Dustin.

For the first time in her life, Zoey wishes she was an only child.

They wrench apart as Dustin knocks, calling to see if she's in the room. Wordlessly, Chase hands Zoey back her shirt and begins putting on his own.

"Just a minute!" she replies, sounding somewhat strangled. She pulls her shirt on and once again goes to the mirror, aware of how her lips are tingling and her skin is hot and flushed. She half-heartedly tries to finger comb her hair, at a loss as to how to make herself look child and sibling appropriate. For his part, Chase has moved to the desk chair in an attempt to look studious despite the clear lack of books between them. His hands are steepled as he gazes in deep concentration, like he's trying to astrally project into the memory of every single cold shower he's ever had. She’s a little concerned that he’s about to have an aneurysm.

Finally, Zoey opens the door.

"Sorry, you said you were going to take a look at my English paper and I meant to ask earlier but I forgot so..." says Dustin. He takes in her appearance. "Was I interrupting something"

"No!" she and Chase say simultaneously. "Not at all, come on in. I looked at your paper last night." She leads him into the room and she and Chase don't quite make eye contact, Chase finding Dustin's essay on the desk while Zoey tells her brother how good it was.

"Aw, you even got a sticker," says Chase. "Good job, kid."

"Thanks Chase," Dustin grins. "What happened to your hair? It looks even bushier than normal." Chase opens his mouth but stays silent, both he and Zoey trying to think of an acceptable, appropriate answer.

"Humidity," Chase lands on eventually. "You know, classic PCA: ocean views, salty air…humidity. It's like a natural hair volumiser." Zoey lets herself relax and smile as he talks, charmed as ever.

"It's kind of sexy," she admits, then rapidly remembers the presence of her little brother, who is staring at her like she just admitted she's half-octopus. "I'm just teasing you. Both of you. Does anyone want a Blix? The fridge is clean."

"I'll just go," says Dustin, hurrying out a 'thanks' as he rushes out of the room. There's a beat, both of them simultaneously holding back laughter and mortification.

"Sexy?" asks Chase.

"Hair volumiser?" asks Zoey.

“Oh good, you two are decent,” says Lola as she wanders into the room, immediately going to grab a Blix out of the fridge. She peers at it, inspecting it, before shrugging and twisting the lid off her bottle. “I’ll be honest: I don’t know enough about what the fridge looked like before to verify your claims.”

“Just because we go to boarding school doesn’t mean we have to fit into every single stereotype about unsupervised teenagers,” Chase says. “We can have good, PG-13 rated fun.”

“Well, then I guess Zoey won’t need to borrow any of my concealer for that hickey,” taunts Lola.

“I do not have a - that,” says Zoey, her hand immediately going to her neck anyway. Chase shakes his head, wondering if his hair acts as a giant, flashing marquee pointing to him saying “horny teenager!” as he does so.

“Well, I’m going to head off before curfew, because I’m a responsible teenager,” he announces (“Like Coco would care,” replies Lola). He kisses Zoey on the cheek before he leaves and promises to text her goodnight. Zoey sits back down on the bed once he’s gone, trying to look casual and not overly lovesick. Lola regards her curiously.

“You guys didn’t actually spend the whole time cleaning the fridge, right?”

Chase takes the long way back to his dorm, enjoying the cool evening air and also desperately trying not to remember the way Zoey looked in just a bra and shorts, the curve of her waist and the feel of her hips against his hand and - he trips over a crack in the pavement and nearly falls face first onto the pavement, jogging slightly to rebalance the momentum. He brushes himself off, looks around to see if anyone’s pointing and laughing at him (not that Chase falling over himself is exactly PCA news-worthy), and continues on his way.

He takes in the dying light of dusk, the twinkling of the fairy lights wrapped around the buildings, the growing murmur and music of a Saturday night; he smiles at the glimpses of the couples he sees together, the way they laugh and whisper with each other, and notes it isn’t nearly as wistful as it once was. He thinks about calling Zoey when he gets back, itching to hear her voice again despite it being less than half an hour since he was last with her, and absent-mindedly notes a couple that looks like Quinn and Logan in front of him, picnic basket in hand.

That would be absurd, he thinks with a smile, focusing on composing a sufficiently-but-not-overly sappy text message to Zoey, and then stops and looks back because it is, in fact, Quinn and Logan. They stare back at him, panic clearly written on their faces, and he’s not sure why.

“Evening,” Chase says.

“Sup,” says Logan.

“Hey,” says Quinn.

“You guys have a nice picnic?” Chase tries.

“What? No! Who told you,” asks Quinn. Chase realises he’s holding his hands up in what he hopes is a clear “don’t shoot me with your zap watch” posture, then points to the picnic basket in her hand. “Oh. Oh right. I mean, that was just me and Logan was - you know, he ruined it.”

“Yeah well, you were just there with your book looking all…nerdy and I-I couldn’t resist,” Logan says, sounding quite dreamy as he does so. Quinn looks touched and simultaneously like she wants to stomp on his foot very, very hard.

“Uh-huh,” Chase says, drawing it out. Logan breaks out of whatever daze he was in and finally properly looks at Chase, haloed under one of the lamps.

“Why is your hair messed up?” he asks.

“Why’s yours?” Chase retorts.

“It is not,” Logan says, genuinely defensive for the first time in the entire exchange. He begins to gingerly fluff his hair, glaring at Quinn when she tugs his hand down and makes a face at him.

“Well, we should head off. Won’t keep you any longer. Bye,” she says, turning to Chase and giving her best completely innocent and not at all suspicious smile at him. She begins leading Logan away.

“You guys have something on?” Chase asks.

“Hmm? I - what? No!” Quinn realises, and pushes Logan away from her and towards Chase. “If I never see him again it’s too soon. Take him.”

“Pass,” says Chase.

Quinn scurries back to her dorm and Logan gives a slight wave as she leaves. Chase surveys him, confused and more than a little suspicious.

“What?” asks Logan, and begins striding back to Maxwell Hall, Chase trailing after him.

A couple of days later and a few hours after their failed attempt at making Michael think they hate each other, Quinn is pacing up and down Logan’s dorm room. She looks up to make sure the door is fully shut, then resumes pacing and chewing on her nails.

“What are we going to do?” she asks, trying her best to convey the severity of the situation in a half-whisper.

“I know what we could do,” smirks Logan.

“Making out for two hours didn’t solve our issue before, we need to focus!” says Quinn, though she’ll admit the offer does sound quite appealing. “What are we going to do about Michael?”

“It’s fine, I’ll just buy Michael another pair of clackers and he’ll be distracted for a month,” shrugs Logan.

“Yeah, but he can’t keep a secret. What if he’s told the others?” says Quinn. “I mean, I’d know if Lola knew because she would have laughed in my face the second I walked through the door, and her insults for you would be a lot more targeted. Plus, she’s been very preoccupied with her knitting recently -”

“What is she, eighty?” asks Logan.

“But what about the others?” Quinn continues.

“Michael’s the only one we need to worry about,” Logan assures her. “Look: Zoey’s always busy butting into everyone else’s problem, and now all her free time is spent canoodling with Chase.”

“Yes, but Chase would be the first person Michael would tell because they’re best friends, and Chase would tell Zoey, who would then butt into my problem -” says Quinn.

“Am I your problem?”

“Always!”

Logan grins and places his hands firmly but gently on Quinn’s shoulders, brushing her hair back. He knows that what she’s saying makes sense, because she always makes sense, but they’ve also been talking about this for fifteen minutes and his brain can really only go for about five minutes before he just starts looking at her mouth and his line of thought becomes we should make out.

“Listen. Michael hasn’t told Chase, and Chase is so gullible that we can just lie to him and he’ll believe us,” he says. Quinn looks at him dubiously but lets him continue. “Besides, you’ve seen the heart eyes that he has for Zoey - he’s basically legally blind. We could kiss right in front of him and he’d just start blabbing about how much he loves her.” Quinn giggles in agreement and they begin to rub noses, Logan’s hands moving to rest on Quinn’s waist just as she begins to lean in for a proper kiss.

“Dear God, how I wish that was true,” says a voice from the doorway. Quinn and Logan freeze, turning their heads to find Chase standing there, a pained and nauseated expression on his face.

“You didn’t lock the door?” Quinn grits out. Logan looks at her sheepishly. After another moment, they wrench apart and fold their arms over their chests, determinedly not looking at each other. Logan even begins to look at the ceiling and starts to whistle until she slaps his hand to get him to stop. Chase rolls his eyes and drops his background to the floor.

“Convincing,” he says. “So, what’s the story this time?”

“She’s…she’s tutoring me,” Logan says, snapping his fingers together. “In chemistry!”

Both Chase and Quinn stare at him in aghast disbelief. Quinn slaps her hand against her forehead.

“You couldn’t remember the one subject you’re actually good at?” she hisses.

“You couldn’t find a better rebound for Del Figgalo?” Chase asks her.

“Hey, I am an excellent rebound,” says Logan, defensively pointing a finger at Chase. “Wait, I’m not a rebound. Am I?”

“No, you’re not,” Quinn says, placing a hand on his shoulder. Something in Chase’s face shifts.

“You guys are for real,” he states. “You actually like each other. Huh.”

“Yes, which is why you can’t tell anyone about this - about us. Please,” says Quinn. “Everyone in the school will make fun of us.”

“Well sure. For like, a week,” says Chase. “And then they’ll lose interest.”

“But it’s embarrassing liking her!”

“And him!”

“Suck it up!” says Chase.

“But people will keep looking at us, and telling us what they think of us and what we should do, and we’ll never get any privacy,” whines Logan, apparently lacking the self-awareness and embarrassment that began showing on Quinn’s face as he kept talking.

“Gee, I wonder what that’s like,” Chase deadpans. Quinn steps forward.

“Exactly. We overstepped with you and Zoey and we’re sorry,” she says. “But that means you would understand why we’re sneaking around, so maybe you could just…not say anything?”

Chase looks like he’s about to argue, then just sighs.

“This is stupid,” he says. “But yes. Fine. I won’t tell anyone.”

Quinn and Logan breathe a sigh of relief and thank him. Or Logan tries to say thanks, fails, and then immediately reverts to the more comfortable territory of trying to push his luck:

“And maybe you could help us out while we’re sneaking around?”

“God no,” Chase replies. “I do not want to see or hear you two any more than necessary. I watched thirty seconds and it was gross. Cute, but very gross.”

“Rude,” says Logan.

“Well, we appreciate your discretion,” says Quinn. “And we’ll make sure you to lay off you and your girlfriend.” She picks up his backpack and hands it to him, aiming for a subtle hint. Chase gives her a look, but takes the backpack and slings it over his shoulder again anyway.

“I take it you think I should go spend some time with her,” he says. Quinn and Logan nod like gleeful idiots. Chase rolls his eyes. “I was going to anyway, but for the record I do also live here. And don’t do anything on my bed.”

“Girl scout’s honour,” says Quinn, giving him a salute. Chase heads for the door but pauses.

“And do yourselves a favour,” he says, eyeing them. “Remember to actually lock the door this time?”

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courage-in-immensity · 2 years

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I posted 3,775 times in 2021

13 posts created (0%)

3762 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 289.4 posts.

I added 54 tags in 2021

#love - 7 posts

#rina rambles - 6 posts

#prompt response - 6 posts

#one tree hill - 6 posts

#robert buckley - 6 posts

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#shantel vansanten - 5 posts

#oth - 5 posts

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#clinn - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 19 characters

#chad michael murray

My Top Posts in 2021

Clinn seashell, Livjor flowers, Callendar babies

Clinn Prompt: Seashells

“Are you sure Mom will go for this?” Logan’s voice rose above the sound of the whistling ocean breeze and Clay grimaced over his shoulder at the eight-year-old. “I thought she hated the ocean as much as I used to.”

“How can any son of mine be so cynical? Where’s your sense of adventure, Wolverine?”

“I must have left it in Raleigh,” the boy teased. “Grandma never did understand my obsession with superheroes, you know.”

“That explains why I had to teach your Mommy all about the good things in life,” Clay smiled reminiscently. “I still don’t know how I got her to marry me.”

“How are you going to get Mama Q to say yes then?” Logan wondered out loud, but Clay just took a deep breath and kept dropping the trail of seashells from the bucket he was carrying.

“You’re supposed to be helping, buddy,” he complained. “Where do you get your sass, huh?”

“Pretty sure the answer is Mommy again,” Logan grinned. He fell back to take in the seashell trail from a distance. “Where does this lead anyway?”

“To the shore,” said Clay, pointing at the lapping tides. “Right over there is where your Mom and I sat talking all night soon after we first met. After moving to Tree Hill it’s no wonder I never missed Dr. Alvarez anymore, we could talk about anything and everything from the very beginning.”

“That’s either adorable or disturbing,” said Logan frankly. “If you hadn’t quit on Dr. A, you might have got me back sooner.”

“Also true,” Clay admitted, shivering at the guilt that sent a tingle down his spine. He beckoned Logan closer and the boy skipped forward, carefully avoiding the shell trail in their wake. “You know I can never apologize for that enough, don’t you? I love you, kid.”

“I know.” Logan gave his father a quick hug, then stared back at the shells. “How much further? We’ll run out of shells at this rate.”

“No we won’t,” said Clay, stopping just out of reach of the tide on a sheltered corner of the beach. “It was right here.”

“How can you know that exactly?” Logan mused, stepping just out of reach of the lapping waves. “The whole beach looks the same to me.”

“Fall in love out here and I promise you’ll be able to tell the difference,” Clay insisted. Then he and Logan stood watching the sun setting, anticipation setting his heart on fire like the flaming orange skyline.

“You’re awfully smiley tonight,” Quinn commented later that night at the look that hadn’t left Logan’s face all day. “I know my cooking isn’t that special, what am I missing?”

“Oh nothing,” said her son coolly, but his deep brown eyes still twinkled with secrets. “Just waiting for Dad to get home, we had plans tonight.”

“That’s great,” said Quinn affectionately. “I kept telling him that you would find your groove with no trouble despite the time apart.”

“You kind of rock, Mama Q.” Logan shoved his empty plate away and moved around the table to give her a hug. “Thanks for being our Jean Grey.”

“You’re welcome,” she said fondly. “I’m pretty sure I’m the lucky one to have such an epic squad.”

A little while later

“What’s with the sudden need to go outside?” Quinn muttered as Logan tugged impatiently on her arm. “Don’t you have a bedtime? It’s getting dark.”

“Are you scared?” Logan teased. “Please come, Mama Q, I want to show you something.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Quinn sighed, letting herself be dragged along the shore. Logan surreptitiously followed the trail of shells he had laid earlier, wondering if Quinn would notice. Clearly, she didn’t, because her gasp when they stepped into a stretch of sand sheltered by rocks was audible over the thrashing waves.

Clay stood at the water’s edge, patting a checkered picnic blanket down on the sand as she approached. Logan let go of Quinn’s hand and raced down the sloping sand towards his father. “How did I do?” he asked, accepting Clay’s high five with a grin.

“Fantastic,” said Clay, but his eyes were locked on Quinn. “Surprise,” he added softly.

“You certainly have,” Quinn whispered, an awed lump already swelling in her throat. “What is all this?”

“I know you already said yes to Logan’s power ring,” Clay began, eying the glow-in-the-dark ring still nestled on her finger. “But I wanted to do something a little more romantic. So, with a little help,” he gestured at Logan who beamed proudly; “I thought why not bring our journey back to where it all began?”

“Wow, Dad, I think she’s crying already,” Logan giggled when Quinn’s eyes began to glisten instantly with unshed tears. “Nice work!”

See the full post

10 notes • Posted 2021-04-08 17:19:35 GMT

Clinn 28

Clinn Prompt: “I thought we were a family”

Companion Scene To This Time Tomorrow

It would have been better not to say anything, Quinn thought miserably in hindsight as she stood on the beach house doorstep, squinting out into the darkness. How did everything spiral out of control so quickly? She wouldn’t have thought any holiday could be more devastating than the one Jamie had preponed so that Lydia could have one last Christmas with the family, but here they were. All she could see of the ocean waves in the darkness was the white, frothy surf but even those almost playful surges settled a lump of panic in her chest.

“Quinn?” She spun around at the sound of Clay’s voice, breathing shakily in an effort to conceal the tears about to spill over. “What are you doing out here?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” she whispered. “I thought I’d go down to the beach for some air, but...”

“But?” Clay prompted gently when she hesitated. “Q, what’s going on? It’s not like you to try sneaking off in the middle of the night.”

“I couldn’t be here,” Quinn murmured. “Leaving Nathan and Haley’s was a bad idea, she understands how...broken I feel.”

“And I don’t?” Clay challenged, but not angrily. Quinn could hear the pain in his voice, it would have been loud and clear even if she couldn’t read her own agony reflected in his eyes.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” she sighed. “You’ve been amazing through it all. I just...I couldn’t be around Logan right now. I need to stay with my family, just like you didn’t want to leave your Mom.”

Steeling herself, Quinn ran down the steps and around the side of the house to the stretch of sand where the tide could reach. The tears she’d been holding in finally slipped unchecked down her checks, as if in horrified reaction to her searing honesty. The night-time waves had cooled the burning sand but it still felt warm as it stuck between her toes. The sensation brought some normalcy to her reeling heart-ache and Quinn stopped when she reached the water’s edge, gasping at the sight of the swelling tides. “No, no...”

A light flicked on from the upper floor of the beach house and Quinn spotted Logan peering out at the vast beach. She wondered if her anger had changed his view of the ocean tonight, bringing back the invisible sea monsters to haunt him. It was ridiculous, she knew, but even the distant glimpse of his face cemented her guilty conscience. Logan moved silently away from his bedroom window and Quinn collapsed on the sandy shore, a combination of guilt and grief knocking all the strength out of her. She covered her eyes to block out the sight of the waves, unsure why she had bothered to come out here at all. “It’s too much, this is just too much,” Quinn whimpered, barely aware of what she was saying.

“I thought we were a family.” There was no doubt about the hurt in Clay’s voice now and Quinn squeezed her eyes shut even as his footsteps shuffled closer somewhere behind her. “Quinn, you’re the only mother Logan has ever known. Are you really going to take that away from him?”

Quinn shook her head mutely, she’d uttered so many apologies lately they were beginning to choke her. “This was my baby, Clay. You know I love Logan but it’s not the same thing and it never will be.” She inched closer to the swelling tide, torn between facing her fear and distancing herself from the helpless misery in Clay’s eyes.

“What happened to our family?” he demanded, rushing forward so suddenly to grab Quinn’s hand that she almost lost her balance as another wave crashed around her ankles. His wife’s fingers trembled in his grasp, matching her shaky breaths. “He needs you, baby...please don’t let what we lost change what we already have.”

Quinn’s whispered response was carried away on the waves and Clay watched the tears continue to leak slowly from her eyes. Held steady by just one of his hands grasping her wrist, Clay could tell her rigid tension was about to dissolve. Just as Quinn gave in to her need for comfort and melted into his arms, a small voice reached them from the shore.

“Mom, are you okay?” Quinn lifted her heavy head from Clay’s shoulder and stared at Logan, the sadness in his eyes practically snapping her world back into focus. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

“Facing the immensity, I guess,” she said miserably. “Clearly, I’m not doing a very good job of it.” Logan tilted his head and stared at her, looking so much like a sad puppy that Quinn’s guilty conscience swelled unbearably. “Logan, listen...I-,”

“It’s the same ocean it was last week,” her son pointed out before Quinn could find the words for her apology. “You’re the one who has changed.” Logan met Clay’s gaze and the pride shining through the pain in his father’s eyes gave him the nerve to continue. “Can I help? I know you said you’re not really my Mom but I love you, Mama Q.”

Clay stared up at the clear night sky, centring his focus on a cluster of stars. He only realized he was crying when his vision of the twinkling starlight began to blur. Quinn pressed herself into his arms, beckoning Logan into the shallow tide with them with her free hand. “Hey,” she murmured. “What happened?”

“Thank you,” he breathed simply, nuzzling into her hair while Logan wound himself around both his parents. “For a while there I was really scared you were going to make me choose between you and Logan. I can’t do that, you know...I won’t ever do that!”

“You don’t have to,” Quinn promised, finally releasing him to give their son a tight hug. “God, Logan, I’m so sorry.” She stepped back and looked into the little boy’s eyes, the love in them soothing her pain instantly. “There are no excuses for what I said. I just hope you know what an honour it is to be your Mom. Can you forgive me?”

“Our family,” Logan smiled warmly at her, lighting up the darkness around and inside her. “I totally love the way that sounds.” The tide chose that moment to surge towards the shore once more but this time Quinn felt anchored. The life inside her was gone right now but there was an abundance of love warming her from the inside to make up for the loss. Life was immense indeed, but she would never have to face it alone again.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9774917/1/This-Time-Tomorrow

11 notes • Posted 2021-03-09 08:02:09 GMT

18 any OTH dynamic

OTH Prompt: “If I die, I’m haunting you first”

Clara Backstory: OC Dynamic

“If I die, I’m haunting you first!” Sara’s shrill voice reached Jessica’s ears over the rush of the water below them. “Do you even know how high this bridge is?”

“I couldn’t tell you in feet, I’m British,” her room-mate shrugged, grinning infuriatingly. Where the hell did the girl get her reckless nature?

“I really don’t like you sometimes, Parker,” Sara groaned, shuddering as she peered into the water against her better judgement.

“You love me,” Jessica giggled. “I’d jump with you but the boys around here might get the wrong idea if you take so long that we have to keep holding hands.”

“If I wasn’t so freaked, I’d be offended, but as it happens, you’re off the hook. That guy Alex from the diner earlier has been ogling you for ages. Why don’t you just leave me here and go for it?”

Jessica’s eyes lit up when she spotted the dark-haired flirt staring at her from a distance. “That boy is fine,” she sighed dreamily. Then she bit her lip regretfully. “Will you be okay on your own?”

“I’ll manage,” Sara muttered, the nervous tension twisting her insides in knots. “Go!”

The hustle and bustle of the bar she sat in wrenched Jessica from her musings eventually. She had wanted to be helpful but just arriving back on American soil for the first time since her college years had thrown her for a loop. Add to that the fact that her best friend was dead and she didn’t really know how to feel right now. Even the chattering of other patrons couldn’t pique her interest right now, notorious gossip though she was.

“Is this seat taken?” Jessica lifted her head reluctantly, prepared to snap at whoever dared interrupt her internal whirlwind of emotions. Instead, she felt her jaw drop.

“Alex,” she whispered. Then found her voice to speak louder over the noise around them. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“You really have to ask?” he demanded, none of that cockiness she remembered in his words. “Sara’s gone.” Struggling to breathe around the lump swelling in her throat, the British girl gestured at the empty seat beside her. “I brought my Nonna’s famous pasta recipe all the way from Europe. How lame is that?”

“It’s not lame at all,” Jessica told him. “You come from the land of the ultimate comfort food, we could all use some of that.”

“You look good, Jessie,” he said softly. “I hope it’s okay to say that. I’m way out of my element here.”

“I think we all are,” she pointed out. “Did you go to see Clay already?”

“That sister of his is acting like a gate-keeper,” Alex grimaced. “Makes you wonder how bad the spiral must be if even we feel this crappy.”

“She’s just trying to protect him,” said Jessica defensively.

“Oh that’s right, Jessica Parker can’t hear a word against Lily and James Potter,” Alex teased, sounding like the guy she remembered from college for the first time. “You’re like a loyal little puppy.”

“Shut up!” She took a swing at him, but Alex grabbed her hand before she could land a punch to his arm.

“Oh no you don’t, missy.”

“Let go of me, Alex,” Jessica demanded and it was her tone that made him drop her hand. He was used to annoyance and exasperation from the British girl; this sadness was new. But then, what else could there be but misery under the circumstances?

“Sorry,” he sighed. “You know I don’t mean to bug you, it just kind of happens.”

“Life happens,” Jessica pointed out quietly. “And sometimes it royally sucks.”

“Amen,” Alex agreed, raising his beer in her direction.

“You’re not even offering to buy me a drink with that smug grin?” Jessica marveled. “I guess times really have changed.”

“I can take a hint, Parker,” he said stiffly. “I’m here for my best friend, chasing you was never my intention.”

“And my best friend is dead,” Jessica breathed, the words barely audible since they didn’t feel remotely real to even say out loud. “You know, all I can think right now is how she promised to haunt me if that bridge jump that we did in college had killed her? How ridiculous is that?”

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all,” Alex told her softly. “Man, that was a crazy day, huh?”

See the full post

12 notes • Posted 2021-03-27 18:46:12 GMT

6 Lilymoore

iZombie Prompt Response: Why the hell is there glitter everywhere?

“I feel evil,” Peyton Charles whispered as she shook out a bag of sequins on her best friend’s bed. “You’re a fake ray of sunshine, Ravi. If Liv figures us out, I’m blaming you, just so we’re clear.”

“It’s payback, sweetheart,” the doctor grinned. “Major dares call me Princess Sparkles; I’ll give him sparkles.”

“I think he was just naming your beard, honey,” Peyton laughed. “Besides, you got all the glitter out eventually.”

“That’s not the point,” Ravi pouted. “Those two put me through multiple personalities every day, a man’s got to blow off steam somehow.”

“But what if they think the kids did it?” Peyton mused, referring to three orphaned zombie children Liv and Major had taken in after Seattle had been over-run by zombies and the city’s humanity imploded. “You know how orphans stress about reasons to end up back on the streets. Why put them in that position?”

“What makes you think they’re not in on the plan?” said Ravi mischievously. “Ollie and Annie are right little monkeys, not as saintly as you seem to think. Even that adorable Pippi isn't as innocent as she looks.”

“I give up,” Peyton grimaced. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, love,” said Ravi airily, spreading another handful of glittery sequins on the pillows. “There, that should do it.” He checked his watch and ushered Peyton out of the room. “We need to get out of here, those two should get back from their grocery run any minute.”

Not much later, Liv and Major returned with arms full of fresh groceries. “It feels nice to be shopping for a house full after so many years of living with just Peyton, that girl eats like a bird,” Liv commented, nudging the door open with her shoulder. “Where do you think the kids are?”

“It is suspiciously quiet,” Major frowned. “Do you think it was a good idea leaving the kids home alone?”

“We have to show them they’re trusted,” Liv pointed out. “You know better than most how troubled kids can be sometimes.”

“I do know, that’s exactly why I’m worried.”

“You worry too much,” Liv laughed, depositing her grocery bag on the kitchen counter. There was no response, however, and she returned to the living room curiously. “Major? What’s going on?”

“I told you so!” he said triumphantly, pointing at the staircase. A trail of glitter led all the way up the steps to the upper floor. “Why the hell is there glitter everywhere if those little monkeys didn’t do anything?”

“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation,” said Liv calmly.

“Does nothing shock you anymore?” asked Major, quirking a bushy eyebrow.

“Not since I married you, babe,” she said coolly and her husband tilted his head thoughtfully.

“After all these years, I still can’t tell whether you’re insulting me or not sometimes.”

“It’s a compliment,” Liv assured him. “Look, I don’t think we need Clive’s detective skills to figure out where this mess came from. Do you?”

“Hell no,” said Major, shaking his head vigorously. “After all these years and I still feel like a naughty kid when Clive is around, the threat is too real.”

“Seriously? I’ll be sure to tell him that sometime.”

“Don’t you dare!” Major objected, grabbing his wife around the waist and spinning her to face him. “You’re really not funny, Mrs. Lilywhite.”

“Aww, here I had record-breaking comedic ambitions,” Liv giggled, pushing herself up on tiptoe to reach his lips. Before she could make contact, Major stiffened alertly and pulled out of her reach once more. “Quit making me work so hard for a kiss,” Liv groaned but Major wasn’t listening. “What the hell is going on?”

Major didn’t answer, too busy storming up the stairs. “I know who is behind this,” he declared as he went. Shaking her head in amusement, Liv followed. Looking positively manic, Major checked each of the upper floor’s bedrooms, one by one. “Aha! What did I tell you?” he said triumphantly. In the girls’ bedroom, he found Annie and Pippi giggling conspiratorially. “Ladies, what’s going on here? You wouldn’t happen to know where that glitter trail on the stairs came from, would you?”

“No,” said Annie, drawing out the word deliberately even though she was turning as flaming red as her hair. Major glanced over his shoulder at Liv, who was smirking knowingly at the mischievous girls.

“You’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you?” said Major in disbelief, frowning at his wife.

“Totally. Believe it or not, I used to be a teenage girl, you know.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Major threw her one of his crooked grins and pulled her in for another kiss. “Or have you blocked the nineteen-year-old who lived in my football jerseys from memory? You drowned in them back then and still would.”

See the full post

17 notes • Posted 2021-04-03 20:31:12 GMT

The Night Shift Prompt Response: Callander - Babies

Asked by @therubbleoroursins

Jordan knew it was none of her business, but the crackling static from her patient's room guided her to where new mother Chloe sat, introducing her newborn daughter to her fiancé overseas. The platitudes and words of encouragement filtered out towards her. "God, you're beautiful...that was somehow both the most amazing and terrifying thing I've ever seen on a screen." When the corporal began calling his friends over to virtually meet the baby, Jordan knew it was time to back away. The smile of accomplishment was still on her face when she turned without looking where she was going and collided with T.C.

"Ouch," she gasped, but the physical sensation was nothing compared to the glow in his hazel eyes right now. "Do you ever watch where you're going, T?"

"I just wanted to catch you in the act. I knew you'd be loitering here," T.C retorted smugly. "You're addicted to that baby, aren't you? Gwen even cried, is it a girl thing?"

"Shut up!" Jordan hit him playfully. "Gwen and I just appreciate a happy ending, that's all. We can't all be as dark and broody as you. I'm happy for Chloe and Tom."

"I'm happy for them, too," T.C argued. "It's just a little harder to show it right now; a man killed himself in front of me an hour ago. Ryan and Taylor were Romeo and Juliet wannabes, and now she's going to wake up an orphan. How does that even happen?"

His words evaporated the light teasing atmosphere, leaving an only too familiar despair radiating off him. Jordan watched him helplessly for a moment, wishing as she so often did that there was a way to ease the darkness haunting him. "I'm sorry about Mr. Sawyer, T," she said softly. "Some people just can't make it back from the horrors over there. I'm thankful every day that you did. You know that, don't you?"

"I wouldn't have made it even this far without you," he admitted quietly. "I'm not trying to get myself sacked, you know. It's just that bureaucracy makes me so angry. I've never been good with authority figures."

"Didn't the Army also teach you to pick your battles?" Jordan reminded him. "Fighting for what you believe in is admirable, T. I just wish there had been a way for you to do it without getting yourself discharged. There are ways and ways of getting your point across."

"I always thought that would be us someday," said T.C wistfully, gesturing through the glass pane at Chloe rocking her newborn. "Not to change the subject when you're in the middle of one of your pep talks...I just miss it sometimes, you know? The what-could-have-been. Hell, I think Chloe's delivery tonight is the closest we've ever come to marriage."

"What are you talking about?" Jordan mused vaguely, staring at Chloe and the baby in turn.

"The wedding proxies," T.C reminded her. "When Chloe started crashing, you stammered 'I do' when you were speaking for her. Even in all that chaos, it made me wish things could have been different."

"I misspoke under the pressure," said Jordan, but not as defensively as she normally might have. "We're finding our way back together, no doubt, but let's not get hasty here."

"I want nothing more than forever with you," said T.C longingly. "I know I have to earn back your mother's trust. Hell, maybe yours, too. But I just need you to know that."

"I do," she promised. "Even that may sound like a wedding vow but for now I'm just counting my blessings we're getting better at baby steps. I love you, even when you stress me the hell out."

"I am trying not to do that anymore," T.C laughed, leaning down so that their foreheads touched. "It took so many bumps and bruises to even get Scott to let you go, I count my lucky stars every day that you never really gave up on me."

"And I never will," Jordan whispered, a lump rising unbidden to her throat as she watched Chloe's baby flailing and crying in her mother's arms. "We'll have that someday, you know," she said, gesturing at their patient. "If the pressure of delivering a baby can get us this close to marriage it has to mean something. That's what I believe when times get hard."

"That's enough talk of difficult things," said T.C suddenly, the arm around Jordan's shoulders dipping her dramatically. "It's time for one of the things I find easiest in the world." And bracing her with one arm, he kissed her in the middle of the deserted hallway. All thoughts of Chloe and her newborn daughter fled from Jordan's mind, wiped out by the searing kiss from her favorite Irishman. Their future might not be as certain as Chloe and Tom's, but these moments were theirs alone and for now, that was enough.

26 notes • Posted 2021-05-06 14:32:06 GMT

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#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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smokeybrand · 3 years

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Smokey band Movie Reviews: Wowza

The Suicide Squad is the best film DC has made since The Dark Knight. That’s it. That’s the review. If you want to know why i can say that with unassailable confidence, you can continue reading but from this point on, i am literally just going to gush about this f*cking thing like a straight up school girl. It’s that good and you should go watch it right now. This is about to be a love letter to the best film I've seen all year, mostly because i haven’t seen any A24 flicks, but this thing is a fantastic consolation for that glaring disappointment.

The Inspired

The writing in this movie is easily the best the DCEU has to offer. I say that knowing there are some people who believe BvS is f*cking Shakespeare and MoS is Hemingway. They’re not. They’re both dogsh*t. The Suicide Squad absolutely is everything the neckbeard fanboys want those films to be. I marvel at how well the events blend, how organically the character interact, how real they feel in a movie with a giant kaiju space starfish as the driving conflict for the plot. It’s f*cking inspired and lays solid ground work for very exceptional aspect of this movie going forward. Your film starts on the page and James Gunn understands that sh*t very well.

The emotion in this movie is palpable. I literally teared up toward the end. That’s rare for me because I'm kind of an emotionless monster but that line, “I’m a superhero!” f*cking gut checked me. Gunn has done that to me three times. “WE are Groot.” "He may have been your father, boy. But he wasn't your daddy." It wasn’t Pete swinging in after the “On your left.” in Endgame but it was close. Dude is too good at that sh*t and it’s weird that Marvel is willing to let him go. They better lock that dude the f*ck up!

Chemistry is everything for an ensemble like this and this cast definitely has that. I bought their interactions without having to suspend my disbelief, not like in other, lesser SKWAD films. I particularly like the relationship between Ratcatcher II and Bloodsport. That sh*t was sweet and brought a legitimate smile to my face.

I mentioned how well this film was written but, aside from the brilliant plot that made all of these misfit killers relevant, the character work really goes a long way to selling this narrative. Like, you absolutely fall in love with Polka Dot Man by the end of this thing. They made Peacemaker an irredeemable bastard. Like, do you know how well you have to develop a character played by John f*cking Cena, for people to hate him? He’s the White people version of The Rock! That’s near impossible but they definitely pull it off. It’s like Gunn watched the first SKWAD, saw what they did with El Diablo and just decided to do that. And when i say “do that’, i mean actually write these f*cking characters as people instead of stereotypes and tropes.

The Great

This is an ensemble film, which means it lives and dies by it’s cast. Well, this motherf*cker is living mas! Not a single character was miscast in this. Not a one. From the supporting characters like Alice Braga’s Sol Soria and Peter Capaldi’s Thinker, to the expendable distraction SKWAD. Loved seeing Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang again and i even like Pete Davidson’s Blackguard. I can’t stand Pete Davidson. This cast is MCU levels of excellent but, of course, there are standouts.

Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag does the best work of his career. This dude almost always sucks in the roles he takes on but I'm starting to think that’s because of the direction he’s given because dude kills it as Flag in this. I genuinely liked him this time around. He felt like a real person and not some caricature of whatever the generic US Marine is supposed to be.

Margot Robbie is the live action Harley Quinn. She embodies this character like Ledger did Joker and RDJ did Stark. It’s that good and this version of Harley is easily the best. She feels complete, like she’s finally the Harls in the comics and i love it. This Harleen is who the character should have been from the jump but a lot of that was on Margot. She had to grow into the character, develop her ability because the first time she donned that Puddin’ necklace was rough. She’s come a long way and so has Harley.

I touched on this before but John Cena’s Peacemaker is a f*cking bastard. This casting genius because of the message behind the movie. I’ll get into that later but casting the most All-America motherf*cker to play the villain in a film about US involvement in Sovereign Foreign nations? And for Cena to literally play up his Patriot shtick only to turn out to be an allegory for the sordid reality of America? Bro, this sh*t got over. Cena is outstanding as Peacemaker. This cat really does have the chops to be a movie star. Looking forward to this show they gave him, for sure.

Polka-Dot Man is arguably the best character in this entire film. I love what Gunn wrote for him and absolutely adore how David Dastmalchian gave the character life. He had the best arc in the entire film and i really enjoyed his journey. When he got his moment, i teared up a little bit. Dude deserved that. Dude earned that. For me to have such a visceral reaction to that scene is testament to how well Dastmalchian did his job!

Listen, i love Idris Elba. I do. Cat has all of the swagger. He’s easily as charismatic as Obama and i dig that. However, he just plays Idris Elba. Like, his Bloodsport is literally just John Luther but, you know, murder prone. That’s not a bad thing, it definitely works, but, if I'm being honest, as a character, he’s the weakest of the lot but that’s how good everyone is in this. Idris f*cking Elba is the weakest character in this cast! What?? It’s not even like he’s bad or anything, he just plays the same dude over and over.

And now we get to my favorite character in this flick, Ratcatcher II. Listen, i have no idea who the f*ck Daniela Melchior is, but she is the absolute heart of this film, the moral compass of this team, and she never shirks away from that challenge. She has outstanding chemistry with Elba and the relationship between their two characters is the sweetest sh*t I've seen in a long time. It reminded me a lot of Logan and Laura. Melchior, if he chooses, can have a great career in Hollywood because she’s a real talent.

The Good

The plot to this thing makes sense. It’s not something as intricate as The Dark Knight but it’s head-and-shoulders better than anything the DCEU has produced and objectively sh*ts on the SKWAD that came before it. Destabilizing a small Latin American nation feels more like something Waller would have theses assholes do, rather than trying to kill a f*cking god with boomerangs and bullets. This movie is everything the first SWKAD attempt wants to be.

The violence and gore in this is ramped up to a eleven. There is a lot of grotesque sh*t in this thing and it starts the second Blackguard gets his face blown off. Like, his entire f*cking face. You see ALL of that sh*t and SO much more. Like, it gets grimy and i appreciated that. A SKWAD film needs that blood. This is a team of remorseless killers. We, as the audience, need to feel that and this flick delivers.

James Gunn can direct his ass off. When they announced he was going to be in charge of this film way back when, i knew it was going to be legit. When they announced t was a hard R, i needed it in my life. We’re talking Guardians with murder. Were talking the quintessential James Gunn vision and what a vision it is. Not only did he direct the f*ck out of this movie, but he wrote it, too! Mans has the only writing credit on this production. This is all him! It’s wild seeing the difference between directors on display. Gunn delivered a film that one could argue is the best of the year while Zack Snyder made f*cking Army of the Dead. The discrepancy between the quality of these two films is why i hate Snyder so much and have all of the love for Gunn.

The imagery in this thing is f*cking top tier. There are shot that are legitimate art It's a weird juxtaposition considering how bloody some of these scenes get but, f*ck, is it gorgeous!

I have to mention the editing. I usually don’t bother because it’s always adequate and, admittedly, it feels only slightly better in this film but it’s competent. It’s better than the first and you really feel that sh*t. Like, i watched the movie in preparation for this one and, oh my god, the difference in an actual team of professional film editors really cut a great film. Who’ have thought letting a f*cking trailer house construct your movie that it would end up feeling like a ton of trailers strung together and be bad?

This movie is overtly political. It has a lot to say about the influence of the US abroad. It doesn’t shy away from the realities of our international policy and really hammers home the reality of what the United States is, rather than the way we portray ourselves to be. This culminates in a struggle between Flag and Peacemaker; Both soldiers to the core but on opposite ends of the American ideal. It’s actually really brilliant and, if you aren’t paying attention, will go over your head. This is how you instill your politics into a film. This is how you execute ideals in a narrative. Gunn has a lot to say and he says it in the loudest way, but with the quietest voice.

The Okay

The only beef i can see people having with this is the exposition dumps. There are a few but they kind of stall the overall flow. I didn’t mind them too much because, by the time we get to them, the film has built up so much good will by being just fantastic.

The Verdict

I f*cking loved this movie, dude. Look how long this list of dope sh*t is. I literally itemized all of the reasons why this flick is so great. I can’t articulate it and more clear. I told you at the very beginning, literally the first thing i wrote, that The Suicide Squad is the best film in the DCEU and i mean that sh*t. Grace Randolph is a f*cking hack. Don’t listen to her incredibly bias opinion. Just f*cking go watch it and decide for yourself! It’s in theaters right now and on HBO max for free.

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foreverfangirlalways · 4 years

Text

The Astronomer and The Florist (Chapter 19)

Chapter 19 Title: Permission and Wedding Preparations

Summery: It’s Logan’s birthday, so time for some flirting and wedding planning!

Ships: Analogical & Royality

Warning: cussing, innuendos, threats, hinted at angst

-let me know if I need to add more warnings-

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN!!)

*Thank you @kawaiikat54 for helping me to get it out today!*

—-

It’s been about six weeks, and they still haven’t figured out what last name to use. Logan was wanting to start planning the wedding, but Virgil insisted he had to do something first.

So, here he was, sitting in Thomas’s living room, clutching a coffee mug. His anxiety was skyrocketing because of what he was about to do, but Thomas’s easy smile was helping smooth his nerves a bit, as was Logan’s reassuring arm around his shoulder.

“So boys, as much as I love when you both come to visit, may I ask why y’all came this particular morning? Especially since we will all be meeting for supper later?” Thomas asked, smiling at the boys position.

Virgil took a deep breath, and Logan squeezed his shoulder. Virgil sent him a small smile, and then he looked back at a slightly confused Thomas.

“No, I actually wanted to ask your permissi-“

“Yes!”

Virgil blinked, slightly startled from such an enthusiastic interruption, and Logan was trying to swallow his laughter.

Tilting his head, Virgil said “But I haven’t even told you what I’m asking you about yet?”

Thomas raised an eyebrow and gestures to Virgil hand that was grasping the mug oh so tightly, as the arm that was slung over Virgil’s shoulders.

“Well, I was just assuming that those rings on your fingers weren’t just an exploration into fantastic world of jewelry. Was I wrong?”

When Virgil looked down, he saw the engagement ring that was still on his left ring finger, and Logan’s ring he had gotten him two days after the proposal. He put his head in his hand and started laughing.

“No, your right. I completely forgot that it might be a dead give away.”

Thomas stood chuckling, and went to stand right in front of the couple. He put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeezed.

“If your asking for my permission, I give it wholeheartedly.”

Virgil was positivity beaming, and Thomas let a sly smile slip.

“Besides, I am the one who helped pick out that particular ring.”

Virgil gasped then punched Logan in the shoulder. “You jerk! You let me worry for no reason!”

Logan doubled over laughing, making Virgil glare at him more. “Falsehood, I told you not to worry. I said that everything would be fine.”

Virgil simple hurmped at Logan’s words, turned away from him, and declared that he was not speaking to him for the foreseeable future.

Logan tried moving Virgil back to face him, but he wouldn’t budge. Logan gave Virgil a teasing, incredulous look and kneeled in front of him.

“So you’re not going to talk to me when we go out with everyone tonight? What about when when we reveal who has what positions in our wedding?” Logan asked, stressing the ‘our’ and tried tugging on Virgil’s arm.

Virgil shook his head and looked over at Thomas, who was smiling into his mug.

“Thomas, please tell Logan that I will not be speaking to him at that event.”

Thomas just shook his head. “Oh no, I am not involved in this. You can tell your fiancé yourself.”

“But Thomas!” Virgil whined, “that defeats the point!”

Logan smirked and picked Virgil up, spinning him around. Virgil alights in laughter, and kisses Logan.

“Fine, you’re forgiven, just put me down or that’s the last kiss you get today.”

Logan plops down on the couch and sets Virgil atop his lap. Virgil leans back, and Thomas shakes his head in amusement at the pairs antics.

After talk and caching up for a bit, they all headed out and over to Patton and Roman’s house. Virgil volunteered to drive Thomas, but Thomas insisted that he would just follow behind.

When they arrived, Thomas headed in and Virgil pulled Logan back. “Before we head in, I was just wanting to tell you how much I love you, and how happy I am that you decided to flip he-who-should-be-pushed-out-a-window with flowers. My life is so much better with you in it, and I can’t wait to marry you. Happy birthday moonbeam.”

Logan face lit up and he spins Virgil around for the second time that day.

“I can’t believe you remembered! And if I hadn’t already asked you to marry me, that little speech would have been more than enough to convince me to want to make you mine.”

Virgil just laughed, and tugged Logan over to the door. “Keep that in mind for a few more seconds.”

Logan confused expression melted into shock and awe as all of his friends jumped out and yelled ‘surprise!’

Patton, Roman, Remy, Emile, Thomas, Janus, and Remus all held confetti popper and Logan was suddenly covered in bouts of little paper.

“Wow. You really did remember.”

There was laughter, cake, presents, and flirting.

Patton and Roman gave Logan his present together, a basket full of Crofters, tied together with an array of new ties.

Emile, the officiator of Patton and Roman’s wedding as well as Logan’s college roommate, gave Logan and gave full of teas and an astronomy documentary.

“Now you Galaxy brained flower children can have a sweet date night!” Emile told Logan when handing the gift over.

Logan smiled, thanked Emile, and wrapped his arms around Virgil, whispering in his ear that he simply couldn’t wait.

Remy shoved Virgil away from Logan, declaring, “Move bitch, I’m gay.” As he handed Logan a star covered Starbucks cup and gift card.

“You bitch! That is literally my fiancé you homophobic banana peel!”

Logan and Emile had to separate their partners before any bloodshed could happen, and within five minutes Virgil and Remy were laughing and tag teaming Roman about the dark side of Disney.

Janus, with the thoughtful brain cell he has, got Logan a new telescope and some face mask.

When Logan questioned the face masks, Janus responded with a, “Because self care, now here’s some vanilla scented bubble bath. You’ll thank me later.”

Confused, Logan opened the tub and Virgil leaned over his shoulders, breathed in deeply, and sighed.

“Vanilla is my favorite, and we are decently cuddling after you use this.”

Janus smirked and Remus gave Logan some glow-in-the-dark stars to “Light up the bedroom, wink wink nudge nudge.”

Logan shook his head in amusement while Patton and Virgil chased a cackling Remus around.

Thomas pulled Logan aside and gave his a serious look. “Now, I know that your dad can’t be there for you, but there is a way he can be with you.”

Logan was frozen in complete shock, and his eyes stared up once he recognized what Thomas was holding out.

“Is that...?”

“Yes. You’re dad had given me his ring a long time ago to give to you in hopes that you would wear it or give it away on your own wedding.”

Logan delicately took the ring, and let a few tears slip down his face. He squeezed Thomas and let out a steady stream of ‘thank yous’.

“It’s no trouble at all. I’m just happy that you seem so happy.”

Logan felt a pair of arms wrap around his midsection, and turned around. Virgil smiled up at his fiancé, and said, “Now we have the perfect ring for my perfect guy. I’m so happy for you moonbeam!”

After collecting themselves and plenty of ‘awws’, they all sat down to eat and talk about the wedding.

“So where do y’all plan on having it?” Patton asked.

“We just want to have a small gathering at our favorite stargazing spot on the longest night of the year.” Logan explained.

Virgil grabbed Logan’s hand and squeezed.

“We want Emile to be our officiator, Janus be my best man, and Patton, I was wondering if you would give me away?” Asked Virgil apprehensively.

They all agreed enthusiastically, and started Patton crying.

Logan spoke up, saying, “I want Roman to be my best man and Thomas to give me away.”

After both agreed, Virgil jokingly added, “Remy and Remus can be our flower girls!”

Both agreed, the began to argue over who would look better in the classic flower girl dress.

After all the tasks had been distributed and cleaning was done, Logan and Virgil headed home. They cuddled and watched the new documentary, both barely paying attention but thinking about how excited they are to marry the man who is currently wrapped in his arms.

Taglist

@dragonwithproblems

@five-falseh00ds-ph0nated

@thefingergunsgirl

@kawaiikat54

@sanders-sides-with-quinn

@007ardra

@yikesdodson

@nerdycupcake559

@softestvirgil

@teacupfulofstarshine

@impatentpending

@star-crossed-shipper

@ravenivy2079

@rainbowemonightmare

@ladyartemisia28

@am-i-bitter-maybe

@resident-crow-goth

@parx-boiiz

@thepancake00

@kuroyurishion

@fumkyfrenshfamtherfigure

@pattoncake-and-eyeshadow

@drewwwbydoobydoo

@sure-i-exist

@sophiexteresa

@glitched-cookie

@artsy-enby09

@seraphlies

@spideythenewkid

@tranquil-space-ninja

#the astronomer and the florist #Analogical #royality #Logan #Virgil #Patton #Roman #Remus #Thomas #Janus #remy #emile #wedding planning #Happy Birthday Logan!#flirting #awwww #hope this is worth the wait #next chapter is the last

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analogicisms · 4 years

Text

Music & Poetry - Chapter One

Summary: Popular-but-not-really-famous lyricist Virgil Quinn meets an attractive poet named Logan who claims to hate music. Virgil, who believes lyrics to be every bit the poetry as the kind found in books and anthologies and inspirational posters, feels the need to prove to Logan wrong.

Ship: Analogical (with others in the background)

Rating & Warnings: PG 13.

Chapters: 1 - 2

AO3: Chapter One

Thanks to @romantichopelessly for betaing and to @sunshineandteddybears and @paperghastly for pre-reading.

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

Chapter One

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♞ LOGAN ♞

Logan sighed as he checked his phone for the second time in two minutes. He was standing outside of the main hall of the university where he would be speaking on that day. Due to his need for extensive planning, however, he was nearly two hours early for when he was required to be there.

He considered checking in with the dean of the school but knew that many people felt inconvenienced by those who arrived more than an hour early. Typically, Logan didn’t care too much about inconveniencing others with early arrivals, but Thomas Sanders, the dean of the school, was not just some man who had invited him to speak at this year’s graduation. Thomas was also a very dear friend of his, and Logan would hate to add any undue anxiety onto the man’s already burdened shoulders.

Sighing again, Logan considered the time once more before opening Google Maps and searching for nearby cafes.

Of course, Logan thought as his eyes took in the ten plus pins indicating Starbucks Coffee shops in the area. It was not that Logan was a coffee snob, though his best friend Roman would disagree, he was simply a man who knew what he liked, and Starbucks was awful in terms of taste compared to value. In his opinion, of course—although anyone who disagreed was an idiot.

Scrolling down to the list, his gaze was caught by the third listing. The Bumble Bean. Logan hummed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the pun. It was, after all, better than the alternative.

He noted the letter corresponded with the shop before consulting the map. Clicking on the name of the cafe, it popped up on the map and Logan clicked its little pin. The shop’s information appeared in a little bubble, including the business hours and, more importantly, the distance from his current location.

A block and a half away. Not bad for a walk, especially considering the suit he wore. Decision made, Logan set down his messenger bag long enough to pull off the suit jacket. Lifting his bag from the ground, he draped his jacket over the bag and shouldered the strap once more.

A quick click of the directions link on Google Maps and he was on his way.

☆ ⌒ ★ ⌒ ☆ ⌒ ★ ⌒ ☆ ⌒ ★ ⌒ ☆

💀 VIRGIL 💀

Virgil leaned back in the leather armchair he occupied, covering a yawn with his arm.

“Don’t start with that now, ViVi.”

Virgil grinned as he looked up at the barista who also happened to be his best friend.

“Sorry, Pat.”

Patton Hart was five foot four inches of adorable from the top of his curls to his white chucks with rainbow cat faces printed on the material. He also had the endearing habit of worrying for his friends. Especially Virgil.

“Late night again?” Patton asked, brows furrowing in concern behind oversized glasses with gold round frames. Virgil nodded. “Sleep is important, kiddo.”

Anyone who overheard the conversation would likely wonder why Patton—who easily looked younger than Virgil, though they were actually the same age—was calling him kiddo, but Virgil had come to accept that as just Patton being Patton. He was definitely a mom and dad friend.

Virgil sighed. “Yeah.” He brought a hand to his eyes, closing them to rub at the lids before offering Patton a winning smile. “These lyrics won’t write themselves.”

Patton pursed his lips as he set Virgil’s black coffee down on a coaster. Once he’d straightened up, hands were fisted and rested on hips. Virgil tried his best to hold back a grin, but the other looked too adorable like that and so he failed. Miserably.

“It’s not funny, Virgil. One of these days, you’re gonna wish you’d listened to dear ol’ Patton.”

“And when that day comes, I will gladly accept your ‘I told you so’. Unfortunately, I’m a night owl and my brain works best in the dead of night.”

Patton tutted but said nothing else on the matter. “Don’t forget, its drinks night tonight. Emile will be late but I should be able to close up a little early so I’ll be there at ten.”

Virgil nodded. “Alright. Honestly, though, I don’t know why I even go. Ever since you two started dating, I feel like such a third wheel. Are you sure you two just don’t want the time to yourself? You and I could always catch up later.”

“Nonsense. Emile is as much your friend as he is mine, boyfriend or not. And, I don’t want to hear another word about it, mister.”

Virgil snorted. “Yeah, yeah. Okay, mom.”

“Good. Now, drink your coffee before it gets cold.” He glanced up at the front and gave a start. “Oops, gotta get back to work. I’ll try to chat when the rush ends.”

Virgil waved him off. “Sure thing, buddy. Talk to you later.”

Watching Patton make his way behind the counter, Virgil let his gaze wander to take in the other patrons of the little cafe. A smile slipped onto his lips as he remembered the day three years ago when Patton rushed up to him before blurting out his idea for a bookstore coffee house. Virgil had never seen his best friend so excited about anything in his life, which was saying a lot considering Patton’s default setting was excited.

It had taken a lot of work and Virgil had put a lot of money into the place—an investment, he had told Patton when the other tried to refuse—but the struggle had paid off in the end. The Bumble Bean had quickly become one of the hot spots in town, especially for students at the local university and high schools. Virgil was proud of his friend and never missed a chance to tell him, either.

The gentle, light sound of the bell on the door sounded and Virgil idly glanced in that direction.

Oh. My. God.

A man who looked not much older than Virgil--but dressed in way nicer clothes than Virgil had ever owned--stepped inside and looked around before heading toward the counter. Virgil watched him as he made his way across the café, his eyes taking in the man's face as his own heated up considerably.

Gay panic is real.

Virgil quickly looked away, busying himself with drinking his coffee. Unfortunately, due to his preoccupied brain, he had forgotten that coffee was generally very hot, and burned his tongue.

“Fuck.” He swore under his breath, tongue now numb and raw. Setting the cup down, Virgil glanced at the man from the corner of his eye.

I’m gay. I am so fucking gay.

Virgil watched as the man stepped up to the counter after the last customer finished paying. He found himself wondering what kind of drink the man would order, mentally reminding himself to ask Patton later. Watching Patton help the man, Virgil guessed at what kind of job the man had.

A businessman… then again, those pants are fitted as fuck… lawyer, maybe? Or CEO of some Fortune 500…

Pursing his lips, Virgil shook his head. The man didn’t look like a slimy, two-timing, grubby-handed snake. It was possible he was dressed for a specific event. The suit aside, Virgil would guess a professor, or a scientist even. There was no way he would be able to guess correctly, he decided. No point trying.

Turning his attention to his coffee, Virgil was momentarily distracted by the sound of feedback coming from the front. A stage was set up on the opposite side of the entrance, a young guy around Virgil’s age if not younger moving the stool closer to the microphone already present. There was a guitar in his other hand and a smile slipped onto Virgil’s face.

Virgil Quinn was a college student at the local university but he was also a well-known lyricist. Well, well-known was a little generous considering most people weren’t really interested in lyricists so much as the band or artist themselves. Most lyricists were annoyed by that fact but not Virgil. He liked being famous without actually being famous.

Unlike the bands that sang his songs, Virgil could go where he liked, when he liked, with no concern for his safety or his privacy. Even on the rare occasion, a fan did care about the person who wrote the songs, his work was still appreciated and loved from afar. His pictures weren’t the ones being plastered online, on busses, on television ads, and so on. He had more Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube followers than the average person and he was relatively “known”, but definitely not enough that it made much difference to his daily life.

That was exactly how Virgil preferred it.

“Do you mind?”

Virgil’s attention had been successfully distracted enough that he hadn’t noticed anyone come up.

“Mind?” Virgil’s indifferent attitude quickly turned shy and awkward as he turned to look at the person who asked the question. The gorgeous Mr. Maybe-A-Scientist.

“I’d like to claim that chair over there but I’ll need to get past you to get there. If you don’t mind.”

Virgil seized up before mentally reminding himself that this was just another guy. Another human being. He could play it cool.

Don’t blush. Don’t blush. Don’t blush.

Virgil glanced at the chair before looking back up at the man. He cleared his throat and stood up.

In the brief few seconds that past between them as Virgil stood so he could shift out of the man’s way, Virgil became certain of a handful of things.

First, the man with his dark gray, nearly black eyes could not be a CEO or lawyer. While his eyes held a certain level of cold, there was far too much feeling in them. Too much depth. Second, the man was at least a head shorter than him but there was no way Virgil would have known if he hadn’t stood up. The confidence the man held about him was absolutely admirable. Virgil would have been worried the man was arrogant or, worse, a narcissist but he seemed far too polite and formal. Instead of self-importance, it was an air of near indifference that radiated from him.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah. No sweat.”

Virgil could have mentally kicked himself. No sweat? Seriously? This man was obviously a man that existed off of intellectual knowledge and discourse. The best he could come up with was no sweat?

Virgil watched the other’s face, certain to see some sort of sign of dismissal but it never came. Instead, the man raised a brow and a second later, his lips quirked upwards. It was slight. So slight that Virgil wasn’t even certain he truly saw it. That was until the man spoke again.

“I still need to get by you, I’m afraid.”

Was that amusement Virgil heard laced ever so subtly throughout the carefully chosen words? Virgil glanced at where he stood and swore under his breath. He was an absolute idiot. One thing was certain, however, as Virgil finally moved out of the other’s way. There was a definite spark of amusement in the man’s eyes and voice when he glanced back to thank him, before moving on to the armchair just on the other side of the coffee table.

Virgil blushed, quickly sitting once more and trying his best to melt into the couch. Not possible, of course, but he had to give himself props for trying. Deciding he had done enough damage to their interaction, Virgil turned his attention back to the stage where the young man with the guitar was now engaging the patrons sat around the stage.

As the singer started playing and fading into his song, Virgil almost forgot about Mr. Sexy Scientist. No, who was he kidding. There was no way he could actually forget about him. Not with him being so damn attractive. Not with him being so damn close. But, his focus was preoccupied just enough to take his mind off the man, if only for the moment.

That was, until a sound escaped the man, pulling Virgil’s attention back to him once more. Why is he so good looking? Life hated him. That was all there was to it. Putting such a gorgeous, put together man at arms reach only for Virgil to not have any chance in hell with him. The sound that left the man, however, had Virgil’s curiosity piqued. It was definitely a scoff that he had heard come from the well dressed man.

“Not a fan of this kind of music?” Virgil asked, before he could think better of it. He took note that the other had pulled out a book and was presumably reading it. He didn’t even look up at Virgil when answered his question.

“Not a fan of music, actually.”

Virgil raised a brow. There was no way he had heard correctly. “Sorry, what now?”

The man looked up this time, a wry sort of expression on his face. It was the look of someone who had had this conversation on more than one occasion and didn’t find it any more enjoyable than he had the first time. Virgil felt bad, but only a little. He was more curious and so offered an apologetic shrug, but continued to look at the man expectantly.

The man sighed, marking the page he had been reading with a finger and set the book in his lap. His eyes found Virgil’s and it was all he could do to not look away. Swallowing hard, Virgil waited to hear what the man was about to say.

“I’m just not a fan of any type of music. It’s just… not my thing. I guess, classical counts as music and I do enjoy that when I am writing but in the general view of what is music these days, I really can’t say any of it has my appreciation.”

Virgil frowned. How sad to not like any music. The man looked ready to return to his book but Virgil found himself not wanting the conversation to end just yet. Grasping for something to talk about, he took note of what the man had said.

“Writing?”

The man nodded. He continued to watch Virgil but was obviously not about to offer any further information without being prompted.

Just my luck. The most gorgeous man walks into my life and unwittingly challenges all my anxieties.

“What do you write?”

Maybe he was an author?

“I’m a poet.” Suddenly a hand was offered to him from across the coffee table. Virgil took it at the last minute, shaking it and trying hard not to focus on the fact that they were technically holding hands. Too soon, the man pulled his hand back. “Logan Wright. I don’t expect you’ve heard of me but you’ve most likely come across a few of my poems. They’ve been used in various media.”

Virgil could only nod, unsure of what to say. A poet! Not only that but a poet who doesn't like music. As a lyricist, Virgil was of the belief that lyrics were poetry put to notes in order to make a song—to make music.

The man went back to his book and Virgil watched him for a few moments before letting his attention return to the performer. The guy was not the best singer ever but played the guitar like a boss. Still, Virgil could hear the potential and knew well that this man could have a musical career hands down as long as he kept at it. The biggest draw to a singer like this one was that the words could be felt with his voice. That was a quality that so many singers didn’t have but the very quality that proved Virgil’s belief.

He knew he shouldn’t care. He knew well that the likelihood of him ever seeing this man—Logan—again was slim to none. Yet, he couldn’t keep his attention from returning to the man. Every few glances, he would see the other wince or grimace. Virgil wanted to feel offended on the singer’s behalf but instead, he just felt pity for Logan.

The time soon came when Logan stood and asked by him once again. This time Virgil was quick to stand and smiled shyly.

“Hope you have a good day.”

Wow, could I be any more lame?

The man smiled, however, and nodded. “Likewise.”

Virgil then watched him as he headed out of the shop and back into the world.

A few seconds passed, Virgil wishing he had asked for his number or something. Not only that, but the knowledge that the man was missing out on something that was inspiration for millions of people… that just didn’t sit right with him. If only he could spend a few days with Logan… show him what he was missing out on. Prove to him that not all music was bad and so much of it told a story.

Fuck.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Virgil rushed through the shop and out the door. He glanced in the direction the man had gone, his eyes falling on his retreating back.

“Logan!” he called out. The man stopped and turned, tilting his head in a cute manner. Virgil didn’t focus on that, instead starting toward him as the man started back, distance closing between them.

“Can I help you?”

Virgil blushed, suddenly unsure of himself. Was what he was about to propose stupid? Whatever. He would never know until he tried.

“Give me a week.”

Logan snorted. “I’m sorry, give you what?”

Virgil blushed and rushed on. “I mean… in there. What you said about music? Give me a week to prove you wrong.”

Logan blinked and slowly smirked. “And what makes you think I’ll even be here a week?”

That stopped Virgil in his tracks. It never even occurred to him that the man was out of town. He felt himself frowning and was about to apologize when the man spoke up again.

“I mean, I will be, as it turns out, but it is intriguing for you to just assume so. Still, your proposal has me curious. I don’t know exactly how you plan to change my mind, but I do like experiments as much as the next scholar. I do have somewhere to be at the present, but if you give me your number, I will text you.”

In the next moments, Virgil gave Logan his number and watched as he walked away. He had no idea how he had managed it, but now that was the least of his worries.

Virgil now had just under seven days to change the mind of a very hot, intelligent, and opinionated poet.

To say he had his work cut out for him was definitely an understatement.

☆ ⌒ ★ ⌒ ☆ ⌒ ★ ⌒ ☆ ⌒ ★ ⌒ ☆

Disclaimer: The author does not own Sanders Sides or any of the characters found therein. They are also not affiliated with Thomas Sanders, Joan Stokes, or the Thomas Sanders team. Only the complete story as it is written is the property of the author and is not to be copied or reposted without express permission from the author.

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quinnslogan · 10 months

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This movie feels so surreal, the quogan content we got after decades!!! But we were robbed of so much when it easily could’ve happened.

1.) I hate how we didn’t even get to see the ceremony?? They could have easily fit in the vows, the movie is based off of THEIR wedding. Give us more insight on their feelings for one another. To tease Micheal giving a great ceremony and not show it is cruel LOL.

2.) how the rehearsal dinner speeches about them were cut off / zoeys ruined because of her reality tv show dude. would have been a perfect moment to get some history about quogan. how their friends felt when they found out, etc.

3.) Quinn and Logan’s parent basically being furniture, again could have been good background to some history.

4.) the lack of any alone moments of them, besides the cute but quick makeup scene.

5.) Logan’s second little proposal was so short (sweet) but short. I needed a “we fell in love here” kind of thing. There was 0 mention of PCA being significant to their story and why Quinn loved the set up so much.

6.) chase and Zoey telling their stories to the jewelry store workers should’ve been quogan

I guess you can relate all this to being a movie with Zoey as main compared to the series where everyone had subplots. After years I can’t complain too hard but we did get the absolute BARE MINIMUM. It’s sorta sad.

Yeah I def agree ESPECIALLY about the ceremony. I can get over the lack of Quogan alone scenes because I got more than I expected but tell me how you make a movie about a wedding and don’t show the actual ceremony. It becomes especially frustrating when you realize Micheal’s role in the movie was basically he’s their officiate and they didn’t even let him do that??

We know there are deleted scenes I would bet good money they did film their actual wedding/Chase’s full speech but cut it for time reasons. It’s annoying bc literally who’s watching this movie for anything other than quinn and logan but alright. I will say though I am a quality > quantity person and I absolutely LOVE the scenes we did get so I’m not super disappointed just kinda annoyed personally but I do get where you’re coming from

ALSO THE JEWELRY THING! When that happened I wanted so badly for Zoey and Chase to continue pretending to be Quinn and Logan and tell the jewelry lady their love story but instead they told their own lame one 🙄

FOR THE REPROPOSAL I HAD SO MANY EXPECTATIONS but also I don’t think anything Logan said would’ve beat I love Quinn Penksy I love Logan Reese so again I could live with it 😭

The parents annoyed me so bad the number of scenes Logan’s dad was just standing there and didn’t say a single word was hilarious tbh😭 like he was basically just an extra they could’ve had their parents not there wouldn’t have made a difference. I do think again they did have lines but they were cut probably

But yeah overall a few more lines AND A TWO MINUTE CEREMONY would’ve made such a difference and I too am annoyed and blame j*mie tbh. ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT ZOEY AND CHASE GETTING BACK TOGETHER AT THEIR SECOND WEDDING LIKE WAY TO STEAL THE SPOTLIGHT?? I hated both of them this movie like sorry

But I’ll make my peace because this scene I never expected and i’m irrationally obsessed with it

#we deserved better #someone leak deleted scenes please #quinn and logan #logan reese #quinn pensky #quogan #quinn x logan #zoey 101 #zoey 102

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thebestestboyo · 4 years

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How Remus Started Working For Patton: Part Five And A Half

Master post

Since I am currently wracking my brain for ideas on the actual next chapter, I decided to write what happened when Roman had been dropped off at Logan's place! Enjoy!

Tw: Swearing

When Remus said he was dropping him at a friend place, he expected to be at some stripper's house, or at the apartment he and Virgil shared. He even wouldn't put it past him to just take him to work! (It had happened before, and while dull, was quiet enough to sleep under Remus's desk.)

But even so, he was most certainly unprepared to find himself at this impasse with the most gorgeous man he had ever met! Never mind the fact that he had that weird shield thing on his head and the house smelled vaguely of smoke.

Wait, did he himself even look decent?? Remus had just taken him directly from his apartment, he probably looked horrid!

"Apologies, my brother tends to whisk me to places at the most inopportune of moments, I doubt you'd actually want me here in the current state I'm in." Oh god this could have gone so much better if Remus had just let him fix his hair or something!

"While normally random men are not dropped off at my domicile for observation, you are Remus's brother it seems, so I can't blame you for showing up so spontaneously. Have you eaten anything yet? I still have some breakfast left over from earlier."

"Actually I just had coffee, but I don't want to intrude-"

This absolute Apollo of a man turned his head so fast to look Roman in the eye, that he wouldn't have been surprised if he heard his neck crack. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I would be damned if someone in my house didn't eat at least something."

"It's really no trouble-"

Oh my, he hadn't even gotten his name yet, and already he was being lead to the kitchen by Remus's friend, sat down at the counter.

"Do you harbor any allergies?"

"Mm, shellfish, but other than that, no."

"Noted. I presume eggs are satisfactory?"

"Yes please! Oh, where are my manners, I'm Roman." Shoot he had his back turned! Ro couldn't do that cool prince thing where he kissed his hand!

"Dr Logan Quinn. If I may ask, why would your brother feel the need to drop you off here? You appear perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, are you sick?"

"Most certainly not! I am in pristine health, he's just overreacting."

Glancing back at him, Logan gave him a once over, then turning back. "I see. Then the dark shadows under your eyes are simply runny eyeshadow?"

Roman let out a gasp, a hand flying to his chest. "As if I would wear black eyeshadow to bed! Or at all for that matter, it makes me look unkept."

"While I do not know your normal-" He rummaged in his pocket for a set of...flash cards? "-vibe, I would not expect your typical state to be pajamas and socks with sandals either. I just thought to ask."

"My dearest Logan, are you worried about me too?" Fluttering his eyelashes, he couldn't help but smile at his words.

"Merely curious as to why you're here. I wouldn't say I know you well enough to worry too quite yet. Perhaps a bit, but not as much given the circumstances."

"You wound me! I've known you for...about ten minutes and you don't feel the same way I do for you?"

"If how you feel is 'confused and slightly concerned' then I feel exactly the same way."

Letting out a laugh, Ro set his chin across his hands, smiling wider. "Not quite, intrepid scientist."

Logan set a plate down in front of him, before opening his fridge again, giving Ro an eyeful of some suspicious-looking vials. Was that...squid ink?

"...what's that look on your face?"

"Is that...is that the squid ink my brother used on our cousin's car?" Roman resorted to using his brother as a conversation? He must be very overworked, or he would have thought he was losing his touch! Who talks about their gremlin brother on their first meeting?

"I presume so, I am not aware of any other supplier of raw squid ink that Remus would frequently visit."

God why did Logan have to speak so eloquently? Roman was a mess and this was his first impression on this absolute stunner of a man? "Do you happen to have any other scientific-"

"You probably don't want to hear about them, they aren't all that interesting in the eyes of others."

"No, no really! I'd love to see some, I have no idea what the original experiment was for but I'd absolutely love to learn if you'd be willing to talk about it...?"

Ok maybe this wasn't so bad of an idea, judging by the way that the scientist's eyes lit up. "Well, squids have been known to change color to match their surroundings, both for protection and sneaking up on prey. I was researching what exactly causes their skin to do this, and if it can be replicated, as it is a trait we have also seen in octopus, chameleons-"

Roman's food long forgotten, he focused solely on him, not even minding that he didn't understand several of the words within Logan's sentences. It was mind boggling that he could even know so much and still had things to add to his theories and his experiments, hands gesturing rapidly as he explained.

"That's the only part of what I've discovered thus far- my apologies, I rambled again didn't I?" His face began to tint pink under his glasses, an absolutely beautiful sight to glimpse.

"Not at all! It was quite interesting as far as I could understand, even if I don't know all the terms you mentioned." Maybe not all hope was lost for them to become...friends? Lovers? Roman wasn't sure right now, his brain was sorta fuzzy from the effects of his coffee beginning to wear off. He needed to put more caffeine in it next time, even if the taste was horridly bitter.

"Well, that's-" He took out another flashcard, that looked like it had Remus's handwriting on it? "Quite groovy if I say so myself, if you'd like you could come see the squid I have in the tank?"

"I would be happy to gaze upon the subjects of your scientific endevors, but are those flashcards made by my brother...?" Goddammit he had to stop bringing his brother into this!

"Yes, he has helped me with slang and thought it best to write me up some examples and reminders."

"Some of those are probably not typical slang."

"Yes, I was actually wondering about that..."

"Here, if you'd like, I'll check over them for you just to make sure he didn't fill them all with innuendos or whatever."

After Logan remembered the importance of breakfast (making Roman eat the breakfast he had previously ignored) the two of them walked to the in-home lab that was set up, Ro amazed at all the squid, as well as all the dick jokes that his brother had written in his explainations of modern slang. No people did not use 'mood' to show that they were horny! Most of the time anyways.

As the caffeine eventually left his system, and Logan got back to work with Ro sitting down at a small desk near him, it wasn't before long till Roman was passed out facedown on the counter. He really needed a better sleep schedule. But at least the thump of his head let Logan know, otherwise he probably would have fallen out of his chair.

At the very least, his mind decided to take pity on him, for once not giving him nightmares, and instead, let him imagine him and Logan, at the aquarium gazing into an abyss of squid.

He should really thank Remus later.

#gang au #sanders sides fanfiction #roman sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides #logince

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lgbtqareads · 4 years

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15 Books I Want To Read That are Releasing in the Next 6 Monthes

Every six monthes, I am excited to see the new LGBTQA+ YA books of the next monthes and while thos December, I was a little weirded out to not find them on B&N Teen previews, I was happy to see that Dahlia Adler posted her lists and opinions at lgbtqreads.com. So, of course I went through and narrowed the list from 72 to 34 to 15, only choosing books that I felt I really wanted to read and not just fall for all the amazing synopses and covers, which let's be honest, are all truly masterpieces.

But enough introduction. Let's get into my to be bought (and read) list of the first six monthes of 2020:

We Used to Be Friends by Amy Spalding - JANUARY 7TH

Goodreads Synopsis: Told in dual timelines—half of the chapters moving forward in time and half moving backward—We Used to Be Friends explores the most traumatic breakup of all: that of childhood besties. At the start of their senior year in high school, James (a girl with a boy’s name) and Kat are inseparable, but by graduation, they’re no longer friends. James prepares to head off to college as she reflects on the dissolution of her friendship with Kat while, in alternating chapters, Kat thinks about being newly in love with her first girlfriend and having a future that feels wide open. Over the course of senior year, Kat wants nothing more than James to continue to be her steady rock, as James worries that everything she believes about love and her future is a lie when her high-school sweetheart parents announce they’re getting a divorce. Funny, honest, and full of heart, We Used to Be Friends tells of the pains of growing up and growing apart.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Relationship breakups may be heavily covered in YA, but friendship breakup stories are still few and far between. Enter the story of James and Kat, two girls who were once beyond close and now watch their friendship unravel as college nears. Things are complicated for both girls: James’s mother has left her and her father for another guy, and she doesn’t know how to talk about it, not even to Kat or her still-too-present ex, Logan. Kat’s discovering that her feelings for her new friend Quinn aren’t strictly “friendly,” and in fact, she’s realizing she’s bisexual and falling head over heels for a girl. It’s a bittersweet story to be sure, and while it definitely has its fun scenes, close moments, painful familial interactions, and tingly romance (what Spalding book doesn’t??), you’ll spend much of the book wishing you could push the characters together and say “Just talk already”…but isn’t that exactly how life goes?

My Opinion: As someone who has been through too many friendship breakups to count, this read is going to be devastating. But I put this book on my list for one reason: the synopsis made it feel so much like life that I couldn't help but feel that the story would pull me into James and Kat's universe and tear my heart into pieces. I absolutely cannot wait to have my heartbroken.

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The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper - FEBRUARY 4TH

Goodreads Synopsis: As a successful social media journalist with half a million followers, seventeen-year-old Cal is used to sharing his life online. But when his pilot father is selected for a highly publicized NASA mission to Mars, Cal and his family relocate from Brooklyn to Houston and are thrust into a media circus.

Amidst the chaos, Cal meets sensitive and mysterious Leon, another “Astrokid,” and finds himself falling head over heels—fast. As the frenzy around the mission grows, so does their connection. But when secrets about the program are uncovered, Cal must find a way to reveal the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.

Expertly capturing the thrill of first love and the self-doubt all teens feel, debut author Phil Stamper is a new talent to watch.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: This is a lovely and bighearted debut chock full of space nerdery, big dreams, new beginnings, and social media scandal. Cal’s life is completely uprooted when his dad shocks them all by being chosen for a space mission, something his family had never taken seriously as a lifelong dream. Worst of all, he’s forbidden from documenting life in the new compound, forcing him to leave his massive social media following behind. On the bright side, there’s Leon, son of another astronaut on the program and immediate thief of Cal’s heart. But when things go awry in the program and secrets are revealed, Cal will have to decide exactly what he’s willing to do to get the truth out there, and who he’s willing to lose.

My Opinion: Social Media? Media circus? Texas? NASA? First loves? And a choice that could implode Cal's life from the inside? The name Cal? Other than Texas, a state which I hate, all of this adds up to something good, hopefully so good that I can forget that Texas is involved at all. So, basically, it has to reach Red, White, and Royal Blue levels, which is the only book so far that has made me like Texas at all. But I trust that it will do well. Plus it was reviewed by 4 of authors on my queer bookshelf - Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera, Shaun David Hutchinson, and Caleb Roehrig. Bonus points for not being a graphic novel like I feared it was.

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Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales -MARCH 3RD

Goodreads Synopsis: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets Clueless, inspired by Grease.

When Ollie meets his dream guy, Will, over summer break, he thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After. But once summer’s ended, Will stops texting him back, and Ollie finds himself one prince short of a fairytale ending. To complicate the fairytale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country—Will’s school—where Ollie finds that the sweet, affectionate and comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted—and, to be honest, a bit of a jerk.

Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isn’t ready for a relationship. But as Will starts ‘coincidentally’ popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, Ollie finds his resolve weakening. The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again.

Right? Right.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Grease goes gay YA in this rom-com about two boys whose dreamy summer fling comes crashing into a harsh reality when our lead, Oliver, transfers to Will’s school thanks to a family crisis-driven move, only to find out Will isn’t Out and isn’t about to be. As Ollie finds his own ways to settle in, he can’t seem to shake Will’s presence. But whether there’s a future for them remains to be seen. This sophomore novel is warmly delightful and delightfully warm, with some tears on the side for the aforementioned family crisis, and some hard-earned queer solidarity is the icing on the cake.

My Opinion: The last musical-ly queer book I read was What If It's Us? so Ollie and Will have a lot to live up to, but it gets points for getting an Instagram shoutout from Becky Albertalli herself. From the synopses, it sounds like a case of strangers to lovers to strangers to maybe friends to maybe something more and hopefully a happy ending, but what I look forward to the most is rewriting Summer Nights as I read this book.

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Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari - MARCH 17TH

Goodreads Synopsis: Claire has always wanted to work with superheroes, from collecting Warrior Nation cards as a kid to drafting "What to Say to a Hero" speeches in her diary. Now that she's landed a coveted internship with the Chicago branch of Warrior Nation, Claire is ready to prove she belongs, super or not. But complicating plans is the newest WarNat hero, Girl Power (aka Joy), who happens to be egotistical and self-important ... and pretty adorable.

Bridgette, meanwhile, wants out of WarNat. After years of dating the famous Vaporizer (aka Matt), she's sick of playing second, or third, or five-hundredth fiddle to all the people-in-peril in the city of Chicago. Of course, once Bridgette meets Claire-who's clearly in need of a mentor and wingman-giving up WarNat becomes slightly more complicated. It becomes a lot more complicated when Joy, Matt, and the rest of the heroes go missing, leaving only Claire and Bridgette to save the day.

In this fresh and funny take on the world of supers, author Crystal Cestari spotlights what it's like to be the seemingly non-super half of a dynamic duo with banter-filled romance and bold rescues perfect for readers seeking a great escape.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Claire is a superhero fangirl, a card-carrying member of Warrior Nation. And when she finds an unexpected way (with some unexpected help) into winning an internship with the Chicago WarNat branch, it should be everything she’s ever dreamed of. But that unexpected help is proving very difficult to work with; it’s in the form of Girl Power (aka Joy), the newest hero and a pain in Claire’s butt. A very, very cute pain in Claire’s butt. But distraction or no distraction, Claire’s determined to prove herself, especially when she and Bridgette, a WarNat, who’s tired of being “the girlfriend” to an even more famous hero, decides to mentor her and they end up having to be exactly the heroes Chicago needs.

My Opinion: Two words. Super. Heroes.

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Music From Another World by Robin Talley - MARCH 31ST

Goodreads Synopsis: It’s summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can’t be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy’s only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk…until she’s matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything.

Sharon Hawkins bonds with Tammy over punk music and carefully shared secrets, and soon their letters become the one place she can be honest. The rest of her life in San Francisco is full of lies. The kind she tells for others—like helping her gay brother hide the truth from their mom—and the kind she tells herself. But as antigay fervor in America reaches a frightening new pitch, Sharon and Tammy must rely on their long-distance friendship to discover their deeply personal truths, what they’ll stand for…and who they’ll rise against.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Talley is one of queer YA’s most prolific genre jumpers, but she seems to be making herself beautifully at home in historical with this follow-up to 2018’s Pulp, again set amid a context of vital queer American history. This time around, it’s 1977, and Tammy Larson would love more than anything to come out of the closet as a lesbian, but that’s a major no-go where she lives. Her only outlet is to write “letters” to the activist Harvey Milk, at least until she’s matched with a pen pal to whom she can write letters for real. Sharon makes for a much better companion than Tammy’s diary, and she can sympathize, given her brother is gay and feeling all the same misery in the wake of Anita Bryant’s leading to a successful repeal of their protections. Together they’ll find their own brand of activism and learn to fight back against a world of hate.

My Opinion: Ever since reading Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden, I have been craving more historical sapphic girls. With Pulp in my Kindle library and this in my future shopping cart + Casey McQuiston's time traveling book in 2021, I am bound to get a fix for that craving soon. Hopefully, it will also cure heartbreak.

Loveless by Alice Oseman - APRIL 2ND

Goodreads Synopsis: The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman – one of the most authentic and talked-about voices in contemporary YA.

Georgia feels loveless – in the romantic sense, anyway. She’s eighteen, never been in a relationship, or even had a crush on a single person in her whole life. She thinks she's an anomaly, people call her weird, and she feels a little broken. But she still adores romance – weddings, fan fiction, and happily ever afters. She knows she’ll find her person one day … right?

After a disastrous summer, Georgia is now at university, hundreds of miles from home. She is more determined than ever to find love – and her annoying roommate, Rooney, is a bit of a love expert, so perhaps she can help.

But maybe Georgia just doesn’t feel that way about guys. Or girls. Or anyone at all. Maybe that's okay. Maybe she can find happiness without falling in love. And maybe Rooney is a little more loveless than she first appears.

LOVELESS is a journey of identity, self-acceptance, and finding out how many different types of love there really are. And that no one is really loveless after all.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Oseman’s crossed the pond before with Radio Silence, so this American’s fingers are crossed she’ll do it again with her newest, about a girl named Georgia who’s struggling with the fact that she’s eighteen and has never had so much as a crush. She’s sick of people thinking she’s broken or weird, and it isn’t like she isn’t into romance; she’s just not into it for herself. When she gets to university, she thinks maybe she can “fix” things with her roommate’s help. But what if it turns out there’s nothing to fix, and Georgia’s great and perfectly capable of happiness just as she is?

My Opinion: Alice Oseman has written a-spec characters before, but it's possible that this seemingly aromantic character will be the one that I'll read first. Not to say Radio Silence wasn't amazing, I just wouldn't know. But I can't wait to find out when I read it after I read this one. And then maybe her other books too.

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Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan - APRIL 21ST

Goodreads Synopsis: Jubilee has it all together. She’s an elite cellist, and when she’s not working in her stepmom’s indie comic shop, she’s prepping for the biggest audition of her life. Ridley is barely holding it together. His parents own the biggest comic-store chain in the country, and Ridley can’t stop disappointing them–that is, when they’re even paying attention. They meet one fateful night at a comic convention prom, and the two can’t help falling for each other. Too bad their parents are at each other’s throats every chance they get, making a relationship between them nearly impossible . . . unless they manage to keep it a secret. Then again, the feud between their families may be the least of their problems. As Ridley’s anxiety spirals, Jubilee tries to help but finds her focus torn between her fast-approaching audition and their intensifying relationship. What if love can’t conquer all? What if each of them needs more than the other can give?

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Dugan debuted with one of my absolute favorite queer YA rom-coms (seriously, if you haven’t yet read Hot Dog Girl, do yourself a favor), so I’m thrilled to see her returning with another one, this one an m/f pairing where both halves of the couple are bi (or, more accurately, one is bi and one is still figuring it out). [Jubilee] is an elite cellist with a major audition coming up and a side job working at her stepmom’s indie comic shop. Ridley works at his parents’ comic shop too, only theirs is a big chain, and no friend to the little guy. Which makes it a little difficult when the two meet at a comic-con prom and immediately hit it off, despite their family feud. I’ll take Romeo & Juliet with a much happier ending and heaps of bisexuality any day, wouldn’t you?

My Opinion: Romeo and Juliet retelling + comic convention prom + bisexuality + indie comic shops = a recipe for me to like a book.

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When You Get the Chance by Tom Ryan and Robin Stevenson-MAY 5TH

Goodreads Synopsis: [Edited] Cousins Mark [from the East coast of Canada] and Talia [from the West coast of Canada] go on a road trip to Pride in Toronto as they search for love and adventure and uncover family secrets along the way.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: One of the things I’m often asked to recommend is books that feature mlm and wlw solidarity, and I especially love giving answers that show it not just in characters but in authorship. Here, two Canadian rock stars of queer YA come together with a story about cousins named Mark and Talia who are reunited from their respective Canadian coasts after a death in the family and decide to take a road trip together to Toronto so Talia can see her non-binary partner and Mark can get to Pride. The two don’t have much in common, and they’ll have to let Mark’s little sister tag along, but they both know some kind of magic awaits them in TO, and they can’t wait to get there.

My Opinion: There is too much to love about this book. Canada! WLW or WLNB/MLM solidarity! Canadian road trip! Road trips in general! Canadian Pride! PRIDE IN GENERAL! A nonbinary s/o! TORONTO, CANADA! And family secrets! Plus it gives off You Know Me Well vibes, and that's one of my favorites.

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The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune - MAY 5TH

Goodreads Synopsis:

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra.

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?

After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Klune’s doing double duty this year (or maybe even more? Damn, it’s hard to keep up), following up an adult contemporary fantasy with his first entry into YA, about a boy named Nick who happens to be the Extraordinaries fandom’s most popular fanfic writer, and who aims to be even more extraordinary when he meets the hero he’s been crushing on. (But maybe he’s in love with his best friend, Seth? It’s complicated. It’s always complicated.)

My Opinion: What can I say? I'm a sucker for books about fanfic writers. And for best friends to lovers stories, so hopefully this is one, and not a fan-dates-hero story.

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The Summer of Impossibilities by Rachel Allen - MAY 12TH

Goodreads Synopsis: Skyler, Ellie, Scarlett and Amelia Grace are forced to spend the summer at the lake house where their moms became best friends.

One can’t wait. One would rather gnaw off her own arm than hang out with a bunch of strangers just so their moms can drink too much wine and sing Journey two o’clock in the morning. Two are sisters. Three are currently feuding with their mothers.

One almost sets her crush on fire with a flaming marshmallow. Two steal the boat for a midnight joyride that goes horribly, awkwardly wrong. All of them are hiding something.

One falls in love with a boy she thought she despised. Two fall in love with each other. None of them are the same at the end of the summer.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Allen’s been a personal favorite of mine since her subversive feminist debut, 17 First Kisses, and I’m thrilled to see her releasing her first queer YA, which basically looks like a gay Traveling Pants except not all the girls actually wanna be spending the summer together at the lake house where their moms became besties. Most of them can’t even stand their moms right now. All of them have secrets. And two of them…well, two of them are in love with each other, so one way or another it’s gonna be a hell of a summer.

My Opinion: Look, I'm going to be honest, I saw that it was co.pared to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and I immediately added it to my list. Plus, strangers to friends to lovers? I love.

Date Me, Bryson Keller! by Kevin van Whye - MAY 19TH

Goodreads Synopsis: What If It's Us meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in this upbeat and heartfelt boy-meets-boy romance that feels like a modern twist on a '90s rom-com!

Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new--the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he's never really dated before.

Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes.

Kai Sheridan didn't expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there's more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he's awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this "relationship" will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right?

Kevin van Whye delivers an uplifting and poignant coming-out love story that will have readers rooting for these two teens to share their hearts with the world--and with each other.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: If this book looks like the cutest, fluffiest, most make-you-melt kind of romance, it’s because it is…at least in the little romantic bubble that ensued when when Kai took advantage of a dare that requires Bryson Keller to agree to date the first person to ask him out every Monday morning for that week. But outside the bubble, the world is still wondering who Bryson Keller’s mystery girlfriend is, the one person not to shout from the rooftops that she’s got the guy. And Kai isn’t gonna be the one to tell them it isn’t a girl at all; his spontaneous request made Bryson the first and only person he’s ever come out to. But when both the answer and Kai himself are forcibly outed, he and the boy he’s come to fall for, the boy who’s only just realized he himself is gay, will have to band together and put their relationship through the ultimate test.

My Opinion: A lot of these books are comparing themselves to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and this one's even comparing itself to To All the Boys I've Loved Before, so it's basically setting me up for disappointment, but I will admit, I am judging this book by it's cover, and that smile is too cute to resist.

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I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch - MAY 26TH

Goodreads Synopsis: For fans of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and Fangirl, I Kissed Alice is a romantic comedy about enemies, lovers, and everything in between.

Rhodes and Iliana couldn't be more different, but that's not why they hate each other. Hyper-gifted artist Rhodes has always excelled at Alabama's Conservatory of the Arts despite a secret bout of creator's block, while transfer student Iliana tries to outshine everyone with her intense, competitive work ethic. Since only one of them can get the coveted Capstone scholarship, the competition between them is fierce.

They both escape the pressure on a fanfic site where they are unknowingly collaborating on a graphic novel. And despite being worst enemies in real life, their anonymous online identities I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire are starting to like each other...a lot. When the truth comes out, will they destroy each other's future?

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Sign me the hell up for literally every enemies-to-lovers f/f rom-com, but especially this one, where the girls who hate each other at Alabama’s Conservatory for the Arts have no idea they’re falling for each other online as they collaborate on a graphic novel for a fanfic site under their online identities. That’s…everything I love in book? Yep, pretty much!

My Opinion: This one is on my list because Alice is basically my favorite sapphic girl name ever after my rewrite of the song, All the Girls Love Alice. Unfortunately, neither girl is named Alice, but it does seem to involve something about Alice in Wonderland. Maybe the graphic novel they're creating is a queer retelling of the classic story? Can't wait to find out.

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Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner - JUNE 2ND

Goodreads Synopsis: A story of mock trial, feminism, and the inherent power found in a pair of knitting needles.

Raina Petree is crushing her senior year, until her boyfriend dumps her, the drama club (basically) dumps her, the college of her dreams slips away, and her arch-nemesis triumphs.

Things aren’t much better for Millie Goodwin. Her father treats her like a servant, and the all-boy Mock Trial team votes her out, even after she spent the last three years helping to build its success.

But then, an advice columnist unexpectedly helps Raina find new purpose in a pair of knitting needles and a politically active local yarn store. This leads to an unlikely meeting in the girls’ bathroom, where Raina inspires Millie to start a rival team. The two join together and recruit four other angry girls to not only take on Mock Trial, but to smash the patriarchy in the process.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Kisner is three for three in putting gloriously queer YA on shelves, and I am in love with the idea of this newest, which takes the famous “Twelve Angry Men” and situates it in Mock Trial with an ace lead. Raina’s killing it at life, until suddenly she isn’t. Millie’s in a similar spot, having just been ousted from the all-male Mock Trial team. When the two pair up to start a rival girls’ team, it isn’t just their opponents they’re gunning for—it’s the whole motherfluffin’ patriarchy.

My Opinion:

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The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson - JUNE 2ND

Goodreads Synopsis: The State of Us is the story of Dean and Dre—the 16-year-old sons of the Republican and Democratic candidates for President of the United States—who fall in love on the sidelines of their parents' presidential campaigns.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis: Tis the year for political YAs, for obvious reasons, and this contemporary romance also does double duty of being a touching demisexual coming out story that happens to take place across the aisle. (The political aisle, that is.) When Dean, the son the of the Republican candidate, and Dre, son of the Democratic candidate, find themselves locked in close quarters, they’re surprised to find that they quite enjoy the company of someone else who knows what it’s like to be in the junior spotlight. Soon, romance sparks, which is a bit of problem considering the whole “opponents” thing, not to mention Dean still trying to figure out how to deal with and discuss the fact that he’s demisexual. But someone out there seems determined to make their problem much, much bigger, and they’ll have to figure out who wants their relationship outed, how they can make it work, and how they can reconcile a future.

My Opinion: While unfortunately this love story has no Prince from England or Wales, this book is definitely in the same genre as Red, White, and Royal Blue, though of course Dean and Dre will be more YA than our favorite international political couple. No matter what, I can tell I'm going to love the angst in this one.

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The Falling in Love Montage by Clara Smyth - JUNE 9TH

Goodreads Synopsis:

Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited.So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out.

But after a chance encounter at a house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms.

Unbothered by Saoirse’s rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real.

Dahlia Adler's Synopsis:

Love books that make you laugh, swoon, and cry? Then you are going to fall head over heels for Smyth’s debut, an Ireland-set romantic contemporary about a girl named Saiorse who’s losing her mother to early-onset dementia and is determined never to get involved with anyone as a result…until she meets Ruby, and all bets are off. The girls agree to a no-strings-attached summer of just the good parts of romance, the movie montage where the couple does all sorts of fun things as they fall in love. But when the end of the summer comes, will they be able to let go?

My Opinion: The falling in love montage is my favorite part of love stories and I can't wait to read one set in Ireland! No strings attached? I don't think so Saiorse and Ruby. If they aren't together by the end of the book, I'll be tying the strings myself and writing fanfiction for days. I've only had one relationship that would qualify for a falling in love montage, most likely because I've only been in love once, and that's... ended, so I need something to fill my heart and this book just might be it.

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Check out @lgbtqreads for more recommendations and check out the link at the top of the post for the rest of the list!

#we used to be friends amy spalding #the gravity of us phil stamper #only mostly devastated sophie gonzales #super adjacent crystal cestari #music from another world robin talley #loveless alice oseman #verona comics jennifer dugan #when you get the chance tom ryan & robin stevenson #the extraordinaries tj klune #the summer of impossibilities rachel allen #date me bryson keller! kevin van whye #i kissed alice anna birch #six angry girls adrienne kisner #the state of us shaun david hutchinson #the falling in love montage ciara smyth #2020 reads #lgbtqareads book recs

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Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 6

Boom bitches! Guess who’s fucking back! Thank you all for your endless support and patients because that is truly the thing that motivates me to write this. The fact that you all are having fun and enjoying my story brings me so much joy! Once again, thank you to the brilliant @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil for creating this au, go show give them all the love in the world! Now please, ENJOY!!!

(TRIGGER WARNING: minor assault/harassment ((don’t worry it’s stopped before it happens)), homophobic slurs ((the f word)), and mild homophobia)

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It was bound to be awkward for a while but this was just getting ridiculous. Ever since Virgil had stepped into Roman’s apartment, they hadn’t said a single word to each other, merely keeping to themselves and doing their half of the work. It wasn’t like Roman didn’t WANT to talk to Virgil it was just…him and Virgil had this really tense…relationship? No, not like that! Like in that way where you have no idea if you’re friends or not. Roman didn’t want to say something that might sound rude or be interpreted the wrong way and set Virgil off. It wasn’t like her was TRYING to be rude it’s just he kind of liked pushing Virgil’s buttons and he knew for a fact Virgil liked pushing his, they just had no idea where a line should be drawn. Unlike with him and Logan where it was a clash of ego vs ego, with Virgil it was like this sort of game.

“So…” Virgil said suddenly, causing Roman to jump a bit in surprise “…where are you in your part of the essay?”

Roman looked down at his notes before looking to scan his laptop at the Word document he had open, “Just about finished, about two or three more paragraphs. Then I’ll go over and edit out all the grammatical and spelling mistakes.”

“Cool,” Virgil nodded awkwardly “I’m about the same.”

“Cool.” Roman echoed.

Silence filled the room, even more awkward then before.

“Are you a witch?” Jenni asked. The boy turned to find the twins still hiding behind the couch, though it was less hiding and more hanging off the back of it.

“Excuse me?” Virgil asked, confused.

Roman wanted to scream but he didn’t, so instead he let the twins continue to embarrass him. For some reason lately Jenni has been really obsessed with witches, maybe it had to do with that girl, Scarlet Witch, that keeps showing up with the Avengers. She wasn’t as “scary” as the Black Widow so it was only natural for Jenni to gravitate towards her as an idol. Jenni repeated her question, “Are you a witch?”

“Of course, he’s not, dummy!” Marco snorted “He’s a boy! Only girls can be witches!”

“Harry Potter was a witch!” Jenni countered, getting up in Marco’s face.

“Nah-uh, he was a wizard, stupid!” Marco replied, just as stubborn.

“Roman, Marco called me a bad word!” Jenni screeched, pointing an accusing finger at her twin.

“Marco, that’s not very nice, apologize now,” Roman said firmly and just before his little brother could protest, he added “Or else I’m gunna tell mom.”

Marco grumbled a halfhearted apology before quickly returning to their current conversation topic, “So, are you a wizard?”

“Witch!” Jenni corrected.

Virgil chuckled behind his palm, seemingly amused by the commotion of everything. That was good, at least Roman thought so, Virgil was at least laughing and not running for the door. “Uh, I don’t know about wizard, the term is mainly used in European fairy tales mostly. Witches or witchcraft has been around for a much longer time and has many branches and history behind it while wizard is mostly in works of fiction.”

“So, you are a witch?” Jenni said excitedly with a smug side eye look towards her twin.

“Um, I don’t think witch is the politically correct term,” Virgil chuckled and Roman couldn’t help but join him “more then likely I’d be a Shaman or a Wu, a Chinese shaman, but I have absolutely no clue about either of those practices, so…no, sorry.”

Jenni pouted and Roman gasped in mock scandal, “Virgil! How could you crush my little sister’s dreams like that!”

“Hey, what did you want me to say?” Virgil snapped, though he was still smiling “I wasn’t going to lie to her!”

“Wait, there are other types of witches?” Marco pipped up curiously.

“Uh, yeah, kind of,” Virgil shrugged “it’s really more of a craft then a term; witchcraft, magick, shamanism, voodoo, hoodoo, and a lot of others. It varies from country to country but sometimes share certain elements with each other, be it religion or method of practice.”

“Geez, are you sure you’re not a witch?” Roman teased, reaching over to poke Virgil’s cheek.

Virgil rolled his eyes and swatted his hand away, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure?”

“Then how come you know all this stuff?” Roman chuckled.

“Cause it’s interesting,” Virgil replied somewhat defensively “not everyone is obsessed with Disney and musicals.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Roman said, putting his hands up in mock surrender “just that it’s not something people usual find interest in and that’s fine too.”

Virgil huffed, fiddling with the edge of his ever-present beanie, “Yeah, whatever.”

“I think it’s cool!” Jenni pipped up, cheerily.

“Me too!” Marco added just as enthusiastically “Roman’s just lame!”

“Hey.” Roman pouted and received the annoying sound of raspberries as payment from his younger brother. Virgil was laughing again, tension gone from his shoulders once more as he ran a hand under his beanie and through his hair. The flimsy hat slipped off the emo’s head and reviled something truly horrifying. The twins stopped their antics to openly stare and Roman’s eyes got wide in shock.

“What?” Virgil asked, obviously starting to freak out over everyone’s sudden silence and staring.

“Uh,” Roman cleared his throat nervously, carefully choosing his words “I want to preface this by saying I’m NOT trying to be rude or a jerk but…what happened to your hair?”

Finally realizing he was no longer wearing his beanie Virgil freaked, cheeks turning pink as he quickly flipped his hoodie over his head and pulled the strings tight. “N-nothing…”

“Well, it don’t seem like nothing,” Roman responded, waving his arm dramatically before pausing to think “…Is this like a medical thing? Because if it is I’m really-”

“No, n-no, no,” Virgil cut in “it’s just…I-I, um…m-my hand got, uh…stuck.”

Roman nodded slowly before realizing Virgil probably couldn’t see him at the moment, “Okay, and when was this?”

“When we found out, uh…” Virgil paused a moment, most likely thinking up a way to explain what happened without exposing themselves to Jenni and Marco who were still in the room, “…when we formed the club, in the morning, I had an…accident.”

“I see,” Roman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration “your telling me you had that monstrosity hidden under that tasteless beanie for three whole days? And you didn’t think to, I don’t know, ask your parents to help you fix it or have them take you to a barber?”

“Honestly,” Virgil sighed, sliding down under the coffee table enough so that he could rest his chin on it “I kind of forgot, to busy still freaking out over…the club, then I remembered, then I got embarrassed, then I just decided not to say anything so…yeah.”

How this boy was still alive and functioning in this world Roman will probably never know but that wasn’t important at the moment. What was important was that he let that hideous abomination atop of Virgil’s head enter his house (er, apartment) and Roman would not stand for it. Taking a breath Roman turned to the twins, “Jenni get the clipper bag, Marco get my brushes.”

“Okay.” They replied before scampering off to do as they were told.

“What’s happening?” Virgil asked, eyes wide with worry.

Roman stood up and stretched, “I’m going to fix that absolute sin you call hair. Come and sit in the kitchen, easier to clean the floor.”

Virgil scooted somewhat back, glaring at Roman pointedly, “Uh, thanks but no thanks. I rather not make it worse then what it is.”

Roman scoffed, rolling his eyes, “You’ll be fine Sweeny Toad, my mother used to be a hair dresser so I picked up a few things. Now come on,” He moved a seat from the dining table to the center of the kitchen “sit.”

Jenni and Marco soon returned with the clipper bag and brushes and sat back on the stools behind the counter as if waiting for a show to start. Virgil was still curled up like a feral cat and all that was left was for him to start hissing. Roman rolled his eyes once more, having dealt with bratty children (Read: the twins) before who didn’t want to sit still for their hair cut.

“Trust me,” Roman said “I cut and manage the twins’ hair all the time, you’ll be fine. If there is one thing I know NOT to mess with it’s hair.”

Virgil continued to glare at him and Roman sighed in response, “Come on, it can’t get any worse then what it is now. And if it does,” He raised the scissors in his hands and snipped the air “I’ll let you take a stab at me a payback. What do you say?”

Slowly Virgil uncurls from himself, sliding out from under the coffee table and standing to face them. Roman raised a perfectly arched eyebrow and Virgil raised one back in response, “If you f…mess up my hair I will shave your head off.”

“Fine,” Roman shrugged, not at all startled by the threat “but you’re gunna have to sit in the chair so I can start.”

Virgil glared at him for a few more moments before his shoulders sagged in defeat and he dragged his feet towards the kitchen. Crossing his arms, the emo plopped down in the chair where Roman quickly pulled down his hoodie and grimaced. “Oh, you poor thing, why do you hate your hair so much?”

“Just get it over with.” Virgil grumbled and that was all the consent Roman needed to start trimming.

---

The planetarium was huge, a large dome like ceiling with rows of seats spiraling inwards. The Quinn and Foster brothers took a seat near the center row with Patton and Logan sitting next to each other between everyone. Morgan gave Logan a sly smile and Logan was half tempted to elbow him again if he wasn’t worried about causing his brother possible internal damage from being hit twice at half force by a super human spider. He instead opted to punch his brother’s shoulder as lightly as he could possibly manage though it seemed not to be light enough for Morgan.

“Why must you hurt me?” Morgan whined, rubbing his sore shoulder.

“So, have you ever been to a planetarium show before?” Patton whispered, leaning in close to Logan.

“Uh, yes,” Logan replied, all to grateful for the dim room that covered his burning cheeks “but I have not seen this particular showing. I’ve been to others, much smaller but still just as captivating. Though when it comes to the vast wonders of space even the smallest shows can be an enjoyable experience.”

Patton smiled at him, still just as bright in the dim lighting, “I didn’t know you loved space so much.”

“I, uh,” Logan cleared his throat “I enjoy the subject of it, yes, it’s quite a fascinating topic.”

“If you like it so much then why don’t you join the astronomy club?” Patton asked curiously “One of my friends from culinary club, Valerie, is president of it, I’m sure they’d love a new member. They don’t get a lot of funding from the school because obviously,” Patton scoffed bitterly before perking up again “so they have to do a lot of fundraisers and I sometimes help out. But other than that, I heard it’s a lot of fun, currently they’re raising money to go to the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”

Logan felt giddy with excitement but he was quick to compose himself, “Uh, that sounds lovely Patton, but I fear that I am far too busy with my studies and other after school activities as it is to even consider joining.”

Patton pouted, much too adorable for his own good and Logan had half a mind to take back everything he said. “Oh, that’s too bad. But hey, if you ever just want to pop in and say hello, I’m sure they’d be delighted to talk to you. I’ll let Valerie know.”

“Thank you, Patton, I appreciate it,” Logan smiled shyly, the lights began to dim even more and a voice from the speakers announce that the program would begin momentarily. He felt Patton tense slightly beside him and instinctively placed his hand over Patton’s closed fist which rested on the arm rest between them. “Don’t worry, the shows about to begin.”

“Mmh.” Patton hummed and he relaxed as they laid back in their seats and watched as the projection of space illuminate the darkness, never once letting go of each other’s hands.

“Way out here, ten million light years from planet Earth, every point of light is a galaxy containing billions of stars…”

Logan gulped thickly as he felt Patton’s hand shift just a bit, splaying out his fingers so that they could gently intertwine with Logan’s. He continued to look up at the ceiling where the universe twinkled and shined before him, a kaleidoscope of technicolor and wonder. The deep charming voice of Neil deGrasse Tyson took them into a journey through the cosmos, exploring the vast reaches of space that now felt so close. But even with the mesmerizing display of stars in front of him Logan could do nothing but revile in the warmth of Patton’s hold. The warm and smooth caress of his delicate finger tips and the pumping pulse beneath his skin that let Logan know that he was alive and full of warmth and sweetness.

“We’re flying through a three-dimensional atlas of millions of galaxies. The gaps are regions we have yet to map. Beyond every galaxy we could ever observe, farthest away in space and furthest back in time, the cosmic background radiation marks the visible edge of our observable universe…”

He chanced a quick peek towards him, just something to settle his nerves and let him know that this was all real. Just as expected Patton was mesmerized by the vast array of stars swirling around and recreating their galaxy. Balls of gas and matter burned together to create planets within and out of their solar system, flashing burst of white and purple and blue and red and yellow. They filled the room with endless color and highlighted the tiny freckles across Patton’s skin which seemed to stand out like the all to familiar stars in the sky.

“The motions of galaxies within each cluster confirm the presence of dark matter. The galaxies orbit too fast to be held together by the gravity of normal matter alone. Remove the dark matter… its lensing stops … and the cluster flies apart.”

“Have you ever been so terrified yet so amazed by something all at the same time?” Patton wondered aloud, voice soft and in awe, still gazing up at their exploding universe.

Logan’s eyes never looked away from him, “Yes, I have.”

“As this time-lapse view of the Milky Way shows, stars explode fairly often—at a rate of about two per century in a galaxy like ours. So, if you observe enough galaxies, you can spot a new supernova every few nights…”

Logan was absolutely in awe with everything about Patton, from his terrible puns to the certain tenderness he kept in his heart. He always saw the best in the world but he was realistic about it all too, but even then, he showed kindness to even the most god-awful people. He was smart and brave in ways people often over looked as being a naïve boy with dumb luck. Patton was far from perfect but he was still incredibly amazing as well as terrifying. He made Logan feel things, many things, he didn’t ever think possible. Sometimes it was too much, sometimes it was not enough, other times it was airy and light but it could also be heavy and make him want to throw up. Logan had been sure he’d get over this infatuation with Patton quickly then return to his life as if it were normal again. But of course, that didn’t happen.

“Clearly there’s more to the universe than meets the eye. The Big Bang happened long ago but not far away. It happened here, there, and everywhere. Peering into the dark, we stand on the threshold of great discoveries—and we always will, as long as we keep exploring.”

The roar of applause and florescent lights softly piercing the darkness quickly snapped Logan out of his daze. The warmth of Patton’s hand slipped out from under him as he too joined the audience in their up roar and all Logan could do was copy numbly. This was all very draining and headache inducing, way too many emotions for one day. All Logan wanted to do was go home and sleep.

“That was so cool!” Patton squealed, excitedly jumping up and down “I always thought this kind of stuff would be boring or too hard for me to understand but it was really fascinating. No wonder you like space so much!”

“Yes, well,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses “the wonders of space are vast and endless so there is much to learn.”

“And yet, we’ve only explored 5% of the ocean,” Alex pipped up as he scanned over a pamphlet “I mean not that this isn’t amazing and all but isn’t it a bit concerning that we barely know anything about what covers most of our planet yet know so much about what’s outside it?”

“If it’s oceanic life you’re looking for they have an environmental exhibit here on display,” Morgan said, checking over their own map “right across from us after the American mammals.”

“Oh, you can read this map?” Alex said, turning over his pamphlet every which way “Thank god because I have no idea what I’m doing. I honestly got lost earlier and met that cute front desk lady by mistake.”

“I want to see the birds,” Georgie announced lowly.

“Ah, that’s on the second floor next to the African culture hall,” Morgan said helpfully “anything else?”

Logan sighed tiredly as Alex jumped at the opportunity, “Yeah, yeah, we should go see that, uh, dinosaur exhibit, I wanted to see that t-rex mother fucker.”

“That’s on the third floor,” Morgan said as he flipped through the map “right next to-”

“Guys,” Patton gently interrupted “they probably have their own plans for the evening. We don’t need to force them to be tour guides for us, we can find our own way around.”

“Aw, come on Pat,” Alex whined “we already got them here, might as well take advantage of those big brains of theirs. Could use a bit of relaxing from solving all the worlds problems by taking us shmucks on a tour. They already know how to use a map!”

Another quick smack across the head from Georgie had him shutting up, “Patton’s right, we should leave them alone.”

“Well, I don’t really mind,” Morgan admitted and Logan was now fully considering throwing caution to the wind and elbowing him again “what about you Lo?”

Just when Logan was about to shut down the idea and demand to go home Patton spoke up, big brown eyes on full display. Oh no. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Lo. I’m sure we can find our way around no problem.”

“He lies!” Alex stage whispered, receiving another smack from Georgie.

Honestly, how was Logan going to ever say no to those eyes? Swallowing thickly Logan quietly murmured, “Is…there a particular exhibit you’re interested in, Patton?”

Patton’s smile was shy yet still beautiful and radiant, “Are you sure?”

Logan could only nod, much to afraid of his own voice.

“I…I would actually like to look at some of the environmental exhibits,” Patton admitted bashfully “anything with plants and flowers really.”

“That be right next to the oceanic exhibit,” Morgan announced “we can look through everything here on the first floor if you want before heading on up?”

“Sounds like a plan!” Alex exclaimed as he marched forward “Onwards troops!”

Georgie and Morgan trailed close behind with Logan in the back with Patton who rolled his eyes before shrugging and smiling tiredly, “I’m sorry in advance for whatever he does.”

“As am I with my own brother.” Logan chuckled as they made their way out of the planetarium, side by side and close enough that their swinging hands casually brushed against each other every once and a while.

---

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Thomas asked worriedly. As promised MJ had given Thomas a drink with the works on the house before leading him towards a table near the back where MJ then proceeded to sit down with him. MJ untied his apron and threw it behind his seat before untucking his shirt and ruffling his already messy red hair. They danced like flames of ember and framed his freckled face perfectly.

“Uh, I don’t think there’s much work to do,” MJ chuckled, gesturing to the nearly empty coffee shop “unless you have somewhere important to me and want me to get out of your hair.”

“N-no, no,” Thomas stuttered “not for a while at least but I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“I’ll be fine,” MJ smirked, chin in hand as he leaned forward “I want to get to know my unconventional savior a bit more.”

Thomas was sure he’d permanently gone red, was flirting just how this guy spoke all the time? Thomas’s heart was not prepared for such onslaught of complements, “I’m not much to know.”

“There’s always much to know,” MJ laughed “especially with two strangers. But that’s usually easy because we’re both blank canvasses to each other so we just got to start painting.”

Thomas hesitated for a moment, “Do you work here often?”

Nice going loser…

MJ laughed again, beautiful and bell like, “Just temporary for the moment, I’m studying to be a nurse actually.”

“Oh, really,” Thomas said, actually kind of surprised that a guy who constantly puts himself in harms way would become someone that stiches up those kind of people “do you enjoy it?”

“Yeah,” MJ shrugged “it’s hard work but I like helping people. Plus, I don’t need to worry about going to the hospital every time I get into a scrap, I’ll be able to mend myself.”

Thomas huffed out an airy laugh, “I think you should be avoiding fight, you know?”

“Oh, I do,” MJ assured with a smirk “it’s just they can’t seem to avoid me. But lady luck must be on my side because she practically granted me a guardian angel. Well, guardian…spider? I don’t really know honestly.”

Thomas willed his cheeks to not flush more crimson as he asked, “Why do you think that?”

“You’re not gunna believe this but,” MJ rubbed the back of his neck nervously “I’ve kind of been saved by Rainbow Weaver a bit too many times. Poor guy, I must make his job a living hell if he has to keep dealing with me twice a week.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t mind,” Thomas said, casually sipping his drink “I mean, he is a hero so it’s his job to look out for people. I’m sure you’re fine and not a bother at all.”

MJ raised a suspicious eyebrow before smiling wide, “And how would you know that? Have you met him or something?”

“Maybe once or…twice,” Thomas fibbed “he’s a pretty chill dude so I assume he wouldn’t mind much.”

“Really?” MJ chuckled then took a deep sigh “Still, I really do tend to get into a lot of trouble.”

Yeah, no shit! Thomas added in his brain but smiled sympathetically on the outside, “I kind of get what you mean, I…admittingly, have a tendency to run into danger myself sometimes.”

“I can see that,” MJ teased “Mr. I-can-disarm-a-gun-single-handedly!”

He smiled sheepishly, hiding behind the rim of his coffee cup, “To be honest, a friend of mine showed me that move so I really can’t take all the credit.”

MJ pouted, cute and dramatic, “Are you denying my praise and admiration? How dare you, sir! I gave you free coffee and I only ever do that to big shot heroes!” A sly wink followed soon after “And good looking guys, both help, really.”

Thomas choked on his coffee, pounding his chest to bring back air into his lungs. Meanwhile, MJ giggled in delight at the sight of Thomas is misery and embarrassment, although he did lean forward to pat Thomas’s back. Once semi functioning MJ giggled again, leaning down to meet Thomas at eye level and the greying man had to control himself so that he wouldn’t go into another coughing fit. Steel blue eyes sparkled in amusement, “A bit too much?”

Thomas cleared his throat, “Maybe a little…sorry, I’ve, uh, never been…well, I haven’t been…”

“Flirted with?” MJ finished with a giggle “I find that very hard to believe.”

Thomas shrugged, “I-I mean, at least not with a really cute guy that apparently need to get saved twice a week.”

Now it was MJ’s turn to blush, freckles on full display like little constellations in the night sky. A goofy smile spreading across the red head’s face as he bit his bottom lip, “Maybe I need somebody to watch my back. Rainbow Weaver can’t be there all the time.”

“What makes you think I’m even qualified for the job?” Thomas asked with a shy shrug.

“Because you’re sweet,” MJ smiled “and you were willing to risk your life for a stranger.”

“I mean, I did get free coffee out of it,” Thomas smirked causing MJ to snort “plus, we’re hardly strangers, I know your name now and you know mine. And I also know that you’re studying to be a nurse! I’m pretty sure a stranger wouldn’t know that.”

“No, he wouldn’t, you’re right we’re practically lifelong friends,” MJ laughed, turning back to his apron at the back of his seat and digging through the pockets. He pulled out a black sharpie and took Thomas’s coffee cup to scribble over. “So, with that being established I think it is appropriate now for you…to have my number? And maybe…I could have yours?”

Thomas could only squeak out a wheezing, “Sure.”

---

“There, all done.” Roman put down the scissors on the counter and unwrapped the plastic wrap from around Virgil’s body. He dusted it off and proceeded to fold it as he circled around Virgil with a critical eye.

Virgil was been tense the entire time Roman was cutting his hair, he didn’t want to move even a centimeter for the fear Roman may actually fuck up. Jenni and Marco kept up casual conversation to keep him distracted, continuing to ask him about witches and what he knew about them. The were nice kids, definitely had Roman’s big personality, but still very sweet plus, they knew how to get under Roman’s skin and Virgil respected that. Then it was over and all of Virgil’s previous worries came flooding back all at once.

“How bad did you mess it up?” Virgil asked worriedly.

Roman scoffed, handing him a hand mirror before going off to sweep the kitchen, “Honestly, have a little more confidence in me.”

Virgil tentatively peered into the mirror to see what irreversible horrors awaited him. To his surprise it was actually a really nice cut, the left side was cut short in a smooth gradient sort of way while the right side was left longer and framed itself around his eye. It was a bit messy but Virgil guessed it was supposed to be that way, keeping to his aesthetic and all, but overall, he actually really liked it.

Virgil looked back up to give Roman his thanks and apologize for ripping on him earlier but froze to find that Roman was staring at him and frowning. Jesus, was he really that upset about Virgil not believing he could cut hair? “Uh, I actually kind of dig it so don’t worry about-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that you like it,” Roman waved him off, leaning up against the counter as he continued to glare at him “I am amazing after all. It’s just now that I look at you I’m kind of pissed.”

“I’m sorry.” Virgil apologized, though for what he didn’t know.

“I like his hair cut!” Marco announced.

“Me too!” Jenni added “He looks cute!”

Virgil flushed red and Roman finally burst, “That’s the problem! I was honestly vouching for him to look at least semi-decent but he actually pulls off this look!”

“W-what?” Virgil squeaked.

What was happening? What was going on? Roman was complementing him but was also pissed at him. That is a very weird combination of emotions to be had as well as to receive.

“You look cute,” Roman stated plainly and narrowed his eyes “and I hate you because of it.”

“Why?” Virgil was starting to get a bit frustrated because he’s pretty sure all the blood in his body has redirected itself to his face. Also, what the hell was Roman’s deal?

“Because you’re an emo nightmare and you’re not supposed to be cute!” Roman replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, excuse me!” Virgil snapped.

“No, you shall not be excused because how dare you!” Roman exclaimed dramatically “How dare you have the audacity to be cute so flawlessly while the rest of us have to work for it every day!”

Virgil groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration, “What is wrong with you?”

“A lot of things really.” The twins said at the same time and if Virgil weren’t so thoroughly frustrated at the moment, he might have thought it was creepy.

“Zip it, Fred and George!” Roman snarked and was responded with two sets of loud raspberries.

Virgil ran a hand through his newly cut hair and sighed deeply, “Look, thank for the haircut, sorry you hate it, I’m gunna leave now.”

He began to make his way towards the living room but Roman was quick to catch his arm, “Wait, we aren’t finished with our essay.”

“It’s good enough,” Virgil snapped, taking his arm back “plus, I don’t very much want to sit here and be insulted for my hair, which by the way you cut.”

“I don’t hate your hair Virgil,” Roman replied with a laugh “I’m saying that you’re cute and that I’m frustrated about it because you put zero effort into it. Meanwhile, yours truly has to moisturize every night, put product in my hair, and still do my make-up to at least look decent for the day!”

Virgil glared at Roman, he had no idea what to make of this boy. One minute he’s insulting him then he’s complementing him, he’s nice then he’s a jerk and the cycle continues. Virgil doesn’t get him or how he functions! Roman was so frustrating and flipped flopped emotions so quick Virgil’s head was dizzy. Contrary to popular beliefs Virgil was just as bad at social cues as Logan was so he had no clue how to tell when Roman was joking or not!

Finally, Virgil said, “That’s stupid!”

“Ooo, you said a bad word!” The twins cried.

“Silence demons!” Virgil snarked and the little monsters straight up hissed at him “Like I was saying, that’s stupid! Why the hell are you even worried about that? I’m not even…I’m not…”

Virgil couldn’t even finish the statement it was so ridiculous. He wasn’t cute damn it! Roman was just being weird and dramatic like always! He just wanted to see Virgil flustered and embarrassed, well, that’s not going to happen! Virgil refused to be made a fool of again!

“You’re cute! Admit it!” Roman smirked, because he’s a stubborn jerk who won’t admit he’s wrong.

“I am not!” Virgil groaned, arms crossed and no, he was not pouting! “You’re just an idiot!”

“You’re basically a tiny kitten,” Roman snickered “at first glance people might mistake you for this great big jungle cat-”

“Because it’s true!” Virgil stomped.

“But really you’re just an adorable little kitty cat.” Roman laughed, easily dodging Virgil’s attempt to punch him. Virgil then proceeded to chase Roman around the apartment while the theatrical teen laughed and continued to dodge his attacks. All the while the twins chanted, “Virgil is a kitty! Virgil is a kitty!”

“I am not!”

---

Overall, Patton was glad Logan and his brother was able to say with them a bit longer, they were pretty great tour guides, Logan especially though maybe Patton was a bit biased. Morgan mainly hung around Georgie and Alex, answering all their questions and helping defuse Alex’s plans on climbing up on one of the dinosaur’s displays. Meanwhile, Logan and Patton were practically left to their own devices, which Patton was perfectly fine with, Logan knew a lot of neat stuff and provided insightful in formation on every exhibit. It would have been perfect if Alex didn’t keep giving him suggestive winks plus and enthusiastic thumbs up though Patton is about 85% sure he saw Morgan do the same thing earlier.

He flushed red at the thought of it, was his crush on Logan really that obvious? Did they see him and Logan holding hands during the planetarium show? Patton was going to let go, he swears, it’s just Logan’s hand felt so nice and warm immensely calming Patton’s nerves when everything suddenly got dark. So, he just kind of left it there, Logan didn’t seem to notice or at least Patton thinks he didn’t. Patton was focusing too hard on watching the show and acting as casual as possible.

It was dark in there so Patton didn’t worry about anyone seeing his flushed face but that was now not the case for the rest of the museum. Thankfully, Logan was too enraptured by all the museum’s exhibits to fully pay attention to Patton’s constantly blushing face. Patton had to repress a dreamy sigh threatening to escape him as he watched Logan ramble on and on about animals from the Cretaceous period, he really did look best when talking about the things he was passionate about.

Okay, so like maybe, this all kind of, sort of looked like a date? If you could count a date involving your two older brothers and your crush is brother babbling in front of them as he and Logan trail behind. It was like a very chaperoned date…in Patton’s head at least. It was silly to think off it like that, he knew, but the whole atmosphere of the evening left Patton feeling all fluttery and excited. Even if it wasn’t just the two of them Patton still felt this sort of intimacy between them and, maybe, the sense that Logan might like him back.

Patton didn’t know how much control he had over these empathetic powers of his, Joan and Talyn had turned them off after that whole experiment thing, saying how they were supposed to grow and come in naturally. But aside from that when he and Logan were holding hands during the planetarium show Patton swore he felt tiny slivers of something warm and familiar. Little sparks of pleasure he knew he felt before every time their hands brush. But he really couldn’t be sure so Patton continued to smile and accidently bump against Logan’s shoulder as they walked through the entire museum and into the gift shop.

As usually the elder brothers left the youngers to their own devices more then likely to stop Alex from flirting with the cashier lady. There were many interesting educational toys and items such as candy rock making kits, puzzles, fossil digging cubes, layered mineral rocks, arrow heads and an assortment of other items. Of course, Patton went straight towards the large bins filled with plushies, with Logan not far behind.

“Why is there a monkey in a space suit?” Patton asked, picking up the soft plush toy from one of the large square bins.

“Before sending human up into space they sent animals,” Logan explained “mainly monkeys and apes since they closely resemble our genealogy.”

There were lots of other plushies in the bin such as dinosaurs, birds, and other animals as well as plants, rocks, ships, and planets with cute little faces on them. Patton grabbed a tiny smiling blue ball with specks of white and brought it up to eye level. “I’m guessing this little guy is Pluto, I’m surprise that he’s even here.”

“Well, some people still consider it a planet,” Logan said in a sort of adorably huffy manner before bashfully shrugging “or maybe it’s left over from previous stock long ago.”

Patton giggled, “And where do you stand on the Pluto debate?”

Logan adjusted his glasses critically, “Calling it a dwarf planet is just saying it’s a planet but smaller then average. It has its own moon as well as the other necessities to be a planet but just because of its size it is diminished to dwarf planet.”

“Wow, you have a lot to say on the matter,” Patton smirked delighted by the endearing flush that painted Logan’s cheeks. He reached to pick up another plushie, this one a robot of sorts, “What’s this?”

“That’s the Opportunity rover,” Logan pipped up quickly “Oppy, as some people have nicked named her, she was sent to scan and observe the surface of Mars. She was accompanied by her twin Sprit but he unfortunately got stuck in a sand trap and has cease function. She was only supposed to function for 90 days but excided that by 14 years and 46 days.” Logan frowned a bit, a glimmer of sadness in his eye before he quickly shook it off, “Soon, after in 2012 they sent the Curiosity rover and as of now it is the only one still active out of the three of them.”

“Aw, does that mean he’s up there all by himself now?” Patton said mournfully, holding the little robotic plushie close to his chest.

“Unfortunately, so,” Logan responded blankly “but even so, we will surely have Curiosity functioning for a number of years more. So, we’ll still have plenty of more time to explore the surface of Mars before we inevitably launch there ourselves.”

“But he’ll still be all alone for years and years,” Patton pouted “that can’t be a pleasant experience even for a robot. Just being all on your own on a seemingly lifeless planet with nobody there to talk to you or comfort you when your sad.”

Logan gave a half smirk, amusement glittering in his eyes, “I’m sure he’ll be fine, he can still communicate back and forth with mission control here on Earth. So, it’s kind of like always having someone on call with a one-way video face time.”

“That is a little better,” Patton hummed thoughtfully “but still, the thought of being completely alone in the vastness of space…kind of freaks me out.”

“Well, thankfully you’re not alone,” Logan said warmly, his smirk now stretching into a shy yet honest smile “you’re here on Earth with very many people who care about you.”

Patton flushed pink but smiled back none the less, “Yeah, I guess so.”

They all finished making their purchases before making their way towards the exit. The crowed had thinned out immensely as evening dwindled into night and what people remained were slowly but surely making their way out. Once again the elders tailed up front talking away while Logan and Patton lingered behind discussing the concept of human awareness and if one day robots will be able to gain this awareness.

“Like, I’m not saying a robot uprising in the sense that they’ll enslave and kill us,” Patton explained, hands gesturing wildly “but something similar to protests and political campaigns that fought for equal rights. If they’re beings of intellect then they’ll know that violence will get them nowhere and hurt their cause more then help it.”

“Wow, you have a lot to say on the matter.” Logan teased.

Patton shrugged shyly, rubbing the back of his neck, “I just…think sci-fi has demonized the why humans will react to other species coming into contact with us. I mean, we aren’t complete monsters and usually the species we’ll ‘supposedly’ interact with aren’t either.”

“Hmm, you do have a point,” Logan nodded “though honestly if they do end up attacking us, I’m pretty sure we deserved it one way or another.”

Patton snorted, “Probably.”

It happened quickly, a buzzing at the back of his head and a burst of color flashing over his eyes. A voice in his head told him to hold down the back of his skirt and side step forward quickly, so that’s just what he did. When Patton turned around to look, he saw a man on his knees with his arm twisted around behind him by a very furious looking Logan.

“Fuck, let go!” The man wheezed out, another man nearby jogged towards them “Jesus, man lay off!”

Logan payed no mind to what they said, only looked to the man on his knees as he seemed to put more pressure on his arm and lowly asked, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I didn’t do nothing!” The man whined, trying and failing to get out of Logan’s solid hold “Get off me you freak!”

“Fuck off dude!” The man’s friend replied, taking half a step forward before freezing under Logan’s glare. “Clearly, he is lying. Because from what I gathered by the precarious position I caught him in was that he was about to pull up my friend’s skirt.”

“I said I didn’t do anything!” The man cried.

“No, but you were going to.” Logan growled, seeming to increase the pressure on the man’s arm.

Patton heard a commotion behind him and turned to find his brothers and Morgan racing back towards them with a security guard hot on their tale. They seemed to be trying to out run the security man and were quick to circle around them as if to block out anymore preying eyes.

“Logan, let him go!” Morgan whispered harshly and, almost reluctantly, Logan complied, the man dropping to the floor clutching his arm. The man’s friend rushed to help him to his feet while Logan still stood by, arms crossed and glaring daggers.

“What the hell is going on?” Georgie demanded.

“That’s what I would like to know.” The security guard pipped up from behind them. Immediately, the man points an accusing finger at Logan, “Officer, this man physically assaulted me!”

“Falsehood!” Logan snapped.

“You were going to pull up my skirt!” Patton shrieked, finally able to find his voice again. He was not going to get Logan in trouble again on his behalf.

“I didn’t fucking do anything, you stupid fag!” The man snapped.

“The fuck did you say!” Alex growled, surging forward to grab the man by the front of his shirt. Had he not Patton was sure Logan and Georgie were close to do so as well.

Patton felt a pit in his stomach, everything was turning into chaos all because of him, again. Why couldn’t he say anything? Why couldn’t he do anything? Why did he have to be such a big baby and cause trouble? How ironic for someone training to be a hero to always get put into situations like this yet isn’t able to save himself. How pathetic.

“Hey, hey, settle!” The security guard commanded, quickly getting in between both men “Now, what I see here is we got two options. One: someone can fess up and give me the real story or two: we can check the security camera, it wouldn’t take too long.”

At the mention of cameras, the two men paled and Logan smirked, the security guard looked tired and seemed to want to be anywhere but here. “If what the young man said was true then you two were the ones committing assault and this other young man here was merely acting in self-defense for his companion.”

“He almost broke my arm!” The main fiend complained.

“I didn’t even do anything!” The other barked, pointing a few feet away “I was standing over there!”

“You were more than likely an accomplice and bared witness to the crime without bothering to interfere,” Morgan quipped, speaking up after his long time silent observation, a calculated look in his eyes “I’ll bet if we look at the camera footage we’ll be able to see you two conspiring together to humiliate my friend like some god damn children before playing rock, paper, scissors or double dog daring one another to go do it. Am I hitting the ball park here? And while I’m at it I’ve been looking through your guys is records and this isn’t your first offence.”

Stepping forward like some sort of professional high security secretary, Morgan pulled up his phone for all to see. There, side by side, were photos of the two men along with their names, contacts, and crimes they’ve been charged for. Patton was pretty sure the two men were nearing the process of passing out their faces were so pale, while Morgan seemed to mimic Logan’s smirk.

“Drunken violence, public indecency, property damage on multiple charges, as well as, surprise, surprise, physical and sexual assault,” Morgan listed off as he continued to scroll through his phone “My, my, you boys have been busy. Now with all of these charges in mind please, pray tell, what were you two thinking when you decided to pull up an under-age boy’s skirt in a high security museum? Or are you that stupid?”

They spat and sputtered but to no avail, not only was one of them caught red handed they had the odds stacked against them. Morgan provided no form of mercy, “Yeah, that’s what I thought, not to worry the police should be here any-” The front entrance was open and four officers came running in “Oh, there they are.”

The men tried in vain to run but the police were able to easily tackle them down while the security guard ushered them all to the side, more then likely waiting to be questioned. Patton felt a bit numb, not really sure if what happened was real or not, there was a lot of energy and emotions in the air and it all gave him a headache. Warm fingers tangled between his and Patton was suddenly brought back to the ground and looking into Logan’s dark eyes.

“Are you okay?” Logan asked, brow frowned in worry.

Patton nodded slowly, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Dude, how were you able to do that? With like the phone and the records and the police and stuff?” Alex exclaimed gesturing to the men being led away in cuffs. Morgan winked mischievously, “Ah, a true computer genius hacker never gives away his secrets…er, phone computer genius hacker? Uh, basically a long story short I did a thing that I will explain to you later because it is, ahem, semi-illegal.”

They all side eyed the security guard who merely shook his head and shrugged. Another officer came by a few minutes later relieving the poor security guard of his duties so as to ask questions. They were all pretty standard: what happened? Why did it happen? Do you want to press charges? Everybody jumped to say yes but honestly Patton didn’t want to deal with anything anymore, he just wanted to go home. Morgan, ever the mystery man genius, said he would willingly handle all the legal stuff so that Patton didn’t have to do anything but sign a few papers, saying how he had a friend who he graduated with who works in the criminal justice system. Usually, Patton didn’t like to bother people and he was trying this whole new thing about fighting for himself but he really, really did not want to deal with complex legal stuff. He also did not want to stress out his family more then they probably already were going to be then he needed too. So, he and his brothers graciously accepted his help.

“You know young man,” The officer said in that adult tone of voice used to scold children “maybe you shouldn’t be wearing a skirt out in public? Would give you an easier time and call much less attention to yourself.”

Okay, so Patton has moved on from tired and pitiful to kind of pissed off, “Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying,” The officer said gently, as if it would make this situation any better “if you were to wear more proper clothes, you’d have less trouble and this situation probably would not have happened.”

He felt Logan’s fingers curl tightly against his, body tensed and ready to jump to Patton’s defense and rescue one more. But Patton was getting really tired of having to be rescued all the time, not that he didn’t appreciated it especially from Logan, but her was getting quite fed up with everything right about now.

“Well, it shouldn’t have happened at all!” Patton said firmly, not really shouting but voice still loud and clear “Regardless of how I dress or how anyone dresses nobody should ever be treated like this! Instead of telling me how I should dress ‘properly’ maybe you should start doing your job and telling people it’s not okay to harass someone just because they’re different or dress a certain way or act a certain way or whatever?”

The officer frowned disapprovingly, like a teacher towards a failing student, but he was no teacher he was an idiot. “Sir, I’m merely suggesting a-”

“I don’t want your suggestions!” Patton snapped “I want to live my life just like everybody else in the world without being bullied or harassed or called names or being shamed just because I’m alive!”

Stunned silence filled the room and Patton just knew that all eyes were on him, surprised and in awe that sweet little Patton would snap at an authority figure. It all would have been quite overwhelming for him if he didn’t have Logan’s fingers intertwined with his and his steady stream of fire and calmness filling his senses. A weird mix of feelings but useful in helping ground Patton and not have him blow up completely. He chanced a quick peek at Logan from the side of his eye and saw a wide and seemingly proud smile stretched across his face.

“I think we’re done here,” Georgie announced, leaving no room for argument “there seems to not be anymore questions you guys need so we’ll just leave.”

“We’ll be in contact, I assure you?” Morgan added as he ushered everyone towards the front exit.

“Our people will call your people.” Alex winked, throwing finger guns at the officer.

They quickly made it to the parking area where they exchanged pleasantries and goodnights before having to part. Georgie and Alex thanked Morgan and Logan immensely for their help, Morgan for handling all the legal stuff and calling the police and Logan for being there to stop the creep. Both Quinn brothers seemed to flush red at the complements and praise, assuring it wasn’t that big of a deal and that they were happy to help. But just before they could part ways Logan thrusted his gift bag towards Patton.

“I, um, thought you might like it,” Logan murmured, avoiding eye contact “I was going to give it to you earlier but, uh, that…happened.”

Patton smiled, happily accepting it before handing over his own gift bag to Logan, “I got you something too.”

“Oh, y-you didn’t – I mean, thank you.” Logan reached for the bag and Patton, once again, did something very bold. He firmly took Logan’s hand, pulled him forward, and gently kissed his cheek.

Patton was quick to pull back, face flushed pink but still smiling, “Thanks for saving me again, you seem to be having to do that a lot.”

Logan was silent for a moment, eyes wide and a careful hand placed over the cheek Patton just kissed. He quickly shook out of his daze, “I-it’s no problem…I’ll always be there if you need me. That is what friends do, correct?”

“Yeah,” Patton giggled “and I’ll be there if you ever need me too, okay?”

Logan nodded vigorously, “Affirmative.”

There was a car honk behind them and Alex is annoying voice yelling across the parking lot, “Come on lover boy, Ma want’s us home soon!”

There was an audible smack and a whiny “ow!” soon thereafter. Patton sighed and smiled apologetically towards Logan before dropping his hand and slowly walking backwards. “I gotta go, see you at school?”

“Uh, yeah, see you.” Logan replied, awkwardly waving his hand.

Patton couldn’t help but giggle and wave back before turning to rush towards the car. Alex booked it out of the parking lot, all the while teasing Patton about his little moment with Logan. But Patton wasn’t really paying attention, instead he was curiously looking inside the bag Logan gave him and found a robotic plushie. At first Patton had assumed it to be Oppy but the design was different so he looked at the tag attached to it and saw that it said Curiosity with a bit of scribbled handwriting at the bottom.

Surely, he will not feel as lonely now that he’s with you. -L.Q.

Patton bit down on his lip to hold back a squeal threatening to burst out of him as he hugged the little robot close to his heart.

---

Virgil left an hour before his mother and sister were due home and the twins whined the whole while not wanting him to leave. They had both latched on to Virgil’s legs and it took Roman an embarrassingly long time to pry them off, with Virgil teasing him the whole time. He left soon after and Roman sat the twins down and scolded them for their behavior, such actions might have been fine with Patton but Virgil was different, especially when it came to physical touch. Although, it didn’t seem like he had minded Roman told the twins if ever he came back that they should ask before engaging in any physical contact.

They seemed to understand well enough and that was all Roman needed before he was ushering them to take a shower and change for bed. Obviously, it didn’t go that easy without a bit of fighting so by the time his mother and sister got back home the twins were freshly bathed, wrestled into their pajamas, and Roman was currently combing his Jenni’s hair while Marco played with his cars.

“Como te fue? ¿Se comportaron los niños?” His mother asked, peeking into the room with Leslie right behind her. They looked tired, hair a mess and dark circles around their eyes.

“It went fine,” Roman replied, finishing Jenni’s hair and tying it off in a simple braid “the twins were fine and we were able to finish everything.”

“Aye, que bien.” She replied.

“Roman’s got a boyfriend!” Jenni announced loudly “And he’s totally a secret witch even though he says he isn’t! But I know!”

Roman squeaked as he pulled his little sister to his chest and clapped a hand over her mouth, “You shush! Time for bed!”

“¡Romano tiene novio! ¡Romano tiene novio!” Marco chanted as he began to jump up and down on his bed.

“Shut it, you little demon!” Roman growled, face aflame.

“Marco no jumping on the bed,” Leslie scolded before a sly smirk crossed her face “and Roman, why didn’t you tell us it was your boyfriend coming over? We could of sent the twins off to their friends how so you two could have some alone time.”

“It’s not like that at all!” Roman shrieked “W-we’re just friend who made a club together, that’s all!”

“Ay, pero Romano, ¿por qué no lo invitaste a cenar para que podemos conocerlo adecuadamente? Quiero asegurarme de que va a ser bueno para mi pequeño príncipe.” His mother giggled along with the rest of his family and Roman really wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

---

Thomas on a roof of a shop near a familiar alley way in full Rainbow Weaver gear. He had just finished making a full sweep around the city an hour ago and decided to take a quick brake before doing another one. He quietly observed the familiar little café across the street and the familiar red head wiping down the tables one last time.

Thomas had stayed to talk to MJ a while more before an influx of customers suddenly made there way in for a late after work coffee run. MJ now suddenly had plenty of work to do and Thomas suddenly remembered that he had a city to be patrolling. They reluctantly parted ways, Thomas sputtering like a fool while MJ was as charming and as cool as ever. He was lucky that he packed a bag with him and stuck his Rainbow Weaver gear onto a nearby building or else he’d have to be fumbling back home and explain to Joan and Talyn why he hadn’t been patrolling the city for two whole hours. He wasn’t ready for the teasing sure to come when they eventually find out that he had been distracted by a cute boy who worked in a coffee shop and that he saves twice a week.

Speaking of, said cute boy was walking out of the coffee shop now, smiling down at his phone as he typed away at something or another. Thomas suddenly felt his own phone vibrate in his pocket and he was quick to pull it out and see a new texts message.

MJ<3: i think i’ll take a different route home today ;-)

Thomas looked back up to watch and sure enough instead of crossing the street MJ turned right towards a much safer part of town. Thomas couldn’t help feel a bit bummed out that he wouldn’t be able to have another possible interaction with MJ again tonight but he was much more happy that MJ took his advice to a safer path home.

Thomas: Good choice! Get home safely :)

MJ<3: Sure thing tiger! <3

---

Virgil had stomped all the way home grumbling to himself. Stupid Roman and his demon siblings kept teasing him the whole time he was there, though admittingly it was kind of fun. Especially since the twins were always willing to turn head on their older brother real fast. They eventually finished the essay and just kind of spent the whole evening bickering and answering Jenni’s curious questions about witches until Virgil had to go back home. He was surprised when they both latched on to his legs and begged him not to leave but soon became amused as he watched Roman struggle to pull them off.

Despite Roman’s entire personality in general he was a good brother and a good person at heart. He just tends to rub people the wrong way (mainly Virgil) sometimes, he was loud and brash, and spoke before he thought. But he wasn’t out right awful, nor was he terrible to be around just very, very annoying. Virgil still didn’t know what to make of Roman and their weird teasing back and forth but he could for sure say that it was…good. For now, at least.

His parents questioned him about the hair cut as soon as he got home and he truthfully told them what happened, not wanting to lie to them if he didn’t have to. They really didn’t mind and actually liked the hair but told him that he really should call them next time and ask for permission before letting his friend cut his hair.

He quickly promised and tiredly slipped in to his room where he was greeted by an excited JD, as always. After feeding and placing fresh water in his tank Virgil kicked off his shoes and proceeded to flop into bed, fully prepared to just sleep. Then his phone pinged!

Idiot: u will now be happy to know that I have now changed ur contact name to Nyan Cat!

Nyan Cat: fuck you!

Idiot: mmh not now maybe later ;-P

Virgil cheeks flushed red, growling as he began to furiously type back a reply. He took back every nice thing he said about the moron, he was the worst!

---

Morgan and Logan of course had to inform their parents about the situation that happened on their evening out. They weren’t freaking out as much as the late time Logan got in trouble but they were still worried none the less. They scolded Logan for his rush into violence but also commended him for protecting his friend from danger. For some reason Morgan did not mention to them about his part in the whole fiasco but instead gave them a vague summery of what went down. He was kind of glad for that, not that Morgan didn’t deserve credit, because he really did work wonders today, but Logan did not want to go another round of compare and contrast between him and his brother.

Logan sluggishly made his way into his room, completely drained from the whole outing. From the walking to the socializing and large crowed of the museum Logan was both physically and mentally drained. But as he looked down at the gift bag still in his hand and the warmth that blossomed in his chest, he couldn’t help but think it wasn’t too bad. A few minor complications but overall the part before the incident and after were pretty great. His cheeks were warm as he ran a finger over the spot where Patton had kissed him and he couldn’t help but let out a dreamy sigh.

Curiosity finally got the better of him and Logan quickly reached into the bag and pulled out a familiar soft round ball, pale blue with white specks and a cute smiling face. He smiled to himself before noticing the neat loopy hand writing on the end of the tag.

Viva la Pluto! <3

Logan was sure that he had a big goofy smile spread across his face by now and was so glad that he was alone in his room. Though he was soon snapped out of his warm and fuzzy day dream by the ping and vibration of his phone. He quickly fished it out of his pocket honestly expecting it to Virgil ready to complain about the god-awful time he had over at Roman’s place but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was Patton.

Patton: the moon is smiling tonight! :)

Logan peeked out his window and sure enough was in its waxing crescent formation which edged near the bottom, looking like a giant smile in the night sky. Logan chuckled softly to himself as he quickly typed out a reply.

Lolo: So, it is.

Tags: (sorry if it doesn’t work, Tumblr is stupid)

@immortaldystopia @metaphoricalpluto2 @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @misunderstood-shadow @fairytailtwists @0callmevirge0 @blenderkit17 @galaxy-lilies-main @lumi-1 @paint-in-flames @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing @superwholocked-for-life @generalfandomfabulousness @oakskull@scarletnoiryt @softnic @asiagotea3890 @enteryourfandomhere @saltwithrandomfandoms @ninjago2020 @average-human @hecksupremeart @teepee-honesty @perfectly-precautiously-gay @a-weirdo-with-a-computer@itsashtronomy @khadij-al-kubra @maryjanewolf @icequeenoriginal @ocs-and-chapters @lilyfond @palepanfandomtrash @always-in-a-fandom @boxofsushi @hellomusicalnerdhere

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #logicality #prinxiety #spiderverse au #spiderverse #tw assualt #tw harassment #tw homophobic slur #tw homophobia #tobashiarg!

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hi-i-love-u-bitch · 5 years

Text

Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 4

So, for those of you that don’t know your main bitch here got a job so that’s why this update took so long. I’ve been searching for a job for weeks and I finally was able to get one so now I can bring me in some cash money so that I can live as a functioning human being in society. Anyways, once more, this fic wouldn’t be possible without the beautiful brains of @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil who ignited flame into this au. So without further ado please ENJOY!!!

Trigger Warning: Mention of death and people passing away. Don’t worry nobody dies!!!

Master Post

Beginning

Next Chapter

After they quickly exchanged numbers with each other the boys hurriedly made way back home. To their surprise they made it back quicker then they anticipated before remembering that oh yeah, they had spider powers. But even then, their parents were less then thrilled to find that their children came home late. Thankfully, they all made sure to get their story straight (ha) before they got home.

“Where have you been, Logan?” Mrs. Quinn fretted “You said you’d be home an hour ago?”

“Sorry Ummi, we got, uh, carried away,” Logan fibbed “lot of notes to go through and a lot of things to be discussed.”

“You still could have called us to say you were coming home late,” Mr. Quinn said sternly “you know how we worry about you being out late at night by yourself.”

---

“But I wasn’t by myself,” Roman said as he helped his mother with the dishes “Patton was there and so were Logan and Virgil.”

“Sí mijo, pero no los conozco,” Mrs. Marigold explained angrily “a Patton sí, pero los otro dos no sé cómo están. Y luego están caminando ya muy tarde, esta peligroso.”

“We’re fine Amá, really,” Roman assured “there’s four of us and me and Patton can handle ourselves just fine.”

‘Especially now,’ Roman added in his head.

---

“That’s not the point, paloma,” Mr. Foster sighed “you said you were going to be home at a certain time and we expected you to be here at a certain time. If not, you should have at least called us.”

“Especially since you’re still sick, Tesoro,” Mrs. Foster added “what if you or Roman had another fainting spell?”

Patton frowned guiltily, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, he had to lie again and he hated it. “I’m fine now Mamma, I promise. We just lost track of time is all, we wanted to get the project done as quick as possible so we won’t be stuck on it for too long. Then we just started talking and stuff.”

---

“What in the world were you talking about that took so long?” Mrs. Storm asked, she was worried and a bit angry but she never once raised her voice. Virgil always appreciated that about his parents, always trying to understand and work with his anxiety but never coddling him like he was made of glass.

Even so, Virgil was still really anxious and ended up blurting out, “Club au! I mean, we’re clubbing – I mean, we were discussing a club!”

Mr. Storm gave his son a curious look, “What sort of club were you discussing?”

Virgil tugged at the ends of his beanie, “Uh, um…a c-club of…gay – I-I mean, uh, L…LGBTQ+ club.”

---

Mr. and Mrs. Quinn gave their son a wide-eyed look, remaining silent for a long while. I wasn’t that they didn’t know Logan was gay, on the contrary despite being emotionally closed off most of the times Logan made it very clear near the end of his middle school year that he was definitely not interested in girls. His parents also made it very clear that it would be hard for a person like him out in the world but that they supported him either way, they just needed a bit of time to catch up. The old beliefs were still ingrained into them but they loved their children way too much to let something like that break them apart.

But that wasn’t the thing that shocked them, it was the fact that it seemed like their son had been keeping this club a secret. As if he was still too afraid to open up and tell them what he’s been doing and how he’s found other people like them. They didn’t mind Logan keeping his privacy because that’s just the type of person Logan was but privacy was one thing, hiding was another. And Mr. and Mrs. Quinn didn’t want their son to feel the need to hide from them because of who he was.

“Really?” Mr. Quinn finally said, scolding himself for not being able to say more.

“Yes,” Logan said, squirming under his parents’ gaze “Virgil and I had been throwing the idea around for a while but we didn’t really think there’d be anyone else but us, that is, until we met Patton and Roman. The school regulates that there should at least be four people per club so, then we decided to look up some sponsors.”

---

“Encontraste a alguien?” Mrs. Marigold asked, her voice now soft and less frustrated then it had been earlier.

This was a very important topic for her son, she knew him and Patton didn’t just stay friends out of convenience but to also at least have one person who understood them on that level. The community they lived in was very religious oriented, a lot of hard-core Catholics in the Latino and Italian community who were still too stuck inside their own asses. They couldn’t see beyond what was told to them and Lupita knew that it’s caused her son a lot of pain and isolation.

Roman was a loud and flamboyant person and to most people in their community that was something strange for a man. But Lupita would be damned if anyone made her baby feel ashamed of who he is, Roman may be dramatic at times but he was a sweet boy and deserved nothing but happiness.

“Yes, actually,” Roman said, a slight look of relief in his eyes that caused Mrs. Marigold’s heart to clench painfully “two of them are part time professors at a nearby college that teach gender studies and engineering, the main other is, uh…LGBT activist on social media.”

---

“A what?” Mr. Foster asked, he was all for letting his son express himself in whatever outlet he wished but he just wanted to make sure he was safe before letting him hang around with a stranger. Patton was much to caring and innocent sometimes and the wrong people could take advantage of that. Mr. Foster would never forgive himself if anything happened to his little paloma, he could not lose another son.

“He talks about things and stuff relating to the LGBTQ+ community online, mainly on YouTube,” Patton explained “he also does a lot of charity work for a lot of other organization. His name is Thomas, he’s really nice. A-and, he also gave me his number for you guys to call him if you have any questions or if you want to meet up and talk in person. Here, I’ll send it to you.”

Patton took out his cell phone and typed out a quick text to his parents. After a quick minute there were two soft pings from Mr. and Mrs. Foster’s phone. They checked to see if the number had the same area code as they did, before turning back to their son who kept fiddling with the hem of his shirt nervously. They really should give their son a bit more credit, innocence does not necessarily mean ignorance and Patton has been known to be a good judge of character. Plus, they knew how hard it was for their son to find friends that could relate to him at such a…personal level.

---

“Are you sure about this?” Mrs. Storm asked worriedly “We know how difficult it was for you to get into a club the first time, and that’s only because you started ballet very young.”

Virgil frowned, chewing his bottom lip, “Do you…not want me to?”

“Oh, no, no, no, I never said that,” Mrs. Storm assured quickly “I just…want to make sure you’re comfortable doing this. I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing things you don’t want to or joining clubs you feel like your obligated to join just because your…you. You know?”

Mr. and Mrs. Storm did not want to discourage their son from trying new things but Virgil had always been a very nervous boy. Very cautious and always double checking everything, him spontaneously wanting to join a club just for the hell of it was very surprising to them. He always made sure to discuss thing with them before he made any final decisions, just to be extra sure. Virgil wanting to do something new and meet new people was a good thing but also made them worry a bit.

Still, if it made their son happy…

“We’ll call him in the morning.” Mr. Storm smiled.

---

“Really, you’re fine with this?” Logan asked, a shy smile spread across his face.

“Of course, we are,” Mrs. Quinn said “we just want to make sure you’re safe is all.”

“And we’ll want to meet those other two boys too, as well as their parents,” Mr. Quinn said firmly “just to give us peace of mind. Is that alright?”

Logan nodded, a somewhat excited glimmer in his eyes, something his parents haven’t seen in a long time, it was good to see it hadn’t completely vanished. “I’m sure if you call Mr. Sanders up he’ll be able to schedule a meeting with all of you. I’m not sure about meeting the other yet, since we still have school and won’t be free until the weekend, but I’m sure that can be arranged sometime soon if not in the near future.”

“Good,” Mrs. Quinn smiled, she paused a moment before speaking carefully “and Logan, you know you can…talk to us about all this, right?”

---

“Of course,” Roman assured, a gentle smile on his face as he took his mother’s hands into his own “Amá, I’m always gunna trust you with these types of things. This was just…a spontaneous occurrence that just sort of happened. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you or was afraid it’s just that we got a bit distracted, that’s all. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“Está bien, mi amor, sé lo emocionado que estás por estas cosas,” Mrs. Marigold cooed, lifting a hand to gently stroke her son’s face “solo sé que te quiero mucho, por siempre y por siempre, sin importar quién eres en tu vida.”

“I know Amá,” Roman hummed, leaning into his mother’s touch “I love you too.”

---

“We just want to make sure you know that this is your home and your safe to be yourself,” Mrs. Foster explained, her husband nodding in agreement “we don’t ever want you to feel like you can’t come to us about these things, Tesoro.”

“I know that,” Patton said, rubbing his eyes to rid himself of the tears he knew were threatening to come out “it’s just…this is a bit, you know, out there and I know that people talk.”

Mr. and Mrs. Foster looked at their son worriedly as he continued, “I hear what people say around here and in church, I didn’t want to give them more ammo to throw at you without…making sure.”

---

“What they say does not matter to us,” Mr. Storm said firmly “what does matter to us is that you’re safe and happy. You can not help who you are and who you love, that’s just the way the world work.”

Virgil gave a shy smile, curling into himself a bit more as if to trap that warm fuzzy feeling that was spreading across his chest. His parents smiled back and his father stepped forward to gently ruffle the top of his beanie covered head. “Just know that you are our son and that we’re always going to be proud of you.”

Virgil chuckled wetly, adjusting his beanie as he playfully shooed his dad’s hand away, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Now I know you still might be sick,” His mother began, stepping into the kitchen “but I made you some stew just in case you’re hungry. I would have reheated you some porridge but it seems we don’t have anymore, which is strange. I could have sworn there was still some left over from this morning.”

“Um, yeah,” Virgil chuckled nervously “stew sounds great, I’m actually starving.”

---

PattyCake: guys i feel really bad for lying to my parents :’(

Logan Q.: It can’t be helped Patton, you know what Mr. Sanders said.

PattyCake: i know but i still feel bad :’’’(

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: i know Peaches but its not a bad thing its to protect them

Spoopy: im with patton on this one after a very awkward conversation and eating dinner the adrenalin finally wore out and now i wanna puke

Logan Q.: Just keep breathing Virgil, you’ll be fine. Or would you like me to come up?

Spoopy: give me a minute i’ll see how i feel later. i’m still trying to process everything!

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: i know its crazy! I’m kind of shaking right now ngl -_-“

PattyCake: R U OK?!?! DO YOU NEED ME TO COME UP?!?!

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: No no just processing like Count Woe-laf over here

Logan Q.: Make sure to take deep breaths and drink plenty of water. Our bodies are still quite in shock from the mutation as well as the emotional turmoil we’ve had today. We have to make sure to get the optimal amount of rest tonight.

Spoopy: why do i feel like that was targeted at me? -_-

Logan Q.: Because it was. Also, my parents would like to arrange a meeting with Mr. Sanders and all of your parents, if that’s okay? They would also like to meet Patton and Roman as well but I’ve persuaded them to postpone that meeting until a later date, stating that we are all to busy with school this week.

PattyCake: -_-“ thanks Lo i dont think i can lie to anybody else right now

Logan Q.: It’s no problem Patton, whenever you and Roman are ready to meet them I’ll let them be informed.

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: thanks specs

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: also my mom would also like to meet thomas and ur parents

Spoopy: same

PattyCake: shouldnt we be telling this to mr. sanders?

---

Thomas was out on patrol again, watching the last glimmers of sunlight sink down across the city skyline on top of the tallest building. He thanked his lucky stars everyday for Joan and Talyn and their genius advances they’ve made on his suit, such as thermal heating. If it hadn’t been for them the strong autumn wind whipping around him would have caused him freeze to death by now. Several tiny pings vibrating against the pocket of his suit brought Thomas out of his thoughts.

‘That’s strange,’ Thomas thought to himself as he fished out his phone ‘Joan and Talyn don’t usually text me until later or unless it’s an emergency.’

To his surprise it was not Joan or Talyn but the kids from earlier today.

PattyCake: Hello! <333 OwO

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: Hi Mr. Sanders!!! :3

Logan Q.: Mr. Sanders, we would like to ask you something.

Spoopy: yo sanders you there?

Thomas chuckled to himself, he could already tell who was who without even looking at the usernames. Also, he really needed them to stop calling him Mr. Sanders, it made him feel older then he actually is.

CouldBeGayer: u know u guys can just call me Thomas right?

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: AKALFJ;HELFHENV UR USERNAME!!! IM WHEEXZJING!!!

Logan Q.: Mr. Sanders, our parents are going to call you tomorrow to schedule a meeting with you. My parents were wondering if you would not be opposed to meeting with everyone at the same time? Seeing as they would like to meet Roman and Patton’s parents as well this would be most optimal.

Logan Q.: Sorry, the message was already sending.

CouldBeGayer: its alright bud

Thomas thought a moment, he had expected this to happen. They had discussed this while Joan and Talyn were experimenting on them, that it would be mighty suspicious for them to disappear for hours on ends after school. Thomas was the king of making up excuses when he was younger so he hadn’t needed to worry and his parents trusted him enough to not get into any trouble. Which was a lie yes but he didn’t want these kids to lie to their parents more than they already are so they devised a plan. They’d invent an “after school club” with Thomas, Joan, and Talyn as their sponsor, Thomas being the main one that’ll mentor them. Thing is the boys left before they could discuss how they were going to explain why two scientists funded by the government and a YouTuber were asked to be sponsors for a high school LGBTQ+ club.

CouldBeGayer: So whats the sitch?

Spoopy: joan and talyn are part time engineering and gender studies professors at a near by university and ur an lgbt activist on social media

CouldBeGayer: interesting way of putting it

PattyCake: no offence but idk if i could explain what a youtuber is to my parents -_- they barely know how to use their phones

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: Same!!!

Spoopy: same -_-

Logan Q.: I second that statement.

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: holy shit what r u a computer?

Spoopy: I have a few theories

Logan Q.: Honestly, Virgil you know I am human.

Spoopy: DO I REALLY OR IS THAT JUST WHAT U WANT ME TO THINK?!?!

CouldBeGayer: im with them on this one im gunna need to see a birth certificate

PattyCake: I believe u Lo :)

Logan Q.: Thank you, Patton.

Prince-Of-Ur-Dreams: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Spoopy: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

CouldBeGayer: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Logan Q.: Stop it.

PattyCake: (⊃д⊂)

---

There were several phone calls made the following day to arrange a meeting later that afternoon at a nearby coffee shop that Thomas recommended. The boys’ parents sounded nice enough over the phone but there was still that careful edge in each of their voices that let Thomas know that these were very protective parents willing to talk to him about mentoring their precious children. In some ways that made Thomas felt kind of guilty about having to lie to them because he was literally going to train said precious children so that they can control their mutant spider powers and possibly send them out to fight dangerous street criminals.

So, Thomas made sure to put in extra effort for today, which isn’t something he isn’t prone to doing unless it’s a life or death situation. He got up early, showered, shaved, put on clean semi-presentable clothes, ate a good breakfast and practiced what he wanted to say to these kids is parents.

“We’ll talk more about the community as a whole and hopefully be able to educate others about it, which is really the most important thing. Spreading awareness and helping normalize the LGBTQ+ youth…” Thomas had been pacing back and forth in his living room notepad in hand, scribbling down thoughts and ideas as well as crossing them out.

He bit down on his thumb nail nervously, “Is that too much? Is it too dramatic?”

“I think it’s fine,” Joan said coolly. Them and Talyn had been sitting on the couch as Thomas is willing audience, occasionally giving him criticism and assuring him that everything will be alright.

“Are you sure?” Thomas asked them, flipping over to a different page of his notepad “I mean, I want to give them all the information they need but not overwhelm them with so much but also not skim over important details.”

“Thomas,” Talyn called to him, a gentle smile aimed his way “you’re gunna be fine. It’s obvious how much effort you put into this to make sure everybody’s comfortable and the boys’ parents will see that too.”

“And if they don’t?” Thomas moaned tiredly, scrubbing over his face “What if they see right through me and know I’m lying? Because I am! I’m not sponsoring an LGBTQ+ youth club I’m going to train their secretly super mutated kids to fight dangerous criminals that could potentially kill them!”

“Whoa, hold up a minute there, buddy,” Joan said gently, firmly grabbing onto their friend’s shoulders “breath…it’s going to be fine. Remember, you’re helping these kids get through a terrifying phase in their lives. You’re doing this because you don’t want them to be alone like you were and it’s better for them to train under your watchful eye then have them running amuck by themselves, not knowing what to do.”

Thomas took a careful breath, steading his mind with Joan’s soothing words of wisdom, “You’re right, you’re right…I’ve got this! I totally got this…right?”

“We’re right here with you just in case you don’t,” Talyn joked, but the sincerity in their eyes told Thomas they meant it and then some.

He cracked a small smile, “Thanks guys.”

---

Thomas thought he was so cleaver come twenty minutes early so he can save everybody a seat, show how responsible he is. Turns out the parents had the same idea and that just kind of knocked down the hours of hyping up Joan and Talyn did for him. He could already tell who was whose parent just by their demeanor and faces alone.

Logan’s parents seemed to give off that same professional, all business vibe on the surface but if you peeked underneath, you’d see that they cared very deeply for their son and his well-being. His mother seemed to have that strong, fiery determination in her eyes while his father was an unmoving wall that help ground her. Patton’s parents wore their emotions on their sleeves just like their son, they looked worried and fearful but there was a warm sweetness to them that reminded Thomas all too much of Patton’s hugs. Patton definitely inherited his mother’s large expressive eyes as well as his father’s deep-set frown, which Thomas was certain that if he smiled it be exactly like his son’s, bright and warm. Roman’s mother was jittery with a nervous energy that just seemed to radiate off of her, just like her son she couldn’t seem to sit completely still as was evident by her tapping foot. But even quiet and mostly sitting still she seemed to fill up the entire room with a flare that was just so Roman. Virgil’s parents seemed a bit reclusive compared to the rest, sticking close to Logan’s parents and mostly observing the events unfolding before them. Virgil’s mother seemed to be the quietest of the two but that didn’t mean she didn’t have anything to say, his father seemed to be the one to pull her from her thoughts, always careful and never too fast.

Thomas swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath in before finally entering the coffee shop and making his way towards them. Roman’s mother was the first to stand, closely followed by Logan’s parents, Thomas almost laughed at how similar they were compared to their sons. She stuck out her hand to greet Thomas giving him a firm hand shake.

“Hello, my names Guadalupe Marigold, you can call me Lupita, I’m Roman’s mom.” Her accent was thick like honey causing her to stick and trip over her words but it was still sweet to listen too.

“Maryam and Akeem Quinn,” Logan’s mother introduced, a hand on her chest and a gentle half bow towards Thomas which was returned “We’re Logan’s parents.”

“Nice to meet you.” Logan’s father, Akeem, added, going to shake Thomas’s hand.

“Nice to meet you too.” Thomas said lamely, shaking back.

As they sat back Patton’s parents stood up, Patton’s father going to greet him first, “Giovanni Foster, this is my wife Maria, we’re Patton’s parents.”

“How do you do?” Thomas smiled nervously, shaking both their hands only to then be pulled in close by Mrs. Foster who kissed both his cheeks.

“My Tesoro speaks very highly of you,” She smiled warmly, seating herself back with her husband “I hope all is true.”

Finally, with much shyness and caution, Virgil’s parents slowly stand to say hello. First is his mother, who shakes Thomas’s hand with a small bow and simply said, “Thi Storm.”

“Gus Storm,” Mr. Storm chimed in “we’re Virgil’s parents, good to finally meet you.”

“Likewise.” Thomas nodded taking his seat across from them.

It was awkwardly silent for a long time, either looking off into the distance or fiddling with their coffees and desserts they ordered. Where do you start? Who starts? What do you say? What even was this?

“So…your gay?” Gus asked and he seemed painfully aware how stupid and rude that question sounded. His wife did too apparently, if the death glare she was giving him was any indication of how she felt.

“What the hell, Gus?” Thi murmured under her breath, rubbing over her eyes.

“I panicked, nobody was talking.” Gus explained nervously.

Thomas wondered if this was how Virgil’s thought process was like when he was struggling to socialize with others. Still, Thomas smiled gently, letting it show he wasn’t offended by the question, “Yes, I am. Any other questions? Feel free to ask anything you like, nothing is off limits. I want there to be an open communication between all of us and to let you guys know that your sons are in good hands.”

“What exactly is it you do for a living?” Maryam asked, the ice finally starting to brake around them.

Thomas wanted to be as truthful as possible so after a moment of thought (though not so long it was suspicious) he said, “I’m an entertainer on YouTube mainly, I do talk a lot about LGBTQ+ topic and have spoken at several schools about the topic. Your boys actually go to my old high school and I just…wanted them to have a better experience then I did when I went there.”

“How so?” Giovanni asked curiously.

Thomas sighed, geez where does he even begin with this? Obviously, he couldn’t tell them everything that happened but he could give them a vague outline of what he went through. Technically it wasn’t lying, right?

“Well, I mean it was a lot worse back when I was a kid then now,” Thomas explained carefully “I mean, we were barely starting to come out of the woodworks but even then, we had to be careful about it. My folks and brothers were fine with it but they still wanted me to keep it hidden from everyone else, not because they were ashamed of me but because this is Manhattan and the people aren’t that nice and can sometimes be kind of dangerous. Especially, with…‘my kind’ of people.

“So, I kept to myself a lot, smiled when I had too, and just kind of developed this sort of…fake version of myself that society deemed acceptable,” Thomas continued “I didn’t want to worry my parents so I avoided telling them anything and my friends at the time didn’t know anything about me outside of school. It didn’t really help that there were a lot of…other things pilling up on me but through it all I at least had one supporter.”

It got quiet again and Thomas had gotten this far away look in his eyes. He seemed vaguely fawned of the memory but also in deep pain, so much so that Maria reached across the table to squeeze his hand. That finally got Thomas to snap out of his trance, clearing his throat with a nervous smile as he awkwardly retreated his hand on to his lap.

“S-sorry, kind of,” He made a vague gesture with his hand “spaced out there for a sec, a-anyway, the point being I don’t want these boys to feel like they’re alone in this, nor anybody else for that matter. If people can see that there is a strong support system, they can trust it’ll probably compel more students to come out and talk to us. LGBTQ+ youth has the highest grossing rate in anxiety, depression, bullying, harassment, and, unfortunately, suicide, and these are just kids!”

That seem to get to them, at least they weren’t paying attention to his weird space out anymore, but they looked semi disturbed which isn’t any better. They seemed to be mauling over these facts anxiously which Thomas couldn’t tell was a good thing or a bad thing. Like, Thomas didn’t want to guilt trip these parents into letting their children join a fake LGBTQ+ club but god only knows the chaos these boys could cause with their powers if left unsupervised.

Thi cleared her throat to speak, “Virgil has always been a very…anxious kid. Teacher would always tell us how they were worried because he was very underdeveloped in the social aspect of things. Thankfully he met Logan which kind of eased our worries but still made us anxious as to wonder how Virgil would handle things without Logan as a social buffer. It takes a lot for him to make friends with people and even then, he still kind of hides into himself. But then…”

She turned to Thomas, giving him a strange yet intense look, so much so that Thomas kind of shrank back a bit, “All of a sudden he comes home talking about wanting to make a club with Logan and two other boys he made friends with. Two boys that he has described as loud, eccentric, and a bit intense, all things Virgil actively avoids on a day to day bases. He’s out late, talking with people and losing track of time, coming home excited talking a mile a minute about the club he wants to make with his friends…” Thi’s eyes soften, brimming with tears as a small smile spreading across her face “…it’s the happiest I’ve seen him ever since…”

“Since…?” Thomas asked worriedly.

Gus placed an arm around his wife’s shoulders bringing her close to his side, “Last year, Virgil’s grandfather died and he…didn’t take it very well. It got so bad that he was mute for a couple months, something that manifested over the years due to his anxiety but due to the trauma of losing his grandfather it was worse. Not that his death was violent or traumatic, rather peaceful actually, but Virgil and his grandfather were very close.”

“I get it,” Thomas said, a deep understanding in his eyes that threw off Virgil’s parents for a bit before realization kicked in. They didn’t need to ask because Thomas told them anyway, “My aunt Patty was my biggest support when I was younger and after she…past I decided to kick my ass into gear and do something with myself instead of moping around. It’s what she would have wanted.”

“My sister, Perri, was Logan’s favorite aunt,” Akeem smiled sadly, his wife gently rubbing his back “he admired her so much and she absolutely adored him. When she was…” A pause, a look of pain and anger flashed across Akeem’s eyes before he centered himself once more with a deep breath “…when she passed became much more closed off with his emotions then ever before. We didn’t know what he was feeling half the time. But then the other day he comes in and…he’s just so full of life and excitement. It’s as if I’m finally seeing my son again.”

“Roman’s father was his hero,” Lupita sniffed, a watery chuckle escaping her lips “he wanted to be just like him when he grew up because ‘papi was so brave and amazing because he helped build skyscrapers and he never was afraid of falling down…’” She wiped the tears running down her cheek with the cuff of her sleeve “And when he did it was as if his whole little world came crashing down on him. He realized his hero wasn’t invincible and the thought of that made him feel so lost. Then yesterday he comes back home and it’s as if…he’s found his purpose again. As if he’s been found by it.”

“Patton was our second youngest,” Maria explained mournfully, her husband holding her hand tight “we had a little boy named Frankie…Patton loved him so much, he loved being an older brother. He was always so caring and attentive and Frankie loved him just as fiercely, they were always together. Then Frankie got sick…Patton never got to say goodbye.”

“He feels guilty about it, we know,” Giovanni continued when his wife no longer could “but he’s always tried to make the people around him happy first so he always put on a cheery disposition. Our little paloma has been known to wear his heart on his sleeves but sometimes it feels like he hides things for our sake. It was the same thing yesterday but…different somehow. As if we were getting a glimpse into his struggling mind but it was also starting to put itself back together again. It’ll take time, we know, but whatever you’re doing for these boys…please continue.”

Thomas is eyes were open wide in shock, he understood everything now, not completely but he finally got why these kids were the way they were. When you lose someone important you lose a part of yourself, you spend almost all your life looking for it again and once you find something similar to fill that void you latch onto it. For Thomas it was becoming someone better then what he saw in himself because that’s what his Aunt Patty would have wanted. From what he could gather these kids wanted some sort of control over their lives, stability, a purpose, understanding. That’s why they latched on so quickly with each other because finally someone was going through the same thing as they were and for once they wouldn’t be alone to deal with it.

The whole thing was painfully familiar to Thomas and he knew he was slowly starting to get attached to these kids more and more even if it’s only been two days. Do these fucking spiders only target people who’ve tragically lost someone close to them? Was that like a growing trend amongst the mutant spider community? Hey, here’s an emotionally unstable teenager who’s bound to lose someone in life let’s fuck up their lives even more!

“I promise,” Thomas said unintentionally, though he couldn’t stop now “I’ll keep them safe and help get them ready for the world ahead. I’ll keep you posted on everything we do and…I’ll make sure they’re never alone.”

‘Never again,’ Thomas added in his head ‘and I don’t care if I regret this.’

---

CouldBeGayer: Ur training starts tomorrow after noon

---

They were on the roof of an abandoned building; Thomas having changed into his Rainbow Weaver gear while the boys wore sweats and a bootleg Rainbow Weaver mask. They stood side by side in a line as Thomas slowly paced back and forth like an ever observant general in the army.

“This training will NOT be easy,” Thomas said sternly “if you want to be heroes you have to understand that your lives will not be the only ones on the line. You will be blamed for every little thing that goes wrong, nobody cares if it’s an accident. According to the news and in the eyes of the public: Super heroes don’t make mistakes. So, pay attention. Any questions?”

Logan raised his hand, “Why are we wearing masks?”

“A few reasons,” Thomas said coolly “mainly just incase people see us they won’t know your identities, I don’t want people to know we’re associated with each other and exploit it as a weakness. Also…I thought you guys would look hilarious in these and I was right. Moving on, let’s get down to business-”

“To defeat the Hun!” The boys sang.

“Guys, this is serious,” Thomas chuckled, quickly composing himself “do any of you know basic gymnastics?”

It was silent for a moment, the boys awkwardly shuffling their feet until Virgil slowly raised his hand and asked, “Does ballet count?”

“Yes, it does actually,” Thomas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck “even so I’m still gunna have to teach you a few things. As for the rest of you…let’s stretch out first then start at square one.”

---

“This is called a bridge pose,” Thomas said casually, having practically bent backwards into a perfect arch on his hands and feet “now that you have powers, you’re not only stronger but are now a bit more flexible. But even with that we still got to stretch those muscles out so that they can become accustomed. Start from the ground up, slowly. If you need help ask.”

Virgil had the easiest time getting into bridge pose, since he was already the most flexible, the other three needed a bit of help. It was a bit of a struggle but soon Thomas was able to get all four of them into perfect bridge pose.

“N-now what?” Roman huffed, straining to keep up straight.

“Now you stay there for as long as you can.” Thomas said simply.

“Fuck!” Vigil groaned, the sound of a man who’s done this before and was not happy to be doing it again.

“Is this really necessary?” Logan grunted, shifting his weight from one hand to the other.

“You wanted to be super heroes and spider ones at that,” Thomas said haughtily, crossing his arms “you think I learned all those tricks and flips out of thin air? You have any idea how many muscles I pulled because I had no idea what I was doing? I have back problems now guys, I’m barely thirty!”

“No, offence Mr. Thomas sir,” Patton panted “but how is this supposed to help us not have back problems?”

“Like I said, we stretch out the muscles and get them use to the strain,” Thomas repeated “isn’t that right Virgil?”

“Yeah, something like that,” you could practically hear the pout on the emo boys face “doesn’t mean it still isn’t a pain in the ass.”

“D-don’t you mean pain in the back?” Patton giggled as Logan groaned loudly in the background but you could definitely tell he was smiling underneath the mask.

Roman was the first to fall, he had a solid build of muscle due to helping out the stage crew lift heavy props but it made his body a bit to stiff. Logan was next, his body was lanky and bendable enough but he lacked any sort of muscle to help him stay up right. Virgil was next leaving Patton as the last man standing which surprised everyone, including Patton.

“Well done Patton,” Thomas praised “I think we can move on to some other poses now.”

“Thanks,” Patton huffed, wiggling around a bit before he suddenly stopped and began to chew on the inside of his cheek nervously “um…I think I’m stuck…help.”

“Shit.” Thomas quickly rushed over to help him.

---

Thomas stood in the middle of a line of webbing he had stuck the ends off to two buildings as well as having a net like web below it. “Next, we’re gunna work on your balance, just walk back and forth across the line a few times to get a feel for it. The building isn’t that high, about three stories, but I’ve still put a net underneath just in case. So, don’t worry if you slip, you’ll be fine, the webbing we have is extremely strong.”

The boys stood in a line on the building to the right looking across towards Thomas, who casually walked across the thin web to the opposite building, before looking down towards the net that covered the drop below. They gulped, shuffling around to see where they should start from until finally Logan bravely stepped up first. He stuck his hands out to his sides before taking a tentative step forward, scooting his way across until he was about a foot out. After taking a few deep breaths Logan finally decides to take a normal step forward, then another and another and soon he was walking across with ease.

Not one to be out shined Roman confidently went next, his pace much faster as he quickly caught up with Logan’s careful trot. Patton was next, going much slower then his friend, with Virgil clinging on to the back of his shirt at arm’s length as he followed behind. Thomas couldn’t help but think they looked like a trail of baby ducks waddling across a street.

Everything was going smoothly until a strong wind breezed by, causing Logan to stumble a bit and take a step back bumping into Roman which caused him to bump back into Patton and Virgil. The dramatical teen grumbled annoyed, shoving Logan forward, “Watch it!”

“Excuse me if the wind is a bit strong!” Logan growled, shoving Roman back with his elbow.

“You’re just moving too slow!” Roman shot back, shoving the nerd much harder.

“You’re moving too fast!” Logan snapped back, shoving back just as hard.

“Guys, stop shoving!” Patton squeaked, trying to hold his balance as Virgil now clung more closely “Virgil, I’m losing balance, let go!”

“If I do, I’ll fall!” Virgil shrieked, unknowingly pushing Patton forward and bumping him into Roman who was still fighting with Logan.

Thomas anxiously watched the scene unfold before him in slow motion; Roman had moved to shove Logan again but Patton bumped up against him causing Roman to use more force then plan. Logan completely lost his balance and fell forward, Roman jumped to grab his arm but he too lost balance which caused Patton to grab his foot and Virgil, who still held on to back of Patton’s shirt tried to grab the tightrope of web but miss.

“Shit!” Virgil cursed as they all fell screaming before bouncing back up against the net they had forgotten was there. They still held on to each other like an awkward wiggle worm before finally collapsing into a pile of groaning teenagers.

“So, team work is a thing we need to work on,” Thomas said from above them “and from what I saw it’s gunna need a lot of work. But don’t worry, nothing a few team building exercises can’t fix. We’ll worry about that later, right now you guys need to get back up and do about fifty more of these.”

The boys groaned in protest.

---

Thomas worked them vigorously, from flexibility to balance to strength to stamina to speed and anything else you could think of. Due to his ballet training Vigil was the most flexible and well balanced, Roman was the strongest, Patton could jump the highest, and Logan was the fastest. They all had pretty good stamina, with Virgil coming in first, Logan and Roman neck and neck, and Patton just a smidge behind. Today was mainly another test day to see what their abilities could do and Thomas made sure they took brakes in-between each session.

Thomas swore up and down to Joan and Talyn before they left that he would stay absolutely professional with these kids. The fact that he was packing water and snacks for them as he was arguing this did not help his statement. It also didn’t help that he kept fussing over them like a mother hen every time they stopped to take a rest, constantly making sure if they were okay to continue.

They had gone to do a few laps around the city and had stopped on a nearby building to take a break at around the third one. Thomas once more passed out water bottles full of vitamin c and trail mix as they sat along the side of an ally way observing the city around them. Virgil and Roman were bickering about Disney movies, Patton was telling puns and Logan was just kind of facepalming the entire time. It was nice.

“So, what do you kids think of the glamor of superhero life?” Thomas cut in as he stood up to stretch.

“Uh, a lot more physically straining then I previously thought,” Roman admitted, though he didn’t seem put off by it “but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Yeah,” Patton agreed “it’s a lot of hard work but also kind of fun.”

“I’ll take it over Ms. Green’s weekend training camps any day.” Virgil said, chugging down his water bottle.

“It was bound to be strenuous, though we weren’t sure how much so,” Logan explained “but it is what it is, not turning back now.”

Thomas smiled, a swell of pride filling his chest, “You kids sure are tough, how ‘bout we finish up this lap and-”

Thomas’s head did a double take at a figure walking down the ally way, he quickly pulled his mask down as he gestured for the kids to stay back and out of sight. Of course they didn’t completely listen and opted to pick out from the edge of the roof as they observed Thomas swinging down into the ally and stopping in front of a ginger haired man with freckles decorating his face and arms. He wore a dark green polo shirt with a sort of logo on it, kaki pants, and a matching green apron with the same logo that he been busy tying around his waist, work clothes most likely. He jumped a little, not expecting anyone to stop him, but soon relaxed when he realized who had stopped him.

“Oh, it’s you,” The man chuckled breathlessly “I thought you were supposed to be saving people, not giving them heart attacks?”

“Well, I wouldn’t need to do that if you’d just listen to me and not take a dangerous ally way to work.” Thomas countered teasingly, his voice deep due to the voice distorter in his mask.

“Aw, but then I wouldn’t be able to see your cute masked face,” The man giggled causing Thomas to sputter a bit “plus, it’s much faster this way so I don’t really have a choice.”

Thomas cleared his throat nervously, “I mean, you could take the one down main. It won’t get you there as quick but it’s much safer and less riddled with gang activity.”

The man rolled his eyes playfully, “You accidently get jumped by a gang one time and you never hear the end of it.”

You could practically see the raised eyebrow under Thomas is mask, “You threw a brick at one of them and broke another one’s nose.”

“In my defense they were being assholes and catcalling some poor girl walking home,” The man argued “granted she may have been a prostitute but that still doesn’t give them the right to be assholes. Plus, if they hadn’t pulled that gun out on me, I would have been fine on my own.”

“Yeah,” Thomas chuckled “that’s not accounting with the other dozen with switch blades.”

“What’s a little internal bleeding,” The man joked “but in all seriousness thanks for saving me, again.”

“I wouldn’t have to keep doing it if you’d just stopped taking this ally way.” Thomas said with a fond look.

“I thought we established that I want to keep seeing your cute masked face,” The man pouted “or is it you don’t want to see me?”

“I-I didn’t mean – it’s not…I don’t –” Thomas squeaked, sputtering for over a minute until he finally composed himself enough to blurt out “I-I just don’t want you to get hurt, okay?”

The man giggled, pulling back a strand of hair behind his ear, “That’s sweet, but I can handle myself, trust me.”

“May I remind you that last night was the fifth time I’ve saved you,” Thomas sighed, defeated “that’s a big record for literally anyone.”

“Well, then how else am I supposed to keep seeing you?” The man said smoothly, brushing by Thomas with a smile and a wave “See you ‘round, Tiger.”

Thomas stood there, dumbfounded, as he watched the ginger haired man walk out the ally way, across the street, and into a nearby coffee shop. He sighed, scratching the back of his head as he puzzled over the conversation until he heard giggling. He looked up to find four pairs of mischievous eyes staring at him through reject Rainbow Weaver masks and Thomas instantly had regrets.

Thomas quickly swung back up, clearing his throat awkwardly as he began to pack of the snacks and water. He could still feel the boys’ eyes on them, smug smiles hidden behind their masks as they watch Thomas sweat.

“He was cute.” Roman giggled in a sing song voice, Patton giggled behind him.

“Uh, yeah I guess.” Thomas mumbled.

“What’s his name?” Vigil asked teasingly.

“How should I know?” Thomas grumbled, slinging the pack over his shoulder.

“Well, considering you’ve saved him five times and patrol this ally way long enough to know he takes it everyday to work, thus being able to casually stop him to talk, it is most likely fair to assume that you do know his name.” Logan stated smugly.

“I’m guessing you’re the type of kid that gets off on making every adult feel dumb.” Thomas huffed.

“Yes.” Logan said, an obvious satisfied smile across his face.

“He’s just huffy that he can’t talk to a pretty guy without sputtering like a gay disaster.” Vigil teased.

“To think I thought he was a distinguished gay.” Roman added with a chuckle.

“Aw, I think it’s cute that Mr. Thomas has a crush.” Patton gushed sweetly.

“If stalking the ally way near said crush is work place at the exact time, he’s supposed to pass by so that he can conveniently talk to him instead of training us, then yes, I guess it is cute.” Logan chuckled.

Thomas glared at the giggling teens before giving them a blank look and casually stating, “Five more laps around the city.”

He leaped off towards the next building leaving behind a group of groaning spider teens who reluctantly followed, spouting apologizes.

“Come on Thomas, we were only joking!” Vigil whined.

“It was a valiant effort at romance!” Roman added.

“He may reciprocate feelings for you!” Logan stated.

“You two really are super cute!” Patton shouted.

“Eight laps!” Thomas called back, more groaning echoed throughout the busy city.

Tags: (sorry if your tag didn’t show up Tumblr is stupid)

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #sander sides fanfiction #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logicality #prinxiety #spiderverse au #tobashiarg!

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