#i still giggle about how kyle said that other kids used to call him special k

[roseworth]

batman & robin 2023 is soooo funny bc williamson wants to show damian being bullied but the only mean names he can think of are "new kid" and "art boy" damian is being bullied by the least creative children in the world. back in my day they would've at least done a homophobic play on words with his name. like gaymian

[dc41896]

One Wish

I think this is the first time ever or in a while that I’m posting something on the day that I meant for it to come out lol😂. Hope you guys like it and that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays💕!

Pairing: Chris EvansxBlack Reader

⚠️: Mentions of pregnancy, brief concerns about problems conceiving, fluff other than that though💕!

“Mommy!”

“Hey- what’s wrong?” Picking up your sniffling little one running towards you, he rests his head in the crook of your neck as a fresh set of tears begin to roll down his cheeks.

“River and Kyle were talking about Santa and the North Pole when their classmate interrupted saying how Santa wasn’t real,” Chris explains leaning against the counter still holding onto his son’s Spongebob backpack. “And apparently he called them babies if they still believed in him.”

“He is real...right?,” his tiny voice quivers breaking your heart.

“Do you believe he is?”

“Yes,” he nods lifting his head.

“Then he’s real,” you smile kissing his forehead.

“I knew it! I said so, but he won’t listen.”

“Well don’t worry about him. He’s just jealous because he’s probably on the naughty list,” you state causing a little gasp to leave his lips.

“That’s not good.”

“I know. But hey, why don’t you go wash your hands and then you can help me with cookies? Think that’ll make you feel better?”

“Mhmm! And watch Nightmare Christmas with Jack!”

“Yea bubs we can watch Nightmare before Christmas too,” Chris chuckles watching River excitedly climb down to get his bag and hurry to his room.

“Let me guess, Devin?,” you ask moving throughout the kitchen getting everything you’d need.

“Yep.”

“I know I shouldn’t say this, but that kid really gets on my nerves.”

“Babe,” he laughs with head slightly bowing forward.

“He thinks he knows everything and then his parents just think it’s sooo precious, ugh.” Stopping you from walking past again, you feel both of his strong arms hugging you to his chest rubbing up and down your back.

“Aww did Devin make you upset too?”

“Yes he did and I don’t wike it,” you answer poking out your bottom lip as you look up at your giggling husband. Leaning down, his lips sweetly peck yours twice before staying attached for a few seconds longer making you smile as his nose brushes against yours.

“Feel better?”

“Mhm,” you nod making him laugh once again.

“I’m ready!,” River beams running into the kitchen with Dodger on his heels. Stepping his bare feet atop Chris’, still in his sneakers, holding his arms up he lifts the excited child to sit on the counter beside him with legs dangling over the edge.

“Alright what kind of cookies do you want?,” you ask turning to the desert section of your cookbook.

“Chocolate chip! With extra chocolate.”

“Really? You sure you don’t want worm cookies? With extra slime?,” Chris jokes making River shake his head in disgust.

“Eww! No daddy, chocolate chip.”

“You hear that babe? He wants coated frog lip cookies. I’ve never heard of that but if you insist..”

“Noo chocolate chip!,” he giggles as his cheeks become covered in kisses from his father. Mixing all the dry ingredients in the large glass bowl, River carefully cracks the eggs, with the help of Chris, and adds the rest of the wet ingredients before moving to scoop in the chocolate chips. Multiple times throughout the process you have to stop them from trying to eat the entire bag only making them get more creative on how to sneak more when you weren’t looking.

Or thought you weren’t at least.

Once everything was cleaned following the cookies and dinner, and River got to watch his favorite movie while happily tapping his feet to every song, Chris took the yawning child to get ready for bed leaving you to do the same for yourself. As if on cue, by the time you were sliding into bed trying to get comfortable having showered and finished your full nightly routine, there was your husband softly closing the door behind him with a piece of paper in his hand laughing to himself as he approached the bed.

“What?,” you ask, amused as he lies across the foot of the bed propping his head up with his hand and bent elbow.

“River gave me his list for Santa that he made in class.”

“I’m sure it’s filled with toys,” you and Chris both chuckle.

“See for yourself.”

You sit up taking the red and green bordered paper from his outstretched hand preparing yourself for quite possibly the most outlandish requests from the current look on his face.

“Dear Santa, I’ve been really good this year,” you begin smiling at your son’s slightly shaky handwriting and occasional misspelled words. Continuing down the paper, Chris’ eyes stay fixed on you waiting for your reaction when you get to that special part.

From your extended pause and furrowed brows as you bring the letter a bit closer to your eyes, a chuckle leaves his lips as he crawls up the bed lying cheek down on the pillow beside you and his large hand slides under your, well his, oversized graphic tee gripping your hip.

“But what I really really want is a baby brother or sister this Christmas so we can play at home with mommy and daddy and all of us have fun,” you read aloud looking down at your husband.

“Yeaaa...”

“What are we gonna do?”

“Well,” he smirks gently draping your leg over his jeaned hip as his thumb grazes back and forth over your recently moisturized skin. “What kind of monsters would we be to not grant our child’s Christmas wish?”

“Chris you know it doesn’t happen that fast.”

“We could get the ball moving at least?” Leaning up to kiss your neck, you feel his teeth and lips taking turns nipping at your ticklish skin making you giggle as you try to nudge him off.

“Christopher..”

“Okay, okay. I honestly don’t know. We either tell him ahead of time, hurting his feelings when he’s already sensitive about Santa from earlier, or we wait that morning and he still gets his feelings hurt. Either way I feel like it’s a lose lose.”

“Pretty much.” There’s a comfortable silence as you both try to ponder the best option. His fingertips drifting up and down the back of your thigh still across him while you rake through his hair.

“Maybe he’ll get distracted with all his other gifts and forget about it?”

“You really think our son is gonna forget?,” he chuckles shifting to look at you with a raised brow. Moving to give you more room, you lie down with a sigh slightly concerning Chris with the conflicted look on your face.

It had always been the tale-tell sign that you were overthinking and your anxiety might soon take over. “Hey, you know this isn’t some way to force you to have another baby right?”

With a simple nod, your head moves to his chest and hand drops from his hair to the medallion crooked on his chest.

It’s not that you didn’t want to have another one, you were anxiously waiting for the day you’d hold that stick that read positive in your hand again, or the doctor to tell you congratulations as you sat on the obnoxiously loud paper covering the leather seat in the exam room. After your false positive last month though, doubt and worry began to overshadow that excitement.

“Talk to me,” he softly states bringing you out of your thoughts, his other arm wrapping around your body to rub your shoulder.

“It’s just...I can’t get what happened last month out of my head. What if it happens again and we find out I can’t get pregnant anymore? Or what if we do and get excited...and-,” Before you could stop them, tears trailed down your cheeks onto his shirt as he held you closer trying to soothe you.

“Shh, hey it’s okay.”

“What if it’s not? Whenever we’ve talked about kids you’ve always said how you wanted a big family with a house full of kids running around.”

“It’s not all about what I want though Y/N. This marriage isn’t just me.”

“I know but I still want you to be happy,” you mumble, sniffling as he sits up looking at you as if you were crazy.

“You think I’m not happy? Babe you and River both have made me happier than I’ve ever been and will always make me happy.”

“I didn’t mean that you weren’t happy now...,”

“What, you think if you couldn’t have anymore kids I wouldn’t be happy?”

Avoiding his eyes as you fiddle with the hem of your shirt, you hear him sigh as he leans closer holding your chin in his warm hand for you to look into his blue pools full of sympathy. “Sweetheart I didn’t marry you for your ability to have kids, and if you can or can’t doesn’t dictate your worth. I was just as happy when it was just us as I am now that we’re three, which won’t change if we become four, five, or so on.”

“I hope that so on doesn’t go on forever. I thought our absolute limit was four?,” you softly speak making him laugh.

“As I was saying,” he continues, the back of his finger wiping away your tears. “Would I mind having another? No, but only if and when you’re ready. And if you tell me now, tomorrow, or next year you’re done then that’s it, and I will still be the happiest man with my stunning, intelligent, hilarious even though she doesn’t think so wife, and perfect son who never fails to make me smile.”

Your hand finds the nape of his neck as you close the remaining space between you and your lips collide in a slow, yet passionate exchange as if both of you were trying to embed the feel and taste of each other’s lips on your own.

“Thank you,” you whisper, smiling against his now red lips.

“I love you Y/N. Remember that nothing will ever change that.”

“I love you too.”

———

The house is peacefully quiet as your eyes open to see the ground and trees outside covered in a light blanket of snow that still steadily fell from the grey sky above. Careful not to wake your husband who, from the sound of his snores, sounded like he was in a blissful sleep, you turn your body to face his planting your face in the crook of his neck arched perfectly for you to fit. A long, quiet breath leaving your nostrils as your lips curl into a smile, your arm falls across his tattoo littered abdomen and hand dangles along his side.

Your fingertios lazily dragging along his ribs eventually makes a small shudder spread through his body as he pulls you closer. “Hand’s cold,” he mutters with eyes still closed.

“Sorry,” you whisper slowly retracting your arm until his larger hand grabs yours bringing it to the side of his head as he trails kisses from your palm to the middle of your forearm. Long lashes fluttering against his cheeks, he reveals those heart stopping eyes as a drowsy smile appears on his lips.

“Merry Christmas beautiful,” he groggily speaks making you giddy from the butterflies in your stomach.

“Merry Christmas.” Your hands rest on either side of his head as you lower yourself meeting the corner of his mouth before moving to his pouted lips.

“Shh Dodgey let’s go look,” you both hear causing you to separate with knowing smiles on your faces.

“Let’s go before he opens everything.”

Natural light breaks through the thin curtains as you and Chris quietly make your way to the living room, him in his sweats and solid red shirt, and you in one of his hoodies on top of your own grey sweats. You both stop at the doorframe watching him walk all along the twinkling tree admiring his presents and even peaking behind to see what all was hidden along the back wall.

“Did you two start opening presents without us?,” Chris asks startling River before he smiles, running up to the both of you and hugging your legs that respectively stood right next to the other.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!,” you and Chris speak at the same time as he lifts the excited child to sit on his hip. Both of you sandwiching him in as you each blow raspberries on one of his cheeks, an eruption of giggles soon follows after.

“Look daddy! The cookies and carrots!,” he shouts pointing to the table with two empty plates and half empty glass.

“I know! Santa wanted me to tell you thank you, and that the reindeer loved the carrots.” You have to stifle your laugh seeing your son’s eyes go wide in shock as he stares at his father with this new revelation.

“You know Santa?!”

“Of course! He calls parents throughout the year to help make his final decision on the naughty and nice list,” Chris answers, smiling when River turns to look at you with the same amount of shock.

“You too mommy?!”

“Yep! We had a long chat last night before he left.”

“Did he see my list? Is a baby coming?!,” he asks with big brown eyes looking back and forth between you and Chris. You knew this moment was coming, but you’d never be prepared for the hurt you’d feel seeing your baby boy disappointed.

“Um..as of right now there isn’t gonna be one bubs,” Chris answers leaving him confused as his little eyebrows furrowed together.

“Why?”

Meeting each other’s eyes, neither of you expected to be having “the talk” this early with River. But settling on the couch where he sat in Chris’ lap ready to intently listen to your every word, you’d just have to try your best.

“Well sweetie, it’s not really Santa who’s in charge of that. It’s the...um...baby fairy!”

“Baby fairy?”

“Yea, she’s the one that makes sure the baby is perfect. And once it’s ready, she’ll deliver it to the mommy’s stomach where it’ll grow until it’s time to be born.”

“How-how does she know when to make it mommy?,” he asks tilting his head.

“That’s a very good question. Um...well uh...Chris why don’t you answer this one?,” you suggest completely catching him off guard. His pleading eyes meeting yours that read “Too bad, I’m not doing this all by myself”. Clearing his throat, he nervously smiles down at River now giving him his full attention.

“Uh...she knows because...there’s a signal that rings a uh bell and that tells her to start working.”

“What signal?”

It was becoming increasingly difficult to hide your laughs seeing Chris redden by the second. You could swear you even saw a bead of sweat forming on his forehead as he nervously chuckled raking his brain for his next answer. Hearing your muffled snort, he shoots you a playful glare as you mouth a quick sorry before petting Dodger to distract yourself.

“The signal is a...um handshake. But it’s a very special one that is filled with lots and lots of love.”

“Oh...okay,” River replies, disappointment evident on his face that he wouldn’t be getting the gift he was most looking forward too.

“There’s one last important thing about the baby fairy though,” you state tilting his small chin to look at you. “She works all year round. So, just because there’s no baby now doesn’t mean there won’t be one later.”

At that, his cheeks perk to a smile and eyes become bright again as he crawls over to hug his arms around your neck.

“It’s not the signal, but I write her too just in case.”

“Sounds good,” you smile kissing his cheek. “Now go ahead and open your presents so we can go to grandma Lisa’s.”

He quickly scrambles to his feet motioning Dodger to follow and help unwrap the gifts making both you and Chris softly laugh as you scoot closer together.

“Very special handshake?,” you repeat in a whisper as he drapes an arm over your shoulders.

“Hey it’s the best I could come up with on the spot okay. And baby fairy? Why not stick with the stork?”

“Because a bird carrying a baby from who knows would’ve been more difficult to explain, and it’s the best I could come up with on the spot okay?” Mocking his voice, you feel a pinch on your side replacing the smirk on your face with shock from the small gape of your mouth. “Did you just pinch me?”

“I don’t know, maybe it was the pinch fairy,” he shrugs standing up to help River with his presents before you could do or say anything back.

Within an hour, the living room had turned into what you’d describe as the end of the workday at Santa’s workshop from the ripped wrapping paper that was scattered along the floor, along with discarded plastic and cardboard once containing toys that now lied out in the open waiting to be played with again. It made both of your hearts swell seeing how happy River was with each of his presents. Every few minutes he’d walk up to either one of you tugging you down to place a kiss on your cheeks adorably thanking you for everything. He wanted to bring all his new toys to Lisa’s so his cousins could see and play too, but was convinced to bring his top two after being told, and shown, that all of them wouldn’t fit in his bag.

Walking through your bedroom door that evening once returning home, the clock on the bedside table reads 10:13 pm as you both fall back on the bed. As usual, Christmas Day at his mother’s was filled with lots of laughs, exchanging of more gifts, food, playful sibling rivalry between Chris and Scott that ended in both of them being fussed at by Lisa and told to settle down once they got too loud, and of course the kids playing all day with their new toys.

Needless to say, you both were tired.

However, the house was uncomfortably more silent now with River spending the night and remaining weekend at his grandma’s along with his other cousins. It was something new Lisa wanted to start to give you guys a short break for yourselves.

“Babe? You sleep?,” Chris cautiously asks in a hushed tone.

“No, and honestly I don’t know if I’ll be able to. It’s different not having River here.”

It was his first time spending the weekend at someone else’s place, and while you knew it would be a good experience for him and he’d be fine, the protective momma bear in you couldn’t help but worry. Grabbing your hand, he lifts it to his lips kissing your knuckles.

“Yea it sounds even quieter that we’re alone.”

“Mhmm.”

“...And it’s gonna be like that the whole weekend,” Chris smirks, peeking over at you to see if you came to the same realization as him.

“Yep,” you sigh, eyes still towards the ceiling.

Clearly you hadn’t yet.

“First time we’ve been alone for that long since he was born. House completely to ourselves. Not worrying if he’s doing something when it gets too quiet because it’s only us.”

Giggling to yourself, you turn to lie on your stomach lightly trailing your nails from the hairs of his beard down the middle of his chest and abdomen.

“So what you’re saying is that we’re absolutely, utterly all alone? In this big, cozy house?,” you ask tracing the tattoo right below his bellybutton feigning confusion as a hearty chuckle escapes his chest. Sitting up on his elbows, his hand caresses your cheek as he leans forward teasingly brushing his lips against yours. His hand shifts to the back of your neck pulling you closer to connect your lips in a breath taking kiss that leaves you wanting more once he pulls away.

“Exactly,” he lowly whispers. “Thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yea,” you breathe out, biting your lip. “We have all the ice cream to ourselves!” A giddy smile forms on your lips hopping over your husband looking dumbfounded.

“Um y-yea...not really what I was thinking but..”

“And then after,” you start pulling him up to stand with you. “We can really start being alone. Like in the bed, and the shower, and the kitchen counter-.”

“And? You’re preparing for a busy weekend huh?”

“Plenty of chances to perfect that special handshake for the baby fairy,” you smirk. A squeal leaves your lips as you’re lifted over his shoulder with both hands inadvertently tickling your inner thighs from his grip.

“I like the way you think.”

Taglist: @fumbling-fanfics @honeychicanawrites @honeychicana @lady-olive-oil @lovelymari4 @melinda-january @maxcullen @literaturefeen @damnitaa @curlyhairclub @plokyu23 @fullofmelaninsarcasmandepression @nunubug99 @felicity-x0 @ellixthea @jojolu @jnk-812 @brwn-sgr @captainsamwlsn @wildfirecracker @nina-sj @iammyownlover @chaneajoyyy @scoop93535 @secretmysteriousperson

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[kanene-yaaay]

No Moving

Kanene’s note: One year ago I threw a surprise party (very small and cozy) in my house and, after some hours, one of mah friends suggested we played some old games from our childhood and I remember my first thought was “Hey, no. We’re not children anymore.” but I said nothing because that sounded a lot like what society would want me to say. We played. And that was one of the best days I’ve ever had. Good enough to give me inspiration for this fanfic. With a lot of chaos and dorky sides and chaos and tickles!!! So I'm giving this to myself as a gift, because, ya know... S e r o t o n i n! Soooo, the lesson? Idk. Be feral, do chaos, play and f**k the society, I guess. Happy day for us all!!! :DD

Warnings, fun facts, random things and stuff:

* This characters don’t belongs to me! They all belong to Thomas Sanders and his series Sanders Sides!

* This is a SFW tickle fanfic, so, if you don’t appreciate this kind of content, please, look for another blog. There are a plenty of fabulous arts in this site!!  ^w^)b

* This is Ler!Roman and Ler!Virgil with Lee!Logan and Lee!Patton. Around 3.700 words.

* Sorry for any spelling, pontuation and grammar mistakes! Any and every advice is very very welcome! \(-w-)/

* Eu vou traduzir ainda ;w;. Thank you so so so much for being with me through all this crazy and difficult year. It’s been a bless to have all of you in my notes, my askys, and my notifications! Take care of yourself, lollipop, you deserve. <33

[~*~]

It was a sunny day. The heat from the biggest star of our solar system being placated by a relaxing wind incessantly throwing the napkins from the so careful, yet messy – as if this wasn’t a tradition the quartet repeated affectionately every single year – decorated table. The friends positioned themselves around it. The surprise party’s rush being already over after all their screaming, singing, eating and bickering, leaving the four to lazily chat or stare the breeze carrying lonely flowers around Virgil’s – the one who offered his house as a sacrifice to the chaos - yard, making them float in the air for some seconds before forgetting them on the dirt again.

Virgil snored softly from the spot he conquered on the tabletop, taking a peaceful nap. Patton was saying, in the fastest pattern he could muster, all the dad jokes his brain managed to think only to see how much time Logan would continue to give him the silent treatment before finally – and figuratively, the owner of the only brain cell of their group would say if he heard this narrative, - exploded and Roman? 

Well, Roman was bored.

“I HAVE AN IDEA!!”

Then he slammed his hands on the top of the wooden object, successfully scaring Virgil out of it and of his sleeping – leading the poor adult to fall. Not before kicking a cup in Roman’s direction, his moves being weakened enough by his fogged brain so he missed it and hit Roman’s carefully manicured hands, instead, – at the same Patton, by reflex, slapped the two poor persons who had the bad luck of sitting next to him. He gathered the perfect timing to interrupt Logan’s scared jump by his confused ‘Why did- why- Why did you hit ME?’ sputtering.

“Ow.” The one in red shirt held protectively his arm and hand next to his chest, protesting with his usual offended noises as analyzed the light red spots on them and purposely ignored the ‘What the FUCK, Princey??’ shouted by the host. “Ow. O-w. Are you guys seriously going to hit me every time I try to make your poor lifes better, your barbarians? You know what? I am offended. Your peasants. I am going to get my dear Amanda the katana and then I am- I am out.” 

Logan deadpanned in his direction, lifting one of his eyebrows in his disbelief expression as the other didn’t give a single step to the exit. He did his best to maintain the façade as Patton fuzzed over him, hugging and apologizing and hugging and softly petting his head and offering cake before gasping and turning around to fuzz now over Roman. “… Okay. I am taking Patton with me.”

“Over my dead, haunted body.” Virgil quickly proclaimed before his tune got slurred, very much likely still sleepy. “I saw…” He balanced his hands in front of him, eyes wide and hair spiked, very much reminding of a scared cat. “I saw the angel of death, in all his tall dark, cold aura. In front of me. He was right before me, full of-” He moved his hands more, as if that compensated for his lack of words. “Emo.”

“…Thanatos?” Logan pointed.

“Yeah, yeah. That guy.” Virgil came back to his initial position laying down on the cold surface, yawing. “Totally emo.”

“Actually, when he was created-”

“Excuse me. Focus, focus!” The one who initiated the commotion snapped his fingers until all the eyes were fixated on him, glares traveling from interested to unimpressed. “My brilliant idea? That will light up this party and hearts? Drum the drums!” Silence. He turned to Patton, who was staring at a cute butterfly mindless flying around. “Patton! The drums!” The one wearing black rims seemed to come back to reality, drumming his fingers on the table. “Very well!” Roman spun, extending the suspense. Logan came back to scrolling on his phone, Virgil getting closer to take a look, both hiding a smirk when heard the pout in Roman’s tune. “You’re all jerks and boring. Let’s play S.T.O.P!”

That caught their attention.

“Roman, you are…” Logan talked slowly, as if trying to make his words as clear as possible, “aware that we’re adults now, right?”

“Aw, come on, guys!” Patton jolted upright. “Sounds fun! And I think Virgil’s yard is bigger enough to make it even better than when we played in middle school!”

“Exactly! And it was one of your favorites games when you were younger, remember, Specs? I think it’s a good way to celebrate that special date which is your birthday!” Logan scoffed at that, albeit his mind was somewhere else. 

Roman wasn’t wrong, he really used to love this game, especially because he was good at it. His love for sports was often ignored by most of his classmates because of his good grades – Logan never understood why one thing would exclude other – therefore he was constantly forgotten in the team or even underestimated. Two things extremely crucial in a game like this. Roman noticed his contemplating face. “I mean, except you are afraid of losing. Again.” 

“I did not lose! Kyle fell on me and he was the only one supposed to be out and not both of us and you. Know. It!”

“No, no, no! Claire said you were the one who tripped on your way and then YOU fell on Kyle-”

“That is nonsense! If Claire had stopped just one second her Dance of Victory, she would be able to see that, by the angle we both were on the ground there was no way I would be able to-”

“Oh, plu-e-ase. You are just a sore los-”

“What is this game?” Virgil questioned Patton, both letting the bickering fall on the background, who smiled widely, his gaze unfocusing a bit, probably watching some old memories of his childhood.

“It is a very simple but fun game!! One person stays next to a wall and, oh! We call him the Looker by the way! Or even some large thing and the others players stay the most away from him as possible. The person next to the wall has to count until a certain number of his choice and while he is counting everyone is free to wander around the place until he turns around, then every player has to freeze on the same spot and position they were. If you move and the Looker catches you, you’re out. You win if you touch the wall where he was. You can do everything you want as long the Looker is not staring at you.

“There was that one kid who managed to win the game by climbing a tree until he was close enough to jump from it and run to the wall before the Looker shouted he was out.” The one wearing two party hats as ‘cat hears’ stopped to breath. “Ah! Ah! Also! If you’re out you can choose to just watch the game or become the Looker’s partner and try to help him. Roman and Logan used to be the worst ever when together.” He giggled, sounding a bit hysteric.

“Hm. I think they used to call this ‘10 Seconds’ in my school, since you could count only further than 10 seconds.” Virgil then frowned. “Wait, why were they the worst?”

“Uhh, so, you see, the Lookers can use some… attics to try to make you move. Logan and Roman usually choose to-”

“I do NOT wish to participate.” Logan stated, crossing his arms stubbornly. Roman sighed. 

“Well, you do you.” Roman then traveled his glare to the others two. “Are you guys coming? I’m the Looker.”

“I’m in!!” Patton excitedly got up, joggling his way to the yard, casting a slightly worried look at Logan, who was adjusting his chair in order to have a better view of the game. Virgil shrugged, taking off his hoodie and following them, quickly throwing a ‘You ok?’ as he passed next to the most professional of the group.

“Yes.” He deeply breathed, sounding calmer. “Yes, I am.” And then give him a bite of a smile. 

Roman positioned himself before the colorful three foot tall concrete tunnel forgotten there by the last owner, barely catching with the corner of his field view his two friends whispering something to each other, the one wearing two party hats snickering behind his hand, bouncing as also choose a good position far away from him, who tried to not think much about what he just presented. A suspicious feeling crawled the back of his neck.

“Go.” Logan pronounced. 

“Oneeeee, twooo, three, fourfivesixseveneight,” Roman turned away from them, counting in a tune just above a whisper. Patton and Virgil exchanged glances.

When he got at twenty, he turned. 

Only to find Virgil laid on the grass, his arm extended to point something in the sky, Patton crouched by his side, his face firm in a puzzled expression staring in the same direction, hand above his eyes to block the Sun. Roman frowned in confusion, the curiosity tickling the back of his brain until he succumbed to it, also looking at the sky to - surprise, surprise! – find absolutely nothing!

By the time he stared at them again Patton now was in front of Virgil, both making what seemed like a very horrible parody of The Creation of Adam painting. Roman got closer, managing to clearly see the smug smile on Virgil’s face and Patton wobbly lips, very much likely holding laughter. He crossed his arms, staying stubbornly for some seconds before giving up, seeing that none of them moved a single millimeter. 

“You two are so funny.” Roman rolled his eyes, sarcasm dropping from each word. Logan snorted.

This time the Looker counted at only fifteen seconds.

This time Patton was in Virgil’s arms when he turned, one leg suspended dramatically in the air. The third time Roman growled loudly as Virgil was on one knee, pretending to propose to Patton who was frozen in the middle of his faint. In the fourth he didn’t even have the chance to turn before two hands tased his sides, making his knees buckle but being held in the same place when a pair of arms that hugged him from behind, capturing the poor adult in a flow of high-pitched squeaks and surprised laughter at each squeeze and spidering deposited just above his hips. 

Some minutes later soft snorts followed him to the ground when he was finally freed, flames running on his face and his arms firmly pressed at his sides, the ghost tickles leading to a sea of giggles dancing in the air.

“Enough.” Logan cut the moment, all the eyes on him when he got up, stretching and loosening his party tie. The Looker recomposed himself in order to sneak pokes and squeezes on the other two, who quickly dashed their way back to the yard. “You both clearly aren’t taking this seriously enough.” A dangerous gleam took over his eyes, staring intently to Roman, who instantly got the same kind of shine in his own glare, nodding in his direction. Both too much preoccupied to notice Virgil and Patton silently high fiving in the distance.

The game started again, now a very different electricity dancing in the air. Logan sensed an old feeling of nostalgia resting on his back as he analyzed the place and his opponents as things went by. Roman turned for at least three times – the perfect number for things to get really interesting, - before he decided to finally move from his place.

Silent steps, he went right to Patton. Logan breathed in relief, taking the opportunity to adjust his strategic position half behind the tree. Patton kept a pattern of switching from moving too fast in a round and then barely taking a step in the other, however, as Roman stopped before him, and for the way he soundless snickered as The Looker changed his target to Virgil, his weakness was still holding his laughter when stared for long periods of time.

Virgil was sitting on the grass. Again. A very good tactic when you tend to fidget or tremble a lot. He would stay in the same position for some rounds until in an explosion of energy dash forward when Roman wasn’t paying attention. The Looker crouched in front of him, his index finger pointing and almost touching his nose.

“You. I don’t trust you.”

And then there was Logan.

“You,” Roman stared in distance – not because of fear pffff of course not - Logan’s form half hidden by the foliage and trunk of the medium tree, his glass making his eyes gleam in a light even more enhanced due the shadow provided by the plant, the rest of his face being partially hidden because of his bangs falling on his features. “are fucking creepy. Stop.”

In the next round Patton gave everyone a heart attack when he screamed since he didn’t heard/saw Logan approaching his spot. Two more rounds. Virgil sneezed and lost his balance in a not very ideal mid-run position. Out.

“Oh, thank gracious, great goodness!! Come here, Knight Mare!! I have an idea!!” Virgil barely had time to stop swearing for losing before being recruited by Roman, who immediately began to whisper in his ear.

 “What do you think they’re talking about?” Patton asked, both being close enough for the question doesn’t need to be spoken above a murmur.

“Not a good thing for us both, I am sure.” In that moment The Lookers turned and a cold shiver ran Logan who, for the way Patton trembled, wasn’t the only one. Adrenaline started pulsing on his veins when they approached, although the birthday person had no idea of why. His old memories too much buried under newer ones for him to catch them.

“Nooohoho.” The cat lover whined and the fact Roman clearly saw that but did nothing to point it, his only reaction being to expand his grin, worsened Logan fears, a ray of recognition finally shining on his mind. That should be how karma feels.

“Look at you both, just standing right there, not being allowed to move an only single inch. What a sad fate, don’t you think, Princey?”

“Oh, absolutely, emo. A horrible, wondrous thing, indeed. But you know what that would be perfect for?” Roman now was just a few centimeters away, the infinitesimal distance being cut when he inclined forward, his breath tickling Patton’s – Poor Patton – ear. “Revenge. You know, Pattycake, Hot Topic here told me the previous attack on my amazing person was your idea. And now that I stop to think, what a wonderful idea, don’t you think, Pat-pat?”

Virgil pulled lightly Roman’s shoulder, sensing the other about to crack but yet having too much fun to end this all so early. “But not now. No touching, right?”

“Oh, right, right. Of course, no touching!” He wiggled his fingers, barely away from the poor target’s ribs, his cheeks already beginning to get pink from blush. “No touching, no touching, no touching, but, most important than anything else: no. moving.”

“Oh, yeah.” Virgil took the opportunity to walk around, stopping right behind Patton, who firmly closed his eyes, the smile he carried getting bigger. “Because the exact, very moment when you can’t take the teases anymore so you break and move?” He tsked. “Then all your protection will be over and you will be all helpless and vulnerable for us to tickle,” He almost purred the words, in the slowest way possible. “tickle, tickle, tickle for hours and hours. Can you imagine that, Popstar? Our fingers prodding and squeezing and tickling every single ticklish spot they find?”

“Ohoho.” Roman evil laughed. “Tickle spots? My Dear Imbalanced Romance, our pipsqueak here doesn’t have any tickle spots. He IS a tickle spot. Ah! I can almost hear his hysteric high-pitched squeaks and giggles! Such an adorable, beautiful, cute melody to my ears. Actually, I don’t know if I will ever be able to stop, Virgil. It’s just all too beautiful and intoxicating, you know?”

“Mm hm,” The other seemed to stop to think. Patton felt like he was going to melt at any moment. “Well, we could always just keep going forever.”

“Of course!” Roman again ignored the slight trembling of the cat lover’s chest, probably due all the giggles trapped there. “Don’t you think it will be wonderful and oh, so, so fun, cutiepants? Receiving all the tickles and nuzzles and raspberries and tickle hugs and tickly butterfly kisses forever and ever and ever? ~” He sing-song the last part.

“But,” Logan almost jumped in the same place, not even realizing how much keyed up he was before Virgil’s breath attacked the back of his defenseless neck. Suddenly all his nerves were hype-aware that he couldn’t turn around or run or even rub away the tingles. Goosebumps ran freely across his spine. “Let’s not forget about our so sensitive nerd here too, right?”

“Sure. Sensitive.” If he didn’t know Roman for all these years, Logan would almost swear he was the Cheshire cat, his smirk almost blocking Patton who hugged himself behind him, giggling quietly. “Because the serious, smart, professional Logan would never be ticklish, right? That is such a childish thing and he definitely, definitely outgrow it for now.”

“Yup. I am sure that, if we slowly and thoroughly spider our fingers all the way up from his sides to his armpits, being sure to give each and every rib a special attention since we don’t want to let anyone feeling left out, there will be no reaction.”

“Absolutely! No reaction at all! Not even if we squeeze the hollows of his hips, or scribble on his already quivering tummy, or massage his shoulder blades or lightly, almost not touching, scratch his armpits… It will be all in vain since our birthday boy is not ticklish.”

“Which means: No wheezy, frantic laughter.”

“Or sputtering among his squeals.” 

“Or cute snorts. Don’t forget the snorts.”

“And what about when the snorts get mixed with his belly laughter?”

“Ohh, that is some good shit you have there.”

Logan was dying. He was fucking dying and the only thin line keeping him alive was his stubborn nature. He could already feel his barrier cracking and crumbling right before him. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, only to find both Lookers walking away back to the tunnels, not taking long before starting to count, this time out loud. The one with the, now freaking out, braincell began to snap his fingers non stop, trying to get away some of the built excited energy, some titters escaping from his lips during his happy stimming.

Roman and Virgil looked at each other and then the adorable scene right in front of them, deciding to have mercy and wait patiently for Logan and Patton – who yet didn’t stop giggling and hugging himself – to calm down.

(…)

One. Move.

And in the next second, they both were tackled on the ground.

“No, no, no!!! No!!” Patton was already giggling, trying to run from Roman’s firm hug, attacking with squeezes and scribbles in every spot he succeeded to research on the Looker as he also tried to escape from his friends’ hands attempting to hold him in the same place. “Wait, wait!” He cried, barely catching a glimpse of Logan’s trashing before an idea popped in his mind. “If we all gang up on Logan, I will tell about his secret tickle spot!!”

“Patton!!” Logan’s protest came out difficulty between his tight grin due his constant effort in trying to buckle Virgil from him, both struggling to immobilize the other and playfully rolling in the grass. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Pffft.” Roman said, a happy cry following his sentence when he finally managed to hold one of Patton’s hands, intertwining their fingers so the cat lover wouldn’t try to pry it away. “Nonsense, I know his tickle spots.”  

“Not all of them. ~”

“Patton, I am to going not figuratively end you. Get OFF, Virgil-”

“In your dreams.” He crackled. “Also, Patton, I’m listening.”

“Virgil! Don’t align with the enemy! And, of course I know all of them!”

“Even the one…”

“Patton, no! Stop!” Roman even if concentrated in tickling Patton’s knee so he could sit on his legs, got the slight tremble in Logan's voice, his curiosity one more time starting to take over his brain.

“Sorrey, sorrey, Lo! You know I love you but-”

“Patton, please.” Logan almost smiled as he fought his way to hug and trap Virgil from behind, but losing his balance as the other quickly turned and delivered a raspberry on his neck and quick squeezes on his left thigh. “dON’T!! I-I am going to bakeEEK - Fuck! - you a whole batch of cookies if you don’t tell them!”

Roman caught in the offer, his curiosity immediately perking up, answering in a bat:

“I’m going to tickle you both to pieces if you don’t tell us now.”

“Sorrey, Logan,” Patton tried to sound apologetic, but his excited smile made this task more difficult. “it’s you or me.”

“I’m going to tell them about your calves!” Logan threatened at the same time Patton said “It’s his lower back!”

“TRAITOR!” Both also shouted in synchrony. In a blink of eye Roman let Patton go and helped Virgil to make the most serious one of the group lay down on his stomach.

“I despise you all.” The aforementioned pronounced.

“Aww. Come on.” Virgil lowered, searching the other’s eyes, grinning. “Aren’t you enjoying the view?”

“400.000 years of evolution for humanity to become this. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“You know, talking like this makes me think you don’t want us to give you your so dearly craved birthday tickles, Pocket Protector!”

The three of them stared at the other, looking carefully for any slight indication that Logan was truly uncomfortable with the situation, receiving as response only a scoff, the blush painting his face as a whispered mumble flew from his mouth.

“You’re so cute!” Patton squealed, giving a light tickly kiss on the back of his neck, leading the attacked to suppress a small giggle which progressively got louder as the cat lover tickled his armpits, Roman and Virgil seeing unfazed by Logan’s squirming. “Okay, okay. You have to tickle his lower back but starting with reeeeeally slow scratches at his sides before speeding it to the fastest scribbling you can muster as you move to his spine!”

Logan hid his hot face behind his hands, the yelps and snorts already escaping between his fingers. He was, objectively, going to love every single second of this.

[marianisms]

@kymanweek​

Day 5 Fantasy au with the prompt soulmates

There he is my first contribution for the wonderful week! 

Marked

   Two kings, two kingdoms, sworn enemies, destined to defeat each other, until by an irony of fate (or perhaps not), one night a certain mark begins to appear on their wrists. The magician King Eric Cartman known for his greed, perhaps powerful courage also wakes up in his castle frightened by that strange mark showing precisely the name of his greatest enemy as the name to whom he must swear eternal love.

"It can't be... of so many names, why his? WHY JUST HIS?" But his magic is not enough to be able to erase that strange mark, however much he uses his potions is not enough. "Maybe I resort to some forbidden magic," he thinks, but he knows if using can even risk his own life, which he doesn't want to lose.

    On the other side of the kingdom, the kingdom of the Drow elves, lives a young Elf King with beautiful curly red hair who walked from side to side desperate for that mysterious mark to appear on his wrist. "It can't be, it's a nightmare..." He didn't know if he cried with anger or despair, maybe the first option. "And if I try to erase it, maybe the mark will go away." He thought, "But as far as I know this is a brand of soul mate that never goes out, argh! What the hell!" He falls desperately into bed and tries to drown out his screams on the pillow, it seems that fate this time has overcome for our kings.

Then one night they decided to meet (hidden obvious, after all the two kingdoms did not want to start another war by failing to comply with one of the norms of the peace treaty that both signed very reluctantly); Covered up by his closest friends, on one side protecting his Elf King was Stan Marsh, his loyal knight and super best friend and on the other side always cheerful and bouncy Princess Kenny, the Wizard King said very clearly that he did not want company but, Princess Kenny found it all amusing and just wanted to know how the King would get away with the whole situation.

The location chosen was a beautiful crystalline pound that reflected the stars and the moon called Starks Pound. The lake was a very special place especially for elf Kyle because he used to go there a lot as a child and during his reading studies and amazingly he seems to learn magic.

"Hello princess." He started speaking with that thick, somewhat sarcastic voice of the Wizard King. "I'm not a  princess,  stop calling me that." He said turning the Elf King to that sour voice, but as soon as the two faced each other it seemed that there was nothing but them and the crystalline lake, when Kyle's emerald green eyes met those strange heterochromatic eyes of Eric, the two felt a kind of magnetism, a mesmerizing attraction that not even the most powerful magic could break.

Princess Kenny and Knight Stan decided to stand behind a bush at a distance in case something happened.

After what seemed like an eternity looking at each other, Kyle resolved to say, "We need to talk about these marks, what did you do this time? What magic did you use?" "First of all princess." The way Eric called him a princess made Kyle want to kick him and drown him in the lake. "I had nothing to do with it, simply his dirty name appeared on my wrist too." "What now?" Kyle replied, "And now it's accepting fate maybe, I'll be forced to stay with the little princess. " Eric started laughing and the more he laughed, the more Kyle's pointed ears turned red." I told you, don't call me  princess." As soon as the elf said that, a kind of fight broke out between him and the wizard, with the elf trying to push him.

"Oh my God, he's so cute when he's angry like that, look at these little red ears, my God, so cute." Finding that situation amusing, Eric let go of the elf's arms and the elf went against the ground.

"Cartman you bastard, I'll kill you!" Eric began to laugh and that's where Stan emerged from the bush ready to save his Elf King. Well, looks like the meeting's over, screw you guys I'm leaving, Kenny time to go! That's what the Wizard King said after all that. "It's not going to stay that way Cartman!" Kyle turned ready to go to his kingdom with Stan running after him.

Eric starts laughing out of nowhere and Kenny asked, "What's so funny?" "No, I can't wait for the next date." Saying that he turned around and left with a Kenny full of questions on his head.

The next day, the kingdom of elves Drow woke up a little noisy, "That fat bastard, idiot, I'm going to kill him, I don't believe he's my soul mate, argh!" "Majesty you have to calm down." Stan said it in his sweet words, but it didn't do much good. The session of shouting and calm words did not last long when it was interrupted by a message via owl from the Kupa Kingdom destined for Kyle. "It can't be, he wants to meet again." "And you will?" Asked Stan, Kyle replied, "I don't know, maybe so, just to see what the bastard wants this time."

The day went normal and the night came this time brighter as the night before. The Mage King waited anxiously seated on one of the benches in front of the pound, cautiously the Elf King approached and the Mage King stood up saying, "I believe the night before was somewhat troubled, I was nervous about this whole brand thing, please accept my apologies."

Suspicious of all this speech Kyle replied, "You suck at excuses as always but, okay I accept, I was nervous too anyway." Eric smiled with the answer and with a red face that contrasted with Kyle's red hair. "Well, since we've resolved the excuses how about a boat ride?" Eric proposed, "Ride?" "Yes, a ride prin... I mean, your majesty." Kyle found it a little funny the way the Wizard King tried not to call him a princess. "All right I'll accept the invitation." Then the Mage King led the Elf King to a small wooden boat that was anchored on the pier near the lake, the Elf King was dressed in a kind of green overcoat with orange accents which got a little in the way of the climb to the boat which caused The Magic King Eric to offer his hand to guide him and cautiously Kyle accepted.  

It was a beautiful night as always, it was a little cold, but not enough for the two kings to bother. The Magic King Eric was the one who drove the little boat, from time to time Kyle watched him how well dressed he was in a red coat over a white shirt and without his magician hat showing his brown hair, for a moment Kyle found him attractive but soon turned his face and looked to the side. "I hope you don't try to drown me in the lake." Kyle said sarcastically, "Why would I do that?" Eric asked. "I don't know, I have my suspicions." "I wouldn't do it even if I wanted majesty." Eric replied with a giggle.

The ride lasted until they reached the middle of the lake where Eric decided to stop, Kyle was surprised by the abrupt stop but, Eric decided to ask, "Can, can I see your mark?" The Elf King allowed and cautiously offered his pulse, he had never observed his mark, had the form of a golden star with the initial name of Eric. "She's very pretty." And when he said those words the elf king's green eyes soon stopped in his mysterious heterochromatic eyes. "Now I'm going to show you mine." Eric lifted the sleeve of his coat to show his wrist, the brand had the shape of a waning moon with Kyle's initial, "Wow! She's also very beautiful." Kyle replied in awe. "I don't know why fate wants us together, you know I hate you for having the Stick of Truth and having won this war." Eric started talking. "Perhaps fate may have plans for our kingdoms, I don't know." The Elf King responded with a rather sad look. It was from there that the Mage King approached and touched the face of the Elf King who calmly raised his emerald green eyes to the face of the Mage King, immediately the Mage King could not take his eyes off that face with green eyes and small apparent freckles, the same was happening to Kyle who could not stop looking at those blue and brown heterochromatic eyes , it seems that for him the world stopped spinning and there were only them and the lake, nothing else mattered now at that moment, the Stick, the kingdoms, the war, everything was forgotten.

Then for a moment The Magic King Eric used his magic and brought forth small fireflies that flashed green and red lights to make the lake brighter than it already was, as it reflected the moon and the stars, Kyle marveled at such beauty in one night but, as soon as he returned his face to the Wizard King, he simply could not resist , Eric held Kyle's face tightly, approached and his lips touched, it was a mixture of feelings inside the heart of the Elf King, on the one hand he wanted to yell at the Mage King and on the other he decided to give in. The Elf King decided to leave all his pride, the enmities aside, the discord and decided to surrender, closing his eyes and answering the kiss, began a little shy but then turned into a dispute between tongues, it was as if he wanted it a long time ago, maybe well before the damn war that led to vie for the Stick of Truth , or maybe their fate had been intertwined since children, who knows?

The kiss ended with a non-painful bite from Eric on Kyle's inferior lip, who responded with a giggle. "Maybe it's time we got back." Kyle responded still bewildered by the sensation of the kiss. "Yes, let's go back." Eric replied. Arriving on dry land, holding hands and the marks exposed, the Wizard King said, "It was a good ride I hope the Highness enjoyed it." "Yes, it was a beautiful ride but, I'm afraid we can't repeat it." Kyle answered with his head down. The Magic King approached raising his face, he did not like to see those beautiful green eyes down and said: "Nothing like a secret meetings do not serve." Kyle laughed. "True, but it turns out we're not kids to do things on the sly anymore, we're two adults and..." The Mage King did not wait for the elf to finish the sentence and gave a little kiss on his lips, "I know, I know, little elf but, it turns out that I'm in love and you are my soul mate and I'll do everything not to lose you and be able to see you." Kyle got lost in the word love, he did not believe that the Wizard King would fall in love so quickly with him.

Maybe that kiss on the boat made him change his mind, perhaps his caring way of speaking, when they looked at each other's mark, turned the arrogant, selfish, ambitious Wizard King into a caring, loving and understanding man. Kyle had his fears, he didn't want to risk his heart and his sanity right away.

"All right, we can meet in secret to get to know each other better and understand these soulmates." Kyle responded cautiously. "Sweet! Let's just say it's going to be fun, two kings venturing out in the early hours." The Wizard King said between laughs, "That's not funny Eric!" When the Elf King said that, he put his hand in his mouth and the Wizard King froze. "What did you call me?" Eric asked paralyzed, Kyle screamed and turned to go away: "NOTHING!" Eric started running after him: "Please say it again!" "I SAID, NO!" Kyle quickly started walking, "KAAAAHL PLEASE!" The Mage King laughing and finding it cute to see the Elf King's pointed ears in red began to walk behind him and the Elf King saying louder and blushing in red said, "FORGET ERIC... argh!" And the Wise King blushed even more: "HA! I knew Kahl you said, I'm so happy, my soul mate!" "Just take me home." The Elf King answered however red with shame. "Of course my little elf all for you." And so gone were the two of them holding hands and the marks shining on their wrists.

Two kings, two kingdoms, sworn enemies, destined to defeat each other, now have their souls and their hearts connected through a mark that will hardly come out, unless fate wants to once again play a trick but for now fate will be very busy with these two kings and their kingdoms probably concerned about their hidden encounters , how long will the meetings last? Who knows? Maybe that boat on Starks Pound and the stars and the moon in the sky will say.

End

[spaceskam]

i could be happy with you

Day 8 of 13! This is the last one that’s a request, starting tomorrow it’ll be things I wrote for people I love. Anywhomst, hope you enjoy! Special thanks to @caitlesshea​ for giving me an idea of what the frick to write literally like 3 days ago. You’re the real mvp.

ao3

“Alex, I need you to be my boyfriend.”

“Kyle, you’re a heterosexual man.”

Kyle groaned and dramatically threw himself onto Alex’s bed. His arms splayed out and he helplessly gazed up at Alex who simply smiled at him.

“I’ll entertain this. Why do you need me to be your boyfriend?” Alex asked, sitting beside him and patting him on the stomach. 

“My family goes on a big Christmas getaway every other year, which you know, and my Abuelita told me to bring my girlfriend. You know, the one that I don’t have,” Kyle answered helplessly, “But I need to bring someone or she’s going to think I lied.”

“You did lie.”

“Yeah, well, she wouldn’t stop asking me when I was gonna settle down,” Kyle whined. Alex simply laughed again. 

“Why not ask Isobel?”

“She’s too easy to fall in love with for real.”

“Ouch, and I’m not?” Alex wondered, falling back on the bed beside him. Kyle stared at him for a moment and tried to decide if he actually was a safe option. Kyle observed the natural color of his cheeks and his jawline and his smile and his thankfully-better-than-last-year haircut. He was actually stunning. Kyle had to take a deep breath.

“No offense, Alex, but you’re not my type,” Kyle said and decided he wasn’t completely lying. Alex smirked, slowly propping himself up on his elbow. 

“Okay, what would we have to do to sell it?” Alex asked. Kyle broke into a smile and propped himself up as well.

“You’re gonna help?”

“Maybe, what all do I have to do?” Alex prodded. Kyle already took that as a big fat yes.

“Just act like we’re in a relationship. Hold hands, sleep in the same bed, shit we did when we were kids but now it’s romance colored because we’re adults and that’s how life works,” Kyle explained. Alex nodded slowly like he was taking in the information.

“Okay,” Alex said slowly, “And you’re paying for my flight and shit, right?”

Kyle rolled his eyes and smiled. “Of course.”

“Okay, boyfriend.”

-

“Oh, Alex! I’m so glad to see you two boys finally got together.”

Alex grinned over at Kyle’s Abuelita as she patted his hand. Most of the people in Kyle’s family, including Kyle, were playing football because that’s apparently what families do when they got together. Alex spun a story of how he was having a bad leg day and needed to sit the game out. That left him in the kitchen with Abuelita.

“Finally?” Alex asked. He knew they’d gotten a sea of shocked reactions when they strolled up to the rented house in Southern California hand in hand that morning. He wasn’t expecting a “finally”.

“I’m old, not blind, mijo,” she teased, casually dicing vegetables quicker than anyone he’d ever seen, “I saw the way my Kyle looked at you. It was only a matter of time.”

Alex’s eyebrows furrowed and he gave her an amused smile. “How did he look at me?”

Abuelita rolled her eyes and gave him a kind smile. “The same way you look at him.”

Alex looked through the sliding glass door, watching as Kyle picked up one of his young cousins who had the ball and spinning them around. He smiled. He highly doubted Kyle looked at him in the same way that Alex did. He was very away they had very different feelings towards each other. Kyle liked him as a friend; Alex wasn’t against the idea of something more.

Call him selfish or insane, this just felt like a way to live out a little childhood fantasy for a bit. It sounded like the best way to prove to himself that it wasn’t an option. Kyle wasn’t an option.

“If you say so.”

-

“Goodnight, boys!”

“Night, Mrs. Valenti!” 

Kyle watched as Alex giggled the entire way to the bed. Abuelita had all but pumped him full of spiked eggnog, making him tipsy at best. Kyle shook his head as he watched him unbutton his jeans and tried to wiggle them off.

“Do you need help?” Kyle asked, meeting his intoxicated friend at the bed.

“What does she put in that? My whole head is spinning,” Alex laughed, falling back on the bed and letting Kyle take over. He snorted and carefully took off his shoes and his jeans before working at the prosthetic.

“A little bit of cinnamon, a little bit of peppermint, and a fuck ton of bourbon,” Kyle said, “Most of us know to take it slow.”

“Hey, I haven’t gotten completely inebriated in years, let me live,” Alex argued, smiling easily as he got comfortable. Kyle just smiled at him. He liked seeing him so carefree. He put his leg to the side.

“I will,” Kyle chuckled, standing up. Alex raised his arms towards him.

“This sweater is itchy!” he announced. Kyle rolled his eyes, grabbing his hands and helping him sit up. Kyle slipped it off him and he immediately fell back again. It left Kyle with a fit soldier in his underwear in his bed.

Right. Smart. Not easy to fall in love with at all.

“You are so drunk,” Kyle said instead of something stupid.

“Mm, you’re too hot to be the one clothed,” Alex said, then paused before dissolving into laughter that was heartier than before, ”Shit.”

“Scoot over,” Kyle chuckled, taking off his shirt and swatting his best friend with it, “Thank you, by the way. For playing along.”

“No worries,” Alex said, eyes closing as he stretched. Kyle stared for a second too long. 

“You want to change into nightclothes or are you good being half-naked?” Kyle asked. Alex looked up at him, face red and eyes gleaming. 

“Would it bother you if I stayed like this? Don’t wanna offend you, straight boy,” he teased. Kyle snorted, shaking his head.

“We used to take baths together, this is nothing,” Kyle pointed out. Alex smiled a close-mouthed smile that was so wide his eyes scrunched up. Fuck.

“I remember that one time that you choked on bubbles and almost threw up in the bath,” Alex hummed. Kyle exchanged his jeans for a pair of sweats and flicked the light off.

“Yeah, then you refused to take a bath with me ever again,” Kyle said as he climbed into bed beside him. Alex snorted and Kyle threw a blanket over him.

“We were gettin’ kinda old for that anyway,” Alex replied, voice soft from fatigue. 

“G’night, Alex. Thanks for being a good friend,” Kyle told him, tucking the pillow under his head.

Alex was already sound asleep.

-

“Wake up, doc.” 

Kyle squeezed his eyes shut before he opened them and found himself looking at a bare chest. He furrowed his eyebrows and lifted his head to see he’d somehow ended up completely on top of Alex. The soldier was just staring at him with very amused eyes.

“Sorry,” Kyle grumbled, rolling off him. He rubbed his eyes and laid there for a moment before it really set in that he’d basically crushed Alex for an unknown amount of time. He sat up sharply. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry.”

“You’re fine, I know it got kinda cold in here,” Alex said, slowly sitting up himself, “I don’t mind.”

“Still,” Kyle laughed awkwardly, “Sorry.”

Alex just smiled and shook his head, stretching his arms up again. Kyle stared again. 

It was that one little moment that he decided he was fucked.

-

“I’m happy for you, you know.”

Kyle looked over to his mom as she sipped her coffee. Her eyes were on Alex who fit seamlessly into the family. He was putting together a puzzle with some of Kyle’s younger cousins and holding a conversation with his aunts. It wasn’t too different from the night before when he held casual conversations with everyone at dinner, happily sharing tales about his time in the service and just fitting perfectly. It was overwhelming. Maybe Kyle should’ve brought Isobel.

“Being with Alex couldn’t have been easy after your history,” she said, “And bringing him here knowing that we all expected a woman must’ve been terrifying. I’m proud of you for it and I’m so glad you’re happy.”

“You think me and him are a good idea?” Kyle asked honestly. A little too honestly. 

She sighed heavily and turned to face him. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

Kyle held his breath and waited impatiently for her to call him out. He’d heard that mothers know all from her too many times to count. Did she know they were faking it? She knew. She was looking at him like she knew. And she sighed so she really had to know.

“Are you second-guessing it?” she asked. Kyle licked his lips and looked over to Alex who was laughing and looking gorgeous as per usual. Second-guessing something.

“How do you know when something is right?” he asked her. She sighed and turned to face him entirely.

“I can’t tell you that, Kyle,” she said, placing her coffee cup on her knee, “All I can tell you both look happy. I like the way he looks at you. It’s like you’re the only one in the room and you deserve to be looked at like that.”

Kyle took a heavy breath and looked back to Alex who was already grinning at him. Was that what it looked like to be stared at like you were the world?

It sure felt like it.

-

“Mistletoe!” 

“Oh, fuck,” Kyle breathed. Alex chuckled at him playfully, though he could feel his own panic rising. This wasn’t a part of the agreement.

“Too late boys, you’re caught!” Abuelita said, clapping her hands joyously together. Alex looked at him and Kyle looked back, a silent little agreement that this wasn’t a big deal. Of course not, they were best friends. Kyle was straight. Simple, simple, simple.

Alex moved first, giving him the quickest peck in the world. It was something you’d do at a middle school dance and call your first kiss. It was simple enough. It still had Alex’s heart thudding in his chest, but who cares about that.

“Oh, no need to be modest. No one’s judging you here,” one of Kyle’s aunts said. Alex raised an eyebrow as he looked at Kyle. Kyle just stared at him with flushed cheeks and then looked over to his mother before looking back at him.

And then he kissed him.

Like a real, grown-up kiss. No tongue, of course, but Alex could barely keep his thoughts straight. Kyle’s lips stayed on his for a whole five seconds while his family cheered them on. Something childish inside Alex exploded because of it. It was better than he could’ve hoped for.

When they finally separated, Alex opened his eyes and stared at Kyle in an absolute daze. Nothing was more shocking than seeing Kyle in a very, very similar daze. They stared for way too long.

“Aw, you two are so cute!” Abuelita announced, coming up to squeeze them tight. That was the only thing that broke them out of that gaze.

“Yeah,” Alex laughed, trying to shake away the feeling and turned to hug her back.

Fuck.

-

“So…” 

“Yeah.”

“That… That ki‒”

“Yep.”

“A lot.”

“Absolutely.”

Kyle heaved a sigh, keeping his back to Alex.  He’d spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out what the hell it all meant and came up with nothing. All it meant was that he couldn’t lie anymore.

He was into Alex.

“I’m into you, Alex,” Kyle said, “I think… I think I have been for a while.”

“Okay,” Alex responded slowly, “Is that why you asked me to come here?”

“No. I genuinely thought I’d be more likely to fall in love with you than Isobel,” Kyle said softly. Alex huffed a laugh. “I didn’t… I didn’t realize that it was more. I just knew I thought you were hot and that I love you.” Alex tensed completely against his back. “Like, as a friend!”

“Okay,” Alex said again.

“Do you feel the same way, or…?” Kyle trailed off before physically cringing and shaking his head, “Why’d you agree to this?”

“Because… I don’t know, eleven year old me had a crush on you and when you asked me to be your fake boyfriend, I thought… I don’t know, childhood fantasy?” Alex said with a laugh, “It’s stupid.”

“Do you… like me now? As a twenty-eight year old? I know I’m significantly less cute than I was then, but maybe… adult Alex likes adult Kyle?” he asked. Alex laughed louder.

“Jesus, that sounds horrible,” he said and Kyle smiled. Alex turned around quickly, so Kyle did the same to face him. He was smiling. “I think you’re beautiful and kind and smart. I like you.”

“I like you too,” Kyle said again, “I want… I don’t know.”

“You want to be with me?” Alex asked. Kyle licked his lips and mulled the words over in his mind.

“Yeah, if that’s okay,” Kyle said, “You’re just gonna have to, like, help me.”

“I’ve never been in a legit relationship, Kyle, you’re gonna have to help me,” Alex laughed. Kyle took a deep breath and smiled.

“We can figure it out together,” he said and Alex nodded.

It was Alex. How hard could it be?

“Together.”

[uas-fics]

Title: Lego Butterflies

Summary: Tweek is so excited to join a lego house contest with his friends Jimmy and Timmy. Nothing could ruin his day! Except maybe Nathan and his schemes of revenge against Jimmy!

Rating: G

Ships: Mentioned Creek. 

Other: For @tweekweek, day 2 Talent. I have no idea if this Red Cross idea would even work but you know what, it's just a setting and conflict set up sooo..... *shrug* 

Also, disclaimer, I didn't have time to do as much research as ASL as I should have, so the wording of Timmy's dialog isn't perfect, and I apologize. :( 

Read on Ao3

---

Tweek bounced in his seat, a goofy smile on his face. The weekend didn’t come fast enough. Since Wednesday, Tweek hopped into bed early in an attempt to force time to move its butt along so Saturday’s event could finally happen. 

Jimmy sat to his left and Timmy to his right. They shared his excitement. 

Jimmy was the one who brought Tweek the flyer, shoving it under his nose during recess. 

"The South Park Red Cross's first annual building contest: An event for children thirteen and under to show off their building skills and have fun!" The flyer proclaimed in Comic Sans font. "Come by and bring your kids for a lego brick contest with plenty of wonderful prizes for the best entries. Lunch and dinner will be provided. starts at 10 am ends at 6 pm. 5 dollar entry fee with be required in advance. For more information call the South Park Red Cross office or email us at SPRedCross@zmail. net." 

Jimmy explained that it was a creative competition where a group of up to three kids are given a lego kit and had the day to make the building, but with their own creative twist on it. The first prize winners received gift cards to the local Dairy Queen. 

Tweek didn't care about the prize. He was just excited to build with his friends and have fun. He didn't even expect to win, but Jimmy proclaimed he knew they would since Tweek was so amazing at building with legos.

"You have one of your builds on display at the library!" Jimmy reminded. "The one that looks like a b-b-bo-boat? You're a natural. We'll win for sure."

His parents donated his boat to the library without his permission last summer. Though Tweek had planned to recycle the bricks into another project, he couldn’t help but feel pride every time he saw his name on that piece of card stock in the shiny display case.

Tweek looked around the Red Cross building at the other tables. He knew some of the other kids here, but most were younger than him and he couldn't put a name to a face. He knew two of the kindergarteners in the corner. Kyle Broflovski's little brother and the youngest member of the goth kids looked less than thrilled to be there as their parents chatted a few feet away. 

Kenny and his little sister and older brother on the other side of the room, Karen speaking animatedly and Kenny nodding along while their brother had a chair pulled to the wall and dozed. 

Some girls from his class chatted near the door. A few kids from the special education class that Tweek didn't know waved to Jimmy as they walked in.

"Oh my Gosh!" Jimmy beamed. "There sure is a really big crowd out tonight, huh?"

"Yeah, this might be a fun competition," Tweek agreed. 

"Of course, it will be." Jimmy leaned over and picked up his bag from beside him. He unzipped it before taking out some peanut butter crackers and juice boxes. "My mom packed me these, but we're being fed lunch, so I thought we could have them as a pre-build s-s-snack."

Timmy nodded, reaching in front of Tweek for a pack of crackers. His fingers wrapped around a juice box, only for his nose to wrinkle up in disgust when he read the flavor. He tossed the juice box back before snatching up a different one.

Jimmy cocked his head to the side to read the flavor. He stuck his tongue out.

"I a-agree with you there, Tim Tim." Jimmy faked a gag. "Kiwi-Orange is the w-worst flavor. I keep asking mom not to buy this kind, but she a-al-always forgets."

Tweek's mom buys the same brand, and he knew its store-brand juice and the cheapest available at the local market, but he didn’t point that out. Instead, he took the Kiwi-Orange for himself, leaving Jimmy with Peach. 

Of the Tropical Explosion flavors, Kiwi-Orange tasted best to him. It was tangy with just the right amount of kiwi. He didn't understand how anyone couldn't love it.

"Well, well, well," A snide voice intoned, "look what the cat dragged in."

Nathan marched up to their table with Mimsy right behind him like a giant shadow. Nathan set his palms on the tabletop and leaned forward a little too far into their space.

"Oh! Hello there, Nathan!" Jimmy chirped, completely unfazed by how close Nathan's tinted aviator glasses were to his face. "You too, M-Mimsy. Good morning!"

"Heya, fellas," Mimsy replied with a wave.

"So, what brings you two here? Jimmy? Timmy? Are you here for the contest?" Nathan nodded to the front of the room where the adults from the Red Cross were pulling out craft supplies from some boxes. 

"We s-s-sure are." Jimmy wrapped his arm around Tweek. "Tim Tim, me, and Tweek here are all one group. Isn't that gr-great? Too bad we can't have a group of five, though. You and Mimsy would make great additions to our t-t-team."

Nathan scrunched up his nose like he just stepped on a wet turd with bare feet.

"Oh," he gave Tweek a hard look over the top of his glasses, "really?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Tweek watched Timmy grip his crackers so hard, they crumbled in the wrapper. He glared at Nathan as if daring him to say something.

If Nathan saw, he didn't respond. Instead, he shrugged and stepped away.

"Good luck, there, Jimmy, Timmy...Tweek."

Tweek shuddered at how Nathan said his name. It reminded him a little too much of a cartoon super-villain with a long mustache about to capture the hero with a complicated contraption.

Timmy must not have like how his name was said either since he flipped Nathan off behind his back. Jimmy, on the other hand, seemed unphased completely.

"Good luck to you, too! I know we'll all do f-f-f-fantastic!" Jimmy encouraged. Nathan scowled as he turned around and went to another table.

Mimsy almost followed him, when he paused, taking a look at the box of juice in Tweek's hand.

"Is that Kiwi-Orange? Oh, boy, it's my favorite flavor. Do they have some here?" Mimsy grinned.

"Really?" Timmy signed, sticking out his tongue.

Tweek smiled back at him. "It's my favorite, too. It's yummy."

Jimmy looked into his bag. "Ah, darn, sorry, Mimsy. Mom only packed enough for my team. Maybe I can bring you some at school on Monday."

Mimsy's face fell. For someone with a large and imposing a frame as Mimsy, when he got disappointed, he looked no more threatening than an upset puppy.

Tweek offered his unopened box. "Here, you can have mine. I brought my own drink." With his free hand, he lifted his ever-present thermos from between his feet, still warm with the mid-morning’s coffee. 

Mimsy's eyes grew wide. His mouth went slack as he took the juice. "Really? You'd give me the best flavor? Just like that? No fight or nothin'?" Mimsy stared down at the juice box as if Tweek just handed him the Hope Diamond to keep.

"Uh-huh. I'm ok with it, if you don't mind, Jimmy." He turned a questioning look to him.

Jimmy shook his head. "No, it's fine. Our teachers always tell us sharing makes for the b-best friendships."

"Good, there you go, Mimsy. Good luck. I hope you have lots of fun today." Tweek smiled again.

 He didn't know Mimsy well, other than he hung around with Nathan all the time, but he didn't have anything against him. Mimsy seemed like a nice kid. He didn’t give bad vibes, unlike Nathan.

Mimsy looked at the box, then at Tweek, and blushed. "Golly, that's swell of you. Thanks a lot, Tweek." He giggled as if Tweek just told him a silly riddle before making a beeline for Nathan.

After the three finished their juice--or coffee in Tweek's case--and crackers, Jimmy gathered up the trash and took it to the trash can before heading to use the restroom.

Once Jimmy was out of earshot, Tweek turned to Timmy with a frown.

"Are you alright? You seem...uh..." he gestured to the crumbs covering Timmy's shirt, "upset? Is this about Nathan?"

Timmy brushed the crumbs off with his face set in a scowl. He looked around before leaning in close. 

"Do not trust Nathan," he whispered, keeping his hand movement small and close to his body.

"Why?" Tweek covered his mouth with the side of his hand. Nathan and Mimsy sat across the room, so they couldn't hear him but better safe than sorry.

"He is a dickhead." Timmy cringed. "Jimmy is too stupid to understand Nathan hates him."

"He hates him? Jimmy sure seems to think they’re friends." Tweek frowned. 

"He is clueless!" Timmy rolled his eyes. "Nathan hates him. He tries to trick him all the time or get him in trouble."

At Tweek's raised eyebrow, Timmy went on to explain some of his experiences with Nathan that ranged from switching out Jimmy's pencils with colored ones for tests and tripping in him in the lunch line to dumping soda in his backpack and spreading rumors.

When Timmy started to explain something that happened during summer camp, he started moving his hands so fast in his anger that Tweek couldn't understand him. 

"Alright, alright, I get it! Nathan is a huge dick." Tweek grabbed Timmy's wrists when he was in the middle of signing what Tweek thought was 'Space-Racist.'

Timmy pulled his hands to his lap. "Be careful today," he warned, leaning over to shoot Nathan a glare. 

Tweek peeked over his shoulder. Nathan had his head turned, so he didn't see Timmy's glower. Instead, his gaze was fixed on Jimmy, who was speaking with some girls at a nearby table. His hands balled into shaking fists.

Tweek snapped his head forward. His stomach twisted into knots. Timmy was right. They had to be super careful today.

---

Jimmy, that asshole, flirting with those girls right in front of him! He was just doing it to rub it in his face that, for some reason completely unknown to Nathan, the girls seemed to like him. 

He didn't understand what anyone saw in Jimmy. Nathan was much more handsome and charismatic than Jimmy could ever be!

But the girls tittered and fawned over him like he was the best thing since sliced bread! 

Nathan gripped his hands into fists. 

"Mimsy, we're going to win those gift cards," He growled. "Even if I have to smash their entry myself."

Mimsy looked up from the empty juice box in his hands. He had been staring at it like a dolt since he finished sucking it dry. What was the big deal? It was just a juice box. It wasn't even a good flavor. Only some weirdo like Mimsy would like Kiwi-Orange.

"Ah, I dunno, Boss," Mimsy fingered the box, "maybe we should just try our best to win on our own. We don't gotta cheat."

"Don't you see, Mimsy? Jimmy is cheating! Us cheating would even the odds." Nathan waved his hand towards them. "He brought that Tweek kid with them to help."

"What's wrong with Tweek?" Mimsy's voice pitched up when he said Tweek's name. A small blush grew across his cheeks, eyes drifting down to the juice box.

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's an expert with legos, Mimsy! He has something he made shown off at the library! How is that fair to the rest of us?"

Mimsy craned his head around the room a moment. "Well, why don't we ask Colette." He pointed towards her. "She has a lego project displayed at the library too, and it looks like she's all by herself. We can ask her to join us!"

Nathan winced. "Hell no. She's ugly. I don't want an ugly girl on my team." He was trying to win the gift cards so he could get pretty girls. Girls love free chocolate-dipped cones. He would have a whole bunch of girls clambering for his attention when he won those gift cards. Then Jimmy would cry like a baby now that the girls saw who the real man around was.

Mimsy cocked his head to the side. "Well, Boss, maybe you should put your misogyny and bias against women aside this one time and work towards your goal so we can win honestly and you can take real pride in your win."

Nathan stared dumbfounded at Mimsy. Where did Mimsy get these ideas? Probably some dumb cartoon or something.

"Mimsy, shut up."

Mimsy turned his attention back to his juice box with a shrug. "Ok, boss."

---

The rules for the competition where simple: build the lego house from a kit and decorate it with the supplies from the craft table.

The house kit was a simple model, only twenty bricks high with four window pieces and a door piece and a premade slanted roof.

Even if Tweek hadn’t built it before, it was an easy task. He took up the job of putting it together while Jimmy and Timmy gathered supplies and refined the plan.

They had decided to turn their project into a gingerbread house with lollipop trees and candy stuck to the roof. They would use paint to add icing accents and cotton balls as cotton candy lining the outside like bushes.

As Timmy wrapped cellophane plastic around foam balls to make hard candy and Jimmy used a marker to color the cotton, Tweek stood to stretch.

"I'm going to the restroom. Be right back." 

Timmy grabbed his sleeve, holding up a sheet of cellophane. 

"Get blue," He told him before lowering his head back to his work. 

Once Tweek finished his business, he stood over the craft table shifting through the mess of stickers and papers for a blue sheet of cellophane. Most of the stickers had a faint yellow tinge to them and several of the sets of markers were missing colors. If Tweek had to guess, he would say a lot of the supplies were donated from a granny’s leftover scrapbooking supplies. 

Tweek glanced over his shoulder at a nearby team’s house kit box. Given how yellowed it was, maybe more than just the stickers came from someone’s backroom.

He set some brown felt aside before a flash of shiny, translucent blue caught his eye. 

With a noise of satisfaction, he reached for it, only for another hand to grab it at the same time.

Tweek looked up and met eyes with Nathan himself.

"I saw it first," Nathan snapped, snatching the cellophane.

"We need it for ours," Tweek countered. 

All of Timmy's stories played through his head. He needed to be very careful with what he said. Jimmy might be optimistically oblivious enough to overlook Nathan's malice acts, but Tweek sure as heck wasn't.

Nathan attempted to reply, but Mimsy stepped behind him and cut him off.

"Heya, Tweek!" He swung his hands side to side. "Gosh, isn't this fun? We's nearly finished half our house. It's going to be a summer house with a pool and palm trees and--"

Nathan shoved a sheet of craft felt into his mouth.

"Shut up, Mimsy! Don't tell our enemies the plan." He glared over the top of his glasses at Tweek. "He might steal our ideas."

"We don't need your ideas." Tweek reached across the table for the corner of the felt in Mimsy's mouth. He pulled it out then pushed it into Nathan's hands, making sure that the part covered in spit touched his skin.

Nathan dropped everything in his arms back on the table with a yelp. As he wiped his hand on his pants, Tweek snatched the blue cellophane. Before Nathan could make a bigger scene, Tweek took a pair of craft scissors and made a wavy line down the middle of the sheet.

"Here. Problem solved," Tweek set half on the slobbery felt. 

A snarl ripped from Nathan’s throat as his upper lip rose. Tweek froze like a rabbit staring down a pet dog. 

Oh, shoot! He had let himself get overconfident! Nathan was going to kill him, right there in the Red Cross building, in front of everyone! 

Mimsy put his big hands on Nathan's shoulders and turned him.

"That'll be enough blue, dontcha think, boss? I think so. We just needed a little. Ain't it real diplomatic to share like that?" Mimsy jabbered on as he forced Nathan towards their table.

Tweek's body relaxed. Mimsy glanced over his shoulder at him.

"Thank you," he mouthed at him. Mimsy turned forward instantly, the tips of his ears burning pink.

---

Nathan crumbled the blue cellophane and threw it on the table. He was upset, but Mimsy didn't know why. They got more than enough for their pool.

Maybe if his head wasn't so light and spinny, he could figure it out, but right now he felt as though his feet weren't even touching the ground. 

Tweek was so nice. He gave him his juice box. He shared the cellophane. He even said thank you for taking Nathan away to cool off. 

Tweek was wonderful.

"--msy?" 

Mimsy blinked. 

"Huh? Oh, yeah, what were ya sayin', Boss?"

Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses. 

"I said we have to get those punk-ass jerks Jimmy, Timmy, and Tweek. We can't let them win!" Nathan picked up a pair of scissors and cut the crinkled cellophane to shape.

Mimsy twiddled his thumbs, taking a seat. "Do we have to? I don't think Tweek deserves us destroying his hard work."

Nathan paused and looked up. He fixed Mimsy with a look before he scowled.

"Mimsy, what do you care about that blond twitchy kid?" Nathan asked in a slow, careful tone.

Mimsy picked up a button he had painted to look like a life-ring and twisted it between his fingers. "Oh, well, ah...Tweek just..." He felt a silly smile grow on his face and couldn't make himself look up at his best friend as he continued, "He gives me butterflies, ya know, boss? In my tummy, and I just don't wanna cause him no trouble."

He didn't really want to cause Jimmy or Timmy trouble either, but Nathan had his heart set on being better than them, so Mimsy tagged along and helped him out however he could.

"Oh, for the love of..." Nathan dragged his hands down his face. "You know Tweek has a boyfriend, don't you? Shit those butterflies out already. You don't have a chance."

"I don't wanna chance." Mimsy picked up a lego brick and attached it to another brick. "Just knowing Tweek’s happy makes me happy. I wanna be his friend." 

Be his friend, sit together at lunch, even, hold his hand at recess a little, that's all Mimsy wanted. He just really, really wanted that wonderful person to like him and he didn't think ruining his project would make that dream come true.

"Mimsy, you have the brain of a chicken." Nathan shook his head.

"Ah, geez, thanks, boss." Mimsy smiled at him. Chickens are really smart. Their class watched a show on them once. Chickens can count and do basic math! Nathan was such a swell guy for using inside information to compliment him.

Nathan opened his mouth then shut it with a groan. "Just finish building the house and stop pining over Tweek. I'll come up with a plan in the meantime."

Though his stomach twisted with worry, Mimsy nodded. Nathan wouldn't steer him wrong, would he?

---

Lunch was sandwiches, a snack pack of chips, an apple or orange, and a drink. The adults ushered everyone out to another room to eat, so Tweek's group stood with Kenny and his siblings as they ate.

In the ten minutes since Karen started talking to Tweek, he was pretty sure he counted her take a breathless than fifteen times.

"Since it's a kitten's house," Karen explained, "it'll have a pen outside for mice she can eat anytime she wants and--"

"Karen," Kenny cut in, "looks like they're letting people have seconds. Go get some. Get me another too."

Karen looked at her half-eaten sandwich then back up. Kenny shooed her with his fingers and a nod. 

"Mom let us come for the free food, sis," Kenny reminded her, taking a big bite of his sandwich. "We'll put the extras in Kevin's bag."

"But, I was telling Tweek about our project." Karen sighed, but pushed her chair out anyway and headed back towards the serving table.

Jimmy laughed, slapping Tweek's shoulder. "Wow, I thought she would t-talk your ear off."

Tweek blew a breath out. "Thanks, dude.” He told Kenny. “She's really excited, huh?"

He raised a shoulder in a half shrug. "It gets her out of the house to play with glitter glue and stickers. Of course, she's excited. I don't think we'll win, but she's having fun, so it's ok by me if we lose."

From across the table, Kevin snorted. "We'd better win. Girls love being treated to a dipped cone," he muttered, more to himself than the conversation between the fourth graders. 

Kenny rolled his eyes as Karen came trotting back up. Chips and fruit ladened down her arms. Several sets of eyes from the nearby tables turned towards theirs when she dropped everything down with the thump of hard apples and oranges and the crinkles of plastic chip bags.

Karen beamed proudly at her plunder. "That nice old lady gave it to me when I told her my last name." She waved towards an elderly woman sitting behind the table. See Karen acknowledge her, the woman waved back before returning to her conversation.

Kenny's cheeks blushed red. He averted his eyes and pulled his hood strings a little. Even Kevin slumped down a little farther in his chair.

As is his nature, Jimmy quickly changed the subject before the heavy silence grew too awkward. 

"So, w-what else is everyone doing for their e-en-entries? Do you know? Colette is sitting next to us and is making a fairy castle. It's r-r-r-really neat!" Jimmy waved his hands out, drawing the attention to himself and shielding the McCormicks while Kevin unzipped his backpack.

"Yeah, um, oh!" Tweek moved his arms out as well, though not as wide. "Mimsy told me he and Nathan were making a summer house. Isn't that cool? Errr--It has a pool even."

"A pool?!" Karen gasped. She grabbed Kenny's arm and shook him. "Can ours have a pool? I know cats hate water, but I don't think this kitten would. It can be a special cat pool!"

"Huh? Yeah, sure, we can put fish stickers inside," Kenny replied without looking up from his and Kevin's work.

"I want the pool to have pink water," Karen continued, wrapping her arm around his. "It's fancy rose water. We have some extra paper flowers we can put around it, and we can even make an innertube floatie!"

"I bet you can make the best p-pool ever," Jimmy told her, finally lowering his arms to the table. "I think we have some extra pink plastic wrap you can use. If you make a paper c-c-cir-circle you can cover it for your pool."

Karen released Kenny's arm and darted around the table to squeeze in between Tweek and Jimmy, bombarding Jimmy with questions for more ideas. Feeling claustrophobic, Tweek slipped out of his seat. The instant he did, Karen plopped down. 

Kenny set a hand on Tweek's arm. "Thanks. I owe you one,” he whispered, his cheeks still tinged with the red of embarrassment. 

Before Tweek could reply, another hand grabbed his arm and pulled. He spun around to see Timmy staring at him with a determined expression. He tugged Tweek away to talk privately in the corner.

"I saw Nathan and Mimsy." He nodded towards the door to the other room. "They snuck back in."

"What?" Tweek squawked. He craned his head around to make sure no one heard him. "What?" He repeated, much quieter. "When? Should we tell an adult?"

Timmy shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe? Or..." He flashed a wicked smile, "we catch them."

"You want to sneak in there? How? You're not exactly..." He gestured to Timmy's wheelchair. 

Timmy frowned. "I am sneaky." 

"You are, but, eeer," Tweek chewed his lower lip. "There are too many people. We have to open the door completely to get you inside and..."

"You go!" Timmy rolled closer, pointing at Tweek’s chest. "You go in after Nathan."

"Why me? We should tell an adult." Tweek took a step away, but Timmy rolled his chair in front of him, blocking his path. 

"You go. In ten minutes, I will tell someone." He promised, crossing his heart with his finger.

Timmy had that determined look on his face. It was the same face he had when he argued with Cartman about changing his superhero from Iron Maiden to Doctor Timothy. Unless Tweek wanted to make a powerful enemy of Timmy, he had no choice.

"Alright, fine..." Tweek heaved a sigh. "We still need a distraction though."

Timmy smirked, wheeling himself back. "That is my job."

Before Tweek could stop him, he spun his chair around and surged it forward. In the middle of the room, he slammed the brakes to a stop and fell out onto the ground. He threw his arm up dramatically with an anguished cry that reminded Tweek a little too much of a soap opera character.

It took seconds for all the adults to gather upon Timmy.

 Tweek seized his moment and dashed towards the door. He slipped in and turned his eyes to a horrendous scene.

Drops of red, yellow, and blue paint rolled down half-finished walls and stained cuts of cardboard paper. Stickers had been ripped from the lego bricks on some and whole parts of the buildings taken away on others. Swear words were written along roofs in white glue. Glitter covered every surface.

And the end of the line of crafting carnage stood none other than Nathan himself, gluing marker caps to lego bricks with glitter glue.

"Hand me the buttons," Nathan held out his hand behind him without looking up. "We're going to put a big penis on this house. We'll use those stupid colored bushes as hair on the--"

"STOP!" Tweek shouted, rushing forward. He knew it was too late to save his or any of the other projects, but he had to try to save what was left!

With a rush of adrenaline, he dove at Nathan. Marker caps and buttons clattered across laminate as Nathan gasped and struggled under Tweek. 

Nathan smacked Tweek across the face with the back of his hand, but Tweek was able to pin one of Nathan's hands down by the wrist.

With a sneer, Nathan aimed the bottle of glue in his free hand at Tweek's face and squeezed. A line of liquid glue hit him right above the right eye.

Tweek recoiled back, desperately trying to wipe the glue away with his sleeve. Nathan shoved him off. He rolled back, knocking into another table. 

The folding table's leg gave way, dumping all the projects on it. Legos, stickers, paper, paintbrushes and shallow dishes of water all dropped to the floor. One of the houses hit Tweek on the top of the head. Stars swam across his vision.

"NO!" Nathan screamed. "My project!" 

Tweek looked to his side and saw the remains of a lego house with a styrofoam sun glued to the top. The house crushed a paper water bowl with blue cellophane inside and several palm trees made of construction paper.

"Why you!" Nathan snarled. "Mimsy, grab him! I'm going to put a bottle of glitter glue down his throat!"

Tweek tried to scramble to his feet, only to slip on the loose pieces. Mimsy loomed over him.

 There was no way out now. He was blocked by Nathan to his left, the other table to his front, the fallen table to his back and Mimsy to his right.

Tweek didn't think he would die today, but here he was about to meet the reaper.

 All in all, he had a good day up until all this started with Nathan. He and his friends had lots of fun building the lego house and adding the decorations. 

Too bad he couldn't say goodbye to everyone. Where were his parents supposed to find a new busboy on such short notice? Craig would be annoyed, too. They had a date planned for next week. 

Accepting his demise, Tweek clenched his eyes shut and waited...and waited...and waited, but nothing came. 

He opened his eyes to see Mimsy staring at him, face red and conflicted.

"Mimsy! Do as I say!" Nathan ordered.

"But, Boss! The butterflies," He whimpered as he grabbed at his shirt. "Can't we just go? Please?"

Nathan let out a cry of frustration. He set one foot on either side of Tweek before grabbing his chin. He held the glue up threateningly.

"If you're going to be useless, I'll do it myself," Nathan muttered.  

He squeezed Tweek's cheeks into a fish pucker, forcing them apart. Tweek gritted his teeth. 

A pair of hands fell on Nathan's shoulders. He blinked and looked up just in time for him to be thrown back into the opposite table. That one fell backwards with a crash, destroying all the defiled projects atop it.

Mimsy's lip quivered. "I asked ya to stop, Boss. I even said ‘please’..." 

As Mimsy wiped away tears on his arm, the door opened. 

"What is going on in here — Oh my Gosh!" One of the adults gaped at the scene. 

Nathan scrambled to his feet, jabbing a finger at Tweek. 

"He tried to come and break everyone's projects," He accused. "We came here to stop him from ruining everyone's fun. Tweek is a big cheater!"

"That's not--argh! That's not what happened!" Tweek countered though he didn't try to stand. His head hurt too much. Hopefully, his mom remembered to put the ice pack back in the freezer since Tweek smashed his elbow at the shop. Tweek was going to need it for the lump growing on the top of his head.

Slowly, adults and kids trickled in, looking on the destruction. Some of the younger kids started crying. A few of the adults already had phones out, preparing to call parents.

"Yes, it is, ma'am," Nathan said in his most sympathetic voice. "Tweek came in and was doing awfully naughty things to other people's projects. When Mimsy and I came in, he pushed me down.”

"No, he pushed me," Tweek snapped. "Please, Timmy! Timmy saw these two come in here, didn't you? Tell them!"

The adults turned to Timmy, who nodded once, glaring at Nathan. 

"See!" Tweek gestured. 

The adults still didn't look convinced. One walked right past Tweek to Nathan, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you hurt, sweetie?" She asked.

"A little bit, ma'am," he whimpered. “I have a scrape on my elbow. I might need stitches.”

"I'm telling the truth!" Tweek tried to stand, but the world spun too much for him to stay up.

Mimsy chewed his lip. His hands rubbed his stomach before he took a long, slow breath.

"Missum?" Mimsy tugged on the back of her shirt. "Nathan's lying. You see, we was gonna come in and ruin half of everyone's projects, so no one could tell we really were trying to ruin Tweek's teams, but Tweek came in, and Nathan pushed him and tried to put glue in his mouth. I’m the one who pushed Nathan."

Nathan growled. "Mimsy, you fucking traitor," He snapped. "See if I let you sit next to me at lunch now."

"Young man!" the adult gasped. "What did you just say?"

Nathan winced as he realized his mistake. She grabbed his shoulders and marched him towards the door. Mimsy twiddled his thumbs, uncertainly, before the adult yelled at him to follow her as well.

"Mimsy?" Tweek called. "That was really cool and brave of you. Thanks a lot."

Never before had Tweek seen a face light up as fast as Mimsy’s did at that moment. He giggled to himself before following after Nathan, almost skipping the whole way there.

---

Tweek slumped down against the table. His head still hurt, but at least the room stayed still when he moved. Timmy patted his shoulder as Jimmy sat down across from them.

"Nathan's parents just came to drove him and M-M-M-Mimsy home. They're in big trouble for this. They have to p-pay for the house kits they broke and aren't allowed at any R-R-Red Cross events for a whole six months." Jimmy cocked his head to the side. "I just don't get it. Why would Nathan do something so mean and nasty?"

Timmy slapped his palm to his forehead and dragged his hand down his face. 

"He is a dick bag," Timmy reminded him. "Remember camp?"

"Those were all just unfortunate accidents," Jimmy countered. Timmy rolled his eyes and let the topic drop. 

"And, anyway, Tweek. How are you f-feeling?"

Tweek shook held his head. "I'll be ok. I'm just glad I'm not in trouble, too. It's too bad we couldn't win the prize, though. Did you hear what happened to the gift cards?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, they decided to judge the ones left standing and pick a winner from those, but open the contest again in a month for everyone else who got their projects wrecked."

"Who won?" Timmy asked.

A smile spread on Jimmy's face. "Kenny and his brother and s-s-sis-sister," he explained. "I saw their finished Kitten Dream House, and it was c-cool and creative! Better than our silly g-g-gingerbread idea by a long shot."

"Will you join us for the next contest?" Timmy wanted to know from Tweek.

Tweek winced. "No, thank you. I'll play by myself at home where no one is going to try to make me eat glue."

"Ah, that's a s-stinky spirit to have," Jimmy chided.

After all that had happened today, Tweek didn't care one bit how his spirit smelled. 

If even a fraction of what Timmy said was true, then he had to be very careful until Nathan's anger cooled--or turned back towards Jimmy. Who knows how long that will take!

But if Nathan was upset with Tweek, he was positively pissed at Mimsy for betraying him. 

Tweek pursed his lips then nodded to himself. 

Monday at school he would ask Mimsy if he wanted to join his table for lunch. It was the least he could do. Besides, as far as Tweek was concerned, Mimsy deserved a much better friend than Nathan, and he was willing to step up and be that friend.

---

AN: Shout out to my friend @najti-nightmare for help with the fic and title!

[cartooness]

Bby Lav AU

OKAY SO

ME AND MY LOVE @thefearanddespair CAME UP WITH THIS AU LIKE 2 WEEKS AGO AND I JUST REALIZED I NEVER TRULY POSTED IT SO HERE IT IS. WARNING IT’S HELLA LONG.

PINK HOLY SHIT

 WHAT IF EVERYONE FOUND LAV AS A TODDLER

 INSTEAD OF BEING 14, SHE'S 4

 EVERYTHING IS THE SAME EXCEPT SHE'S 10 YEARS YOUNGER

 AS WELL AS ALL THE FRIENDS

 DECAN SINGS LULLABIES

 SHE IS ALWAYS HOLDING SOMEONE'S HAND

 PIGTAILS

 “The moon sings me to sleep every night”

“The MOON?”

“Yeah! He’s very nice, I love Moon uncle”

Lav to a friend as a 4yr old bby

 And she makes friends with mason when they're 7!!

 Super childhood friends to lovers

 Y E S

 And she's always sleeping in someone's room. She doesn't like being alone

 There is always a child's blankey in all the rooms for whenever she wants to sleep with someone

 Someone- Oh can I schedule an appointment on this day?

Hadley- Oh I'm so sorry but that day is taken. I can put you for... a week from now?

Someone- Alright.

 Hadley was actually just rocking lav to sleep.

 SO CUUUTE

 UMBRELLA DAD. THEY'RE TRUE DADS NOW. ALL OF THEM.

 LAV IS STILL POWERFUL AF

 Father’s Day is a BITCH for her lmao

 Ok so she's at like Vivi's house or apartment whatever, and she drops her off at HQ, and there's a giant roll of easel paper, taller than bby lav, with all her dad's on there

 AND THEY'RE TRYING NOT TO CRY

 Or failing in Decan’s case.

 Bby Lav gets a hold of Hadley’s umbrella wand.

Hijinks ensue.

 >:)))))))))

 ÒwÓ

 Otto has to literally YEET Hadley into the fucking sky to grab her, grab the wand, and float safely to the ground again.

 LMAOOOO

 Hadders- Othello. Throw me.

Otto- Um??

Hadders- JUST DO IT

 And then they’re floating down, and Hadley’s cradling the Bby in one arm, holding his umbrella up with the other.

 Like Eclipsa with Meteora lmao

 Y E S. I M LOVE

 If Lav can ever teleport, she and Decan could do the thing Glimmer and Angella do in that last episode of season 3.

 You know, the teleport and catch thing.

 SHE CAN. SHE CAN TELEPORT

 Decan flying after her and catching her and all that in his winged form. Or even Otto doing that!

 Y E S

 Hadley is subsequently freaking the fuck out on the ground.

 PLAYTIME WITH FUN PAPAS

 WITH WORRIED MOM

 “PUT HER DOOOOOWWWWWN!”

Otto proceeds to blow him a rather Loud raspberry lmao

 AND LAV GIGGLING LIKE CRAZY, "AGAIN, AGAIN!!!"

Otto- you heard the little lady!! Again!

 Hadley: “ARE YOU ACTUALLY JOKING ME???”

And Otto blows another raspberry. And makes a rather crude joke.

And Hadley is jusT O F F E ND

 LAV IS A VERY ACTIVE BABY

 THEY'RE ALWAYS CHASING HER THROUGH THE HOUSE OR AT PARKS AND STUFF.

 HER KITTY EYES ARE MORE IRRESISTIBLE THAN BEFORE.

 SHE STILL HAS BEANS AND PURRING

 Hadley: *Bitching at Otto*

Otto: “PBBPPBRBTBRBRPT!! Jeeez, Hadley, all that hot air you’re blowin’ is contagious, crack a window wont’cha?”

Hadley: *Pterodactyl screeching*

 LMAOOOOO

 Hadders- BUT MY BABY DOWN BEFORE I BEAT YOUR BUTT!!

Decan- MAKE US.

 Otto- SHE'S OUR BABY TOO, YA KNOW!

 Meanwhile Lav is enjoying the silly stuff her papas are fighting over and is thrilled of being tossed around. XD

 Decan’s just laughing and twirling and stuff. He’s all just “It’s fiiiiiine!”

 :OOOOOO

LAV IN KINDERGARTEN SHOWING ALL THE KIDS HER BIG ASS EXTENDED FAMILY.

 Lav’s presence just screams ‘Gay Rights’ to all the other little kids.

 Even if not all of the parents agree.....

They get told off

 Lav- And this is all my papas!! They all love each other very much.

The teacher- Lavender, sweetie, did you say that your "papas" all.... love each other?

Lav- Yeah!! Daniel and Cecil love each other. Decan and Otto love each other. Lewis, Vivi, and Arthur love each other. Merlin and Quentin love each other. And Percy and Hadley don't have love yet.

The teacher- *grimace*

Some kid- You're dad's are all *insert slur here*!!!

Lav- Stop, that's mean!!

Some kid- No it's not, it's true!!

And he gets shoved out if his desk.

And poor bby lav comes crying when they pick her up, explaining how all the kids made fun of her and her family.

 Hadley then calls in to the office when he picks her up from school that day.

 He has a few words XD

 A few.....very polite, very CHOICE words.

 And then he’s like to Lavender.

“Now, I’m not one to spoil children, but I do believe that an ice cream....or two....is warranted at a time like this.”

And that means a lot when HADLEY’S the one doing the treating. The responsible, rule-driven and sometimes strict parent.

 YES BIG LOVE.

 “Just....don’t tell anyone else. They’ll have me strung upon a wall, or....thrown in the stocks.”

Very old fashioned boi lmao

 Lav, a good girl, - Okay Papa Hadley!

 And she proceeds to eat two scoops of peaches and cream ice cream.

 Adorable.

 I know!!

AND COULD YOU IMAGINE? BABY MASON?

 They're in the same first grade class and they're table buddies!!!

 They probably have play dates all the time!!

 AND SHE MAKES HIM THINGS OUT OF MAGIC SOMETIMES

 7 year old Lav- Mason, Mason!!! Look what I can do!! *makes a pinecone out of magic*

7 year old Mason- :OOO THAT'S SO COOL LAV!!!!

 This is way too fucking cute, I can’t.

 Mason, showing his pinecone to Kyle, then Nicole, - NICKY, LOOK WHAT LAV MADE ME!!!!

Pre Transition Kyle- Woah! That's so cool!!!

Mason - I'm gonna keep it in my box of special things, where it'll be safe!!!

 BBY LAV PLAYING WITH OTTO AND DECAN’S NON-HUMAN PARTS?

Pointy ears, Tails, Wings, Dec’s Horns, Otto’s Fangs

 YES YES YES SHE WOULD

 “Woooow! You’ve got weally big teeth, Papa Otto!”

Or

“You have vewwy pwetty wings Papa Decan!”

 And they’re just....melting.

 I'M LOVE I'M LOVE

 OR PLAYING WITH DANIEL AND CECIL HAIR. OR ANYONE'S HAIR IN GENERAL

 Hadley’s super long and thicc hair lmao

 Y E S

 One day, Hadley's hair is just. Covered in hair accessories.

 And lav says to keep them in all day. And so he does.

 And it takes like half an hour to take all of them out lmaooo

 WHEN OTTO COMES HOME FROM LIKE TRAINING OR SOMETHING AND HE'S ALL BEAT UP, LAV AND DECAN CLEAN UP HIS WOUNDS, BUT LAV PUTS LIKE PRINCESS BAND AIDS ON ALL THE SCRATCHES AND STUFF.

Someone- Why do you have... girly band aids all over you?

Otto- the doctor said I had to keep these on and if I take them off I will die.

 He’s sitting in a chair, like, grumbling as Cecil and Daniel have to take them out.

ALSO ABSOLUTELY HE WOULD DO THAT!

 Big Masculine Buff Man.

Princess Bandaids. And they’re, like, his pride and joy.

 Awwww!!

 Best part of getting beat up. Lav gives him the Princess bandaids. He says they make him look badass.

Proud Papa.

 Cecil’s a fashion designer.

Bby fashion.

 :OOOOOOOOOOOO

 I D E A S

 YOU KNOW HOW LAV LIKES TO BE COMFY? SHE PROBABLY HAS A BUNCH OF CUTE SWEATERS THAT SHE WEARS ALL THE TIME

 ALL HER DADS LOVE HER TO BITS AND YOU WILL DIE IF YOU MESS WITH THEIR SHARED BABY GIRL

OMG. PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCE THINGS.

 GASP. LAV LEARNING ABOUT THE LGBT COMMUNITY. SHE'S 4 INSTEAD OF 14 WHEN SHE LEARNS.

 Also YES all of that is über wholesome

 Otto goes and when people are, like, homophobic or whatever, he sorta lounges back, feet on the table, and does his sorta ‘Blow-Raspberry-Fart-Jokes’ routine that he loves so much at all the other people and they’d be like ‘Honestly this is an grown-up affair, why don’t you act your age you disgusting slob of a man’ and he’s just like ‘Really? Then why don’t y’all stop acting like a bunch of whiny children, whining about the 21st century? Then maybe I’ll treat y’all like adults and this meeting like something important. (Otto is the king of Fart Jokes lmao. He’s a big old child.

And terribly dad-like like that. It’s just one of the truths about him.)

 OMG IMAGINE MASONDER

 Okay so, they're both like, 12 I guess, and it's Lavender's birthday, and Mason gives her like, a really cute stuffed animal, and she Instantly Loves, and she gives him a big hug and a peck on the face.

 Cue awkward silence

 Everyone sees.YES EXACTLY

 Big old moment.

Baby’s First Kiss

 Mason, not knowing what to do, just returns the favor.

 And Lav is almost about to DIE FROM HER MASSIVE BLUSHING.  Mason's fucking. Avoiding all eye contact with everyone, and it's a very uncomfortable silence.

 And finally Lav breaks the silence by grabbing his face and kissing him.

EVERYONE IS LOSING THEIR SHIT

 Hadley, in the back of the room,

"IS THIS ALLOWED!?!?!? IS THIS ALLOWED!?!?!?

Emotional Moment.

And the supposedly steel-hearted Hadley finally breaks down crying. All that internal emotion becomes external emotion.

(And his makeup gets smudged, and it’s all crazy and emotional.)

Otto fucking SCOOPS Lavender up into his big, hairy arms and hugs her. All “HELL YEAH GIRL! How’d it feel!? What was it like?! I know he’s not as good a kisser as D-EEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAKKKK-an, but STILL!” He had that emotional bat-screech moment.

And Decan’s just a blubbering mess. All proud Daddy style. They grow up so fast and all that.

 Mason- ARE YOU ALL OKAY?!?! AM I IN TROUBLE?!?!

Vivi just cheers. Mama Bear style.

 And Lewis is all

"I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU HURT HER IN ANYWAY I WILL BREAK YOU: Mason, scared,- Y-yes sir. I'll um, I'll be good, I promise.

Hadley’s like that too. But a lot less overt.

And a lot more shadow-over-the-face serious.

 He pulls Mason aside for Tea, and has a full on discussion with him over it. Making for DAMN sure he knows what he’s getting into, and making damn sure that Mason has no intention of in any way fucking around and breaking her heart.

 Mason, at the end of it all,- Yes, sir, I understand. Am I free to go?

Hadley - Yes. But remember, I'm always watching. *does that I've got my eyes on you tea sip thing*

And he IS!

 The following week, Hadley pulls aside Lav and asks all about her and Mason. Plot twist is that he KNOWS. And is testing to see whether or not she reproduces what he’s already seen. To test wether or not she’s lying. And if she IS, Mason told her to lie and he’s bricked.

He’s terribly cunning like that.

 The following week, Hadley pulls aside Lav and asks all about her and Mason.

 Lav- Aw, I'm glad you asked! He's so cute, that Button. Anyway, we've been eating lunch together and we shared a cookie, um, we held hands a lot, what else, um, please don't be um, mad, but, um, we kinda..... fell asleep together while you were at work.

Hadders- Oh I know.

Lav- What?

Hadley: Lavender, Darling, you should know by now. I make it my business to know everything. The surname ‘Trivia’ doesn’t come for free.

He could easily pull an Eclipsa and cast some sort of All-Seeing-Eye.

Hadley doesn’t see limits when he’s protecting someone. He’s willing to go as far as it takes.

 Lav- Are you mad at me? I mean, we weren't doing anything, like, BAD, but still, if you don't want us to do that we'll stop.

 H: On the contrary! I’m very happy with you. You passed the test.

I was watching you both. The whole time. And I wanted to be sure that he hadn’t convinced you to lie to me if you were asked. Or, heaven forbid, you lie on your own will. And you didn’t lie at all!

Lav- Oh. Uh, cool! I guess! Also, he is a very good cuddle partner. Just thought I'd say that. Also his hair is really soft and it's fun to play with. And- *proceeds to ramble on about Mason lol*

 Hadley then just sorta sits down and conjures some coffee for himself.

She's in love, Hadley!!!! Yep lol

 And Ashley, on the other hand, is listening to a very happy mason go on about Lavender and it's adorable. He announced to Kyle (he had just transitioned) over the house phone about his new relationship with Lav and Kyle's so happy for him and, of course, teases a bit, but asks for all the details.

 They're Those (tm) friends who love info dumping about things they're passionate about.

Omg, imagine Lav going on and on about Mason to Decan and Otto. They’re just sorta babbling with her. Otto TRIES to give relationship advice but he’s just.... Terrible, it’s terrible advice lmao. He’s just trying.

And Decan’s laughing his li’l head off.

Decan, fanboying,- Oh my goodness, Peaches!! You guys are so CUTE!!!!! When's the wedding~~~

Lav- DECAN!!!!!! Ò//////Ó

 Decan - I'M JOKING. *mostly anyway, they still get married after college graduation*

 O: “K, you gotta try and outsmart him into letting you kill him! But you’ll find as you go that you’re actually falling for him and he’s falling for you too and it goes from there! And you can win him over with pick-up lines or fart jokes or by rapping for him as he sings along and I got notebooks for that sorta stuff if ya-“

D: *While laughing* “Otto, darling, c’mmoooooonnn! That advice sucks, not everybody falls for that crude humour and personality like I did, you know!”

O: “Psh! Oh yeah! Watch her try it and watch it work like a charm!”

D: “Oh yes, a charm, indeed.~ If your ‘embrace your inner animal’ way works then naturally my way would happen next, wouldn’t it? Soften you to mush and then claim that mush as mine.”

O: “Oh, ya li’l SCAMP! GET IN HERE!”

*Otto then proceeds to pull Decan in and noogie him between his horns as he laughs and kicks.*

 OMG THAT'S SO CUTE

Lav- Uhhhhh. I think I'll just. Go with the flow and maybe I'll try and kiss him again on Friday. Might bring a flavored lip gloss with me that day....

Decan- OOOH, SOMEONE HAS PLANS!!!!

Lav- DECAN, PLEASE!!!! ÒÒ///////ÓÓ

 ~~Otto got REALLY lucky finding someone as naturalist and oblivious to human sociality as Decan, let’s be honest, if ‘inner-beast’ crudeness and rude-fraternity-boy charm is his play style lmao~~

O: “Decan, we’re gonna be there and we’re gonna bring the MP3.”

D: “Love-songs, Yes? Can do.”

O: “Warm up those vocal chords!”

D: “Only if you warm up yours.”

O: “We’re gonna give them the best ambience EVER!”

D: “Historical. It shall be written down and carried down till the end of time!”

O: “HELL YEAH! VÁMONOS!”

 Lav- uh, you don't have to do that, it'll be like. Maybe after school? In the courtyard?

They’re, like, playfully pouty like ‘Fiiiiiiiiiiiine.’ But really they’re just happy for her.

 God, Otto and Percy are, like, the disaster parents for Lav. Especially for Bby lav.

Otto, especially, would absolutely ADORE Lav. I can’t speak entirely for Percy but I feel like they’d love her a whole bunch, but god, Otto absolutely adores Lavender.

 AWWWWW

Big, buff, tuff, ill-mannered-gentleman Vamp Dad and his li’l goddess.

 OMG HOLY FUCK NUGGETS YOU KNOW THAT THING? WHERE IT'S TWO ADULTS AND ONE BBY IN THE MIDDLE? DECAN, LAV, AND OTTO. Y E S. OR WITH ANY COUPLE ACTUALLY. AND THEN THEY SWING BBY LAV OVER LIKE CURBS AND STUFF AND AHHHH I'M SOMFT. SO CUUUTE!!!! OOH IN THIS AU, MASON AND LAV ARE STILL HELLA CUDDLY AND SNUGGLY. Gonna stop doing all caps lol. Anyway, masonder happens a bit earlier, but they've been friends for like 5 years at the time they are a Thing, so yeah haha. They are THE cutest thing ever. Always holding hands, face holding, sharing food, small pecks on the face, all that cute stuff uwu. They're in 7th grade btw. Both 12. They're relationship is steady and lasts all throughout middle school and high school. (Yes. They are the DEFINITION of an "Endgame Ship.") And then after they do the whole college thing, they tie the knot, have a baby, and live happily ever after uwu. :P

( This next bit is from a comic I did lol)

 QUENTIN GAVE HER THE KNIFE

Otto: “LAV, YOU CAN’T HAVE A KNIFE!!!

Have a crossbow, it’s much more powerful.” “Just don’t go staking papa Otto through the chest, now! It’s bad for me!”

 Lav- Oh cool! What about a sword! I'll be careful, I promise! And Hadley’s losing his mind lol Decan: *Does the moon butterfly magic sword thing*

“Here you are!” Bby Lav-

>:OOOOOOOO I'M GONNA KILL HOMOPHOBIC PEOPLE!!!

Hadley- Lav, honey, that's illegal.

Lav- But Mx. Percy does illegal stuff all the time!! Hadley: *Scoops Lavender up and Mary-Poppins flies the fuck out* YES

And that's what we came up with lmao

[kumkaniudaku]

Rock the Boat

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Sexual Content (18+)

Written By: @kumkaniudaku

ANYWHERE MASTER POST

Recommended Listening: Rock the Boat x Aaliyah

A second wake up didn’t result in another round, but it did provide needed rest for the busy wife and mother. Chadwick had crawled out of bed long before Tasha for a run along the island’s beach, leaving his lover to wake on her own time. For months on end, she was up at the first sign of daybreak, leading the charge to have everyone dressed and prepared for the day’s events before taking a second to compose herself. The need for relaxation was obviously present in the days leading up to the trip when she would trudge to bed and pass out in a heap at night. So for as long as she needed to sleep, he was willing to grant her that space.

By the time she sauntered out of the villa into the patio space, she was buzzing with renewed energy and a faint glow of sexual satisfaction.

“Well damn, if I’d have known you’d come out looking like that, I would’ve decided to have you for breakfast instead.”

Chadwick took in Tasha’s multicolor monokini and all it’s cutouts through her sheer cover-up as she made her way to his spot at the small table beside the pool. The front of her bathing suit presented her stomach to the world, still soft from carrying two children, but featuring more definition than she’d been accustomed to since Noah was born. In the back, the high cut design got a run for its money against her wide hips, becoming more of a thong than its original intention.

With his arms outstretched, Chadwick welcomed Tasha into his lap to pull her against his clothed chest and press kisses wherever bare skin greeted him. His lips against her shoulders sent a chill through her body that starkly contrasted the tropical heat around them.

“You heard what Micah said last night,” she giggled as she squirmed in his arms. “Don’t bring home any more babies.”

Chadwick chuckled at CoCo’s spot-on imitation of their oldest, “Where does she get this stuff from?”

“Probably my mama and aunties. They don’t make her go to sleep over there and she soaks in everything they say like a sponge.”

“Is that why she calls everybody honey now like she’s 65?”

“More than likely,” she laughed, recalling the time Micah calmly asked for more oatmeal in her bowl one morning before adding a southern ‘honey’ to the sentence for emphasis. At nearly seven years old, she’d only lived in Southern California, yet carried around the grace of a Southern Belle several years her senior.

“Anyway, what’s all this? I am starving!”

“This, my love, is the honeymoon special. That’s not what Niha called it, but I can’t remember so I renamed it.”

“Clever,” she laughed before sneaking a kiss to his cheek.

Peeling back the plate covers unleashed the perfect aromas of local delicacies and American fusions of traditional breakfast items that had Tasha’s mouth watering at first glance. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was while she was being treated to orgasm after orgasm. Now she was almost ravenous as she scrambled to find a fork and knife to dig in.

In the alone time, they’d been granted, Chadwick was able to take in the scope of his wife. It wasn’t that he didn’t know she was beautiful. That was obvious. It was the little nuances of her movements that kept him intrigued.

While he watched the apples of her cheeks rise in satisfaction as she enjoyed her meal, he contemplated sharing a piece of life-altering information that he had been sitting on.

“I talked to Angelique,” he casually introduced, causing his wife to slow down long enough to look at him over her shoulder. “She gave me some advice about our plan if you wanna hear it.”

Chadwick was met with silence before Tasha stood to transition from his lap to the seat across from him.

“Mmmkay. Go ahead.”

“Well, she said that it’s great that we want to do this and thinks we have a great chance of being approved.”

“But,” CoCo interjected. There had been nothing but good news followed by caveats from the moment they decided to embark on this journey. A ‘but’ was always expected at this point.

“But, we’ll need to seriously consider a few things.”

“We’ve been considering things for months. What else is there to consider?”

“Nothing major, baby. Just a few details like the size of the house, whether we want to do an open or closed situation, or if we should foster instead.”

“Let’s start with the size of the house.” The mood had clearly begun to sour as Tasha placed her utensils down in front of her to clasp her fingers and place them underneath her chin.

“She recommends shifting the kids around to make space for one more, but I recommend us moving altogether. Wait,” he interjected just as she opened her mouth to counter. “Hear me out. We can afford to move to somewhere down South. It’s cheaper, we’d be closer to our parents as they get up in age, and both of us are still able to work with no interruption to what we do now.”

“Okay, I can’t argue with you there. I still would rather adopt a small child though.”

“And we can do that. But, please, give fostering some thought. We could really help a kid. Not too old of course, but maybe around 8 or 9?”

“Aaron…”

“Think about it, baby. We don’t need to answer right now. Enjoy paradise and we’ll talk about it later. Deal?”

Finding it counterintuitive to further the touchy conversation while so much beauty and wonder surrounded them, CoCo used the napkin in her lap as her literal white flag and surrendered. There were still three days left to enjoy each other with no distractions and neither Chad or CoCo was willing to spoil it with problems from life back home.

“Alright, Pookie, you have complete control of my body and my time for the next three days. What we gettin’ into?”

“Complete control of your body and your time, huh?”

Their eyes met in equally provocative glances that still carried the embers of the flame ignited mere inches from their current positions.

Biting her lip, CoCo made a of show leaning across the table to address her husband. Her arms purposely pressed against her breasts to give Chadwick a full view of her cleavage spilling out of her bathing suit. Restraint kept his hands planted around his glass of orange juice, but his eyes were given permission to roam as they saw fit.

“Especially my body. Wherever…”

“Whenever,” he finished before letting his eyes travel to meet her dark brown orbs directly. “I’ll hold you to that. Until then, Niha will be back in a few to take us around the other islands. How you feel about snorkeling and jet skiing before lunch?”

“I feel like you just wanna see me wet and half naked all day.”

“Trust me, sweetheart, I can get you wet and completely naked right now if I need to.” The confidence in his matter of fact statement and half smirk made CoCo’s face heat up as she turned her head to hide a smile. Chadwick took notice and let out a full belly laugh.

“Don’t hide that pretty smile from me, girl. You know I’m right.”

“Where is this new level of nasty coming from, Mr. Boseman? I like it.”

Leaning across the table, Chadwick pulled Tasha’s hands into his to graze his lips across her knuckles. “You want me to be honest? I’m living out all the things I wanted to do with and to you when we talked about this all those years ago. Believe me when I say we’ve only scratched the surface.”

In CoCo’s mind, it seemed impossible to go any further than they had already gone. They’d had more sex in 16 hours than they’d had in 16 days in their own private corner of the world. If it all had to end right then, their half a day in the Maldives would still be heralded as their best excursion to date. What more was there to do?

When Niha returned to lay out the full itinerary, CoCo was worried that they would need an extra hour or two in the day to enjoy everything.

Every step of the way, they became drawn to each other like magnets. As the snorkeling guide gave rules and tips at the top of their session, Chadwick kept a hand at the small of Tasha’s back to make the occasional rub across her behind as inconspicuous as possible. A request for more sunscreen became CoCo’s excuse to run her hands across Chadwick’s back and chest more times than necessary. A warning from Niha about the legality of public displays of affection kept them from going too far, creating tension that would be useful for their time back at the villa.

With her body secure in his hold against the back loveseat of their passenger boat, CoCo allowed her eyes to close and her mind to truly take in the scope of what was happening around her. Chadwick felt her shoulders rise and fall in a deep sigh and tightened his grip around her.

“What you thinkin’,” he asked before placing a kiss on top of her head.

“I’m thinking that I am the luckiest girl in the world right now. You have made every one of my dreams come true.”

“You deserve it, baby.” In their first public show of affection that day, their lips came together in rapid sweet kisses and carefree giggles.

“So, you know,” CoCo started as she pulled away to lean against Chadwick. “I gotta step up my game for you this year. If you pull out any more surprises we may have to go to the Moon.”

“Maybe wait until this next one before you make the final decision.”

“What?”

Finally taking the time to pay attention to their route, Tasha noticed that they weren’t in the vicinity of their villa. Open water gave way to an unpopulated boating dock and a boat that carried two waving captains.

“We’re here, Mr. and Mrs. Boseman,” Niha smiled over her shoulders. Your captains for the night are Kyle and Aisar. They’ll take great care of you.”

“Uh, Niha, where exactly is here?”

Niha looked to Chadwick for permission to answer CoCo’s question which he granted with a lazy nod and smile.

“You are about to embark on a Kuoni sunset cruise. Your husband has requested total privacy for your evening. This is the perfect time to watch the sunset and spot a few dolphins during your outing.”

Tasha never got the chance to express her shock or gratitude. Niha’s boat came to a stop at the dock before they were carefully escorted from one mode of transportation to the next. The traditional dhoni, covered in exquisite handcrafted wood and billowing lateen sails, was covered in white roses in the section set aside for Chadwick and Tasha to enjoy alone. Glasses of sparkling wine were presented as gifts to pair a general rundown of the trip before they were left to enjoy the view alone.

Their tour took them past picturesque islands, unaffected and uninhabited, able to exist in gorgeous peace. Conversation flowed as easily as the drinks and, soon, the decision to relax against the plush pallet and pillows followed/

The gentle rock of the boat added serenity to the moment between husband and wife and sat side by side to watch the sun take its final resting spot beyond the horizon. A dolphin jumping out of the ocean for a brief hello made CoCo smile, as she stared into the distance. A gesture so tiny would’ve been overlooked by most, but Chadwick couldn’t bring himself to look away. 

If he had to choose, the moments when his wife was absorbed in her thoughts and with no concept of the world around her were his favorites. Her sunkissed skin absorbed the dwindling rays of sunshine and reflected them tenfold. Flecks of her college self still remained to mesh expertly with the more refined aspects of the beauty acquired through maturation. Chadwick would argue with anyone foolish enough to engage that his wife was the most stunning woman on Earth. But, instead of debating what needed no defense, he took her chin between his index and thumb to command her full attention.

“Can I get you anything else? More wine?”

“No, I think I’m good, babe. Thank you. For everything.”

Smiling, CoCo leaned in for a kiss filled with equal parts love and lust. With no one around,  the risk of offense lessened and she jumped at the opportunity to push the envelope. That simple mantra of whenever, wherever rolled around the corners of her mind as she leveraged her position to straddle Chadwick’s lap. His hands took their time on the journey to her hips before settling in their preferred position.

“Okay, so we’re going to Mars for your birthday. I’ll start booking as soon as we get back.”

Chadwick laughed and shook his head, “You don’t have to go that far. I trust we’ll have a good time either way.”

Both of them could feel the heat of the other through the thin material of their swimsuits as the shared another kiss, this time more intense than the soft pecks throughout the day. Chadwick’s fingertips pressed into the soft skin of CoCo’s waist and hips to guide her movements. He could feel and hear the excitement building as her breathing became shallow. This was the whenever and wherever they’d be searching for.  

At the swivel of her hips in his lap, Chadwick and Tasha shared a moan. Slow grinding was perfect for a night in, but time was waning.  was a sense of urgency in the way that CoCo slid her bathing suit to the side, prompting Chadwick to follow her lead and push his shorts down his thighs. He helped her lift to her knees before using his fingertips to work her pearl in slow circles. Tasha quickly reached down to take him in her palm, forming a half circle around his length to assist him in reaching the peak of his arousal.

“If we’re gonna do this,” Chadwick spoke as he exhaled. “You gotta promise you’ll be quiet.”

Laughing, she bent down to nip at his earlobe, “I was gonna say the same thing to you.”

Their hushed giggles were cut short by simultaneous and different curses. Knowing that time was of the essence, CoCo braced herself with both hands planted on Chadwick’s chest as he adjusted his angle beneath her. Audible sighs of pleasure were lost in the sounds around them while they watched him disappear inside of her inch by inch.

Tasha’s body readily accommodated the stinging stretch of him, hugging and massaging his dick with every rotation of her hips. Satisfied with the honey coating her thighs and his, CoCo planted her knees on either side of her husband’s hips to start a moderate bounce in his lap.

Chadwick was relegated to breathless moaning as Tasha took control. Her face screwed in acute focus, eyes clamped shut, head thrown back and her bottom lipped trapped beneath her teeth. The setting sun cast erotic shadows against the aged wood to transform their bodies into one being.

Her fluid motions became entrancing in the pinks and purples of the impending nightfall. The graceful rise and fall of her breasts matched the rhythmic roll of her hips, adding a visual to the sensation that never seemed to get old when they were together.

“Look at you,” Chadwick whispered into the crook of CoCo’s neck. “So pretty ridin’ daddy’s dick. You gon’ come like this?”

“Yessss!”

“Show me, baby. Don’t stop ‘til you come.”

A dull burn in her thighs did little deter the chase of her approaching orgasm as Tasha went into overdrive. Shifting back to a grinding motion gave her the range to satisfy the throbbing ache within while her clit repeatedly grazed his pelvis. Any extra coaxing would’ve sent her to take her place amongst the stars, which Chadwick knew and used to his advantage.

Firm pressure to her clit with the pad of his thumb gave her the final piece of the puzzle as she came undone in one tremor after the other. Finishing was no longer a priority for Chadwick. His chief concern was getting his wife to the crest of her wave in her favorite position.

Tasha dug her nails into her husband’s back to control the scream bubbling in her chest. At the height of her release, the faint sound of hooping and hollering in the distance felt like an odd hallucination.

“Yeaaaah! That’s how you enjoy the ocean!”

“Get it, girl! Nice moves!”

Tasha rushed to hide her face from the lively group of spectators as their dhoni’s passed in the night. Chadwick held her close to shield her from embarrassment though he found humor in the situation. The lack of light in the immediate area kept their identities concealed, removing the worry of ending up on the front page of a tabloid.

“Y’all have a nice night now,” Chadwick hollered back in the midst of his laughter.

“Same to you, buddy! Enjoy the honeymoon! Don’t do nothin’ we wouldn’t do!”

Chadwick accepted the unsolicited advice with a wave of his hand and a thank you until the visitors were no longer in sight. Collapsing on top of each other in a heap, Chadwick set off a string of laughs at the absurdity of the situation.

“I can not believe that just happened. We fucked on a boat and got caught by the only other tourists for miles. What is life right now?”

“You put on a damn good show though, baby. Maybe we can get some of that on camera later tonight?”

“On camera you say,” she asked with a playful glint in her eye. “Good. I think I’m ready for my close up.”

                                      ____________

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[erisgregory]

Tell Me We Belong Together Chapter 1

cross posted to AO3

or start with the first fic: The Reason Is You

Authors:  Crysty09, erisgregory

Crysty09′s tumblr Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: M/M, Multi Fandom: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019) Relationship: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes/Kyle Valenti Characters: Michael Guerin, Alex Manes, Kyle Valenti, Max Evans, Liz Ortecho, Isobel Evans, Maria DeLuca Additional Tags: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Polyamory, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Bliss, Various Combinations of Our Boys Together, Threesomes, Unsafe Sex Summary: Michael, Alex, and Kyle continue to navigate their way in their new relationship together. But there are forces outside of their blissful bubble working against them. What will happen when they are put to the test? Author's Notes:The sequal to The Reason Is You is here! We are both so excited to continue this story with you all, thank you to every reader, kudos, and comment leaver! Your support keeps us going!

The house was empty as expected when Michael got home. He’d run overtime working on a car and texted Alex and Kyle that he would meet them at the dinner party as soon as he had a shower. After a month of living with them it didn’t feel weird to be in the cabin alone anymore. So he quickly showered, threw on some clean clothes, and drove to Max and Liz’s place for dinner. Thankfully he got there before dinner was served.

Alex and Kyle had gone on to dinner, knowing Michael would follow when he could. By the time Michael arrived, Liz had given them a 10 minute warning but Alex, Kyle, and Arty were still playing on the little swing set out back, the little boy's peals of laughter carrying across the flat land. The three of them looked up when Michael approached and both Alex and Kyle beamed, "hey cowboy," Alex said with a grin.

Michael could feel the huge grin he wore for his boyfriends. He'd missed them, working long hours at the shop for several days in a row. "Hey." He said softly to them before turning his attention to the little boy.

"Hey Arty, you having fun out here?" He asked.

Alex hated the weeks when Michael and Kyle worked the same shifts; his coding contracts with businesses around town did not keep him busy enough not to miss them so much; so he had started keeping Arty and the two of them had become fast friends. Arty giggled at his uncle, "uh huh, uncle Awex lets me swing higher than momma does." And Alex grinned and shushed them.

Kyle laughed and walked over to kiss Michael, "if we don't want to get in trouble with them, we should probably run," he teased.

Michael laughed at Alex. Of course he let Arty swing higher than his momma allowed. That sounded about right. "I'm out here to bring you all in anyway." He said. "Liz is laying the table as we speak."

Kyle shrugged at Arty as if to ask, what can you do? Then he headed toward the door. "You three coming? I'm starved."

With a laugh, Alex squatted down and Arty climbed on his back, easily wrapping around him before Alex stood and walked to kiss Michael, "I missed you," he said quietly and Arty made a face. "Let's go eat," Alex grinned and bounced Arty with his free hand.

Michael felt full of warmth as they walked inside together. Kyle and Alex had a way of making him feel wanted. Inside they sat at the table with everyone, Maria and Isobel had arrived around the time Michael had so everyone was in attendance.

"This looks amazing." Kyle told Liz. "Thanks for having us."

Liz beamed at Kyle as she peeled Arty off of Alex's back, "it's nothing special. We love having the family over," she grinned around at all of them as she placed the little boy in his booster seat. Max came in from the kitchen carrying a few beers followed by Isobel with a bottle of wine and a few glasses; they handed out the drinks as everyone settled around the table.

Max laughed, "don't let her fool you, she has been flitting around here all day trying to make sure everything is perfect," he kissed Liz's cheek.

Liz blushed prettily as Max kissed her cheek and she hit him playfully on the arm. "Shut up." She told him.

"That's a bad word Momma." Arty told her and they all laughed. He looked a little put out so Liz reassured him. "You're right, that's a bad word and Momma shouldn't say it.

Michael felt settled here amongst family. It was a reaction he never realized he would have or need, but he did. He needed all of these people in his life or he couldn't feel quite right. That's what had been missing all those years. These wonderful people and this found family.

Alex snorted at Arty calling his mom out, that kid was too smart for his own good but that shouldn't surprise anyone considering who his parents were and the group of adults around this table who acted as his role models.

He could see the way Michael relaxed and looked around them and he leaned in closer so that only Michael could hear him, "it's nice to have such an amazing family isn't it?" He whispered, smiling and touching Michael's thigh.

Michael smiled softly at Alex. "It's perfect." He said, just so Alex could hear him." It was perfect too. Everything was falling into place.

"No secrets at the table." Isobel teased them. Michael just laughed at her and shook his head.

"It's no secret, I'm just enjoying being with all of my favorite people." He told her with a grin.

"And we were talking about our lucky we are to have such an awesome family," he smiled around the table.

The ladies beamed and Maria raised her glass, " I'll drink to that," she said.

And also raised his glass followed by Kyle with a grin.

Michael raised his glass to toast as did Max and Liz. "To our awesome family." Max said. They clinked their glasses and beer bottles all the way around, even Arty got in on the fun.

"Now dig in, and be sure and tell Liz how good it is." Max told them with a laugh. This time Liz only said, "Oh hush you."

They all laughed at Liz and Max's exchange before turning to their food. Alex took a bite and moaned quietly, "that's so good Liz," he grinned, "it's nice to have a home cooked meal that I didn't cook," he glanced at Michael and Kyle with a playful look,"I have to get the recipe from you."

Michael pretended to be put out for half a second before he started chuckling. Anyone who knew him knew he couldn’t cook. “It is really good, Liz.” He agreed. “Yeah it is.” Kyle agreed. Everyone at the table had to agree with Alex. The food was fantastic.

A comfortable silence fell over the room as they all ate. When Alex cleared his plate, he leaned back in his chair, "I ate too much," he joked, running his hands over his stomach.

Michael, who’d had seconds, was in agreement. But it sure had been good. He drank down the rest of his beer.

“So no dessert?” Maria asked. “Isobel and I brought something good.” She tried tempting everyone, but only Max was ready for dessert.

"Maybe I'll have room in a bit," Alex said with a laugh, "So, Iz, how are the renovations coming?" He leaned on the table, "I have some spare time while they work next week if you need some extra hands."

“Don’t get her started.” Maria warned. “Hey!” Isobel objected and then they both laughed. “I might have changed my mind on the bathroom tile.” Isobel explained. “Again.” Maria added. Michael and Kyle both chuckled at that. “I could really use your help, Alex.” Isobel told him.

Alex laughed, "I would be happy to come by and help," he grinned at Isobel. And Maria sighed, "will you please convince her to stop changing her mind or we will never get it finished?" Alex nodded, "I'll do my best."

Max stood to start clearing plates and Michael joined him. When they got to the kitchen Max grabbed his arm and stopped him from leaving. “Hey, how are things going?” Max asked.

“Good. Great.” Michael replies with a grin.

Max let him go with a smile. “Just checking, I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

Max nodded, "you all certainly seem happy, is living together working out okay?" He asked, clapping a hand on his brother's back, "anything from Alex's brothers?" He asked.

In the other room, Isobel smiled at Alex and Kyle, "have you all done okay living with Michael?" She asked, "I know he can be exhausting." Alex laughed, "it's actually really great," he said glancing at Kyle.

“So far so good. I think we’re finally settling into a routine.” Michael said to Max. “No, nothing. I think the restraining order is doing its job.” Michael told him.

Kyle spared a glance at the kitchen but Michael wasn’t coming back yet. “It really has been great. I think we might still be in our honeymoon phase.” He laughed but he also thought it was true.

"Good," Max said with a smile, "I hoped it would do the trick. So have you decided what you are going to do with the Airstream?" He asked.

Alex agreed with Kyle, he knew their life wouldn't always be rainbows and sunshine, "even if he does get exhausting, I don't think I have ever been this happy," he said, taking Kyle's hand.

“I think I’m gonna sell it. At first I thought I’d hang on to it in case I needed to give them some space, but now I don’t think I’ll need it. If I need to give them space I can always go to a motel.” Michael said.

“Or come here.” Max offered.

“Thanks man.” Michael said with a grin.

“Y’all seem happy.” Maria offered.

“We really are.” Kyle said softly squeezing Alex’s hand.

Alex smiled at his husband, "yeah Michael just kind of fits in our lives, like he belonged there all along." Kyle nodded. Maria smile as she listened to Alex and Kyle, she could see their happiness and it made her heart swell.

After a few minutes, Arty yawned and Liz smiled, "I think it's somebody's bedtime." The little boy frowned "but mama," he whined.

Max and Michael came back from the kitchen for another load of dishes and Maria and Isobel jumped in to help too. Liz tried to tell everyone to leave it but no one listened. So she had Arty say his good nights to everyone and she shuffled him off to bed.

By the time Liz returned from putting Arty in bed, the others had cleared the table and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. "So shall we take dessert out back? It's a beautiful night." She asked, smiling at the group. Alex nodded, "that sounds wonderful," he said.

Michael and Kyle both agreed and Isobel and Maria set about grabbing the dessert and plates to take out back. Max and Liz had a gorgeous backyard. There was the swing set of course, but on the big patio they had a table and chairs and a firepit. Michael stowed that idea away for the cabin. He was pretty sure he could build one for them and then they could enjoy evenings like this outdoors too.

Isobel cute pieces of her homemade strawberry rhubarb pie while Maria scooped vanilla ice cream onto each plate, then Liz helped pass them out. Once everyone had a plate, they settled back to chat.

"We've decided that Arty is going to need a lot of help if he's going to be ready to start kindergarten next year. He's a little bit behind in some areas. Not his verbal skills." Liz said.

"But numbers particularly." Max added. "He's more curious about how things work than he is about numbers. He'd rather have you read to him about anything other than numbers."

Alex and Kyle moved to sit, thanking Liz for their plates as they settled in as close to Michael as they could get.

Alex chuckled, "sounds a lot like his uncle Michael," he teased. Then he looked at Liz and Max, "if you want, I can try to start working with him on the days that I have him, try to find a way to make it fun for him."

"Oh would you?" Liz leaned over looking at Alex and grinning. "We do our best but I think when it's Momma and Daddy it's more like work than play." Liz explained. "Coming from you he ought to get a lot more out of it."

"Has he shown any sign of powers yet?" Isobel asked. "I know Max said you two were watching him like hawks."

Max laughed, "the other night, he got put in time out for telling Liz to shut up and when we were fussing with him, the light bulb in his lamp exploded," he shrugged, glancing around at the group.

Alex laughed, "oh goodness, things are going to start getting interesting now huh?" He asked.

"Oh yeah." Max said. "We had to have a talk about it and everything. Hopefully he won't be telling any of his friends about his secret powers."

Michael had to laugh at that. Though he'd learned the hard way to keep his powers under control and a secret, he was glad for Arty having parents who could help him learn the right way.

Kyle frowned, "you might want to let him practice from time to time somewhere safe," he shrugged, "I mean I know if I had new powers I would want to play with them and it would be better if he did that with at least one of us," he gestured around the group.

"Kyle, you're brilliant." Liz beamed. "I think you're right." She added.

"It would definitely be better than how we all learned." Michael pointed out. "At least with one of us there to guide him he'll be able to learn to control himself faster.

With a grin, Kyle nodded, "I try," he teased, "I was just thinking about what it would be like for me," he laughed.

Alex couldn't stop himself from grinning at his husband.

Isobel glaced at Michael and nodded, "yeah, it would have been wonderful to have some guidance when we were discovering our abilities instead of just flying blindly."

When talk of Arty and his powers slacked off to just eating pie and complimenting Isobel, Isobel changed the subject to Michael. "Has work finally picked up for you again?" She asked.

"It has, yeah. I actually almost have too much work as it is now. Word finally got around that I'm back so people have been requesting me left and right."

Alex faked a pout, "yeah, him and Kyle are always working lately," he smiled, "that's why I love my time with Arty." He smiled at Michael, "but it's like whole town just held their car problems until he got back," he laughed.

"I'm the fastest." Michael laughed. "It's a little bit of a pain at times. I do miss my guys." He said.

"We miss you too, but I'm glad you both have stuff to do while I'm pulling long hours at the hospital." Kyle said.

"Oh man, I don't know what I'd do if Isobel's charitable work was like that." Maria said. "She has me spoiled."

Michael threw his napkin at her. "Nobody likes a bragger." He teased.

They all laughed at Michael and Isobel and Alex felt warm at the easy atmosphere surrounding them. He looked around before sighing happily, "well I think that it's about time me and these two handsome fellas call it a night," he smiled at both Michael and Kyle, "I'm sure they are both exhausted."

"Yes." Michael and Kyle said in unison. Then they all laughed. "Thank you for dinner, it was amazing." Kyle told them.

"And dessert was too." Michael added. He was stuffed and happy and exhausted. Definitely ready to go home.

Alex stood and moved to hug Liz, "you have to send me that recipe okay?" He asked, kissing the top of her head before turning to shake Max's hand, "tell Arty I will see him soon " Then he stepped to hug Maria and Isobel, "the dessert was perfect, and I will call you next week to make plans for me to come help you guys with the house."

Then he turned to smile at Michael and Kyle, "ready?" He asked.

Michael and Kyle made the rounds saying goodbye to everyone in turn. Michael reminding Max that his car was due a tune up and an oil change probably and Kyle telling Isobel again how much he'd enjoyed her pie.

"Ready." Kyle told Alex. "Ready as I'll ever be." Michael echoed. Then they headed back through the house to their cars.

[acrobaticcatfeline]

Rebuilding a Broken Mind, an Orphan Sanders fic

Word Count: 6484

TW: swearing, only a little bit, death mention, murder mention, doctors? patton is a veterinarian, idk if doctors is a trigger but you know better safe than sorry, i wrote thomas as bi and married to a chick but hes dead so like? also patton is pan and likes a chick. patton gets overwhelmed and cries a lot.

Notes: This is my orphan au and i cherish it they’re all such goods.

Pairings: uh none really, thomas and valerie, patton is crushing on my OC.

Summary: “Oh! Um, hi! My name is Patton Sanders, nice to meet you! Um, I’m 20, a veterinarian, and well, I’m an orphan.” Patton lost his parents when he was 15 and had to raise himself and his three younger brothers on his own. hes 20 now, and hes got a job and hes starting to get his life together. Of course with reminders of his parents constantly surrounding him, it makes it hard to really move on.

Oh! Um, hi! My name is Patton Sanders, nice to meet you! Um, I’m 20, a veterinarian, and well, I’m an orphan. I have three little brothers named Virgil, Logan, and Roman! They are so super awesome! Virgil is the sporty guy at his high school, he’s 17 and the captain of like, all of the schools’ sport teams! Logan is my little genius! He’s only 14, but he’s a whole two years ahead and in high school with Virge! Roman is my theatre kiddo, he’s in every arts program at his school and knows how to play just about every instrument at only 9!!! Now, as for me, I’m nothing special, I just try really really hard, so my brothers are safe. I triple timed high school and college so that by the time I turned 18 I had my degree in veterinary medicine. Logan claims I pulled an Aaron Burr by doing this, which I don’t fully understand, but I assume it’s a cool thing. I only did what I had to though, we were already orphaned by the time I started high school, which meant we had no money for college. My high school said that it would pay all my college expenses if I followed the guidelines set, and so I super dashed through school. I managed to ace just about all my classes with some help from my friends and siblings. But that isn’t what this is about. I’m not the focus in this story, I’m just the narrator and eyes. This is a story about 4 kids forced to grow up far too fast. This is a story of the children of the most amazing people. Because when it comes down to it, we’re broken minds, struggling to put ourselves back together.

               Now, to start, we have to explain what happened first. Our parents, Thomas and Val Sanders were out at a college play that a friend of theirs was a part of. Unfortunately, they never made it out alive. One of the people attending the play started a shoot-out with about 5 others helping him. Nearly the whole auditorium was killed. Including them.

We had no living next of kin, so a family friend took us in for a short while before dropping us all off at the orphanage. I will never forget that day. I remember them letting us grab our important things from our old house. I remember crying while holding all my siblings close. I remember having to be dragged out of my home. I remember the looks of pure pity from the orphanage staff. I remember them trying to separate me from my brothers. I remember almost punching them. I remember the name of the staff member who was the only one to understand and let us stay together, his name was Terrance. I remember hugging him before we were ushered off. I remember the confusion from Roman when we told him we weren’t going home. I remember Virgil carrying him around telling him that this was home now, with faux excitement and a plastic smile. I remember Roman thinking mom and dad were still coming back, and none of us having the heart to tell him otherwise. I remember Logan not speaking at all for the next month. But most of all, I remember the broken parts that got littered everywhere we went.

I was 15. Roman was only 4. We were broken beyond repair. At least, I thought we were. I thought for sure that we were going to go straight from the orphanage to the homeless shelter. But I did it. I managed to do something, and it changed our lives forever.

The day before I turned 18, I went through with my plan. I have friends named Joan and Talyn who already had a house due to Talyn’s parents having money to spare. They let us stay with them for as long as we needed. We brought all of our things over and we explained the rules of this new situation. My bros were quick to follow instruction. The next day we officially moved out of the horrible child prison we were owned by. I was already well into my job as a vet tech and was able to fully become a veterinarian the next month due to my boss seeing that I was at least twice as competent as the resident vets. And so, it began.

It was bittersweet when we got our own place, as Joan and Talyn had grown to adore my little brothers in the short year we lived there. But I had finally earned enough money to rent a house, plus the orphanage contacted me, telling me about a very large inheritance we apparently had, which was somehow enough to buy said house. We ended up moving in and used the money I earned for beds and a couch.

Over the next year we bought more furniture and accessories as we saw fit. At the present moment, my room is bright blue with animal posters and pop culture references sprawled about randomly. Logan and Roman’s room is split in half. One side is meticulous with dark blue and black walls and a few nerdy posters, mostly of doctor who and Sherlock Holmes. The other however, was messy as all get out, had musical posters everywhere and usually had the mess all the way up to the metaphorical line. Logan never complained unless Roman’s things crossed it. Now Virgil confused me. I was planning on him sharing a room with me, but he refused, claiming that I needed privacy and rest since I was working full time and he wasn’t. All he wanted was a couch, some bedding, music, and some makeup. Because I’m a stubborn mule, whenever he lets me buy him things, I buy him the most bestest makeup and all his favorite albums, as well as some of the best headphones sold. He gets mad at me, but he deserves the world and more.

Okay, now we’re in the present! So, I might as well start the actual story now. Ok well then. Its Friday morning, today the big game at the high school is happening, which means Virgil has to leave early for practice. By early, I mean about the time that I leave for work which is 6 am.

I get up and make food like I normally do, only doubled because Lo and Virge usually sleep for another half an hour. Ro always gets up with me because I’m his ride to school. Virgil has a motorcycle that he drives himself and Logan to school on. I start up some friendly conversation as we eat, Virgil still groggy from sleep.

“are you ready for the game today? Isn’t it against the school rivals? I hope you guys beat them again, but I’m sure you will with such a good captain!!!” I wink at him as he chuckles.

“yeah, we’ve got this, if anything, I’ve got this, and that’s really the point. Yeah, it’s our rivals, the panthers, today. Not that they’ve ever been a challenge. We’ve swept the floor with them for countless years. And thanks for the poorly concealed compliment. Do we have anymore coffee?” he rambles off answers to my questions.

“yeah, but I don’t get paid til tomorrow and there’s only a cup worth left. Proceed at your own risk.” As soon as I say it, Logan zooms to the coffee and brews it for himself, cackling maniacally (giggling cutely).

“HAHAH!!! You will never get a drop of the saccharine nectar!!! Tis mine, forever and always!” he brushes his hair back with his hand and smiles at us. Roman beams and stands up in a fighting stance.

“thou shalt not loot this poor pauper of his deserved libation!!! Come at me thy villainous fiend!” and quickly the two start playing mock sword fighting. Me and Virgil laugh as Logan gets vanquished and the cup of coffee gets given to V. Logan ends up stealing some still, to my amusement.

We end up splitting up as the kiddos go to school and I head to work. I walk in, put on my coat, and then the place blows up. There is a half dead dog on my table and another 2 that are at least stable waiting. I’m apparently the only actual vet that showed up today. Great. Today’s gonna be fun.

 I’m not gonna go into what happened at work, because honestly, not much happened. It was an average day at work, but now is time for the interesting part!!! So, the big game at the high school is happening today right? Well, let me talk about it!

So, I go and pick up Roman from school and head over to the high school while asking Ro about his day. He learned a healthy amount of animal and plant biology, so I talk about some of the things he didn’t understand and made a few biology puns which were received quite well luckily! When we get to the school, I call Logan to figure out where he had stationed himself. We meet up and find a nice spot on the bleachers. Not long after, the teams came out and started playing. Virgil is easy to spot, not to mention the announcers are constantly shouting about him as he keeps running the ball the furthest of either team. The game is pretty average for the most part, up until the very end. Virge takes the win but not a second after, he gets tackled full force to the ground. I stand up and look over the crowd as I see him up again, shoving the other guy away. The guy gets up close to his face and I think Virgil is going to punch him-oh god please don’t punch him. The guy gets dragged away by the referee and Virgil has a bunch of teammates coming to check on him and I feel much less on edge. I shouldn’t though. As soon as I think it’s done the announcers go quiet and the stands go crazy as Virgil uppercuts the guy and then knees him in the stomach.

“what just happened there?! Kyle, why did Sanders just risk his high school career like that?!”

“Fitton insulted sanders’ younger brother.” Oh. Oh no. Oh HELL NO! Logan stands up and looks in the direction of the guy and visibly shudders. Oh, he’s lucky that V got to him first. Oh, I might be going to jail guys! The rest of this story might be told from prison!

“Logan, do you know that guy?” I ask calmly. He looks at me before turning away.

“um, yeah. He uh, he’s an ex of mine…” I tense up. He’s never told me about him having been in a relationship! He tells me everything! Ugh, that’s not important right now…

“is he a freshman? I haven’t seen him on the team before.” Lo nods.

“yeah, we met at the local library. I didn’t tell you cuz I didn’t think you’d want me to date someone and um, never mind… Anyways, we broke up cuz he was trying to pressure me into doing um, bad things.” I twitch. Oh, I might kill him. I shake my head and take Roman’s hand and start walking down towards the team to pick up Virgil. We get down there and I check up on Virgil, checking for medical issues; he very well could have gotten another concussion. I get distracted when Virgil hisses at something behind me.

“oh, calm down parselhead. I wasn’t even coming over here for you” I hear in a low drawl behind me. “how’s it hanging bookie?”

“first off, I’ve told you what that actually means and that that nickname bothers me, please cease this instant, and second, I’m doing fine how are you Loki?” I hear Logan say calmly.  I tense slightly and turn around with an angry look on my face.

“Logan you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I know for certain I wouldn’t if I were you.” Logan looks at me but shakes his head.

“I can converse with an ex and still be civil about it Pat. It’s no problem.” he smiles softly at me, but I can’t help the anger that swells in my chest seeing the huge smirk that this guy is wearing.

“yeah Patton we can be civil here, no need for this hostility. Anyways, I’m doing fantastic Logan! Thank you for asking! I even have a new boyfriend, one who doesn’t try to keep me a secret.” His voice is contradictory to his words.

“it was two years ago, and I was twelve and still in an orphanage, I didn’t need my older brother worrying about me anymore than he already did. Plus, I barely understood my emotions, how do you think I would deal with my brothers’?” Logan crosses his arms and looks up at him accusingly.

“I dunno, I sorta thought you were enjoying the relationship, but you just ended it for no reason, citing your brother as too intimidating to cross, and neither of them look that scary to me.” He says and I look over to Logan in confusion. He walks closer to him and starts talking again, harsher than before.

“you and I both know that wasn’t what happened. You got pissed off that I didn’t want to go smoke and bang you arrogant prick. Also, I’d watch what you say about my brothers if I were you.” He just smirks while he backs away.

“okay then, I see I’m no longer wanted here. See you round bookie.” He walks away, and Logan shakes his head and face palms.

“every fricking time… I try to be civil but he always… ugh never mind it doesn’t matter. V are you okay? I don’t know what Loki said, but I can almost guarantee it was a lie. Also, he has a ridiculously hard skull, don’t ask how I know that, are you bleeding? Concussed?” Logan looks up at Virgil with a worried smile.

“yeah, I’m sure it was a lie, didn’t make it any less enraging. And no, I’m not bleeding or concussed. You dated him? How?! He’s such a prick!!!” Logan laughs.

“I don’t know, he was interesting. He told good stories and listened to me when I needed to vent. He’s also an incredibly good pillow. Really, he was just, the person I needed at the time, I guess.” He shrugs. Virgil is still watching him leave with an angry glare fixed on his face. I decide to change the topic.

“hey guys, you want pizza for dinner tonight? Food for champions!” the other three smile and cheer. V changes out and we head home, and I hand make three pizzas from scratch the way that we usually like it. Dad loved pizza and he said my pizza was the best, so I usually make it for celebrations or as a pick-me-up. It seems like its serving as both tonight. While its baking I make a couple of announcements.

“okay, so I’m going shopping tomorrow morning, but when I’m done with that, I thought we’d go visit Joan and Talyn? They have some presents for you all.” All three of them look up from what they were doing with wide eyes and smiles.

“YEEEEESSS!!! JOAN AND TALYN ARE SUPER AWESOMAZINGSAUCE YAAAAAAYYY!!!” Roman screams. I giggle as Roman jumps around and hugs me. Logan laughs along with me as he pulls Roman away.

“calm down Ro, Pat is cooking, you can’t be that close to the hot oven. I’m excited too, yes Ro.” Virgil looks at me questioningly.

“why do they always get us gifts? It seems like every time we see them, they have stacks of presents for us.” I shrug.

“well, I sort of introduced my lifelong friends to my 7, 12, and 15-year-old brothers who were sort of helpless at the time. They like me, but they adore you guys. Some kind of cool grandparent syndrome I guess.” Virgil laughs loudly at this as the pizzas beep. I pull them out to cool and tell some more puns to pass the time. The evening goes on without a hitch, we play a round of word association games as we eat our pizza. I pack up the leftovers in lunch bags for the 4 of us and then clean up the kitchen. As I finish with that, Roman shouts for me to tell him a story.

I tell a story of a brave prince who has to protect his kingdom from a fierce dragon witch. The dragon witch had stolen away the princes soon to be bride. The prince fought through many trials to save his fiancé, however he was beaten to it by another beautiful princess who had won the maidens heart instead. The prince was of course fair, as the princess had fairly bested him, and so he went on a mission to love himself before he went around looking for a fitting bride-or groom, again. Roman sleepily cheers and snuggles into a black cat plush V gave him.

The most difficult to get to sleep is Logan, who just wants to read all night. He changes to a different book just as I walk over to his desk. “Lo, you need to go to bed. You want to be well rested for tomorrow kiddo. You can read your book tomorrow, I promise the ending won’t change, and it won’t leave without you.” He yawns, he has had a long day.

“if I go to sleep will you sing for me? Please?” he looks at me with puppy dog eyes.

“of course, Lo. Bookmark your page and go get ready for bed and I’ll sing for you.” He smiles and rushes off to get ready. He’s back in a few minutes.

“can you sing dads old lullaby? If not its ok but-” I cut him off.

“of course, I can Lo.”

“somewhere there’s someone who wants you to be

How they want you to be, their opinion

They’ll paint you the colors that they wanna see

And to them, its Monet,

But to you, it’s a gray, silhouette

So, pick up a pencil, a stencil, a crayon,

The picture is not finished yet

You can let someone else tell you your story,

You can let someone else tell you what’s true

Or you can set yourself free,

Climb the tallest highest tree,

Or maybe sit back and take in the view,

You can let yourself, let yourself do

Anything.”

By the time I finish the chorus, Logan is sound asleep, snoring softly and cuddling an owl plush. I get up, tuck him in, turn off the lights, then head into the living room. Virgil is laying on the couch with his headphones on full blast. I grab his sleep meds and a cup of water and hand them over to him.

“hey, you shouldn’t listen to your music that loud, it could damage your hearing. You don’t have to listen to me, but I just wanted to let you know. I worry about you guys, you know?” he smiles and takes the meds. He turns down the volume on his headphones and nods.

“sorry Pat, I didn’t realize they were that loud. And, we worry about you too. You do way more for us than you have to. Anyways, thanks for the meds and sleep well okay? Don’t stay up all night again.” I giggle and nod before giving him a quick hug and going to my room.

I do a few pieces of paperwork that I wasn’t able to do before the end of my shift and send a quick text to my vet tech Elenora, checking in on her, as she’s been off on vacation and she’s supposed to be getting back tomorrow, and she has some things she needs to pick up at the office. She’s also absolutely amazing and sweet and beautiful and I love talking to her so so much. But that’s beside the point. After I get all of that done, I check the time, realizing that its now 11:45 and I should have been in bed an hour ago. I quickly fall asleep soon after luckily.

The next day is super-duper hectic so like, hold onto your horses, this is gonna be a wild ride! Okay okay, so I get up at 8 and go shopping, blah blah, tons of coffee because my boys and I have a problem. I unload everything by 10 which is when the kiddos are waking up. Virgil apologizes for not waking up to help but I wave him off as I start to make a small lunch because three meals a day, but Joan and Talyn are probably going to take us out for lunch knowing them, so I don’t want us to lose our appetite, that’d be rude! Anyways I set out the 4 plates and eat mine before going to take a quick shower. By the time I shower and change, all three of them are conversing around the table. I smile fondly because, hey, I helped raise these fantastic kiddos! LOOK AT MY BROTHERS!!! Okay, I’m good now. I walk up to the table and they all smile happily at me before going back to their debate.

“listen, if you have straight caffeine you die, therefore this stuff is totally deadly and like, we’re slowly killing ourselves by drinking it.” Virgil says, being devil’s advocate per usual.

“well yes but that’s like chlorine and sodium!!! They are both deadly elements on their own, but together give us salt! Not to mention that even too much water can kill a human! And! Another point, coffee is a natural occurrence just like water!!! In reasonable quantities, coffee is perfectly safe!!!” Logan rants passionately making me glad that I invested some money into speech and debate for him. Roman grins.

“but if water, coffee, and salt could kill us, does that mean that the world is trying to kill all life on it?!? are we living on a death rock?!? LOGAN IS THE WORLD GONNA KILL US?!?!” his grin slowly gets sadder and more scared as he continues. Logan flinches slightly.

“I mean, technically humans have been killing the earth for years so I wouldn’t put it out of the question that that is the reason that everything on earth is potentially deadly to humans. That would make sense… gosh darn it why do you always send me into steadily collapsing bouts of existentialism?” Logan shakes his head likely jumping into one of his existential crises.

“do I want to know the opening remarks?” I ask and they all shake their heads no. I grab a mug and make myself some creamer with a hint of coffee. Heheh!!! Caramel coffee is very good, but caramel mint coffee is even better! Roman runs off to get changed right as Logan goes to take a quick shower. V asks to change in my room which I am totally ok with because of course!!!

Oh! I should say what we’re wearing shouldn’t I? okay okay, so I wear my favorite pair of khakis, which are quite worn from wear. I wear a pun-ny shirt about dogs, and a tan cardigan with black white and purple plaid shirt underneath. I also have some nice black boots. When Roman comes out, he’s dressed in a red theatre shirt, white jeans, and a white fluffy coat, with his favorite white fluff boots. Logan comes out with his talk nerdy to me tee, black ripped skinny jeans, a black fluffy jacket, black boots, and a snap back. Virgil ends up wearing his nirvana shirt, black ripped skinny jeans, leather jacket, and black converse.

Logan sneaks up behind Roman and puts one of his Disney caps on him. Roman gasps because Lo never shares his hats. He tries to give it back but Lo tells him not to. “I got that one just for you Ro, keep it.” I think RoRo almost cries as he dashes into a cute embrace with Lo. Logan giggles as he sees his baby brother smile. It really is the best feeling ever when you can be the cause of a smile.

Soon after the scene of pure wholesomeness, we head on our way to Joan and Talyn’s house. We are greeted by happy faces and a stack of gifts. This is normal I guess, like V mentioned, they always have piles of gifts for us.

“hiya!!! Glad you could make it! We decided to make a big meal instead of going out, I hope you guys don’t mind?” Talyn grins sheepishly. “and we also invited a couple more people. Sorry we didn’t tell you it was a surprise!”

“a surprise? Who’s here?” I ask, looking around them both to see. There are more gifts than usual. And they’re gift wrapped. Oh gosh what did I forget? Wait… what month is it? oops. I might’ve said that out loud.

“its January Pat.” Joan states simply with a growing grin. Oh god, it’s my birthday soon isn’t it.

“happy early birthday Patton-cake!” Talyn yells happily. Yup. Oh, I’m an idiot. I facepalm.

“I’m glad Joan called me on Monday, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten your presents from us and brought them over!” V smirks as we walk in. of course they were all plotting against me, I should have known! As I walk in, I see Leo, Jamahl, Dominic, Dahlia, Kenny, Derionna, Rafaela, calypso, and oh god, how did they get Elenora?!? I don’t think I’ve ever even talked about her to them!!! Not to mention that she must be horribly jetlagged!

“oh my god no way!!! I love you guys so much aaaa!!! How do you even know Elie?!?” I say as I go around giving hugs to my friends from back in high school that I’ve missed so much.

“dude, Els is in a bunch of my classes. She never shuts up about work, so it was easy to find out that you guys knew each other. Not to mention her constant fawning over ‘doctor sanders’” Elie punches Joan in the arm.

“listen here bean boozled, are you gonna keep outing me or are we gonna start this party? I estimate the time between now and when I fall unconscious from exhaustion and jetlag is t minus 4 hours.” She states matter of factly. God, I love her, I’m so far gone.

Joan and Talyn attack me with a hat while I’m fantasizing, and they laugh mischievously as they drag me over to the table.  Joan’s saying something in one ear and Talyn’s saying something else in my other and I’m confused as heck, but all my friends surround me as well as my baby brothers and start singing at me. I don’t even comprehend what they’re saying because my brain can’t remember the last time I had a surprise party, and its actively making me remember my 14th when my dad and mom threw me a giant birthday bash and it was all day long and we fell asleep in a pile on the couch and before I can stop it all the voices start freaking out and I touch my face and I finally notice that I’m crying, and gosh I just ruined it of course gosh darn it they all went out of their way to make this and now I’m just sad and crying. I feel a thud and finally pay enough attention to see Roman hugging me tightly and apologizing. I pat his head and smile at him before kneeling down and reassuring him.

“Ro Hun, it’s not your fault I’m crying, I just remember mom and dad that’s all. I was caught up in my head but I’m fine. I promise ro. Do you wanna help me blow out the candles?” Roman smiles widely and nods. I pick him up and we blow out the candles together. The others all smile and cheer. Joan stands next to me with a smirk. Oh gosh they’re going to have me do something dangerous and I’m gonna agree because its going to be fun and d a n g e r o u s.

“you realize we are stealing you tomorrow to go barhopping right? Els even offered to dd for us! I mean of course, she’s sorta still underage for a few more months, but yeah, you, me, Talyn, and els are going to have birthday bash part two and its going to sick as Fu-” I cover their mouth before they can finish their swear.

“my baby brothers are here!!! No swearing!!! It’ll hurt their poor innocent ears!!!” I see Virgil and Logan give me a skeptical look before I gesture at Roman and I see their eyes widen in realization, before they nod furiously in agreement. Roman obliviously drags Logan off to play with the bubbles that Joan had gotten to keep the little ones occupied. I uncover their mouth and shoot them a look before giving it up for a smile as I hug them.

“thank you for this Joan, it’s kind of you. You didn’t have to really, haven’t even seen you guys in a few months!”

“that’s exactly why we did it. We don’t need a reason to give the littles gifts, and if we have a reason to give you gifts you won’t turn them down. You never have been one for spontaneous presents, but you know what, I love ya man, and you deserve to get shit on your birthday you oaf. I always felt bad that you wouldn’t let me help you and the kids when we were still in high school. God its been so long now, we’re old pat! You know my mom always tells me that they’d be so proud of you whenever I tell her what you’ve been doing. She actually wanted me to give you something, its wrapped in the pile of gifts.” They winked and nodded over to the living room where far too many gifts in my opinion, were sitting. The rest of my friends were there too, keeping themselves entertained one way or another, and I saw that Logan and Roman were running around outside chasing bubbles.

I go over to the stack and feel immediately intimidated. I hear the door open and Roman and Logan come inside. They sit behind me and I grab the first present that I can reach. The wrapping is purple plaid and Virgil’s name is scrawled on the tag. I open it up and look at my brother with a mocking look as I pull out a pale blue lab coat with dog face emojis.

“oh my gosh you dork I love it!!!” I pull it on quickly, seeing how it fits and beam at him.

“I’m glad. You’ve got another one somewhere from me” ugh of course that’s how there’s so many gifts.

I grab the next one with the same wrapping and rip it open only to see a new surgical kit, which I had been desperately needing to get but had been avoiding. They’re ridiculously expensive and I haven’t had the money to spare. I don’t know how vee could have managed to get that much money, and I don’t understand why he would spend it on me. I feel tears welling up in my eyes for the second time today, and launch myself at Virgil, picking him up and twirling him around. I see Elenora look at the tools out of the corner of my eyes.

“holy crap how did you afford these? This set is worth almost a thousand!” Virgil gives a feeble look as I set him down.

“I’ve been saving up for a few months, no big, you had mentioned you needed a new set a while ago, and I know you wouldn’t let anyone give you one. You can’t give this one back otherwise it’d be wasted so ha I win.” He ends with a smirk, and I punch him in the arm for calling me out on my OCD about work.

I grab my next gift which is a deep red with a matching bow. I peel off the paper and see a Pooh bear onesie and I smile down at it before laying back to smile at Roman who is giggling loudly.

“Lo helped me find it!!! I know you love Pooh, so I thought you’d like it!!!”

“he had tried to get you a size that fit him at first it was really quite adorable. We got him a Tigger one to match but we told him he had to keep it hidden until you got yours.”

I reached out for a hug and instead Roman kissed my nose then pushed me back into a sitting position. I huffed dramatically before grabbing my next gift, from Logan. I rip open the striped paper and see a book called animal madness, about animal mental health, and I feel my smile widen. There’s another book, by Jackson galaxy called total cat mojo and I might have squealed a little bit?

“LOGAN, I LOVE THIS THANK YOU SO MUCH OH MY GOSH OH GEEZ THESE WILL BE SOOOOO HELPFUL!!!!!!” Logan smiles and chuckles softly.

“I had imagined so, you have said that a couple of your patients have had mental issues more than physical and you’ve seen them more often due to their owners not knowing how to treat them, I hope the books hold deeper insight than google.”

I give him a big hug, and then grab the next presents, opening one after another all very sweet but also rather irrelevant gifts including coffee, cooking ware, and fandom stuff. I eventually get to Elenora’s gift though, which I was slightly scared about opening if I’m being honest? It could be anything, what would she get me? I open the rose gold box that holds a few different items. The first I notice is a necklace with a four pawprints on them, each a different color, red, navy, cyan, and purple, and each with me and my brothers’ names. I smile softly at it as I put it on. The next thing in the box is a new stethoscope that matched my light blue theme at work. After that is a build a bear Alolan Vulpix plush with an absolutely adorable cloak and a spare outfit. I squeeze it and it sounds so cute??? I’m so glad I share my obsession with Pokémon with her it makes work that much more enjoyable. The next thing I pull out is a dual sapphire and ruby pop head set and I let out a laugh at it, she knows me so well, I had mentioned I loved their characters and that they reminded me of my mom and dad once offhandedly, and yet she’s gotten me ruby and sapphire things three times now. I pull out a gift card to pizza shop I adore, and the last item in the box is a card that says read later, so I throw a glance her way as I put the card in the pile.

I thank her, and give her a hug, before turning my attention to the last present remaining, the present from Joan’s mom, who was basically my second mom growing up. I pull apart the wrapping hesitantly, and I almost let out a choked sob at what is in the package. It’s a letter from my parents. I cover my mouth as I grab the letter and read it.

“dear Patton, we hope this letter reaches you in good health, and that we are still in contact when you reach 21.” I make some odd strangled noise and my eyes start filling with tears. “no matter how our relationship is, we have a present for you. Patton cake, we know you’re only a year old now, but when you get this, we want you to know that no matter what we love you so so much and we want you to be happy no matter what. So, if you’ll forgive us if we’ve hurt you, we want you to have this glass and drink. Your mom made that glass right after you were born. She believes that the essential gift for a 21-year-old was a wine glass and a nice red wine. This wine is the same one I had on my 21st with my father and I saw it fitting to share it with you. I love you so so much son, and I hope you know that you’re in my heart wherever I am. The same goes for your mother. You know me and how paranoid I am, so this will probably be given to you by my best friend who I don’t doubt will grow close to you. In case anything happens, not that it will.” I don’t think I can breathe anymore oh my god this is from my dad- “but anyways ill stop rambling” no dad please keep talking don’t go please! “happy birthday Patton, you make me and your mom so proud. I love you so much” I wheeze and double over, I can’t breathe my dad, it was almost like he was there again, my dad was there and I-

I open the wrap on the glass, the crystal glass has an imprint that has the words “you’re capable of anything” and me and my parents’ names inscribed in it. Etched in, not just printed, its won’t fade, it will always be there. I look up at the roof to stop my tears, and to hopefully tell my mom and dad I love them if there is an afterlife. I wish I could see them one more time and be able to say goodbye. I can’t, but god it hurts so bad, I miss them so much its not fair they should have been able to come home they should be here they should have been here to see Roman and Logan and Virgil grow up it’s not FAIR GOD DAMN IT!!! I need to calm down, its in the past its over I can’t change it I can just keep going. I take a few deep breaths and wipe my eyes. I set down the glass and look at Joan.

“Joan, I need you to thank your mom for me, I-I owe her so much for this I can’t even properly explain just how much this means to me. If she ever needs anything let me know, I will do anything to help.” Joan nods and smiles at me softly.

I breathe a few more deep breaths before standing up.

“now, that’s enough of that. There’s cake and games!!!”

[crosbys-guccifloral-crocs]

Helloooo, please can you write an imagine where Y/N and Harry were best friends at first then were a couple for almost 1 year and a half but break up and she’s now in relationship with a guy and he told her at a family dinner that he still loves her but she told him smt like “You were my real first love and love story, and I love you but I love him more. He’s the man of my life. But we can still be friends.” Something like this❤️

Warnings: not proofed. Angsty as hell, teen!harry, X factor!harry, best friend!harry.

 *** 

 Y/N and Harry shared everything: a street, toys, friends and even a birthday (Feb, 1, 1994) just as their mothers had. Given that they were also childhood best friends. Y/N and Harry had been friends for years — but then, the X Factor happened… Y/N hated those 3 words. They were the words that had changed the entire dynamic of their relationship; as both friends and as a couple. Well… as much of a “couple” as love sick 16 year olds could be. They’d dated for just over a year before he auditioned for the X Factor. They had been each other’s first everything: first kiss, first real person, first time and of course, first heartbreak. First he broke hers. It happened when news broke that he had made it past the first round of auditions.

“I made it, Y/N.” he’d said. It was totally casual and caught her by surprise. They were lying in his family’s living room in Holmes Chapel watching The Notebook with Gemma, Anne and Robin.

She shot up straight from her position on his lap.

“W-what?” She gasped.

“I made the X Factor.” He said, sitting up to pause the film.

“O-oh. That’s great! I knew you could do it, H!” She stammered hugging him close.

“We’re moving to London.” He mumbled.

“Wait… what?” She questioned.

“We’re moving to London, Y/N. as long as I’m in the competition I need to be on set, and because I’m not 18 mum and Robin need to be with me on set.” He murmured.

“Oh… well London’s only 3 hours away. I could come visit on weekends.” She quipped.

“I don’t know, love. That’s a pretty big commitment. We can’t even drive yet, and that’s a lot to expect from your parents.”

“You could just tell me you don’t want this anymore Harry. I don’t need your pathetic excuses.” She cried rushing out of the living room.

“Y/N, honey! Come back please!” Anne called out.

“BABY PLEASE!” Harry cried running barefoot down his cobblestone drive. But it was no use, she was gone.

Over the next few weeks before he left for London, H made every attempt to contact Y/N. He waited for her at her locker at school, outside of her classes, showed up at her doorstep every morning before school with his famous iced tea that she loved so much and everyday she would walk right past him as if he were some stranger passing her on the street. She’d even resorted to blocking his number on her mobile and not allowing her mother to answer their home phone when his number showed up on the caller ID.

Eventually he learned his lesson and stopped attempting to contact her. But not before he could leave a note in her locker before he left for London.

“Y/N,

I’m so sorry baby. I didn’t mean what I said the way it sounded. Please let me explain.

I love you,

H.”

——

It had been nearly 3 months since Harry had made any more attempts to contact Y/N, and she had made no attempts at all to reciprocate those attempts. But nonetheless, it still broke her heart to even think about Harry in the arms of another girl — let alone an older woman… not to mention a woman 14 years his senior! It was sickening. She tried her hardest not to pay attention to the rumours and wanted nothing more than believe they were false, but when every media outlet in the UK was reporting about the supposed relationship between “16 year old X Factor contestant Harry Styles and the host Caroline Flack, aged 30” the rumours became rather hard to ignore. But she had to see for herself, so one weekend, close to the show finale, she decided to take Anne up on one of her multiple offers to make the trip to London because “Harry was dying to see her.” She, Anne and Gemma decided to surprise Harry and meet him at Nando’s one evening to surprise him with her visit, only to see him show up hand in hand at the restaurant with her.

That’s when Y/N truly decided to let Harry go. She no longer tuned into the competition, deleted him on all social media and no longer hung-out with the friend group they shared at school. Instead she became a secluded introvert, only going from school to work.

—— 8 years later (January, 28, 2018) ——

It’s been 8 years since Harry and Y/N had physically laid eyes on one another. Not even at Robin’s wake or service. She went of course she did. He was almost as much of, if not more of a father to her than her own dad, she just sat in the back and only made her presence known to Anne and Gemma when Harry was no longer in the room. She decided to unblock his number for a short while and send him her condolences on Robin’s passing, but then she was back to ignoring him. That doesn’t mean that she’s a stranger to her ex boyfriend’s crazy success and scandalous relationships. She’s run into Anne now and again when she was out and about in Holmes Chapel visiting her mother. She also still had the occasional girl’s day in London with Gemma whenever their schedules meshed properly.

She’d moved there 6 years ago when she was 18 after being accepted to Oxford for (your choice in major). She decided to stay in town after she graduated, she received a job offer with a salary that was impossible to pass up just weeks after graduation.

Soon after she started her new job was when she met Kyle. The way they met was kind of serendipitous, if you will. She’d literally spilt her iced tea on him after they collided turning a corner on the street. They’d been inseparable ever since. He’s been her everything for the past 6 years. Which is amazing, considering she never thought she’d feel this way about another man ever again. Not after he broke her heart all those years ago. Anne and Gemma were happy for her, but would be happier if it were Harry she were still with. They liked Kyle enough though, he treated her well and that’s all they ever wanted for her.

Now, four days before their shared 24th birthday she’s sitting on the sofa in the flat she shared with Kyle trying to get Gemma off the phone.

“Gem, how many times do I need to tell you I. Don’t. Want. A. Party. 24 is no special occasion. I’m not 16, or 18 or 21. ‘M just another year older. Can’t we just go to Greece for a weekend? Just the 2 of us and the mums?” (Anne and Y/M/N). Y/N begs.

“Ugh. Fine. I guess, if that’s what you want. But are you sure you don’t want anything on your actual birthday? Y’know like dinner or summat?” Gemma questions.

“Um, no. I think Kyle’s taking me to Gordon Ramsey’s new restaurant in Chelsea that night. Think he wants it to be a surprise though. I over heard him making the reservation a few weeks back.”

“Oh yeah, I know the place. Fancy little bloke inn’he?” She giggles finding her own sense of humour rather amusing.

“Ha ha, Gem. Laugh it up. S’more than you can say H—-“ Y/N stops herself just before her friend’s brother’s name leaves her lips. “Never mind. Sorry. I didn’t mean that.” She retracts.

“No, Y/N, S’okay. I get it. Know he’s m’brother and what he did was a while back but it still makes him a wanker.” Gem agrees.

“Okay. I’ll call you in a few days to sort out the details of the trip, Gem. Talk soon.” Y/N smiles.

“Laters, baby.” Gemma laughs.

—4 days later, Birthday evening (Feb, 1, 2018) Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant.—

“Wow, Ky. This place is amazing, you shouldn’t have.” Y/N gasps as the hostess brings them to their table and informs them their server will be by shortly to take their orders.

“Course I should, love. S’not every day the girl you love turns 24.” Kyle smirks.

Just as the sommelier (wine expert) approaches their table.

“Excuse me, are you Miss. Y/L/N?” He questions.

“Um yes? What is this about?” She asks sheepishly, confused. Kyle himself seeming just as clueless.

“This is for you. Compliments of the gentleman over there at table 4. Enjoy your meal. This pairs lovely with the prime rib, if I do say so myself.” The wine master smiles as he departs from the table.

Y/N looks over Kyle’s shoulder to see the one and only Harry Styles smirking at her from across the dining room. “Happy Birthday, love” he mouths, lifting his own glass of wine in a “cheers” salute.

“If you’ll excuse me, Kyle I need to take care of something really quickly.” Y/N says, giving her date a tight lipped smile before marching over to Harry and hauling him up from the table by the cuff of his Gucci suit jacket.

“Oi, love. That’s no way to greet an old friend on his birthday is it?” Harry jabs as she continues to maneuver them out the main doors of the restaurant.

“First of all a $300 bottle of wine? Are you freaking kidding me, Harry? Second of all… s’tha’ all I am to you, an’ “old friend?” And third, how the bloody freaking ‘ell did you find me? Especially tonight of all nights?” She whisper yells as they gat far enough into the parking lot.

“One, happy birthday. I know you love that wine. He probably would’ve ordered you some cheap $50 merlot. Two, no love, yer much more to me than just and old friend. S’what I came ere to tell yeh. And three, I’m Harry freaken Styles, love. There’s nothin I can’t do. Not to mention Gordon owed me a favour after I performed at his daughter’s graduation last year. When Gem told me yer new bloke was bringing yeh ere tonight I decided to call in that favour.” Harry smiles, taking in the appearance of the girl he’s loved for the last 20 some-odd years of his life. The same one he hasn’t seen in nearly 8 years. But seeing her here, tonight looking gorgeous as ever in that tight black dress and killer Louboutins, with him?? Well that was a hell of a kick in the nads.

“Why did you really come here, Harry? Because I know it wasn’t just to give me expensive wine and say happy birthday. But if it was, happy birthday, Harry. Goodbye.” Y/N mutters, shaking her head and walking away.

“N-no, baby please! Don’t walk away. Not again.” He begs grabbing at Y/N’s wrist and pulling her into him. “Please, baby. I love you. Don’t walk away again. If you do, I don’t think I can take it.” He says, full on sobbing now and literally begging on his knees outside the busiest restaurant in the Chelsea district, not caring who sees him.

“Get up, Harry. You’re making a scene. Im not your baby anymore. I haven’t been for the last 8 years. And that was your choice. I loved you, but I love Kyle, now. I’d still like to be friends though, yeah?” Y/N says in an attempt to plaster a fake sad smile on her face and look away from Harry to wipe her own tears.

“Not Harry to you baby. ‘M anything but. What happened to H or babe or love or handsome?? Anything but Harry. That makes it too real. You know we can never be friends. We’ve been through too much.” He sobs, standing up to hug her again.

“M’sorry, H. I love Kyle and he’s inside waiting. I’m sure I’ll see you around yeah?” She says, releasing herself from his embrace and kissing his cheek before reentering the restaurant and leaving Harry out in the cold.

——

Fin?? But could definitely see this being a small series if you all like it! There are plenty of places I could go with this! xx M.

[elementalwriter67]

Blind to the World of Color

Parings: Jason Todd x Reader

Word Count: 6064

Summary: Based off the Soulmate AU where you’re colorblind until you and your physically touch your soulmate and go color blind again when they die.

A/N: Okay so this is my first time for writing anything DC related so please go easy on me and enjoy.

(Y/N) sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair looking out over the black and white city landscape before her. She sat perched on the edge of an apartment building roof in the middle of crime alley fully decked out in her uniform for this evenings events. Laying back she straightened out her goggles before lifting her head and folding her arms up underneath it. She was currently waiting for her mentor Selina, aka Catwoman, to show up and tell her what the plan for this evening was. A small laugh escaped her at the thought of Selina Kyle being her mentor, her a simple orphan kid living in crime alley was the sidekick to Catwoman. THE Catwoman. She still couldn't believe it, still couldn't believe that Catwoman woman herself had taken the time to train her and teach her everything she knew. It amazed her as much as the thought of one day being able to see in color. It amazed her as much as it did when she heard Selina talk about the colors of the world whenever she would ask her what color a certain thing was because of course, Selina had already met her soulmate. Selina's soulmate was, of course, the one and only Batman which (Y/N) found extremely funny and ironic all things considering but hey that was the universe for you (Y/N) only hoped she could get that lucky. (Y/N) had asked before why Selina bothered to take her under her wing and teach her, and all she got for an answer was that because Selina felt like it nothing more nothing less.

“Oh good, you're here already,” Selina’s voice snapped (Y/N) from her thoughts. Her eyes snapped open as she looked up at Selina who nearly blended into the night sky if it wasn't for the slightly different shade of black mixed with grey and whites.

“And you're late, you were supposed to be here several minutes ago." (Y/N) responded as she stood up and brushed herself off while Selina rolled her eyes.

“Sorry mom, I had to make sure I had what we needed for tonight and that our client wasn't about to back out on us," Selina stated, placing her hands on her hips.

“Right, right, of course then you're forgiven for being late. So is the client still on?" (Y/N) asked shoving her hands into the pockets of her short length leather jacket.

“The client is still on provided we succeed in retrieving the artifact they so desperately want, which we will if Bats doesn't cause too much trouble," Selina said and a knowing smirk crossed (Y/N)'s face as she looked at her.

"Which he will because one he's Batman and two anything to see his lovely soulmate again." (Y/N) teased, a smile spreading across her face as she walked to the edge of the roof, Selina glaring at her as she went to stand beside her.

“I knew I shouldn't have told you that Batman was my soulmate, I knew I shouldn't have and yet I did," Selina grumbled to herself and (Y/N) giggled.

“I'll give you the fact that it took you a while to actually tell me though so props to you on that." (Y/N) said with a small shrug, pulling her hands out of her pocket and pulling her whip from where it was wrapped around her waist acting as an unneeded belt for her uniform, Selina grabbing her own whip.

“Oh, how generous of you (Y/N). Now, you remember what you're supposed to do when Batman inevitably shows up?" Selina asked and (Y/N) nodded as she clicked a button on the handle of her whip, the rope elongating a couple of feet.

“I'm supposed to distract Robin while you distract Batman and make sure that we get out with the artifact intact." (Y/N) answered and Selina nodded.

“Good. Now let's get going." Selina said as she jumped off the roof. (Y/N) watched her fall for a few seconds, the corners of her mouth twitching until her lips stretched into a full-blown smile. She had to stop herself from whooping in excitement as she followed after Selina, using her whip as a sort of grappling hook.

Minutes later (Y/N) landed in a crouch beside Selina on the roof of the museum, standing up (Y/N) followed her to the skylight.

“What’s the security system look like?” (Y/N) asked as she crouched down, placing a claw gloved hand on the window looking down at the floor below searching for any silent alarms.

“Your standard museum security system, nothing overly special should be a piece of cake,” Selina said and (Y/N) nodded. Selina crouched down beside her and pressed her pointer finger into the glass before she drew a large circle in it big enough for the two of them to fit through. (Y/N) reached out with a small suction up and used that to grab the glass and then set it down softly on the roof.

“(Y/V/N) you get the guard over there I’ll handle this one,” Selina stated pointing to one of the guards and (Y/N) nodded as she stood up and stepped through the hole landing silently on the floor in a crouch, Selina landing beside her just as quietly.

“What the fuck?!” The female guard shouted as her and her partner drew their tasers.

“Catwoman! (Y/V/N)!” The male guard shouted. A smile spread across (Y/N) face as she slowly stood up, trying to put as much seduction into it as she could manage in an attempt to keep the male guard's attention completely on her. She may not be dressed as sexily as Selina was and she may not have all the assets like Selina but damn it when she tried for sexy she certainly succeeded judging by how the guard kept staring at her. Maybe if this had been a few years earlier and out on the streets (Y/N) would have found the way the guy was staring at her creepy and probably would have attempted to kick his ass because anyone looking at you like that on the streets of Crime Alley never meant anything good. Now though she was smiling, proud of herself for being able to grab his full attention she’s still going to kick his ass though.

“Aw, thanks for the introduction handsome,” Selina said and (Y/N) glanced at her, Selina caught her glance out of the corner of her eye and tilted her head in a slight nod.

“Shame there won’t be much of a show.” (Y/N) said as she turned her attention back to the guards. (Y/N) dashed forward as Selina lashed out with her whip knocking the taser from the female guard's hands. (Y/N) spun to the side avoiding her guard's taser, she slammed her shoulder into the man’s midsection and he shouted more in surprise than any actual pain. As quick as she could she hit he is with her elbow knocking the taser out of his hands, he threw a punch at her but (Y/N) blocked it with her forearm and with her other hand she punched him in the face. He reeled back grabbing at his broken nose with one of his hands.

“You little bitch!” He shouted and (Y/N) giggled a little.

“(Y/V/N) we don’t have time for games!” Selina called out from the other side of the room where she was tying up the other guard.

“Fine, fine.” (Y/N) grumbled before she rushed the guard again this time punching him in the throat. He coughed struggling for air and while he did that (Y/N) grabbed the back of his head and bashed it into the wall knocking him out. She let his body slump to the floor as she joined Selina in front of the case.

“Not bad, but not as clean as I taught you to do it.” She commented and (Y/N) shrugged.

“I know, but hey it’s taken care of and he’s knocked out that’s all that matters.” (Y/N) stated.

“Fair enough, now why don’t you show me what you’ve learned.” Selina gestured to the case and another smile crossed (Y/N)’s face as she stepped up to the case. Taking a deep breath she felt the sides of the case searching for the barely there hidden alarm, once she found it she reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out her phone and USB cable.

“Ok give me five seconds I’m going to shut off the silent alarm.” (Y/N) informed Selina as she walked around the back and crouched down plugging her phone in and started hacking into the system.

“Oh, I’m so proud,” Selina stated and (Y/N) chuckled, the sound of crashing glass pulled her away from her task at hand and she peered around the stand to see who had just crashed their party. And surprise, surprise, it was Batman and Robin, what a shock. Quickly (Y/N) ducked behind the stand again, before they could notice her, finishing what she had started not that it mattered much at the moment.

“Catwoman, where’s your little friend?” Robin asked and (Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“Right here boy wonder.” (Y/N) poked at him as she jumped out from behind the stand a confident smirk on her face as she walked up to stand in front of Robin just like Selina was standing in front of Batman.

“That’s not me.” Robin tried desperately to hide the scowl but he couldn’t hide the twitching of his lips and a knowing smirk spread across her lips as she looked at him.

“Oh right, I forgot it’s little birdy got it my mistake little bird.” (Y/N) continued to poke at him, trying to stop herself from giggling. She didn’t really have anything against him, and from what Selina had told her Robin wasn’t a bad kid she just enjoyed ruffling his feathers it was a lot like what Selina would try to do with Batman. Only (Y/N) got more of a reaction out of Robin than Selina got out of Batman.

“Aw! Don’t they just remind you us Bats?” Selina asked a sly smile on her face as she took a step closer towards Batman who (Y/N) was sure was rolling his eyes underneath his cowl. There was a moment of silence between the four of them while Robin glared at (Y/N) and (Y/N) smirked back.

“(Y/V/N) get the artifact,” Selina stated and (Y/N) nodded, spinning on the heels of her feet.

“I’ve got her!” Robin called out and he ran at (Y/N). (Y/N) looked over her shoulder and jumped to the side avoiding the Batarang that was thrown at her, she turned on a dime running past Batman and Selina as the two fought/flirted (though the flirting was more on Selina’s side than anything) (Y/N) reached into her jacket and pulled out one of her throwing knives. Sliding to a stop she spun around facing Robin who was coming at her, smirking she threw the knife at him. Robin’s eyes widened as he dodged the knife, (Y/N)’s smirk grew as she watched the knife hit the glass case surrounding the artifact shattering it.

“Hey! You break it you buy it!” Selina shouted and (Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t hit the artifact don’t worry!” (Y/N) shouted back running towards the artifact, she dodged around Robin who made a grab for her darting towards the artifact.

“Is that all you got little bird? I thought the great Batman taught you how to fight? So far you’re not living up to my expectations.” (Y/N) taunted as she jumped and flipped over the case, a Batarang lodging itself into the stand. Spinning around she turned to face Robin who was glaring at her and she smirked waving slightly at him before she swiped the artifact and stashed it in the bag around her shoulders.

“Catwoman! I’ve got the artifact!” (Y/N) shouted jumping on top of the stand and jumping over Robin, then running towards Selina as she broke away from the fight with Batman and ran towards the skylight lifting up the grappling hook that she had swiped off of Batman in the fight. (Y/N) chuckled at her.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Robin shouted. Thinking fast (Y/N) pulled the bag from around her neck and chucked it at Selina.

“Catch!” She shouted seconds before Robin tackled her to the ground. (Y/N) grunted as she bucked and threw him off of her, rolling over she kicked him in the chest throwing him back further. Robin was quick though and she hadn’t expected how quick he actually was so when she went to scramble back onto her feet he pinned her to the ground his hands wrapped around her forearms. (Y/N) tensed and her eyes widened as her entire world exploded with color, her mouth fell open slightly as she stared up at him and this hands down was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen in her life. Selina had told her what the colors of Robin’s uniform were because (Y/N) had been curious one day and all she could think about as she stared at him was; oh so that’s what the color green looks like, it’s beautiful. Not the first thought she imagined herself having when she met her soulmate and saw color for the first time but hey.

“(Y/V/N)!!” “Robin!!” Batman and Selina shouted at the same time snapping the two of them out of their thoughts, and they jumped away from each other like the other was a burning hot stove. (Y/N) Scrambled to her feet, her heart hammering in her chest and she forced herself to not get distracted by her new world of color. She ducked around Batman when he made an attempt to grab her and she caught the grappling hook that Selina threw down to her and used it to quickly join Selina on the roof.

“What the hell was that all about?” Selina asked as the two of them ran towards the edge of the roof and there was no way (Y/N) was going to be able to wipe the smile off of her face as she jumped on to the next roof with Selina.

“Colors.” (Y/N) breathed out and Selina’s steps faltered slightly as she ran surprise overtaking her as she followed (Y/N).

~Three Weeks Later~

(Y/N) shivered as she leaned against a wall hugging herself, Selina was going to have her head for missing another night of training for the fourth time this week alone but she didn’t care she had to be out here. Had to be out here just in case she saw him, and she had to be out here in order to see the colors. It had been nearly a month since (Y/N) had last seen him, since she had last seen Robin, and she would be lying if she said she didn’t desperately want to see him again because she did. She really really did, which was what had been driving her to skip out on her training with Selina in favor of hanging out on the streets of crime alley in civilian clothes hoping and praying for a chance to see him again. No matter how badly she wanted to see him again she knew that it was stupid for her to get her hopes up after all he was Robin, Batman’s sidekick, the good guy, the guy who three weeks ago had been totally willing to throw her in jail for robbing the museum, and she was just the sidekick to an antihero. Not exactly, someone, Robin would probably want to have as a soulmate, she knew that and yet she couldn’t stop herself from hoping that he would like her, that he wanted to see her again as bad as she wanted to see him. So far though she hadn’t seen much of him, hell she’d seen more of Batman running around fighting crime than she did of Robin. And it only made sense that Batman would keep Robin stashed away in wherever to save him from running the risk of running into her.

Shaking her head she rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she pushed that thought to the back of her mind while she pushed herself up off the wall and began walking down down the street ignoring the way her gut hollowed in despair at the thought. As she walked down the street (Y/N) found herself thinking less about Robin and paying more attention to the colors all around her which despite being able to see them for nearly a month now had yet to get old to her. She’s found that her favorite thing to do though is to sit on one of the highest roofs she can find and watch the sunrise and the sunset, she loved the warm colors of the sky. Her phone buzzing away in her pocket drew her attention away from the neon signs and she pulled it out of her pocket to see that Selina was calling her. With a soft sigh, she squared her shoulders preparing for the lashing she was about to get as she answers the phone.

“Yes?” (Y/N) asked hesitantly, ducking into an alley as she made her way back to her place.

“This is the hundredth time you’ve skipped your training this week, now we had a deal when I decided to train you and if you keep this up we’re done.” Selina’s voice was firm and final. (Y/N) clenched her jaw, and her steps took on ones of purpose as she walked back to the abandoned apartment building she was squatting in with a bunch of others.

“I’m sorry Selina, I’ll be there tomorrow night I promise, it’s just I can’t stop looking for him.” (Y/N)it's voice dropped to a near whisper at the last part. She didn’t need anyone overhearing what she was saying you never knew who was listening to you on the streets, she didn’t care how paranoid it made her sound with her life and this being Gotham anyone knowing that you had a soulmate never meant anything good. After all, a soulmate was good leverage for a villain to use over the person they want to terrorize.

“I understand that (Y/N) which is the second reason I called you,” Selina said and (Y/N) froze where she stood her eyes widening.

“What?” There was no keeping the excitement and hope out of her voice at the thought of seeing him again even if she planned on mainly staying in the shadows.

“I just caught a glimpse of Robin jumping across a rooftop on his lonesome, if you want to talk to him alone now’s your chance.” (Y/N) could hear the smile in Selina’s voice and she could stop the one that spread across her face.

“Thank you so much, Selina, do you know what way he was heading?” (Y/N) asked. She forced herself not to start running as she began walking again and Selina chuckled on the other end.

“North from what I saw, now go get him, tiger,” Selina said and then hung up the phone. (Y/N) made a mental note to thank her again tomorrow as she shoved her phone into her pocket and broke out into a sprint for the next two blocks to the apartment building.

Minutes later and (Y/N) was dressed in her uniform and running and jumping along the rooftops in an attempt to catch up to Robin. She ran for a good twenty minutes before she came to a stop huffing and puffing and looking up at the top of a building. Her mouth was stretched wide in a smile as she stared up above her to see Robin sitting on top of a gargoyle, and part of her was tempted to make her way up there and try to start a conversation with him. But a larger part of her was terrified of what he would say when he saw her again, and unfortunately, the larger part of her stopped her from going up there and talking to the man who had filled her world with color. So instead she sat down on the edge of the building, for now just being this close was good enough for her. Kicking her feet slightly she found that she couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face as she watched him, the smile quickly fell through when she watched as Batman suddenly appeared behind him.

Cursing softly to herself she stood up, she may have been able to slip under Robin’s radar but there was no way Batman wasn’t going to notice her. She stood there for a few seconds watching as Robin stood up and turned to face Batman before she pulled her gaze away and spun around running to the edge of the roof and then jumping off the roof and maneuvering her way into the alleyway below. For the first time in her life, her hands were shaking out of nervousness for some ungodly reason and she tried desperately to get them to stop as she walked down the alley, silently praying that Batman hadn’t seen her. The hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end and every instinct in her told her to turn around and face whatever was behind her, but she didn’t she kept walking pretending that she didn’t know they were there. She waited until she could almost physically feel their presence behind her before she grabbed her whip off of her waist and ran towards a wall, she ran up the wall two steps before using it as a kickboard as she kicked herself off the wall and flipped over her potential attack. With the handle in one hand and the rest of the rope wrapped around her fist, she used her whip as a sort of a choke hold, wrapping it around the person’s neck and then pulling them back against her cutting off their air. It took a couple of seconds for her to register what the person she had by the throat was wearing.

“Shit.” (Y/N) cursed as she quickly let go of Robin and took several steps back recoiling her whip and putting it back on her waist. She stood there awkwardly for a moment as she entertained the idea of running and when she tried to her legs wouldn’t move they kept her locked in place.

“Remind me not to sneak up on you again,” Robin muttered out, rubbing his throat as he looked at her. Guilt pooled in her stomach and she bit the inside of her bottom lip slightly as she pushed the guilt away and crossed her arms over her chest.

“What do you want?” (Y/N) snapped at him, forcing the hope to stay out of her voice as she stared at him.

“I….ah...I wanted to talk to you about this.” He hesitated to motion between the two of them and (Y/N) hesitated before nodding her head.

“Alright.” (Y/N) said the bite leaving her voice as she dropped her arms to her sides, and she watched as his shoulders sagged a little the tension leaving him. Her eyes widened a little at seeing that, she didn’t think that he would be nervous about how she would react to him wanting to talk to her not that she could blame him she was a little surprised herself that she’d agree so fastly to talk to him.

“But not here,”-(Y/N) said and she looked up at the rooftop she’d just left- “up there.” She told him before running at the fire escape. She jumped and kicked off the wall pushing herself up far enough to grab the railing of the fire escape, pulling herself up she crouched on the railing and looked down at Robin who stood there staring up at her and she tilted a small smirk coming across her face.

“You coming little bird or you just gonna keep staring at me?” (Y/N) asked him and he shook his head snapping out of whatever thought trail he’d been on and followed after her as (Y/N) jumped from railing to railing climbing up the fire escape to the top. She was panting slightly as she walked over to the edge of the roof and sat down on the edge looking out over the city, after a few seconds Robin sat down beside her. They sat there in an awkward silence, both of them too nervous and unsure of how to exactly start this conversation.

“Jason Todd,” Robin said suddenly and (Y/N)’s eyes widened and she whipped around to face him to see him holding his domino mask in hand and looking at her clearly nervous. (Y/N) stared into his eyes for probably a few seconds too long because she watched as he shifted nervously where he sat, shaking her head (Y/N) reached up and pulled off her goggles and pulled down her hood not once looking away from his amazing blue eyes.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N).” (Y/N) answered and Jason smiled at her relieved that she’d told him her secret identity too, and she found herself wanting to see more of that smile. She ducked her head down a smile pulling at her lips and a faint blush staining her cheeks, quickly she pulled her goggles and hood back on before lifting her head to look at him to see that he had done the same thing.

“How come the first thing you told me was your secret identity?” (Y/N) asked. Jason and (Y/N) turned around to face each other as they talked and Jason shrugged.

“I figured if you were going to be my soulmate you at least deserved to know who I really was,” Jason answered.

“Yeah but I’m a villain how do you know I won’t turn around and tell other villains your secret identity?” (Y/N) asked and she realized that she was digging herself into a hole but she also couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“Good question, I don’t really know, but how do you know that I won’t turn around and tell Batman your secret identity either?” Jason countered and she opened her mouth to respond before closing it.

“Fair enough, guess we’re just gonna have to trust each other not to rat the other out.” (Y/N) said a smile tugging at her lips, but it feels at what she’d just pointed out. “So what do we do about this whole soulmate thing? I mean I am a villain after all and your Robin.” She added and the small smile that had spread across Jason’s face fell. They sat there in silence both of them looking down on at their laps and (Y/N) was preparing for the worst, even though she honestly hadn’t expected much to come out of whatever this was supposed to be she was still hoping for the best. Jason sighed and (Y/N) looked up at him watching as he ran his gloved fingers through his hair and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?” She asked and he looked at her a small crooked smile on his face.

“I’m willing to try this whole soulmate thing if you are, and you know provided you don’t do anything serious as a villain,” Jason said and (Y/N) couldn’t stop herself from giggling. Of all the things she expected this certainly wasn’t what she’d thought he’d say.

“Are you serious? I’m not even going to get the whole you need to become a hero before I will even consider dating you, wow.” She said a smile spreading across her face, a similar one spreading across Jason’s.

“Well I mean I would prefer it if you turned to the light side, Batman would too, but we’re not going to force you the choice is yours. And if you really want to hear the speech I can give you the speech lord knows I’ve heard Batman say it enough times.” Jason joked and (Y/N)’s smile grew and she giggled at him. She didn’t respond to him right away though she was too busy thinking about what he’d just said about her choice to be good. If she was honest with herself she’d never actually thought about becoming a good guy, but she’d never really thought about becoming a villain either Selina had just offered her a chance to do something with her life and someplace warm with food when she desperately needed it and she jumped on the opportunity without thinking about it. But when she considered it she didn’t necessarily see anything wrong with becoming a good guy or at least landing somewhere in between. (Y/N)'s phone buzzed in her pocket pulling her from her thoughts and she pulled it out of her pocket to see a message from Selina.

‘Get back here, we’ve got another client.’ (Y/N) sighed at what she read before standing up and shoving her phone back into her pocket.

“What is it?” Jason asked standing up in front of her.

“Catwoman needs me.” She answered and Jason frowned.

“Well can you at least give me an answer before you leave?” He asked and she smirked. What she did next surprise her as much as it surprised Jason. She popped up onto the balls of her feet and leaned forward kissing Jason’s cheek.

“I’ll give the soulmate thing a try and hey I’ll even promise you that I’ll consider switching sides. For now, though I’ll take it easy on you.” (Y/N) winked at him as she stepped back from him and he laughed, and the sound was intoxicating to her.

“Don’t you mean I’ll be the one taking it easy on you? Because if my memory is correct I was the one kicking your ass back in the museum.” He taunted and this time she laughed.

“And yet we still got away with the artifact so you tell me who really won that Jason?” (Y/N) asked grabbing her whip off of her waist clicking the button on the handle.

“Fair enough, fair enough, so I’ll see you around?” Jason asked and she nodded smiling.

“See you around Robin.” (Y/N) said before she disappeared off into the night leaving Jason on the rooftop.

~One Year Later~

(Y/N) was pacing in front of the entrance to the Batcave, desperately trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach and trying to convince Alfred to let her back into the cave after he had banned. Why was she so unease? Simple Bruce said that he’d found where Jason was and going to get him and after a probably longer than needed screaming match he had left without her leaving her behind to sit with Alfred and watch the monitor. Jason has been missing for what felt like an eternity after he just up and left one night without a goodbye or a note, and (Y/N) had searched everywhere for him and now they had finally found him and Bruce wouldn’t let her go for some godforsaken reason. So you can imagine that (Y/N) was a little more than pissed off and she had attempted to follow Bruce by stealing one of the other vehicles but Alfred had caught her and banned her from the cave saying it would be better if she waited out there and calmed down, and a part of her agreed with Alfred a large part was still pissed though. That had been two hours ago and her anger had only grown the longer Alfred kept her out of the cave and the longer it took for Bruce to send back news.

She knew she should be happy about the fact that they had found Jason, and that he was still alive because she was still seeing in color, but she couldn’t shake the feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong. Something was really, really, really wrong here she just couldn’t figure it out. Pausing in her pacing she took a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart and shaking hands as she walked back to the door.

“Alfred, please! Just let me back into the cave!” (Y/N) shouted hoping this would be the time that he let her back into the cave.

“As I’ve told you before Miss (Y/N) I will not let you back into the cave until you have calmed down which you have not.” Alfred pointed out and (Y/N) cursed as she turned and walked away from the door and into the middle of the room. Huffing in frustration she ran her fingers through her hair lightly gripping fist full of her hair as she closed her eyes and sighed through her nose. As much as she hated to admit it, Alfred was right she needed to calm down if she wasn’t careful she would do something really stupid and just wind up getting into more trouble which she didn’t need right now. What she needed was Jason home and alive so she could go up one side of him and down the other yelling at him for just disappearing like that. She breathed in through her nose and exhaled through her mouth as she opened her eyes. Her hands fell out of her hair and her shoulders sagged as she fell to her knees, her heartbreaking and her stomach dropping.

“ALFRED!!!!!!” (Y/N) screamed her voice heavy with emotions as tears welled in her eyes and fell without her knowing. Distantly she heard the door to the cave open and Alfred shouting her name but he sounded like he was a million miles away. Her hands shook as she brought them up to her eyes rubbing at them viciously, this had to be some sort of sick cosmic prank or something, it had to be, it wasn’t real, she was dreaming. It had to be something, anything but what it was.

“Miss (Y/N) what’s wrong? What happened?” Alfred said watching as she stopped rubbing her eyes and looked at him. His heart broke at the broken look on her face and in her eyes.

“H-He’s…..H-He’s…..H-He’s.” (Y/N) tried desperately to force the word out of her throat but it wouldn’t come and she broke down into sobs, wrapping her arms around herself and curling into a ball. It felt like someone had just ripped a part of her soul away and then set her on fire, it hurt, it hurt so much, she opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was a scream. A gut-wrenching, heartbroken scream that was filled with all the pain inside of her and all of the anger. Alfred wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a hug, he knew what she wouldn’t say. Jason Todd was dead, Bruce had been too late.

[staytheb]

Red Day Festival

Genre: college!au, slice of life, slight fluff Word Count: 2,879 Summary: It’s Valentine’s Day and two pair of sisters are roped in to help with one of the events for the special day thanks to their friend who happens to be the president of the student council.

Day Festival masterlist.

Warning: semi-proofread

hello, hello! this story is part of a series, but i’ve been stumped for awhile on how to continue it. so it left me with just writing it as one-shots and hopefully completing it that way with certain events and what not. not sure if y’all like that, but it’s what is going to work for me to write in general. anyways, this Red Day Festival itself has been in many drafts with different male leads, but i’m only sharing this one since it gives me room to write the other boys of NCT and what not. lol but yeah, i think that’s about it, so happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

"Hello everyone!" Jasmine greeted the audience as the de facto leader of the group of four.

She, her twin Katherine, and the other pair of sisters, Serena and Melanie, were dressed from head to toe in a red. Each wore headbands with two spinning hearts attached, glittering eye masks, long-sleeved mid-thigh dresses, and red knee-high socks. The only difference was that each one had an assigned color accented to the outfits to celebrate their school's Red Day Festival for the lovely day of Valentine's Day. Thanks to their friend, Gina, who happened to be the president of the the student council had roped the quartet into helping them out last minute for the Red Love Stage event at Seoul University.

"One, two..." Jasmine started off.

"We're Cupid's Angels!" The quartet sang in unison as they introduced themselves with their stage names thanks to Serena.

"Almond Kitty."

Katherine stated first with purple accents on her outfit. She was followed by Melanie with blue accents, Serena with green accents, and ending with Jasmine in yellow accents.

"Papaya Puppy."

"Rose Bunny."

"And I'm Melon Monkey." Jasmine concluded the introductions before starting the actual ment.

"So this was honestly and seriously unexpected as we didn't think we would be standing here to perform for all of you so early in the morning. Still we hope that you enjoy our covers to celebrate our school's Red Day Festival with our participation in the Red Love Stage event. Also we wish all of y'all the best of luck of your feelings reaching the person or persons that you want to convey them to! Anyways, please watch over us kindly."

The crowd of Seoul University cheered for the quartet as Jasmine introduced the first song.

"The first song are for those in love or want to be in love and just can't help, but think of that special someone. It's UU, please enjoy!"

The quartet got into formation as they stood in pairs with Jasmine cutely playing with Melanie before Melanie joined Jasmine while Katherine and Serena played some sort of clapping game with one another just before Katherine started off the song. After that Melanie introduced the next song once they took a mini breather.

"Okay, the next song is dedicated to those that are close, but still far away with their special one. It's WoW!."

Cupid's Angels got into formation again and danced to the rearranged choreography to fit their group of four compare to the original. They sang altogether before Serena started out the actual first verse. When the song came to an end Serena spoke next to announce the next song.

"Oh, this is fun, isn't it?" Serena said in a rhetorical way than as an actual question with a laugh. "Anyways, we're hoping you're having a lot of fun so far. Because honestly, I'm actually am having fun."

Serena laughed again before speaking again.

"Yeah, so, the third song is MY OH MY. This goes out to those who can actually claim or soon claim someone as theirs. Enjoy!"

Getting into the groove of things and feeling more awake the group performed the song with as much energy as the song itself sounded. They once again sang together before Katherine started out the song. When MY OH MY ended did they take another quick breather while drinking some water that the student council committee that was supervising the invent provided for them earlier. This time Katherine spoke.

"Whew, it's a good thing that I don't do this for a living." Katherine joked before continuing. "So, hopefully y'all are liking Cupid's Angels so far as we continued with this. The next song goes out to those that will muster up the courage and be brave to confess and say what they want to say to their special someone. Please enjoy our cover of Hi~."

The quartet once again got into formation and performed the song to fit them as compare to it's original. Melanie started out the song followed by Jasmine. After the song ended Jasmine spoke to give the final ment.

"Thank you all so much for your time and patience in watching us sing and dance for you."

Jasmine looked at the other three as they nodded to signal for her to do their final greeting.

"One, two..." Jasmine as the quartet sang the last part together, "This was Cupid's Angels!"

The quartet slightly bowed in thanks.

"Thank you all so much." Jasmine thanked the crowd before announcing that it would be their last stage.

"So unfortunately this will be our last song cover."

The crowd booed as the quartet chuckled. Jasmine continued talking while thanking the rest of the student council.

"Cupid's Angels would like to give a big thank you to Milo and Jiwon for supervising the overall Red Day Festival. Also major thanks to Haru for making sure we look presentable and Kyle cuing us in before each song. Thank you four as well as all the others that assisted in making this a big success. Thank you all so much."

The quartet clapped in appreciation. Now Jasmine got around to introducing the final song they would be covering.

"Okay, so yeah, without further ado, the song fitting to our group name and the holiday itself, CUPID. Thank you once again and enjoy the rest of the activities provided by the student council!"

Once again Cupid's Angels got into formation and danced to the new arrangement of the choreography that fitted them better. Serena sang first with Melanie ending the song. Once that was done did the quartet bowed once more before being dismissed by both Jiwon and Milo, but not before being intercepted by Gina. The quartet were confused until they saw their friend holding several red bags filled with chocolate goodies and groaned already knowing that their part wasn't over yet.

"So all we gotta do is give these to people and take a picture proof and we're good." Serena reminded the other three as they were still in their get-up, but were now walking around campus with goodie bags in hand.

"That's easier said than done." Katherine remarked with a sigh. "There's like twenty or something of these goodie bags."

"For real though." Melanie agreed as she stared at the bags. "Actually, I'll just eat them myself. It's not like she can do anything about that."

"Very true since this all voluntarily work in a sense as we don't have to attend classes for today, but we can still get credit for helping out the Student Council." Serena agreed, but Jasmine disagreed.

"Wait, no, guys. C'mon. It's not that hard. It's like mingling without actually being in the event itself."

"Of course you would say that." Katherine remarked with a pointed look. "You're just looking for a chance to give one of these to Johnny."

"Ooh la la." The other pair teased as Jasmine nodded without hesitation.

"Of course. Why not? He won't know it's me though dressed like this. Besides, Gina wants proof of us giving this out to people on campus."

"Gina would ream us for that, but anyways, why not just confessed? It'll make things a lot better for you in the long run." Melanie suggested.

"It's hard. He's constantly surrounded. Like all the time. Whether it's his friends or members of Nu Chi Theta or the rest of the school in general. Like, for reals, he's always surrounded." Jasmine emphasized on the 'always surrounded' part. "It's hella crazy."

"Oh, look." Serena said as the rest turned their attention to where she was looking.

Several feet away was Johnny and his entourage of friends from NCT and it was no joke. Jasmine wasn't kidding about him being surrounded by a crowd of people as there was just something about the guy that drew your attention to him besides his staggering height. The corners of Serena's lips moved up mischievously as she could finally get payback the last time Jasmine had meddled in her love life.

"Johnny! Over here!" She yelled to the male as Jasmine glared at her.

"What are you doing?"

Katherine answered instead with a chuckle.

"I'm pretty sure it's payback for what you did to her with WinWin."

"What? I thought they would make a good couple."

"I'm pretty sure it was just a way for you to get one step closer to Johnny by using WinWin as he's also a part of NCT." Melanie countered with a laugh as Jasmine sighed with a nod.

"Yeah, but I didn't know they already tried that and stayed as low-key friends afterwards."

Serena scoffed.

"Says you. You made it kinda awkward that day, but luckily WinWin and I worked it out."

Serena then dismissed the topic.

"Anyways, there must be like twenty or something of them and we can give these out easily and just be on our way."

Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Okay, true, but fine. I won't meddle in y'all's love life again."

"For real." The other three agreed as Jasmine cast them a look.

"But we're still gonna do group dates."

The others groaned before they heard Johnny's voice grab their attention.

"Um, hi. I heard my name being called from this direction."

"Yeah, Melon Monkey has something she wants to give you."

Serena pushed Jasmine towards Johnny with the other two giggling.

"Oh? Really?"

Johnny's sweet demeanor focused onto Jasmine as Jasmine mustered up the courage to deal with the situation that her friends had put her in.

"Uh, yeah. Here you go. Happy Valentine's Day."

She presented the male with one of the red goodie bags. Jasmine then slightly retracted having a second thought about it all.

"Uh, well, actually, you don't have to accept it."

"Oh, no. I'll definitely accept a gift from a pretty girl. Thank you."

Johnny took the offered treat with a bright smile.

"I really appreciate the thought, Melon Monkey."

"Ah, you're welcome, Johnny."

"Okay! Picture time!" Melanie announced with a grin as she brought out her phone with Katherine explaining.

"Yeah, we have to take proofs that we handed out these treats for the Student Council."

"Wait. What about us?" One of the them asked as the others started speaking up about not receiving a goodie bag.

"Ah, don't worry. Rose Bunny will be handing them out to you." Melanie informed them as she cast her sister a grin. "Right, Rose Bunny?"

Serena shot her an indignant look, but nevertheless passed out the treats to the others.

"And twenty-three."

Serena handed the last person a goodie bag with a polite smile.

"Thank you." The male thanked her with a bright smile.

"You're welcome."

"Hey, Jaehyun's birthday is actually on Valentine's Day."

Johnny pointed to the said person as Jaehyun's ears turned slightly red.

"Do you think he could get extra goodie bags?"

Serena's lips quirked in a mischievous smile while gazing over at her sister.

"Oh, well, that was my last one. I'm sure that Papaya Puppy has extras."

The other two snickered as Melanie tried not to glare at Serena knowing fully well what she was doing.

"Yeah, Papaya Puppy still has a lot left." Katherine added with a laugh before pushing Melanie towards Jaehyun.

"Hi. Here you go."

Melanie smiled at Jaehyun while handing him one more goodie bag.

"Thank you, Papaya Puppy."

Jaehyun cast her his signature smile and Melanie tried not to swoon over it and kept her cool.

"You're welcome, Jaehyun, and Happy Birthday."

"Thank you."

Melanie smiled at him once more before dumping the rest onto Serena.

"You can deal with the rest."

"What? Why?"

Serena made a face as Melanie smirked.

"So you can socialize more."

"Gee, thanks."

"Always.

"Alright. That's the last of it. Thanks."

Serena got an idea and thrust the container towards Jaehyun while taking out several bags.

"Here you go. Consider it a generous birthday gift from the Student Council."

"Are you sure?"

Jaehyun cast her a skeptical look as the others looked on interested. The female trio knew what Serena was doing, but they didn't stop her as they, too, wanted to get this whole event done and over with since Jasmine already did what she wanted to do.

"Positive."

"Ah, cool. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

Serena cast him a smile as Jaehyun shyly held the red box in his arms.

"Okay. That's all settled. We can take the group picture now." Katherine announced.

"But who's gonna take it?" Jasmine asked as Serena chimed in.

"I will."

"No." The pair declined. "You have to be in it."

"Boo."

Melanie was able to wave down another classmate as the group of twenty-seven posed for the picture. As a thanks she gave him a goodie bag, much to the dismay of Serena losing a free stash, and took a picture with him as well.

"Hey, Rena, let's take one just the two of us, too."

Serena heard a familiar voice ask while using her nickname as she felt an arm was placed around her shoulders.

"No." She automatically answered without thinking before glancing at the person.

"Ignore that, Ten."

Ten chuckled mischievously.

"I don't think I want to though now that I know you like to do this for fun, Rose Bunny."

"Ignore it or you'll be bedridden for a month."

"I think I have something else in mind."

Before Serena could ask him what he meant by that she heard him call out a familiar name.

"Hey, Taeyong, Rose Bunny wants to take a picture with just the two of you."

"Hmm?" Taeyong hummed not really catching the full extent of Ten's words.

"Nothing. He was joking. Don't mind him." Serena quickly responded while pushing Ten away from her.

"You're so annoying."

Another member came to bother Serena with a mischievous grin.

"Reika-chan. Let's take a photo!"

Serena sighed while eyeing the male as she allowed him to wrap an arm around her.

"I told you that name was for like online purposes, Yuta."

"You say that about all of your names." Ten remarked as Serena ignored him.

"You're fun to mess with. That's why. Now say cheese!"

The trio posed for the camera as she manuevered away. Before she could dismiss herself she felt herself being pulled towards somewhere by Yuta.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just thought we can take more photos with the others."

"You're just as annoying as Ten."

"You know you like it."

"Ugh. You're just as bad as Lucas."

"But you still like it."

Eventually Serena broke her grasp from Yuta while Ten caught a hold of her.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you."

"That's mean. I was just gonna help you escape, but I guess I'll help Yuta out instead."

"No."

Serena broke free and took off running as everyone looked after her.

"You really just had to tease her, don't you?" Melanie remarked with a laugh to a chuckling Ten.

Ten glanced at her like he didn't do anything.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Lani."

"Right. Sure you don't."

Ten walked closer to Melanie with a smirk and whispered for only her to hear.

"Hey, better leave me alone, Melanie, or I'll do the same to you that I did to Serena."

"Try me."

Ten didn't hesitate with a mischievous grin.

"Jaehyun! Papaya Puppy wants to take a picture with just the two of you, too!"

"You're such a brat." Melanie stated with a roll of her eyes.

"Why do you always gotta react different than Serena?"

"Because unlike her I don't run away from my feelings."

"Ah, that's true."

"I heard my name," Jaehyun interjected, "But I didn't catch the rest. What's up?"

"It's nothing. Ten's just being a jokester. Sorry." Melanie answered with a polite smile as Ten eyed her.

"Oh, okay."

Jaehyun nonchalantly returned to conversing with the other males.

"Don't run away, huh?" Ten remarked as Melanie shrugged.

"I didn't run away. I deterred away."

"Whatever. I need to get the others in on messing with y'all. Yuta's great with teasing Serena."

"Obviously since y'all get under her skin."

"True."

"Anyways," Katherine interjected to focus the attention onto her, "We should be going now. Thanks so much for helping us out."

She smiled at the twenty-three males before hooking her arms with Jasmine and Melanie.

"We'll be on our way now."

"Wait, what about the pictures?" Another one of them asked.

"It'll be posted on the school's website under the Student Council's event section by the end of the day or something like that." Jasmine replied.

"Okay, bye!" Melanie bid them farewell.

She and Katherine practically had to pulled Jasmine along with them as she was making progress with Johnny and didn't want to leave. Luckily the trio met up with Serena back at the Student Council's room since Serena didn't have any photo proofs to get her goodies from Gina. Gina ended up teasing the groups about the photos they took since it was a majority of the NCT members. Jasmine asked if Gina could make copies for safekeeping and informing the president that she's down for something like this in the future involving handing out presents and taking the pictures. Gina happily agreed while Katherine and Melanie already knew and Serena groaned at the prospect of it all.

[marj-n-ken-blog]

Only The Beginning

Kenny McCormick didn’t normally have friends over during the week; his parents always got high after his mom got off work. Tonight, however, was a special exception.

Butters was curled in a ball on Kenny’s bed, sobbing. A few hours earlier Kenny had received a call from a distraught Butters. The petite sixteen year old had sounded so broken on the phone that Kenny told him to come over.

“Dude, Butters, what happened? Did Cartman do something?”

Butters buried his face further into Kenny’s pillow and shook his head.

“No,” came a muffled response. “Eric didn’t do nothin’. I did.” He choked out another sob. “I’m a deviant. Evil… My parents found out.”

“Hey, man. There’s no fucking way you could be evil.” Kenny sat down on the bed and put a gentle hand on Butters’s shoulder. “What exactly did your parents find? Porn or weed or somethin’?”

Butters shook his head again. “No.” He looked up at Kenny with red, swollen eyes.

The splotches on Butters’s face and the bit of snot on his upper lip was unattractive, but Kenny still felt his heart skip.

“They found my…dress up stash.” Butters cringed like he’d just told Kenny something disgusting.

Kenny raised a brow in confusion. “You mean, like, your paladin costume or Professor Chaos stuff? I thought they knew about that already.”

The smaller blonde had stopped crying. With a small sniffle, he sat up and positioned himself knee to knee with Kenny. He pulled the pillow along with him and hugged it like a cherished plushie.

“Sorry,” Butters sighed, “that’s not it either… I’m not bein’ clear with you. I just- I don’t want to loose your friendship. You’re my best friend, ya know?”

Kenny let out a giggle. He abso-fuckin-lutely knew this. He and Butters had been best friends for years. Their friendship was an easy one. They clicked. Super Best Friends, just like Stan and Kyle.

Kenny put his fingers on top of Butters’s shaking ones. “You know you can tell me anything, right? I’m not going to judge you, Leo.”

At the use of his real name, Butters’s lips lifted into a small smile. He shrugged and looked away from the other boy’s intense gaze.

“I have -had- dresses; it was only, like, two of ‘em. I had a lot of bows, though, and a Hello Kitty makeup kit.” Butters managed to say this without tearing up again, but he was biting his bottom lip so hard Kenny thought it might start bleeding.

“My dad took all the stuff out back and set it on fire. He said he was going to send me back to that 'camp” I went to in elementary school. I can’t go back there. So many kids killed themselves there, Ken.“

Kenny scooted close to Butters and pulled him into a hug. Butters stiffened for second but eventually gave in. He slowly raised his arms to rest on Kenny’s shoulders and buried his face in the crook of his best friend’s neck.

"So, you don’t hate me?”

“Fuck no. How could I? You’re so fucking adorable, dude.”

“You think I’m adorable?”

“Yeah, Leo. You’re always adorable. You’re adorable with your face red, and I bet you’re adorable in a dress too.”

Butters’s face was no longer red solely due to his crying. He felt Kenny’s fingers run through the short hair on the back of his head. Butters nuzzled further and gave Kenny a small kiss under his ear. Kenny pulled back to look the boy in the eye.

“You think Marjorine might want to borrow a dress of Princess Kenny’s?”

Butters snorted at the mention of the various play-time personas.

“You still have Princess Kenny stuff?”

“Of course I do. It’s one of Karen’s favorite costumes. She has the old one, but I made myself a new one. This one’s based off Rosalina instead of Zelda. The blue should look really good on you.”

Kenny hopped up from the bed to dig around in his small closet. He pulled out a long, baby blue dress with bell sleeves.

“Sorry its so wrinkly,” said Kenny as he ran his hand down the dress to smooth some of the said wrinkles.

“That’s ok, Ken.” Butters rubbed his knuckles together. “You’re sure it’s ok for me to wear?”

“Yes, dude. Come 'ere.”

Butters got up from the bed, both nervous and excited. He walked over to where Kenny was holding the dress up, as if to slip it over Butters’s head. The now smiling boy shrugged off his aqua colored sweater and raised his arms to duck into the dress. Kenny rangled all the fluff and satin down over his best friend, turned him around, and buttoned up the back.

The small bedroom had a full length mirror screwed to the wall, and Butters could see himself in it as Kenny turned him around again. A spike of adrenaline ran through his body, and Butters could see lust in Kenny’s face. It was a look he’d seen many times, but it had never been directed at him before.

“Butters… Fuck, you look hot.”

Butters swallowed a nervous gulp. “You too, Kenny.”

Kenny stepped closer to Butters so that their noses were almost touching. Fingers brushed fingers.

“Leo, can I kiss you?”

“Gee, Ken. You can kiss me all you want.”

Without any more prompting, the dirty blonde pressed his chapped lips to the soft, plump ones of the younger boy whom he’d loved for years. It was the most wonderful thing he’d ever felt. It was better than a nice set of tits. It was even better than getting stoned off his ass. There was no way he was letting this princess think that this kiss didn’t mean anything to him.

Kenny cupped Butters’s face in his hands and teased his tongue at his lips, asking for access. Butters complied without hesitation. Their tongues danced around each other. Their breath became one.

With a gasp from them both, they pulled their faces apart. Heavy breaths huffed between them as they stared into each other’s eyes. After a few moments, Kenny spoke.

“Leopold Stotch, will you be my boyfriend -or girlfriend?” He gave a small glance down to the dress. “You can be whatever you want and wear whatever you want. You can even stay here. It’s not much, but it’s better than a stupid 'pray-away-the-gay’ camp.”

Butters let out a chuckle and gave Kenny the biggest smile of his life.

“Duh, Ken. I love you, silly.”

Kenny leaned in to peck at Butters lips again. The pecks trailed from his mouth to high on his cheekbone to his eye where the scar Kenny gave him was permanently etched.

“I love you, too.”

[ellana-ravenwood]

“Titus likes you...too much” - Older!Damian Wayne x Reader

I know I said I wouldn’t write anything until Friday or Saturday, but I just realized this story was done and for some reason I didn’t post it so why not post it now right ? So here we go. Specially written for @loverandomness2. Some fluffy love for the youngest Wayne boy. I’m sorry if you didn’t want an older!Damian and if that’s not what you wanted at all but...yeah, hope you’ll like it : 

PS : there’s a little surprise for @epickimmie somewhere in this fic. Hope it is ok that I did this. PPS : Also, this story kinda became some sort of sequel to another story I wrote with Damian, which is here : The First time is serious business. 

You can find my masterlist here : @ella-ravenwood-archives

_______________________________________________

It was early in the morning when Damian finally came home. Came back to you. 

It had been a few years since his father retired and Damian inherited the Batman’s cowl. Most nights, he was out fighting crimes in Gotham, though, since his dad’s younger years, G-city was way safer, and it often happened that Damian came home early, or sometimes, didn’t go out at all (besides, he still had the help of his brothers, and they took turn to watch over the city...so really, you often had times with him, even if he was also quite busy during the day, as he became Wayne Inc’s CEO as well). It didn’t mean that there wasn’t any work ever though, like tonight, a new guy who called himself the “Joker’s son” was menacing the streets, and Damian was exhausted as he finally came home...But really, more often than not, the city was now calm. 

Bruce was beyond happy about that, as he sacrificed his own life so others wouldn't have to. Sometimes, when you went over to Wayne’s Manor (you and Damian moved in a penthouse in the heart of Gotham quite a while ago), you felt a bit sad for your father-in-law...But nowadays, seeing his sons happy sufficed to make him happier than ever since his parents’ death. 

None of his children still lived in the Manor, but, now that they were all grown up and understood some of the difficult choices he had to take (it took Jason a little more than his brothers to get it), they all “forgave” him for any mistakes he might have done while trying the best he could to raise them, and often visited him and Alfred. 

Besides, since a little while, a certain Selina Kyle finally decided to move in with him so, Damian’s father wasn’t lonely, and that was great. He could finally live his life, after all those years, after sacrificing his youth and health...Finally, he was at peace (or almost, as sometimes, he couldn’t stay away from the bat-computer and such).  

As Damian came in your bedroom, shoulders hunched with fatigue, rubbing his face softly, you couldn’t help but be happy at the mere sight of him. You guys all came such a long way since you first met him...You were barely ten years old when you first encountered the youngest boy in the Wayne family, and so much had changed since those times. 

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

Jason had a small flat on Gotham’s dock. He loved the ocean and its sound, and refused any bigger place his father offered to buy him. He was still Red Hood at night, but wasn’t as violent as he used to. He didn’t kill anymore. Especially since he found a girl that looked his opposite, and tamed him down (referencing this fic here : Cutie and the Beast). Hell, they even had healthy triplets. TRIPLETS ! Two boys and a girl. Quite a busy life, as those kids were a handful...You adored them. Cute little nephews and niece. 

Dick moved to Bludhaven ages ago too, got married to a certain Lydia, the famous Superman’s daughter (though most people knew him just as retired journalist Clark Kent) (this is referencing a story by @soepicsokim, go check it out :-)), and was his same goofy and happy self. Especially when he was around his wife really. He often visited you guys to your apartment, and even though Damian was now a grown ass man, he still treated him like a child. 

Tim was living in a house in Gotham’s suburb, and was still the same old nerd he always been. Except now, he shared his life with a nerdy wife, and one nerdy little girl of his own. Last time you saw him, they were building a rocket in their garden...Of course they would.

Finally, Damian, your Damian, was living with you in a beautiful apartment in Gotham Central, and after years of being lost, sad, lonely and angry, he finally found balance by your side. You were his rock, his anchor to reality, and to everything that was good in life. You helped him with your love, and he thanked god, or whoever was out there, everyday for putting you on his way, years ago. You were a student in his middle school, and the only one that didn’t judge him and such, and even talked back to him when he was being an ass. A damn smart (and quite stubborn) girl too. Of course he could only fall for you. 

You’d been together for a long time before he finally popped the question, giving you his grandmother’s magnificent wedding ring he got from his father. You got married three years ago, a small and intimate reception with only close friends and family (his best friend, Jon Kent, also Dick’s wife little brother, made a tear jerking speech...not because it was emotional, but because it was very funny and awkward, so everyone just laughed so much they cried). It made every newspaper big title, “The last golden boy of Gotham, the only Wayne boy who wasn’t hitched...got hitched. And with a nobody !” Oh you hated the press. 

Damian was so mad some newspaper disrespected you he bought them and made them apologize for six months straight...It was cute at first, but after the hundredth daily newspaper stating : “(Y/N) Wayne is the sweetest woman in Gotham”, you got a bit tired and embarrassed of it. Once Damian realized it, he made them stop, and of course, since then, no news from Gotham city (or elsewhere in fact) dared to even speak slightly ill of you. 

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

 Every night, you’d wait for him to come home back to you, worrying when he’d come through only in the earliest hours of the day. 

When it was the case, it meant he had a rough night. Like today. 

He didn’t seem injured, but definitely drained and weary. But when he entered your shared bedroom where he found you, still awake, watching TV, a bright smile on your face as he came in, his features relaxed, and he lost ten years when he smiled back at you, of a genuine and happy smile full of sappy love. 

He undressed down to his boxers, and approached your bed...Only to stop in front of it, frowning quite like his father used to, and with a little “Tt” while he was looking at a massive form next to you, he says :

-...I think Titus really likes you. 

You smile at him and look at his huge dog besides you, that you guys were finally able to bring back from the Manor to your apartment. With a mischievous smirk, you say :  

-Oh ? What makes you think that ? 

-Oh I don’t know. Maybe the fact that this damn dog takes up more of the bed than I do ! 

-Hey, babe, it’s your dog. Besides, you’re not even in bed yet. 

-Because he takes most of it, he’s even taking my place in your arms...

-He’s protecting the baby. 

Damian cannot help the smiles that creeps on his face, as he tries to get into bed (difficult task with Titus in it already). The baby. His baby. Your baby. 

His heart beats wildly just at the memories of when he found out you were with child. He almost fainted of joy. 

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

You waited the perfect moment. A family dinner at the Manor. The room was full of laughter, stupid jokes, and giggles from your nephews and nieces. Everyone was just talking about anything and everything. It was a joyful moment. When you just blurted out : “I’m pregnant”, quickly followed by a “The family’s gonna have one more little one soon”, and the room went silent. 

Bruce was the first to react, laughing like a mad man at the news, unable to hold his happiness about the prospect to be a grandfather again (he was an even better grandfather than a father). Selina quickly followed and congratulated you. Dick lost his shit and jumped up and down in the entire dining room, until Lydia got a hold of him and soothed him back to a slightly less excited him. Jason chuckled and, looking at his own kids, rubbed his little brother’s shoulders tenderly. Tim, his daughter asleep in his arms, smiled widely and said something about hoping he or she would be a genius like you and Damian, because he wished he could teach his nephews and nieces something, and Jason’s triplets were just too...full of life to concentrate on anything. 

The glare Jason gave Tim made everyone laugh, and the attention went back to you and Damian. To you and a very pale Damian. You were afraid he didn’t want this child with you until...He raised to his feet, and went to you, pulling you up in one of the best hug you ever received in your life. His warm embrace was everything you needed. 

Under his family’s applause, you truly became the happiest woman in the World. And he never felt such joy in his life. A child. Your child. 

-Our child...

He whispered in your ear, tightening his grip on you. 

***********

-Grrrrrr. 

Damian instinctually takes a step away from you and “his” dog, as Titus grunts at him. Visibly, “his” dog allegiance shifted to his unborn child, as the hound refuses to let your husband come close from you and your swollen belly. 

-He’s groaning at me ! He’s taking most of my own damn bed, and he dares to groan at me ! He never groaned at me before ! 

You can’t hold the little giggle that escapes your lips in front of your Damian’s pouty and stunned face, which makes him even broodier. You push Titus a bit on the side (he doesn’t resist, after all, right now, his sole purpose is to protect you and the baby from anyone...which includes his own master) and reach for the love of your life. 

-You trained him too well honey, he’s really shielding me and our baby from any danger ! 

-I’m not a danger, I’m your husband !

-But how does he know you’re not a threat ?

-I never even did anything that could make him think that ! 

-Hey, don’t yell at me babe, he’s gonna take it the wrong way ! 

Damian narrows his eyes at you and his traitor of a dog, but soon realizes you’re only mocking him, and he chuckles lowly. 

-Damn woman, you’re driving me crazy. Quite literally. 

-Even after all those years ? Yay, go me ! 

He chuckles some more, and it’s such a sweet sound that you wished you could freeze time and hear his soft laugh forever. You love when he feels so comfortable with you, that he lets go of his stoic self to allow himself to smile and laugh. Only you, have that effect on him (and sometimes Dick too, because that man was just so damn silly). 

-My problem still isn’t solved though. 

-What problem ? 

-(Y/N), there’s a dog where I’m suppose to sleep, I’m really, REALLY tired, and he groans at me whenever I approach you. I’d say it’s a problem. 

-Oh right. Yeah. Just a second. 

You lock your gaze on Titus, and the dog instantly stares at you. You turn your head toward the end of the bed, and the animal respond with a whiney noise. You insist, and with a small exasperated growl (yes, dogs can make exasperated noises !), he rises on his feet, looks at his own master suspiciously, and goes to lay down at the bottom of the bed. Said bed is so big, that he can sleep there without bothering you or your giant ass husband. 

Damian looks at you, a bit confused, and says : 

-...Did you just...Did you just talk to our dogs with your eyes ? 

You shake your head positively. Of course you did. You always had a special connection with animals, and Titus was a good boy. 

Damian looks at you, then at “his” dog, then back at you, and sighs. He almost miss the days when his dog was a puppy and did everything he told him to do...but in those days, you weren’t in his life, so he couldn’t really ever regret them. There was no living without you, no Damian without (Y/N). 

Making sure Titus won’t do anything, he slowly crawl into bed, and carefully comes closer to you, until you rest at his side. He’s still a bit uneasy at the way his dog follows him with his eyes though. Ready to intervene if there’s any problem (it kinda reassures him though, that his dog is that protective of you and your unborn baby, because it means he can leave you sometimes and know you’ll be ok). 

A loving hand on your stomach, his free arm behind your head, you snuggle against him, nuzzling his neck, and he lets out a content sigh. He’s finally home. He has you in his arms. He can even feel his future son kicking. 

Everything is perfect. 

You raise on your elbow and bend over his body, smiling sweetly at him. He, of course, returns your smile, and raises his head to plant a soft kiss on your lips. 

-Did I say I love you today ? 

-I don’t think so, no.

-Well, I love you (Y/N). 

-It’s funny. 

-Why ?

-Cause I love you too. Always have, probably always will. 

-Probably ?

-Well, you never know...

You tease him, he knows it. And he loves it. With his trademark “batsmirk”, he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you down on him, giving you an extremely cute esquimo kiss (he sure was glad that none of his brothers or friends were around, they would totally make fun of him for being so cheesy). 

-I hope you’ll always love me. It would kill me to loose you...

-So dramatic. 

-And yet I speak the truth. I cannot live without you (Y/N). 

Your heart skip a beat. Why did he have to be so charming and attractive ? He stares back at you with his beautiful green eyes, and you can’t help but plant loving kisses on his soft and sweet skin you love so much. You have a quick thought about how much he looks like his father, except for the eyes and darker skin, and you smile because if he ages like his dad...Well damn. 

-I love you Dami. So much.

-I love you too (Y/N), so much it hurts. Don’t ever leave, please. 

-I don’t make that promise unless you do the same. 

-I don’t intend on ever leaving you. Or our future child. 

-Well good, because I’m not going anywhere. 

-Good. 

-Good. 

He raises on his elbow, and as you plop down on the bed, he straddles you, as he knows you love how his body shields you. His hands are on each side of your face, deft fingers putting a strand of wild (H/C) hair behind your ear, and caressing your cheek with their tip. His legs are on each side of you. You’re trapped in his embrace. And you love it. He’s about to bend down and kiss you when...

-OUCH !! WHAT THE HELL TITUS ?! HE BIT ME ! TITUS JUST FUCKING BIT ME !?

The sound of your laughter at the overprotectiveness of “your” dog toward your unborn child resonate through the entire apartment. 

FIN. 

Hope you liked it. I’m a bit afraid it’s not what you wanted, @loverandomness2.

[shipsbcshesdiabetic]

Chapter 3 (You might have read this already)

So far, no one really gives a shit that I’m here. One person gave me a hug, and Jacob made a disgusting face at me, and that’s about it. I’m both relieved and offended that I don’t have to deal with awkward staring. Everyone’s too busy talking to each other. I have literally no friends, so I do what I always do: observe. I like watching drama unfold.

The popular girls are sitting in the corner showing each other pictures on their phones. From what I can tell, they’re swapping pictures of Felix Romero they took without him knowing. They’re giggling now. I don’t blame them, because Felix Romero is like the hottest guy on earth. It’s insane how perfectly formed his face is. Jet black hair, bright ocean eyes, amazing rosy lips, his jawline… Oh God, his jawline. I would let him slit my throat with that jawline. He’s just so incredibly perfect. It’s like Jesus Himself made his face with me in mind. I hate that I like the boy that all of the other girls like, but I’ve chosen not to care. Why does it matter if I’m different or not? At least I own my basic-ness.

           Felix’s only flaw is that he hangs out with Kyle Foxx, who is essentially a man-whore. I would love to murder him. He’s tried to fuck every girl in our grade. He never shuts up either, and when you tell him to, he says “You just hate me because I’m black”. No, Kyle, we don’t hate you because you’re black; we hate you because you suck. He’s an ass. You know what they say: you are what you eat. The only thing that ever makes him shut up for a second is his nudes. He sent nudes to this one girl, Lynn is her name I think, and she uses them as blackmail. One time he said one too many perverted things, and she threatened to send it to her friends. He didn’t believe her, so he kept cat-calling her. Lynn sent the picture to ten people. Kyle listens to her now.

           Kyle and Felix have the most disgusting friendship ever. They call each other “daddy”. (i.e. I love you daddy, choke me daddy, etc.) A month ago, they started a thing where they look at each other and start moaning during the lesson. It’s even worse when they do it when it’s dead silent, like when we’re doing our work or taking a test. Sometimes they just stand in the middle of the hallway, holding hands, moaning. It makes everyone uncomfortable. I know they’re kidding, but you have to wonder sometimes.

           Jacob comes up behind me and licks my neck. “I saw the snap you sent me, little lamb.”

“Jacob, what the fuck.”

“I read it.”

           “You…? No, you can’t read it. It’s impossible to read words that small, remember? That’s the whole thing.”

           “You didn’t shrink the letters this time.” Dammit.

           “Wait, lemme see.” He shows me his screen. Sure enough, it’s very readable. I sigh. I’m so tired that I forgot that really important detail. Well, the damage is done. I guess I’m just going to have to deal with him wiggling his eyebrows at me all day.

           You see, Jacob is the type of creepy perverted that is uncomfortable and awkward yet non-threatening. Like, I would spend time alone in a room with Jacob before I would with Kyle.

           Mr. Jones walks in right as Kyle and Felix start wrestling. “Kyle! Felix. You are in high school. Seniors almost, at that. I’ve told you all year, and I’ll tell you again, cut it out.”

“You just hate me cause I’m black!” Kyle half-jokes.

“Kyle, I’m black. Now get in your seat before I call your dad.”        

In grade school, Kyle always cried like a faggot whenever the teacher called his parents. Convinced, Kyle quietly walks back to his chair, rights it, and sits in it as Mr. Jones stares him down. Kyle walks toward his seat, which was permanently moved to the front of the classroom a while ago. Everyone was too busy looking at Kyle to even open their books, who is now standing behind the teacher, mocking his bad posture and his light limp. No one dares to laugh or smile.

“I have Mancala and a chess board for all of you to share here in that corner. And Kyle…” Kyle freezes, still hunched over. “Stop doing that. You can sit in the floor alone for the rest of class.” Mr. Jones says all of this while facing toward the class, smiling mischievously. Kyle slinks away and sits on the floor, facing the wall.

I scroll through the calendar on my phone so people will assume that I’m doing something and leave me alone. Kyle’s curled up in the fetal position on the floor, fast asleep. Everyone settles into their groups and laugh with each other. I wish I could be a part of that. I wish I had friends. What? No. I didn’t say anything. What are you talking about? I take the opportunity to stare at Felix undetected. If I stare at the wall, I can see him out the corner of my eye. Anyone who looks at me will safely assume that I’m daydreaming.

We’re leaving. It’s crowded because everyone wants to get out at the same time. I have places to be, people. I accidentally bump into Felix, blushing. I start to say something, when Jacob grabs my hand in the crowd and yanks me away from my train wreck. I can tell it’s Jacob because he always grabs people’s hands like he doesn’t know how to. Despite his general creepiness, he is helpful. Kyle is still sprawled out on the floor, but his eyes are open. Mr. Jones crouches down beside him.

“Would you like to stand up?”

Kyle shrugs.

“Kyle, I dismissed class. Please leave.”

He lies flat on the floor, not complying with the request. Mr. Jones whispers something inaudible in his exposed ear. Whatever he said must have really motivated him, because Kyle bolted upright, grabbed his backpack, and ran out, all in under five seconds. Wind from his sudden escape hit my face, carrying the scent of his cheap man perfume.

I see Molly, one of my other few and fucked-up friends, standing by my locker, waiting for me. I hope she won’t say anything about-

“Did you find out?” Molly asks.

I shake my head. “Find out about what?”

“Nothing. Wait, maybe you did, it’s about…”

Lily walks past us. Molly reaches out and grabs her. Lily spins around. She looks at Molly, then at me. Her eyes widen. “WHAT THE FUCK,” she shouts up at the ceiling, with her arms raised. “WHY THE ACTUAL FRICK FRACK FUCK. WHAAAAAT THHHHHHEEEEEEE FUUUUUUUUCCCCCK.”

Molly smiles her evil smile, the smile she reserves for special occasions. What? “Lily, is there something that you would like to tell Kirsten? Something… important?”

Her eyes widen as she looks at the ground. She breaks out her turtle frown. “NO…”

“Okay, Molly, what is this?” I’m so confused.

Molly looks at Lily. Lily slides her finger across her throat. My heart jolts. “I am afraid that I cannot disclose that sort of information.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Okay,” Lily interjects, “Moving on from this… Make sure that you tell me or Molly if you ever need to talk about anything.”

Molly awkwardly pats my back. She usually prefers to bury her feelings under her superior intellect. I know that they mean well, but I really just want them to act naturally around me. That way, I could possibly return to a sub-normal emotional state. It would help me forget. Except I will never forget any of it. There’s nothing that anyone could do or say that would make me feel like my old self. I predict that, one hundred years from now, far after the synapses in my brain will stop firing away, my soul or spirit or ghost or whatever you want to call it will still carry the burden of my memory of my sister hanging by her neck...

And that’s why I’m not telling them anything. They don’t need my depressing shit in their lives.

Well look who it is. Kyle Foxx. Alcorn High’s residential womanizer. He zooms to the back of the line to talk to his buddy, yelling all the way. His voice booms in an exaggerated Texan accent. Of course, I suppose that all of us have one, this being Texas, but his dialect is so stereotypical and insulting. “Howdy” this and “ya’ll” that. All ya’ll need to know that not everyone who lives in Texas have cattle and drive trucks. (Well, I have a Chevy, but that’s not the point.)

Kyle high-fives his friend and heads in our direction. I’m not really in the mood to have a pointless argument with him, so I sandwich myself between Derrek (kid I have two classes with; seems harmless) and the wall. For a short moment, I happily assume that he will bypass us and move on with his day. I was wrong. So very wrong. He walks over to Lily. I can already smell a messy confrontation.

“Here’s your cheese. Not that you need the calories, though.”

Did he just make a fat joke? Lily’s not fat. Granted, she used to be fat when I met her, but then she started working out. She looks just fine now. He hands her the can of cheese she has in her locker for “special occasions”. As in, that time of the month. Oh God. Kyle’s gonna die.

Kyle laughs at his own joke, accidentally spraying some spit on Molly’s glasses. Sighing, she takes them off, rubbing the lenses across the side of her green shirt.

“Wow. You look terrible without your glasses,” Kyle says heartlessly.

“That’s her face, you little shit,” Lily spits.

“That’s not a very lady-like word, is it? Although, I could expect that language from you because you’re one of those b-”

Out of nowhere, Lily bitch-slaps him, leaving a pink hand mark on his acne-covered cheek. Beyond pissed, Lily starts shouting at him. She looks really scared too. About half of her sentences are comprised of swear words. Truth be told, I don’t even know what half of them mean. Tired students take the time to stop and look at them before continuing on their way. Some cheer.

Suddenly, Mrs. Ruth, the world’s most passive-aggressive teacher, peers out her door and looks at the scene in front of her. Her eyes start bugging out of her head, making her look like one of those costume skeletons with the bulging eyes. “Time for class, everyone,” she says in a shakier-than-usual voice, not really sure how to respond to the situation. No one pays any attention to her. Everyone in Mrs. Ruth’s class stands still in the hallway, transfixed as Lily takes out her repressed anger on Kyle. She’s usually not like this at all, even when she is on her period. I’m pretty sure that no one is going to move as long as this is happening.

Lily is blind to everything but Kyle at the moment. I’m really glad that she’s not putting up with his comments anymore, but this is getting out of hand. I watch her raise her fist and throw a punch. Fortunately, Kyle ducks just in time. I need to stop this somehow, because this could get really violent really quickly. Plus, she’s scaring Mrs. Ruth, who has one hand clenched around the doorknob, looking like she’s watching Lily murder her entire family.

Lily raises her fist and attempts to punch him, but halts mid swing when Kyle whispers something I can’t hear. She freezes in place, her fist still aiming for his nose. Molly shifts around beside me, as if debating whether or not she should intervene. I feel weird just standing here, letting this happen. Lily could get suspended. Kyle could get his lights punched out, not that I care. He really does deserve a good maiming.

I walk behind her and quietly say her name, desperately hoping that she doesn’t try to strangle me. She turns around, her angry eyes glaring at me. Her face is so red. Even more so than usual. Somewhere, I see a flicker of pain in her empty, waiting pupils. I put my hand on her shoulder and say calmly “Violence isn’t the answer.” That’s one of our inside jokes. Her expression changes quickly. I can tell that she’s trying to cool off. She flashes one of her signature death stares at Kyle, bites her thumb, and walks into class, forgetting her backpack. I think I saw Mrs. Ruth flinch as Lily passed by.(Ever since we read Romeo and Juliet as freshmen, nearly every kid in the school has replaced flipping the bird with biting their thumb, because out tight-ass teachers can’t punish us as much for that.) Some kid takes in Lily’s backpack for her.

It’s amazing what can happen in five short minutes. And now it’s time for art class. I find Molly in the back of the line. I guess she decided on flight instead of fight. We smirk at each other, both of us thinking about the fight. Probably. Just as I pass by Mrs. Ruth, she puts her bony skeleton hand on my shoulder. She opens her mouth to speak.

“Is Lily on her per-“

“Yes,” Molly and I say.

She nods her head, and then shakes it.  She puts her hand on the doorknob, as if she was about to open it. But the elderly woman just looks at her stupid light pinkish-red sandals and sighs.

“That explains her behavior. While I don’t approve of violence in any form, I can understand her outburst. You know, when I was that age, I had the worst hormone flare- ups ever. I had a very short temper during those times, too, so I completely understand-“

Molly and I rush on to art, leaving her there, letting her tell her story to the door. Mrs. Ruth is okay, but she tells the longest, most boring personal stories. If you let her, she will ramble on and on about something like her hot-flashes or her dead husband. Plus, we need to get to class before we’re late. And you don’t want to be late for Mrs. Landloch’s class, because she will chew you up and shit you out if you are.

Mrs. Landloch has got to be the worst art teacher to ever set foot on the earth. Her assignments are okay, great even, but she speaks to us in a patronizing tone, and she treats everyone, even the good kids, like incapable children. She’s terrifying. Sometimes she even has the rabies foam forming on the corners of her mouth. It’s obvious that she doesn’t care about any of us. And she doesn’t have to. I can’t control her thoughts. But it would be really great if she would at least pretend to care every so often.

We arrive just seconds after the last person in line sets foot in the art room, red-faced and breathless. Landloch taps her pen on her binder, waiting for us to get in our assigned seats. I can feel her eyes boring in on my back as I quietly slide into my seat. The hair on my head starts prickling up. I’m afraid to turn around. I force my head to move. Behind me, Mrs. Landloch stands with her feet firmly planted on the ground, staring intently at the window. She looks like one of those middle aged ladies in war movies who stare at screens and decide how best to kill people. She stands there with a deadly smile on her red lips. The few brave souls who were whispering shut up immediately. She has that raw power and air of authority that not many teachers here have. Most of the teachers here are old sad sacks who came out of retirement. I feel like Kyle would never open his mouth again if he took her class. I think that not taking this class was possibly the most intelligent thing he’s ever done.

“Today, as our final assignment, we will be painting our clay sculptures,” Mrs. Landloch says in an icy, quiet tone that no one can ignore. She doesn’t say anything more. She just sits behind her desk and plays an off-brand version of Flappy Bird. But that doesn’t mean that she’s not paying attention to us. If someone whispers or drops a crayon, she looks up at the offender and just looks at them. She doesn’t glare or anything; she just looks at them with her normal face. But the longer she does it, the scarier it gets. Sometimes I wonder if she knows how creepy she can be. On good days, however, she just plays on her phone and smiles slightly when a bird falls to its death.

Molly taps my shoulder. What? I mouth. She points to a pile of clay and squeezes the air. I grab a lump of the wet, gray substance from the counter and start molding it. The slippery clay randomly decides to fly out of my hand. It falls to the ground with a loud plop. Our teacher is going to kill us all. Every student stops painting their dried lumps of whatever to look at me. I awkwardly bow. I’m not helping myself, am I?

Mrs. Landloch tries to spot the offender. I duck under the table as quickly as possible, thankful for the fact that Mrs. Landloch always puts a tablecloth on the tables to protect them. I lie on my side in the fetal position with a stupid look on my face. The clicking of cheap checkered high heels travels behind me. Chills go up my spine. I’m so screwed. I scan my surroundings. No one’s feet move. It’s so quiet in here that I can hear a kid in the next room drop their pencil. I bet the other students are just as petrified as I am. I rest my head on the cold dirty floor and wait for the worst.  

Mrs. Landloch’s high heels stop clicking right behind me. Shit. Shit. Shit. I dare to rotate myself just enough to where I can see her plastic shoes sitting still, right smack in front of me. I jolt. A pale, bony hand retrieves the mound of clay that I dropped. Time seems to freeze as she calls out my name, her voice hissing slowly like ice on a frying pan. She yanks up the checkered cloth, looking at me. I probably look completely ridiculous, with my ever reddening face and flyaway hair filled with static. The longer she stares at me, the more awkward it gets.

She extends a single bony finger and motions for me to come forward. I crawl out from under the table, banging my head a few times in the process. My arm tingles as she guides me out the door. I’m too scared to actually check, but I can tell that everyone’s looking at me. Have you ever just wanted to teleport yourself out of an embarrassing situation? Teleportation is now officially an emotion. I want to teleport myself right over the mouth of a volcano.

Mrs. Landloch closes the door slowly, taking care to not let it slam. She looks at the dirty floor clay and digs her long fingernails into it, as if she was a cat trying to kill its prey. Her crystal blue eyes dart up and seem to latch onto my soul. She’s thinking my thoughts. Feeling my feelings. I laugh nervously to lessen the tension. A slight smile dances on her lips, leaving as quickly as it came. In that short moment, she seemed almost human. Now she’s a teacher again. An evil lizard. Like Miley Cyrus minus the twerking. She drops the round, warm clay in my hand and turns around to go back in the room. I can sense twenty kids hold their breath. For a second, I think I’m off the hook. Everything can go back to normal now. And then:

“If you ever need anything, make sure to tell me. I’ll always be here for you. All of you.”

“Oh. Okay.” I really wish that my voice hadn’t cracked just then.

I sit in my seat, taking it all in. I don’t even remember how I got back in here. All I know is, a bunch of people I can barely stand and can barely stand me are looking at me like I sprouted green hair, a warm lump of glorified dirt is clenched in my fist, and Mrs. Landloch, whom is not present in the classroom at this time, can feel. What is this life? Volcano me. Volcano me right now.

Some kid drops the paintbrush can. Students hurriedly get back to painting their dried mud. The poor kid hurriedly picks up every single brush by himself. Molly looks at me. I can tell that she’s thinking that she could be doing so many more productive things right now. She looks at her lame sculpture and sighs. Once everyone fully understood that there was no teacher in the room, a low chatter emerged.

“Look at this. Look at this garbage. My cat’s deformed.”

I drop my clay and analyze the sculpture. Molly can paint it any way she wants. It’s still a cactus. She’s been shaping that thing for ages. And trust me, it’s a cactus. I pretend to agree with her and continue poking at my clay.

“What are you making?” She asks.

“I don’t know. But right now, I’m thinking that it’s going to be a potato. Or a rock.”

“That’s cool,” Molly says in the most uninterested tone ever.

Molly taps my shoulder.

“I’m right here. You don’t have to tap my shoulder every time you want to talk to me.”

“Sorry. What did Mrs. Landloch say to you?”

“Nothing,” I lie. Ordinarily, this would have been true. I wish it was true. I wish she had yelled at me instead of being compassionate. The whole reason for coming here was to get back into the loop of things, even for only one last day. Not for everyone to act like I’m an injured animal. I had counted on all these freaks to act like their normal self-absorbed selves. But no. They have to pay attention to me on the very day I want to disappear. Great. Thanks, everyone.

“Kirsten. Don’t you lie to me. I can tell when you lie.”

“Okay. She told me that she would help me if I needed something or something like that, and that she cares. Happy?”

“Never. I was diagnosed with chronic moderate depression at the age of ten.”

Mrs. Landloch walks to the front of the class. “Lunch.” We file out of the room. We scramble through the skinny hallways like a herd of rampaging bulls as soon as Mrs. Landloch is out of sight. Lockers slam and kids laugh and scream at each other. Someone elbows me to get in front of the crowd. I hate people. Sighing, I walk into the school cafeteria and wonder what embarrassing horrors I’ll have to face. At least things can’t get any worse.

Someone I recognize from the pit staggers and coughs beside me in line. Then the unthinkable happens. He lifts his shirt to wipe his nose, and a yellow bag falls out of his pants. It explodes. It splatters all over me, covering my legs and my lower stomach. I wish to die. Everyone backs away, looking at this. I walk away emotionlessly, carelessly, I don’t care, nothing matters, everything sucks. This is normal. Here are the things I’m covered in:

-my own pee

-my own dried tears

-rotten chicken

-old food stains

-a bunch of other stuff too I guess

Back to the bathroom. I sit in the sink and turn on the faucet. I wiggle my white fat ass thighs under the water, because I’m too fat to actually move them.

“Why are you in your underwear?” Jacob asks.

“Why are you in the girls’ bathroom?”

“Protecting the girls from creeps.”

“Seems legit. Hey, can you do me-”

“Yes.”

“-a favor and squeeze the pee out of my shorts?”

“Sure.”

I run to lunch to catch the last ten minutes. I go through the line, get my food, and walk over to the long table where Lily usually sits. She’s with Kyle. She’s ranting again. “I have bled and suffered and bled some more to keep this under wraps. One more fucking squeak out of that fat thing you call your face and I swear to God I will cut out your eyeballs, partially digest them, vomit them into your mouth, snap your head off, rip out your spine, whip you with it, pull down my pants, and bleed on your corpse.”

Oh God. She’s learning this kind of behavior from me.

Molly’s on the other side of the table. But she’s with her boyfriend. You don’t want to break them up. And I’ll tell you why. You see, there’s this gang or colony or whatever of cats that live in this old barn a mile or so from my house. They’re not really domesticated, but they’re sweet sometimes. Sometimes. When it’s cat mating season, they don’t put up with any crap. One time, a few years ago, I thought I heard a child crying. Believe it or not, but back then, I actually cared about other people, so I ran over to see if I could do anything. (Shocking, I know.) It wasn’t a human. Two cats were, uh, socializing. They stared at me. I stared at them. The male one hissed. And then I was chased. So that’s why I’m sitting somewhere else for lunch today.

I feel so alone. Just me and my sludge. I do what I did when I had virtually no real friends. I stare at the wall. Then I stare at my food substance. Then I scroll through the calendar on my phone. Then I stare at the wall. Then I stare at my sludge. Then I stare at the block of air next to Felix. Not Felix himself though. That would be sad, and very pathetic.

Lunch is over. I go to my next class. We watch Bee Movie. I hate Bee Movie. We’ve watched it over a million times. These teachers don’t understand memes, so they think that we actually like it. It’s a joke, dammit. If I see even one bee this summer, I will die. Absolutely die.

This isn’t even helping me, like, not think about her dead body. I actually feel worse. I smell like pee. Jacob is a freak. Lily is spazzy. Molly loves nothing except her boyfriend and frowning. This does nothing to distract me from her corpse, hanging, rotting.

I spend hours sitting and waiting for something to happen, but nothing does. It is the last day. Nothing much ever happens on the last day. In class, at least. The halls are where stuff actually happens. Everyone mostly just wants to leave though. I finally walk to my last class. Molly taps my shoulder. I turn around. It’s Lily instead. Her face is at the normal redness now.

“We should hang sometime.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I’m sorry. So sorry. But we really should han- get together sometime over the summer.”

“You’re ridiculous, and I hate you a lot, but sure. Text me.”

I walk into class. We sit and do nothing for a decent amount of time. “We still have to move the desks out to the hallway,” my teacher finally says.

“Moving desks? My favorite.”

We push the desks across the floor, some accidentally shaking and vibrating. Behind me, someone really grinds that thing into the tile as a joke. A girl laughs. I push on my desk too. It sounds like a train being water boarded. Music to my ears. Our teacher runs past us with a desk. Soon, everyone’s trying to make as much noise as possible. And it’s fucking hilarious. The administration here is really serious about not scuffing the floors. Ear damage has never been so rebellious.

I pick up a desk and start banging it against the floor in the hallway before getting more desks. I have never loved anything more than I love these desks. Someone throws one against the wall. I punch the desks until my hands go blood red. It hurts a lot but it’s worth it, so worth it, because this is the single greatest moment of my life. I feel united with my peers under the same cause: abusing these desks.

We scrape our chosen desks into the hallway. We go back into the classroom, eager to grab another. We lift a desk and go out together in a line, letting the sound rip through the whole school. It sounds like a train. And we’re the annoying conductors. “CHOO CHOO, BITCH!” I scream. People laugh.

Everyone’s laughing, everyone’s happy, I’m happy, all our faces are red, I love this. The desks are still screaming out into the hallway one by one. It’s every bit as wonderful as it was five minutes ago. I never want to leave this place. Even the teachers helping us move them are loving it.

All the desks are gone. I am sad. I go to the front of the desk row and grab the first chair. “I think this one would look better at the end of the hall, don’t you think?” I say to no one in particular. I hook my arms on the top of the desk and run with it down the long hall. It’s my grand exit. It sounds like a cat in a blender on a malfunctioning train. This is beautiful. This is a gift from God.

I pick it up above my head when I reach the end and slam it into the floor. Done. Well, that was something. I’m done with this place. I check my phone.

It’s 3:00. I’m a senior.

I am so glad I can finally escape from this hell. I weave through all the idiots and bitches in the hallway to get to my destination: The bus. Lily and one of her friends walk near me, just as eager to leave. (Her Friend: How would you even know how to kill me? Or even hide my body? Lily: Tumblr.) I’m not even going to ask. The beautiful double doors draw closer. They are my ticket out of hell. I repress the urge to flip off every single person blocking my way out. I’ve always had this fantasy of raising both arms in the air, letting my middle fingers fling out as I scream “FUCK YOU ALL TO HELL” as I run out of the school on the last day. Can’t do that though. I start walking faster. And faster. Almost free!

I turn around and take one last look at the school before I get on the bus. I stand at the front as I wait for the kindergarteners to move their damn feet. I gracefully walk down the aisle, feeling like I’m getting married to my husband, named Miles and Miles Away From This Crap.

I take out my phone and go to YouTube. I put in my earbuds and listen to “American Pie” by Don McClean. It just feels like a “beginning of summer” song to me, even though it’s so not. I don’t even know what it means. I pull down my window and let the warm air hit my face. I hear the faint screaming of children. What a gorgeous sound. I look at them. They’re smiling. Damn it, it was screams of joy.

One of the 6th graders stands up. “SCREAM ON 1… 2… 3…!”

Die. I turn up the music until I can’t hear them. If they keep it up I’ll give them a reason to scream. Pop their heads off. Drink their blood. Rip out their spines and whip them with them.

Home. Finally. Finally. Finally. Now I can relax. And smoke. And be depressed AND alone all summer. Hurrah. I’m hit with the smell of stale vomit as I enter the living room. Actually, I think it always smells like acid and shit, so it may not be vomit at all, but just the smell of a poor economic situation. I bet Mom’s sleeping. I fish for my cigarettes under the sofa cushions. Instead of my precious nicotine, I find dead bugs and a nickel.

“Kirsten?” my mother says behind me. My heart jumps.  I stop couching and turn to face her.

“Yes, mother?” I say. I wish my tone hadn’t been rude. I’m just pissed.

“Smoking really isn’t healthy,” she says, holding up the white box.

I say nothing. I stare her down. Why the heck is she complaining about me? She was the one who was outrageously drunk (no, flat out wasted) for the past week.

“I hope you know that you can’t get your connection from drugs. Or food, for that matter. If you need support from me, just tell me. Martha, you know, is a therapist. I could call her-‘’

“Mom, no. Just no,” I say. “You’re making it worse.”

I don’t need therapy. Therapists are weird. And why spend mass quantities of money to talk about feelings and junk? If I did go, the world would be exactly the same as it was before, except I would have less money in my college fund, and therefore have even more student loan debt, if I go to college at all. I’ve had to think about college a lot lately. Going, not going, wondering if anyone would take me in. And then I remember that no college would want me anyway unless they’re specifically looking for some ugly-ass white trash with no life and no friends and a dead sister, and then I get more depressed, and buy more cigarettes, and then less money, etc. Isn’t that fantastic?

“I think we do need to find some help,” she says, rubbing her forehead.

“Okay. You do what you need to do to cope, and then you can call me when you find a therapist can raise people from the dead. Also, Gatorade helps with hangovers.” I walk out, letting the screen door slam behind me. This is the type of stuff I used to make fun of people for doing. Just the “‘OMG you don’t understand me!!!’ walks out with gothic clothes” thing. I am one of those people.  

Something breaks. Then there’s shouting. A wave of guilt washes over me. She was just trying to make things better. She’s the only immediate family member I have left. And I just hurt her. Just like I must have hurt my sister. A lump grows in my throat, making it nearly impossible to not tear up. I decide to shut up and leave before I make things any worse. Sometimes it’s best just to leave people alone.

The door opens. I quietly run behind the house. I hear a car door close. The engine starts. Tires screech. It sputters on until I can’t hear it anymore. I think I drove her back to drinking. You know, a pack of cigarettes sounds nice right about now.

As I smoke, I delete all of my text messages. I don’t need all the “I’m so sorry’’ and “Are you okay” messages on my phone. They’re doing that for their own personal gain. They’re patting themselves on the back for doing virtually nothing. I throw away the empty pack of cigarettes and go back inside. I stand in the doorway. There’s no reason for me to go in. I feel lost in my own house.

I should go somewhere. I’m so bored. I could drive to a random person’s house. Ring the doorbell. See what happens. Nah. I could visit my old neighborhood. For what, though? It’s not going to be fun. Just a bunch of repressed memories of my father beating my mother resurfacing. The lake. I hate swimming though. Get food somewhere, because I fucking love food. Okay, I’ll go to… McDonald’s because I’m trash.

           I left my truck at the school.