#i think my queue ate it the first time

[tenaclty]

did that bloodhound post go out twice. you guys would tell me if something double posted right

[galariangengar]

💭

[fereldenshero]

um. hey lol. [tucks invisible hair behind my ear] [its cause im bald now]

[princessbrunette]

“you still mad at me?” while balls deep with rafe 😵‍💫😵‍💫.

GODDDD U ATE W THIS PROMPT 😩 like my jaw dropped

rafe was always doing this.

he’d make empty promises, plans even — talk to you all sweet with a warm hand on your back whispering suggestion of “that was the last time i’m getting involved with all that crazy shit, baby. i swear. s’just me you n’me now, you hear me?” and you being the fool, believed him.

until of course you’re catching him pulling back up to the drive on his motorcycle, yanking his helmet off with that ill-tempered expression of his that just tells you enough that somethings gone on, you know, the one where his teeth are grit, lips pressed together like they’d been sewn shut. that’s not even where it ends, because often times barry is close behind, pulling up alone side so they can debrief loudly in the living room, stinking up the place with pot. even if you were mad, you know the rules. no coming down the stairs when barry’s over.

you almost had started to enjoy the feeling of sulking when rafe would eventually skulk up the stairs after barry had left, shoulders heavy and ready to grovel. naturally, you put up quite the fight — and what might surprise you is that rafe let’s you mouth off, even if he knows you don’t understand the importance of his situation and likely never will.

“again and again rafe! how many times am i gonna have to put up with you just running off to god knows where when you promise me you’re not doing all that anymore! you were supposed to be with me today!” you nearly stomp your foot, that last sentence coming out childishly like an abandoned middle child. he nods, jaw ticking as he stares at the ground scratching his forehead, waiting for his lashing to end. once the tears start to roll, that’s his queue. like clockwork.

“come on, hey. y’know i love you, sweetheart. i’m sorry, okay?” he rushes to your side, sliding right up next to you on the bed and thumbing at the first batch of tears on your cheek, his hand so large it cups your skull at the same time. you want to preen into his touch, so elated with any affection after a day of missing him, worrying about him — but you don’t, because you’re still mad. be strong, you tell yourself.

you’re weak. you hate yourself.

not even 10 minutes of your sobbing and complaining later and he’s got your legs over his broad shoulders, balls slapping lewdly against you whilst he all but pumps you. his hands that are on your waist, using you as leverage reposition themselves so that he’s holding himself up over you more. a large hand wraps gently around your ankle as he does so, making sure your leg doesn’t slide off the strong slopes of his shoulder.

squeals and more tears are being punched out of you with each thrust, but he can see you physically relaxing, he can see you reaching out to him with a wobbling bottom lip so that you can hold onto his arms like you always do when he fucks you. it’s neutralising you.

“fuck, that’s m’girl.” he pants, mouth gaping at the way your pussy flutters around him. you’re so reactive to his voice he can’t believe it, never having met anyone who is so enamoured with everything he does. shit, maybe he should treat you better after all. he keeps talking, because he thinks you deserve to cum a whole bunch tonight, after putting up with all his shit. having a girlfriends made him gone all soft.

“you still mad at me?” he tilts his head, and you’re not sure if it’s intended to be mean or mocking, because it certainly doesn’t come out that way — his voice kind and eyes kinder, rolling the well kept muscles in his core to grind his cock against that spongey spot deep within. you don’t answer his question, clinging onto that last crumb of dignity and restraint. you pout through your whimpers, turning your head a little. he takes that opportunity to burrow down into your neck, his open mouth panting against your tepid skin as he speaks lowly again. “dont be mad at me baby. i’m only tryna look after my girl, you want that right?”

“mhm…” you reply before you permit yourself.

he slides his arms under you now, letting your legs down from his shoulders to hook around his waist instead. he’s holding your body close to his as he grinds, his pelvis smushed against your clit, making your thighs tremble and suddenly you’re so god damn close it hurts and you’ll do anything to cum.

“so good to me, baby.” he sighs and you cry out, arching your body harder to his. “i know. let it out. i’m so bad to you sweetheart s’the least i can do.” he mutters self pityingly before letting out a groan, cock pulsing inside you. you remember thinking about how right he was about that when you fell over the edge into a white hot orgasm.

[peterparkersnose]

Give In

pairing: Joel Miller x reader

word count: 2.3k

warnings: suicidal thoughts, pining possibly one sided, ANGST (just a large angst piece, i wanted some joel angst so I made it), description of depression, emotional dependency on a person, arguing, fluff sprinkled in, implied age gap not specified, reference to pregnancy, mentions of substance and alcohol abuse, joel is lowkey toxic and uses reader

a/n hi loves I wrote this after the first episode aired, so if anything contradicts anything in the future in this story that is why. also, i didnt know how to end it so im sorry if the ending is a bit choppy. happy last of us sunday!

summary Y/N has feelings for Joel that she can’t control anymore

Part 2 here

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read time: 8 min 33 seconds

The harsh chill of the autumn afternoon swept your hair off your shoulders. The ration line was as long as ever, but seemed to be moving quickly. A stray dog barked as others murmured on the street. Staring down at your boots, you bit at your chapped lips.

“You’ve been avoiding me,”

His voice sent chills up your spine. He was behind you, must have slipped in line without the other person noticing. Of course now was the time he decided to confront you. And he wasn’t wrong.

Straightening your back, you turn towards him.

“Have I?” you asked, raising your eyebrows slightly. The line moved forward and so did you.

“Tess said you weren’t feeling well.”

She was partially right. It was the blatant lie you were telling the very few who were close to you. You were physically fine.

“I’m fine, Joel.” you said promptly, turning a cold shoulder to the older man.

“If you need any meds or anything…” he began. You knew Joel had anything you needed. Quite literally.

“Next!” The FEDRA soldier called, motioning for you to get in the final line. You gave Joel a tight lipped smile before disappearing in the crowd.

Back at your sad excuse for an apartment, you poked your fork at your stale meal. You tried to think about todays’s job but the thought of Joel Miller consumed you.

How his hands felt on your skin, how soft his hair could be, how much he respected you in private. Flashbacks of previous nights where he had snuck over and stayed with you burned in your brain.

You never thought the hookup would turn in to feelings. Especially in this world. Feelings you were sure he wouldn’t reciprocate. Joel wasn’t a very emotionally available man. And he had Tess- rumors of them being together had been going on for years. Sure, they deny it. But you see the way he looks at her sometimes. His eyes burn with the lust you want from him, but there staring at her.

Tess was friendly and all, you got along quite well with her in fact. Jobs worked with Tess usually went better than others. But the knowledge that she goes home to him every night almost ate you alive. You felt used every time you would watch her turn the alleyway to their apartment.

Roommates my ass.

It had been over a month since the last time you saw Joel.

He was right, you were avoiding him. Taking the jobs you knew he wouldn’t dare go by such as childcare. Taking a different route home to avoid any run ins. Leaving your lights off and sitting in the dark to possibly deter him away from your place. All your little queues worked.

And the pain grew day by day.

You layed in your mattress with your face buried in your pillow. It stopped smelling like him weeks ago, but you liked to pretend it still did.

You couldn’t live like this anymore.

Pills weren’t numbing enough. Alcohol wasn’t as fun as it used to be. The constant state of depression in this damned district was enough to make you want to end it.

But seeing him across the alleyway talking to a group of people or in the line for rations was enough to keep that tiny spark lit inside of you.

There wasn’t much else to look forward to in this world besides others. Living the same day your whole life is miserable without your spark of joy in it.

Sleep was close, you could feel it. Your thin blankets were just cutting it for the night. As the dreams began to dance in your head, you were awoken by a quiet knock on your door.

“For fucks sake,” you groaned, flipping over in bed. You ignored the knocks. They became more persistent.

The old doorknob then dropped to the floor, startling you awake. You didn’t even have to guess who it was. The door slowly creaked open as you heard him curse to himself.

“I’ll fix it later,” he sighed, picking it off your floor and placing it on your countertop. He pushed one of your folding chairs next to your table up against the door to keep it sturdy.

“So your just breaking into apartments now?” you snapped, sitting up right in bed. “I needed to see you.” he protested.

“I never knew Joel Miller to need anything.”

He sighed and rested against your countertop. “I need to know,”

“Know what?” you asked, wrapping a blanket around your exposed shoulders. A tank top wasn’t ideal to sleep in, in these conditions.

“What’s wrong.” he said bluntly. “I said there’s nothing wrong. What the hell are you doing walking around freely at night?” you yelled, realizing the time was way past midnight. The sounds of soldiers a few floors down outside your apartment began to yell. How did he move past them?

“You sick?” he asked in a more hushed tone, walking towards you. “Respiratory? Head pain? Joints? You pregnant?” he somewhat joked, looking over you in bed.

“Shut up.” you said coldly. “Can you please just go?”

You knew Joel wasn’t a good listener. “What is it?” he said sternly, sitting down next to your body in bed. He grabbed your wrist ever so slightly. Your pulse was shaking in his grasp.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

You looked at the other side of your apartment, out the window. Rain had began to slowly plague the window. Ignoring Joel’s touch, you watched as the few drops raced to the bottom of the window.

“After everything I’ve done for you?” Joel sighed, not letting go of you.

“Stop, please. J-just stop talking to me.” you said, lying through your teeth. He could sense the pain hiding behind those eyes. “I’m not leaving.” he protested.

“Look at me.”

You turned to face him. His eyes were locked on yours. A genuine worried look was on his face. He looked softer, nothing like you had ever seen before.

It was almost as if someone asked you if you were okay when you were very obviously not. Silent tears rolled down your face as you tried to catch your breathe.

The man who you couldn’t love was staring in to your soul. There was no way you ever could love him. He was too mean, too stern, too old, too angry for you. The two of you were polar opposites. But as the saying goes, ‘opposites attract’.

Joel was unsure on what to do. Tess never cried. Hell, you never cried. He racked his brain for something, just something to soothe you.

He offered out a hand. Against your better judgement you took it. Connecting his other hand to your cheek, he tried to wipe away the streak of tears silently leaving your eyes. He held you tightly in your bed, stroking your hair as your head quickly made contact with the crook of his neck.

“I wish I didn’t have these feelings,” you cried into his embrace. Joel was confused on what you were getting at, but he ignored it. He tried to shush you in a soothing way.

“No, please. I wish I didn’t have these feelings… but I do.”

Joel froze. “What?” he asked, holding you in place.

You pulled back and looked at him. It felt like the first time over again. “Look at me and tell me you don’t feel a thing.” you hiccupped.

“I…” Joel sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and letting a breathe of air go.

“Say it.” you demanded.

The silence in the room was deafening.

“I can’t.” Joel said quickly. He looked down at his knees on your mattress.

“I think you should go.” you sighed, laying back on your side and facing the opposite wall.

He listened. Finally, Joel caught a hint. The sound of him walking away made you long for him more than ever. But it was good. The feeling of him leaving, knowing you were right. Joel Miller wasn’t a man who could love. At least not anymore.

Your sudden pride stopped when you heard his boots thud against the floor. Then the all familiar zip of his jeans followed by the hit of him placing them on your wooden chair next to your bed.

He rested a hand on your thigh as he peeled up the blanket that was stuck to your legs. Slowly, he moved down next to you in the tiny space you were leaving him.

“You don’t listen.” you huffed, still not giving him enough space on the bed.

“When do I ever?” he chuckled, wrapping his arm around your waist.

Fuck it. You gave in.

You allowed his arm to move closer to the underside of your breasts. Scooting over in bed, you gave him more space for his legs to entwine with you. His boxer’s material rubbed against the back of your thigh. It smelt like him; Wet grass and expired generic soap scent had never smelt better.

Sleep kindly greeted you once you felt his breathing slow. Trying to match his, you fell into the deep sleep you had been yearning for, for what seemed like weeks.

-

The absence in the morning was startling.

You struggled to move, hoping that the previous night was just a horrifying dream. A sigh escaped from your lips when you saw his boots sitting against the wall where he placed them last night.

The clanking sound of tools made you turn. On the other side of your small studio apartment, there he sat at your doorframe attempting to fix your door handle.

The overcast sky stayed, but you could tell it was early morning by the chatter outside.

“Shit!” Joel hissed, grabbing his finger in pain. “Damn fucking…”

He looked up and noticed you watching him.

“You alright?” you asked, watching him in amusement as he attempted to fix your door.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, sucking the tip of his finger. “Haven’t fixed a door in a good twenty years.” he muttered, wiping off the excess blood on his already dirtied jeans.

“Go back to bed, It’s still early.” he suggested, going through the tiny tool kit he had given you as a previous gift.

“This is more entertaining than sleep,” you chuckled, placing your feet on the cold ground and getting out of bed. “You want any breakfast? I don’t know if I have anything good here but…”

“Nah. Tess’l be expecting me.”

The sheer thought of Tess waiting at their home for him was enough to ruin the whole night you had before.

Joel looked up to you after your lack of a response. He noticed the demeanor change in your face. “Everything okay?” he asked, turning back to the doorknob he was almost finished fixing.

“You seem to go sour every time I mention Tess.”

“I wonder why,” you muttered under your breathe, attempting to open a tuna can for breakfast. You tried not to dry heave as the scent of the old fish met your nose. Tuna was never a favorite meal, especially for breakfast. But, it’s all you had.

Joel pretended like he didn’t hear you, but he heard you loud and clear. “We have a run to do today. You understand that, right?”

A bitter ‘mhm’ came from your lips as you shook the prepackaged coffee in your hand before ripping off the seal.

Joel sighed and placed the screw driver down dramatically. Joel’s knees cracked as he got up from his position. “You always gotta fucking act jealous. Don’t you? Ruinin’ a nice morning.”

“Jealous?” you said, raising your voice.

“What the hell do you even want from me?” you scorned, on the brink of tears. He could see through you like glass. You hated to admit it, but he knew you like the back of his hand.

Joel wished he could shout out the answer, but his ego kept it in.

You froze with your back turned to him and set down the brittle coffee mug. “Your always leaving me to go to her…”

“Because we’re business partners, Y/N. Don’t you get it? Don’t you hate livin’ the same damn day over and over again? It’s why I come to see you.”

“Stop,” you whispered, now face to face with him. “Stop yelling. Please, it’s too fucking early to get into that shit.”

“Really? Tell me you don’t loose your mind living the same day, same drama for years!” he yelled. “Always you being jealous. Don’t you ever get sick of it?”

Anger consumed you. Proof that the two of you would never work. He’s just a bitter old man.

“You know I would give anything to leave this damn QZ! To live a normal life, not fucking be here.” you yelled, with a finger now pointed at his face. You were avoiding the original accusation. Jealousy.

“Tell me.” you said, with a quieter but angrier tone. “Am I really just your fuck toy?”

Joel stepped back for a moment, stunned at what you just said. Guilt seemed to wrack his nerves as the realization hit him.

You were in love with him.

“Is that what you think?” he asked, approaching you with a sorrowful more soft look. “What else am I supposed to think? You come here, use me, and leave and go back to her.”

The feeling of letting go of all that emotion felt healing. The sudden aftermath of realizing what you just had accused him of made you feel somewhat guilty.

“No,” he sighed, grabbing your hand. “That- no. Absolutely not Y/N.”

His other hand reached for your chin, and brought your face up to his gaze. You could feel his heat on your skin.

“Understand…” he began to say. “Understand what?” you whispered back. A sly smile came to his lips.

“Give in,” he whispered, dropping your hand and wrapping his around your waist.

You melted into his grasp as he kissed you. Joel hadn’t kissed anyone in years. The hesitation from him only brought out the dominance in you.

As the two of you mutually pulled away, you wanted nothing more as to be back where you were just seconds ago.

“Understand that it’s hard.” he said, still holding you close. “I…”

“I know.” you said, cutting off his words.

You were an anxious, sorrowful over-thinker and he was the bitter, closed off introvert.

“I’ll be back,” he said, with a slighter more chipper tone. “Tonight. We have to get this damn car battery and…”

“Stay safe,”

“I promise.” Joel said. He really did not want to leave you. The thought of the two of you spending today lazily in bed was very tempting.

“But please believe me Y/N when I say, you are and never have been just a ‘fuck toy’.”

He squeezed your hand once more and then dropped it. Silence filled the apartment after he left.

The thought of how you tasted haunted Joel Miller’s mind the whole day.

Part 2

tag list: @dani5216 @uwiuwi @alohastyles-x @samanthacookieone @maddieinnit0 @alexxavicry @scoliobean @avengersfan25

[kdogreads]

Y/n is close with Abby like the mom figure to Gibbs being her dad figure. Gibbs and y/n have only ever had words in passing They are always friendly with a flirt now and then. One day Gibbs uses Abby's cot to get some rest he wakes up to y/n and Abby talking about blind dates.

"Y/n I'm gonna find you a companion in life. Just do one more date"

*y/n sighs* "I'm just not the type of person people are looking for and that's ok"

*as she leaves the lab* "Abs some people are ment to be alone"

Gibbs comes out telling Abby that he will be taking y/n on the next date.

This is such a sweet idea!! I’m sticking it with this request bc I feel like they just fit together so perfectly. I hope that’s okay by both of you 🥹 thank you so much for the love!

Jethro Gibbs x f!reader

TW: alcohol, a smidge of angst (reader thinks she’ll be forever alone), mostly just a heap of fluff

A/N: I’ve never been able to use any of my nerdy lab knowledge in a fic before so sorry if I went a little overboard lmao (I’m a pre-analytical training coordinator and spend my days teaching people to be labbies basically). Thank you so so so much for reading! ❤️

Just before you left for the day, you decided to head down to the lab check in on Abby. It was quality control week, meaning she had to got to run test patients on all of her instruments, confirm the results are what they should be, order biological indicator tests to make sure no foreign bacteria snuck its way in where it shouldn’t have, then do it all over again a dozen or so times to make sure the results match up.

Not that Abby is anything less than capable of completing the quarterly checks, it just gets very tedious, and Abby is not a fan of busy work.

“Hey Abs,” You greeted her sweetly.

“There is no Abby, only QC’s,” She quipped back in her best robot voice.

You only chuckled in response and grabbed a pair of gloves without another word. You started resulting the tests in her queue, a feeble attempt to help the boring task move along faster.

The two of you worked quietly on opposite sides of the lab for another half hour until you moved the last tube into the “finished” tray.

“Wanna grab some dinner?” You questioned, removing your gloves and heading over to the sink to wash your hands.

“No, thanks; already ate,” Abby responded without looking up from her work, “Hey! How did that date go last night? I can’t believe I forgot until now! Tell me everything.”

Abby turned towards you excitedly, her eyes bright and body fidgeting in anticipation. You swear she was more invested in your love life than you were sometimes.

You started to shake your head “no” and Abby let out a loud groan.

“Ugh! I had such a good feeling about this one,” She spoke in disappointment.

“You said that the last time, too, Abs,” You leaned against the counter and crossed your arms lazily, “He asked me to meet his mom. On the first date!”

Abby visibly cringed and put a hand lovingly on your bicep.

“I’m gonna find you a companion, I swear it!”

You let out a sound that’s half laugh, half sigh before you speak, “It’s okay, really. I’m just not the type of person anyone is looking for, and I can’t find the person I’m looking for. It’s just the way it is, Abby.”

She sent you a sympathetic look, squeezing your arm in reassurance. Abby pulled you into a tight hug, like she was trying to will a new love life into you with her bare hands.

You sent her a loving smile when she finally pulled away from you.

“Well, I’m gonna head out. You sure I can’t drag you away for something to eat?”

“No, no. I have too much to get done,” She motions to the empty tubes behind her, “Don’t lose hope, Boss Lady. Your perfect man is out there.”

You headed towards the door before turning around to tell her goodbye, “Some people are just meant to be alone. It’ll be me and the dogs forever,” You smiled slightly, “Goodnight, Abs.”

You made it almost out the door of the NCIS building before you realized you left your purse in the lab. With a huff, you begrudgingly dragged yourself back into the elevator, down to the lab, and right up to the doorway. The surprise of two distinct voices coming from within stopped you in your tracks.

“Gibbs! You can’t sneak up on me like that! I didn’t know you were using the cot.”

“Sorry, Abs. You often set her up on blind dates?”

“Yes! I am determined to find my wonderful boss’ soulmate somewhere in the greater DC area.”

Jethro chuckles.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it before now! She’s just your type, Gibbs, and she’s so fun and cryptic just like you and—“

“Abby,” He paused, “Way ahead of you.”

You decided now was your chance. Knocking gently on the doorframe, both of them turned their heads to see who was there.

“Hey Abby; Jethro,” You smiled, trying not to act like you just heard their whole conversation about you, “I just, uh, left my purse.”

Abby looked around and spotted your bag, handing it to you with a cheeky grin on her face. You all stood there in semi-uncomfortable silence for a beat before Gibbs spoke.

“Have any plans tomorrow night, Red?”

You straightened up a bit at his question and the playful nickname. You are just his type.

“Um, no. I don’t. Not yet, anyway.” You tried to keep an even tone, but the nerves and excitement were practically seeping out of your pours.

“My place, 7 o’clock,” Gibbs said in his nonchalant tone, “Casual. Hope you like bourbon.”

He winked at you and walked out of the lab before you could even exhale the breathe you hadn’t known you were holding. You looked at Abby, your eyes wider than ever before.

“Eee! I’m so excited!” Abby squeals and flings her arms around you.

You couldn’t even put any thoughts together. Your heart pounded out of your chest and your hands must’ve been shaking, the adrenaline of the situation just starting to wear off.

“Come on,” Abby said while sliding her jacket off the back of her chair, “I’ll finish up tomorrow. We have to plan your date. With Gibbs!”

You let out a laugh and wrapped an arm over Abby’s shoulders, heading out to grab something to eat.

You nervously sifted through your tops, trying to find something that felt “casual,” as Jethro had requested, but still nice enough for a date.

Oh screw it.

You grabbed a plain olive green hoodie, the big white letters reading NCIS. You figured if he asked for casual, he would get casual.

The drive to Gibbs’ house went quickly. You’d been there once before, when Abby insisted Gibbs needed company one New Year’s Eve. You didn’t end up staying very long, but he left an impression on you. After the visit, Gibbs started stopping to say “hello” in the hallways at work, or bringing a coffee up your office every now and then.

One detail you remembered from your brief visit is the front door was never locked, so you didn’t bother to stop and knock.

Walking through the doorway, your eyes immediately gravitated to the only light on in the house — the one leading down the stairs to the basement. You took this as your sign to invite yourself downstairs.

The stairs creaked slightly as you made your way down, the sounds of sandpaper meeting wood filled your ears.

“You found the place,” Jethro’s strong voice greeted you as you stepped into his workspace.

“How could I forget?” You teased back.

Jethro let out a honey-soaked chuckle and offered you a stool to sit on. He poured you two fingers out of his half-empty bottle of bourbon, then did the same for himself. He tipped his glass to you and you tapped yours against it with a slight clink.

You shut your eyes as the amber liquid burned down your throat. Instinctively, you leaned back against the counter and let out an exhale.

“Long day?” Jethro joked, but you could see the genuine care when you opened your eyes to meet his gaze.

“Long week,” You responded before taking another sip, “Abby’s up to her eyeballs in evidence to examine, plus all this QC crap takes so much time. I just feel bad I can’t help her more. I didn’t realize taking the lead forensics position would take me out of the lab so much.”

Jethro nodded in understanding, one corner of his mouth tilting up slightly as he poured more into your already empty cup.

“Abby’s the best of the best,” He said with confidence, placing a hand reassuringly on your knee, “She’ll get it done.”

You smiled and nodded back at him, placing your hand over his as a silent thank you.

You were surprised when Jethro broke the comfortable silence first.

“You know she thinks the world of you, Red,” He said with a look in his eye, one that almost looked like pride if you had to guess.

You felt your cheeks get hot and you looked down at your shoes, unsure if the liquor or his sweet comment made you blush.

You took another sip before lifting your head back up and responding.

“Same goes for you, Jethro,” You reached out to grab the hand that rested on your knee just moments before, “I think if she had time to write a book about how much she adores you, she would.”

He laughed, a full laugh, glazed in honey and bourbon and it warmed you to your core. You thought that sound could end wars, cause the devil himself to crack a smile. You would have melted right there if he didn’t jolt you out of your trance a moment later.

He took the glass from your hand and whispered a quick, “c’mere.”

He took your hand and led you over to the boat he was building. He showed you a few small hand tools and gave you a quick explanation of their use.

Before long, his hands were resting over yours, your back pressed gently against his chest as he showed you the different sanding techniques he used. Though every inch of his body was pressed against yours, you’d never felt so free, so held and yet, so comfortable.

It was a quiet few minutes before he spoke, his lips inches from your ear.

“You ever done this before?” His breath tickled your neck and sent a shiver down your spine.

“Never,” You breathed, trying your hardest not to just melt into his strong arms.

“You’re a natural then.”

He slowly peeled his hands back from yours, allowing you to keep sanding on your own for a moment. You felt his strong hands slide down your arms, your sides, before settling on your hips.

Your eyelids fluttered, suddenly aware of the effect he had on you. Your movements halted and Jethro raised a hand cautiously to your chin, turning your head to face him.

“This okay?” He questioned gently, a worried look settled into his furrowed brows.

You didn’t answer immediately. Instead, turning your whole body to face his, your arms sliding over his broad shoulders to rest at the back of his neck.

“Only if you intend to kiss me, Jethro,” His name danced from your lips in a whisper.

A soft smile spread across his face, the worry melting away in an instant.

“Yes, ma’am, I do.”

Before you could comprehend, the hand that was still on your chin drifted to hold you just below your ear, and his lips melted into yours in a sweet, slow kiss.

He tasted of bourbon and something you were sure was just distinctly him.

You leaned further into him as your lips met over and over again. His presence wasn’t demanding, but invasive. You felt Jethro in every inch of your body; his taste, his smell, the way his fingers gripped into your hip like he was afraid you might disappear if he let go.

The seconds felt like hours before you separated your lips, both of you desperate for oxygen. Your chest heaved slightly as he drew small circles onto your lower back absentmindedly; his forehead leaning down to rest on yours.

“Do you bring all the girls down here and make out like teenagers?” You teased, still slightly out of breathe.

He threw his head back in another honey-glazed laugh. It invaded your sense just as his kiss had.

God, you though, I could listen to that forever.

“No,” He huffed, a wide smile still spread across his face, “Only the special ones.”

“Ohh,” You exaggerated, “So I’m special, then?”

He only growled an Mmmhhmm before his lips pressed into yours once more, this time slightly quicker than the time before.

“Hungry?” He asked simply, prying his lips from yours, a slight groan falling from your lips as he pulled away.

“Starving,” You replied without missing a beat.

He raised an eyebrow and leaned slightly further away from you, letting him see your full expression.

“For food, sweetheart,” He jested, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“I know!” You squeaked, swatting his shoulder playfully in protest.

He chuckled that charming laugh and nodded his head towards the stairs.

“Well, come on then,” He spoke after pressing a quick peck to your lips.

You followed Jethro upstairs where you enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner and spend the rest of the evening basking in each other’s company.

You sighed as you reached the top of the stairs, just outside your office. Since you rarely locked the door, you turned the handle and swung it open. You were surprised to see the light already switched on. A pit formed in your stomach as your eyes scanned the room before—

“Jesus, Abby!” You found her sitting at your desk chair, literally shaking in anticipation, “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” She quickly approached you, taking your bag out of your hand and setting it down in the desk, “Sooo? I’m dying to know! Tell me everything!”

“Ab,” You smiled at her an tilted your head slightly in a playful manner, “A girl should never kiss and tell.”

Abby squealed in excitement and pulled you into a hug, clearly understanding that it went well enough for you to kiss him.

“Please tell me you’re seeing him again. Please, please, please,” She practically begged with her hand folded in front of her.

“Tomorrow, after work,” You smiled as she squealed and pulled you into another excited hug.

“This is the best day ever!” She declared and sat in the comfy chair across from your desk, determined to get all the details from your life-changing first date with Jethro Gibbs.

[seeingivy]

Omg can u do a one shot where reader goes to the eras tour with Gojo??

miss americana and the heartbreak prince

satoru gojo x f!reader

an: this didn't mesh well as a one shot when I wrote it, so i hope this mix of blurbs and headcanons is ok <3 also, this is for a very specific audience, feel free to ignore on your dash!!!

--

satoru gojo, in his infinite knowledge and wisdom, is first exposed to the eras tour when you ask him to sign up for a presale code

“wait, so. you just want me to sign up for all the dates?” satoru asks, voice echoing through your phone speaker.  “yes, make sure that you verify your ticketmaster account and everything now. and then when you do that, send me a picture so i can make sure you did it right.” you respond.  “it’s not rocket science, babe. i’m sure i can figure out how to do it.” satoru grumbles, as you hear typing on the other end of the line.  “just take the picture when you’re done.”  “was this that important that you had to call me while I was at work?”  “babe. this is taylor swift. of course it was.”  “right.” 

the fated day of buying tickets come and you and satoru are literally hiding from your bosses in the corner of your office - laptops pulled up and anxiously watching the queue

you're both nervously watching the numbers get smaller and smaller, nervous hands open on a twitter tab that's talking about people getting kicked out of the line, locked out, or being told that the tickets are already all gone

but by the grace of god, satoru's laptop goes through first and he manages to bag the two of you floor tickets and you're in

you climb into bed, pushing the hair off of satoru’s head to give him a kiss on the forehead, before you tuck yourself into the sheets and nestle into his arms.  “sweetheart.”  “hm?”  “can i ask you a question? you don’t have to say yes.” he asks, voice all uncharacteristically shy.  you prop yourself up on his bare chest, trying to discern the look on his face in the dark, as you nod.  “can i go to the concert with you?”  and when you see the little frowny face he has on, you can’t help but laugh at the entire ordeal, at the satoru gojo begging you to take him to a taylor swift concert. and when you start laughing, he starts grumbling, turning his surely pink face away from you.  “shut up.”  “oh my god, toru. you’re so cute, you know that?”  “i’m glad my misery is adorable to you.”  “I’d love if you would come to the concert with me. on one condition.”  “what’s that?”  “you have to learn all the lore and listen to the songs before we go. i’m not about to be that girl standing next to the guy who doesn’t know the surprise songs on the floor.”  “okay. what’s a surprise song?”  you press your fingers against his lips and place a kiss on his cheek.  “all in good time.”

you make a game plan for satoru, color coded and planned out, for him to learn everything you want him to know

you break it down for him era by era, asking him to first listen to the album and send you his reviews - and then explaining important key details that he would need to know

and it evolves so fast, because he gets more and more excited as he goes on, texting you his thoughts at work

he just needs a reason to not do work, but he gets REALLY REALLY INTO IT

satoru: YOU’RE GAY.  you: no? i don’t think so satoru: i’m singing picture to burn babe, be quiet satoru: if the way i loved you is country music, slap a flannel and a cowboy hat on me because i am FLOORED. ABSOLUTE BANGER.  you: PLEASE ARE YOU LISTENING AT WORK???  satoru: mind your own business.  satoru: also, who is mr. perfectly fine about?  you: joe jonas.  satoru: she dated joe jonas?  you: no satoru, she dated barack obama. yes, she dated joe jonas.  satoru: well now i hate him. he’s so rude.  satoru: THIS IS ME SWALLOWING MY PRIDE STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU SAYING IM SORRY FOR THATTTT NIGHT  you: last night when you ate my leftovers?  satoru: that wasn’t me you: sure.  satoru: is dear john about john mayer?  you: yes. we don’t like him.  satoru: fuck yeah we don’t. SHINING LIKE FIREWORKS OVER YOUR SAD EMPTY TOWN??? JOHN, JOHN WHEN I CATCH YOU  satoru: babe if you ever break up with me ill go sleep on the highway  you: ok?? I wasn’t planning on it satoru: do not EVER give me a reason to relate to last kiss i will actually do something dangerous  you: why did shoko just send me a picture of you with your head down on your desk at work?  satoru: babe please don’t talk to me rn. i just listened to all too well and i am inconsolable.  you: wait till you watch the short film.  satoru: PLEASE I CAN’T HANDLE THIS. JAKE GYLLENHAL ALEX THE LION FROM MADAGASCAR WHEN I GET YOU.  you: ok satoru. pipe down.  satoru: ARE WE OUT OF THE WOODS YET ARE WE OUT OF THE WOODS YET ARE WE OUT OF THE WOODS YET  you: i feel like im creating a monster.  satoru: I WANT YOU FOR WORSE OR FOR BETTER BROKE YOUR HEART ILL PUT IT BACK TOGETHER satoru: just finished reputation. many thoughts  you: oh???  satoru: one. can we get frisky to dress? two. I am buying you a necklace with my initial on it. three. king of my heart is my favorite song so far. four. CAN WE GET FRISKY TO DRESS. five. kanye west, when I get you. you: satoru. you are at work. please focus.  satoru: i know that’s a yes.  satoru: just listened to lover. I am inconsolable and i love this white woman. DAYLIGHT??? THAT’S SO ME AND YOU. LOVER??? THAT’S SO ME AND YOU. PAPER RINGS??? ME AND YOU.  you: do not take paper rings as an excuse to not buy me a real ring. I am expecting a nice six pronged gold band circular cut diamond.  satoru: also can we get frisky to false god.  you: satoru gojo.  satoru: babe. urgent. 911.  you: what.  satoru: am i augustine or am i betty??  you: you’re inez. nosy gossiping ass bitch.  satoru: EXCUSE ME. also invisible string is so us. joe alwyn, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS.  you: well. satoru: is she ok. like seriously, is taylor ok??? if she has happily been in a relationship for six years why did she write tolerate it? doesn’t she know my mental health is fragile?  you: why tf are YOU crying about tolerate it? we’ve been in a stable relationship for four years satoru: i was imaging you being mean to me. it really hurt my feelings  you: ok.  satoru: long story short, the masterpiece that you are. JOE AND TAYLOR YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS.  satoru: what is their name combined  you: toe.  satoru: ok… satoru: MEET ME AT MIDNIGHT you: oh god. you’re at the end. let’s hear it.  satoru: one. can we get frisky to maroon? two. you’re on your own kid changed my life. three. sweet nothing is us. four. can we get frisky to maroon. five. john mayer i will KILL YOU. six. also is like scooter braun a crack head or something like what is vigilante shit even about  satoru: babe. satoru: no.  satoru: YOU’RE LOSING ME???? JOE???? JOE ALWYN MY BROTHER JOE ALWYN???? NO.  you: yes.  satoru: Y/N. HE WON’T MARRY HER?????? IM GOING TO KILL HIM. THE GUY WHO LOVER IS ABOUT??? WHO MASTERMIND SWEET NOTHING INVISIBLE STRING IS ABOUT???  satoru: do not talk to me. I hate you.  you: WHAT DID I DO

satoru gets more and more excited about the entire thing as it goes on, telling YOU that you need to start planning outfits and making bracelets like you weren't the one who got him into this

satoru cannot make friendship bracelets. but he likes watching you make them and asking you all the little things you like about the music

“ok. what do i make the next one?”  “hm. did you do style yet?”  “no.”  you start collecting all the beads as satoru props his phone up against the table, to the live stream of the concert. every night, the two of you watch the surprise songs together and make a note of which ones you lose from your drafted list of picks - a mix of yours and satoru’s favorite songs that aren’t on the setlist.  “open.”  satoru holds the spoon of noodles right over your lips as you focus on finishing the bracelet, his eyes focused on the live stream.  “satoru.”  “hm?”  “can i ask a weird question?”  “sure.”  “you seem like you’re like really into this. like actually.”  “well, i am. this is serious - i cannot lose clean for a second time or i will break something.”  “not that. I just mean, the entire thing. like the songs and the music and all that. you…are really into it.”  “well, why wouldn’t i be? it’s something you like. and it clearly means a lot to you, so it does to me too.”  you can feel your cheeks burning at how blunt he is about the entire thing, like it’s something so obvious, like him putting in all this effort to like something you do is a given. you lean forward and press a kiss to his cheek, which he smiles at before focusing back on the live stream.  “BABE. NO.”  “OH MY GOD." “ITS CLEAN.” “TORU HOW DID WE LOSE A SONG TWICE.”

satoru decides that the two of you are going to go as miss americana and the heartbreak prince - and watches you meticulously collect fabrics and threads to make the pink dress you had in mind

you made it a point to also sew on the little broken heart for satoru's light pink shirt and white slacks that he was going to wear to the concert and buy the two of you matching gold crowns to wear together

“something is missing from my outfit, y/n.”   you frown, looking over at him as he fixes the little gold crown you got him on his white hair.  “what are you talking about? you look fine.”  satoru digs through your makeup box, rummaging around till he pulls out a tube of your red lipstick.  “you want to wear it, toru?”  “what? no. you put it on and then plant a bunch of kisses on my cheeks. so it leaves a mark.”  “oh?”  “IT’LL LOOK BETTER THAT WAY. I SAW SOMEONE ON TIK TOK DO IT.”  you roll your eyes as you lean forward in the mirror, blotting the buttery product on your lips and ignoring the devilish smile that satoru’s giving you in the mirror. and then you turn around and cup his face in your hands, making it a point to pepper long kisses on his cheeks and the side of his neck, making sure the full mark of your lips is left on his skin.  and when you’re done, he turns in the mirror and gives you a satisfied smile.  “perfect.”  “you’re so lame, satoru. if you wanted me to kiss you, you should have just asked.”  “can i have a kiss?”  “no.”  he leans forward and wraps his arms around your waist, it being his turn to smother you in kisses, eliciting a laugh from you when his breath tickles your neck.  “shut up.”

type of mf to take BILLIONS OF PICTURES of you outside the concert and even more with you, until you both get ones you like

also, totally wears a stack of friendship bracelets that you made together, but only trades with other boyfriends and dads in solidarity

man stands for the entire concert with you, except during the man. because he knows his place.

you start SOBBING during lover and he's there just smiling at how SILLY you are and wiping your little tears away. you both sway to the song together and scream the bridge together.

he takes a picture of you doing the fearless heart with taylor in the back. bc duh.

speaking of, this dude is NOT recording taylor AT ALL he is recording you and taking pictures of you and it's literally the most wholesome thing ever

like you're just so excited and jumpy that he thinks its cute and he wants to document it

but then he's so inconsolable during tis the damn season and tolerate it that he's SCREAMING THE LYRICS with the passion of ten suns (he is an evermore stan, fight with the wall)

takes a video of you singing during enchanted (which he later makes his lockscreen)

fighting for his life during all too well. like everyone else.

your surprise songs are dear john and daylight - which you're both screaming together on the floor.

satoru is giving YOU the side eye when you scream DATE ME TAYLOR during vigilante shit chair moment.

mister man is blushing when you point at him when taylor sings karma is my boyfriend

carries you out of the concert bc he knows your feet are killing you.

and feeds you after. bc duh. post concert munchies at a fast food drive thru.

--

an, again: tee hee this was so silly but so fun to think about. and for a very niche audience AHAHHAHA. also it feels weird to use my taglist when this is for a VERY specific audience so I will ignore.

[winterrrnight]

roller coasters

PAIRING: soft!rafe cameron x gn!reader

SUMMARY: you're deeply scared of roller coasters and are forced to take a ride on it. Rafe is there waiting for you, ready to take care of you once you get off.

WARNINGS: anxiety, throwing up, gets fluffy towards the end

EDITH SPEAKS: this is small, more or less like a blurb. I wasn't sure how to end it so I hope it isn't an abrupt ending? Anyways, I'll be writing for soft!rafe because he has my whole heart 🫶🏻

Please like and/or reblog if you enjoy it! Feedback is always appreciated 🌟 requests are OPEN, please send in some ideas :)

navigation || join my taglist || requests

Sarah grabs your hand and pulls you inside the amusement park. No matter how many times you say you don't want to get on the 'death ride', Sarah completely ignores you. Before you know it, you both are standing in the queue for the 'death ride'.

The roller coaster.

"Sarah come on I don't want to get on this ride!" You groan, trying to convince her to leave the queue and do something else instead.

"Come on, be a little bold! It's just a little ride!" Sarah says. The queue moves on ahead, and now it's your turn to get on the ride.

I'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be fine. You repeat in your head, over and over again. It's just an amusement park ride, it cannot hurt me the way it used too.

You and Sarah are made to sit together in a seat. A worker comes and straps both of you in. You grip onto the rod in front of you so tightly your knuckles turn white. You feel your heart beating faster by each second, so you try to make yourself feel better by taking deep breathes.

"Are you... are you okay?" Sarah asks, concerned. You look at her with a deadpanned look on your face. She just realised you don't like roller coasters, even after you practically begged her not to take you on it?

"No I am not, Sarah," you say with gritted teeth. "The ride makes me-" Before you can finish your sentence, you are cut off with the creaky sounds of the roller coaster.

It is just about to start to move.

You hold onto the rod impossibly tighter and the roller coaster begins to gain speed. You see Sarah with a massive smile on her face, as she screams from the adrenaline rushing in her veins.

You will be screaming too.

Not from the adrenaline rushing in your veins, but from the contents of what you ate in lunch rising up from your stomach, to your mouth.

You shut your eyes tightly and just hope it comes to an end very soon. The roller coaster starts to slow down, and you feel hopeful that it's coming to an end as you open your eyes back again.

Oh, how wrong you are. How horribly wrong you are.

The ride has slowed down because it's about to go down the massive loop. You brace yourself as the ride inches closer and closer to the end.

"WE'RE ABOUT TO GO DOWN!" Sarah screams next to you.

And that's when you feel it. The contents in your stomach start churning and they are ready to come out at any given time. You just can't believe you came on a roller coaster, a ride which makes you extremely nauseous.

The first time you ever went on a roller coaster was when you were 7 years of age. You didn't stop puking after you got off the ride. After that, you vowed to never step on this ride and dubbed it as the 'death ride'. But, for some reason, you had a feeling you will not feel nauseous again, that maybe it only happened when you were little and had too much to eat.

But no, you get nauseous each time you step on this ride, and today has proved it.

The ride comes to an end and you basically yell at the worker to unstrap you quickly. Sarah has no time to catch up with you as you go running to the washroom.

You run past Rafe, who was just thinking of getting you some cotton candy. He's perplexed to see you running so frantically, with such a pale look on your face. He finds Sarah and questions her about you.

"What happened?" He asks. Sarah is panting heavily from all the running she did in an attempt to catch up with you.

"Roller coaster... queasy... about to throw up," she says, her breathing heavy as she leans next to a popcorn stand to catch her breathe. Rafe's eyes widen on her words and he rushes to the washroom, but stays outside to wait for you.

Meanwhile inside, you've hogged a bathroom stall as you let all the contents spill out. Once you feel everything in you has made its way out, you flush the puke and get out of the stall.

You walk to one of the wash basins and open the tap. You wash your face with the cold water and then rinse your mouth to rid yourself of the horrible taste. You take a second to breathe and look in the mirror. Most of the color is drained from your face. Your eyes are watery and a little red, and you feel like your skin is on fire. You stay in the washroom, just simply taking in deep breathes. When you think the color has started to return to your face, you decide to leave the washroom.

As you walk out of the washroom hurriedly, eager to find Sarah, you are met with a broad chest. You let out a small groan, but when you open your eyes you see it's no one other than Rafe.

"Oh Rafe, hi," you say with a smile.

"Are you okay?" He asks, concerned. "I saw you running down to the washroom and Sarah told me that you're feeling nauseated-"

"Yes I'm fine, don't worry about it." You assure him. At this point, there is no denying how you've been in love with Rafe since you've been best friends with Sarah and that means you've been in love with him since forever.

And Rafe, he cares so much about you. He can't see you hurt. He will protect you against everything horrible in this world.

"You sure? You still look a little pale," he walks closer to you and places his hand on your arm, and rubs it up and down. Th soothing motion relaxes you immediately. "If you want, I can drop you home. You can rest, and I'll bring you everything you may need to feel better-"

"Rafe," you cut him off, your hands now holding his face. "I'm okay, seriously. I want to explore more around the amusement park."

Rafe swallows the lump in his throat, a champagne pink suffusing in his cheeks from the warmth of your hands. "Okay," he says, and you bring your hands back to your sides. He instantly craves that touch back again. "I think Sarah is out there in the food stalls, shall we go there?"

"Yes," you smile, "let's go there." You reach for his hand, and ever so delicately, lace your fingers with his. You give his hand a tight squeeze. "Thank you for waiting for me."

"It's no problem, really," he tells you, and you both walk to the food stalls in the amusement park.

↶ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊˎ-

TAGLIST: @runningfrom2am @ragingsammie

[notetaeker]

RAMADAN CHALLENGE 2024:

Welcome to this years Ramadan Challenge! This is something I've been doing for the past 3 years and it has been so beneficial to me so I hope it is the same for you. Everyone is welcome to join! Please also let me know if u have any suggestions / notice any mistakes ;_;

Special thank you to @nuuralshams 💕 and @laikastudies ✨

RULES:

Reblog this post to let me know you're in! (and to have as reference)

Pls use the tag '#RamadanChallenge2024'

I will be rb-ing every post I see in there (unless it's spam bots)

You can do a question per day or batch them together if you like

You can also do some questions out of order if you want (like answering the surah kahf question on a friday)

Feel free to skip any question or just post abt how ur ramadan went that day / what you ate for iftar / anything tbh

You are also welcome to start late (or early! If you want to use some of the questions as a countdown to Ramadan!)

I also included some Ramadan Prep questions + Eid post if you'd like! ( Very optional!)

I will be starting the challenge when I personally start Ramadan but if Ramadan starts a day earlier for you- you can just start then!

I added a bonus day in case Ramadan is 30 days lol but you can skip it if you want if Ramadan is only 29 days

I will try my best to queue your posts but knowing me I might just mass-reblog 🤡

Anyway Allahumma Balighna Ramadan!!! / Ramadan Mubarak !!!! (based on when you're reading this)

Let me know! If you want to be tagged / reminded when we start!

PREP QUESTIONS (Optional):

Prep day 1: One thing you're looking forward to this Ramadan

Prep day 2: Anything you are scared of / worried about for this year?

Prep day 3: List one thing that would help future-you get the most out of this Ramadan, and go do it now! (if possible)

RAMADAN QUESTIONS:

Day 1: What are your goals this Ramadan? Possible suggestions: 1 habit to build, 1 habit to break, and one accomplishment you hope to gain!

Day 2: What are your other obligations this month? How does it compare to previous years? How do you balance them with ramadan?

Day 3: What is your favorite act of worship? Has it always been your favorite?

Day 4: Ramadan is the month of the qur'an. What is an ayah from the Qur'an that has changed your view of things or impacted you deeply (this year)?

Day 5: Share a treasured ramadan memory

Day 6: Biggest life lesson or advice you would give to others

Day 7: Best iftar item?

Day 8: What is a suhoor necessity to get you through the day?

Day 9: Share a hadith you’ve been thinking about recently or try this link that gives you a random hadith. How does it relate to you? (Does it?)

Day 10: First 10 days end today! Share a taraweeh tip! If you haven't prayed Taraweeh before, what is something that feels difficult about it?

Day 11: How has your experience of Ramadan changed over the years (Has it?)

Day 12: Most challenging thing about Ramadan and how do you try to overcome it?

Day 13: What aspects of the qur'anic science have you explored, and how did that go? (e.g tafsir, translation, memorization, tajweed, recitation)

Day 14: Favorite lesson(s) from the surah kahf stories?

Day 15: Any islamic lecture series / podcast / book that you would recommend?

Day 16: Favorite time to read qur'an during Ramadan? What about outside of Ramadan?

Day 17: What is your Ramadan Routine this year?

Day 18: the second 10 days is almost over! Are you part of any islamic communities during Ramadan? What about outside of Ramadan?

Day 19: What is something you are grateful for this Ramadan?

Day 20: Have you ever done i'tikaf or qiyamul-layl in previous Ramadans? Are you doing any this time?

Day 21: Any feel-good dua acceptance stories to share? It could be your own story, a friend's, or even from a lecture that you heard

Day 22: What is something you always miss about Ramadan when it's over? / What do you think you might miss this year?

Day 23: Are you making dua for anything specific? (Any dua you want us to make for you?)

Day 24: Share an Eid memory that sticks out to you! What kind of Eid traditions do you have?

Day 25: Who is a sahaba (companion of the prophet ﷺ) that you feel inspired by? Can you share the story that inspires you?

Day 26: Your Laylatul-Qadr worship routine! Dhikr? Dua? Salah? Tell us!

Day 27: Mention a favorite story about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, or which of his qualities you look up to the most.

Day 28: Think over the last month and the Ramadan that you've spent. Is there something you wish you had spent more time on? There's still 1-2 days left! What's your plan?

Day 29: Ramadan is our honorable yearly guest who is now preparing to leave 💔 What are 3 gifts Ramadan is leaving for you as a parting gift until we meet it again (inshallah) next year. It could be habits

Day 30 / BONUS DAY: If you were given an extra day to live, what would you do on that day?

EID: Eid Mubarak! Post a 3x3 or a 3x2 photoset of your eid celebrations! (Optional)

[lemonlyman-dotcom]

Thank you for the tags @thisbuildinghasfeelings @carlos-in-glasses @whatsintheboxmh & @heartstringsduet 💕 DO YOU GUYS LIKE MY BANNER? 🎄

Okay, Lemon is getting …a little zesty this week!! 🍋 Tell me what you think.

Back at the loft Carlos crowds TK up against the wall inside the elevator, kissing him passionately while TK’s fingers curl in the gaps between the buttons of his shirt. He deepens the kiss by licking into TK’s mouth, savoring the taste while their tongues caress each other, lips moving together in a symphony of desire as Carlos runs his hands down TK’s sides, finding purchase on his perfect ass.

“Mmm baby, what was that for?” TK asks when the elevator dings and Carlos backs up.

“You taste good.”

“I taste like flan,” TK jokes as Carlos pulls him out of the elevator and down the hall.

“I didn’t get any flan because you ate it all,” he says, voice laced with feigned admonishment, while he unlocks the door and ushers TK through it.

“Not true!”

“Uh huh.”

“I want a lawyer, this is an unfair accusation!” TK cries, silver eyes dancing with mirth under the soft light of the living room’s floor lamps. He’s got a dopey lovesick smile on his face and he walks backwards towards the bedroom, pulling Carlos by the hand. Carlos follows easily, dipping his face into the crook of TK’s neck when he gets close enough.

Once they’re up against the bed he pulls his lips away from TK’s neck so he can cup his head in his hands and say, “Thank you for being so sweet with my family.”

He pulls TK’s shirt off over his head and makes quick work of his pants and underwear while TK replies softly, “You don’t have to thank me for that, baby. You know I love your family.”

“They love you too,” he pushes TK down on the bed and climbs over him, straddling his legs. “You’re a bonafide Reyes now.”

TK hums and begins unbuttoning Carlos’s shirt, “I think that was established when they threw that blow out party for my birthday a couple weeks ago.”

“Before that,” he says, complying when TK pushes him back so he can get his pants off.

Once he’s fully naked he crowds back over TK, who’s gone completely soft at Carlos’s words, and begins to kiss his neck again. “You’ve been my family for a long time now, baby. They all saw how special you are the first day I brought you around.”

“Carlos,” he breathes his name softly. It falls from his lips devoutly, like a prayer. TK places both of his hands on either side of Carlos’s head and pulls him up so their faces are inches apart. “Baby. I love you.”

*queue everyone running to read TK Strand’s Sweet 16 🎂

Tagging @strandnreyes @alrightbuckaroo @bonheur-cafe @fitzherbertssmolder @chicgeekgirl89 @tarlosmalec @ladytessa74 @louis-ii-reyes-strand @herefortarlos @tellmegoodbye @carlos-tk @birdclowns @freneticfloetry @apothecarose @basilsunrise @rmd-writes @thebumblecee @welcometololaland @guardian-angle22 @reasonandfaithinharmony @reyesstrand @your-catfish-friend @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @iboatedhere @liminalmemories21 @lightningboltreader @never-blooms @theghostofashton @paperstorm and OPEN TAG 🏷️

[thealogie]

we were busy pacing through london in circles for hours in order to process hour experience so we haven't shared the excitement yet, but here goes a quick rambling before bed time (after all donmarwarehouse-official correspondents ate due to queue at 2pm again tomorrow and report live from the ground 🫡🫡🫡)

hello??? hello??? I have to say as an ex film student who doesn't actually know a lot and hasn't actually seen a lot of theater I have extensive thoughts on the cinematic style of this production especially from a visual and sound design perspective but those are for later.

right now I can just say that I had a religious experience of sonder about mr tennant during the first few scenes. he sprinted past me less than half a meter away four times. we made an unholy amount of eye contact and one of his monologues had an eyeline basically right next to my face so i felt stared at while my chin was wobbling and i was tearing up. in my section I was person 2 to join in a standing ovation and we successfully pressured two stalls sections entirely into getting their asses off their seats (meanwhile maggie service and rob wilkins were the only people in their section to join in 🥺). the macbeths were so sexy. what the fuck is cush jumbos deal she is so good. i got goosebumps literally so many times. at times i put one of my headphones into a really funky halfway position and I think that was a cool mix of live voices and the very cool things they've done with the audio. the I'm scrambling to fix or at least hide something I can never undo and I'm going mad in the process themes hit me unexpectedly hard. the amount of empathy and emotion pretty much all of the characters evoked in me is staggering.

also you were right queuing is so fun nothing beats the adrenaline rush of getting tickets and nothing beats seeing people ten spots down the queue inside the theatre and just congratulating each other half an hour later.

donmarwarehouse-official correspondent peanut number 2 is signing off for the evening. back to the studio

Really incredible stuff. I felt so similarly about feeling intense emotion and empathy for every character!! ugh thank you for this it really gave me the second-hand high I was craving. Incredible reporting. See you again tomorrow!

[ne-hny-patyk]

On 23.02.2022 we just finished our projects for the handcrafts class, so I decided to spend the time learning by heart "A Dream" by Taras Shevchenko that I needed to know for the 25th.

Світає. Край неба палає.

Соловейко в темнім гаї сонце зустрічає.

It was kinda prophetic. The next day I woke up from a loud explosion. It was in Chernihiv, 40 km away. Can't imagine how loud it was for my friend from there, who sent me a message saying "Wake up, sunshine, the war has started".

My parents had already woken up and turned on the TV to see what was happening. My dad ran to his job because he had to make sure where everyone is and that they all know to stay home (there was a person trying to get to us from Chernihiv. Who knows if he'd survive, this road was under heavy fire).

But it was already late to run away. We could either go to Chernihiv, which was under constant fire, or drive through the Zhytomyrska trasa, which was also a death sentence at that time.

So it began. A month of blockade. Constant queues for whatever food could get in. My aunt was able to buy some crackers and almonds at the start, and for all this time it was the stuff I ate to distract myself from hunger. I binge read books so that I could distract myself from the news. I think I'll never be able to eat plain cottage cheese again, because milk was the only thing we were able to get from nearby villages. And I was never so happy to eat bread after eating small slices of bread that tasted like rubber and sand.

Air raids made us go to the basement all the time, even at night. These were the first times I've seen the sunrise and heard nightingales, and they've always reminded me of that poem from a different life. If only the sky wasn't looking like a web from the white lines that aircraft left behind them when flying to destroy Chernihiv.

[gurugirl]

MCC Check-in #4*

This was a reader-request - unfortunately the queue ate the request and my original post so this is the best I could do!

Summary: Harry gets mad at y/n when she's being a bit sassy - he doesn't take her attitude well. Reader requested mean Harry. 2k words

Warning: Kidnapper!harry - move on if you don't like - smut, anal sex, degradation, mean Harry, threats to manipulate, punishment, orgasm denial

Mint Chocolate Chip Masterlist

You were being sassy and Harry couldn’t understand why. But you were about to get your period and you were in a sour mood and Harry was gone for most of the day and he hadn’t had sex with you at all that day. You just weren’t happy.

And to top it off, when Harry did finally come back home he didn’t give you much attention so you resorted to pouting and the silent treatment. Harry didn’t like you being like this.

“What’s wrong pup?” He grasped at your wrist as you stood from the dinner table to clear it. You yanked your hand away and Harry felt his anger build. You walked away into the kitchen without answering him.

“Y/n! Get back here right now!” Harry raised his voice.

But you shrugged to yourself and ignored him, turning on the faucet to rinse some dishes. You'd do almost anything to get his attention, even if he was being mean.

Harry huffed and shook his head. He got up from the table in haste and it caused the chair he was seated in to fall back to the floor with a crash.

You heard the chair fall to floor. Your heart rate picked up in anticipation of having Harry angry at you. But you were feeling irritated and still upset.

Harry was suddenly behind you, reaching around your frame to turn the faucet off.

He put his hands on your hips and turned you with jostle to face him. When you wouldn’t look at his face he grasped your jaw and made you lift your face, “Fucking look at me!” He growled.

You flitted your eyes up to his and could see how angry he was.

“Now tell me what’s wrong right now.” He loosened his grip on your jaw so you could speak.

You inhaled a deep breath and gulped before speaking, “You’ve ignored me all day and I feel achy because I think I’m about to start my period. But you don’t care about that, do you? Seeing as you were gone all day without even saying goodbye to me when you left.”

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. Now he could understand you being a little pissy and in a bad mood, but you’d been indignant with him since he got home.

“Nahh… you’ve been really rude to me. I didn’t do anything wrong to deserve the way you’ve been acting,” Harry countered.

You shook your head and tried to stand your ground but Harry yanked your arm and led you down the hallway to the door that went to the basement. He turned the knob and you gasped in shock. Was he sending you to the room he kept you for all that time when he first kidnapped you?

“No! Harry! No! Please! No!! I’ll be good! I’m sorry!” You we’re hysterical. Tears began pouring from your eyes and you started to shake. Harry could tell this threat was working.

He paused, “Okay. I wont bring you to the basement but I need to make you understand what you did was not okay. What should your punishment be?”

You rounded your eyes and nodded quickly, “Okay! If you spank me and then use you however you want will that be good enough? Please, Harry. I’ll do anything at all, just don’t put me in that room.”

Harry gave you a curt nod, “I better not hear a single complaint come from you or I will send you down to the basement for the night.”

He pulled you to your bedroom and slammed the door closed behind him.

You watched him undo his belt slowly and then he looked at you and let his gaze drop down over your body. He couldn’t help it. He found you irresistible and if he’s honest, he actually hadn’t paid that much attention to you all day. You were cute with a high pony tail, a little patterned dress that fit your figure perfectly with bare feet, and perfectly manicured toes to finish it off.

Harry walked toward you and found himself curious to see what you had on underneath. He put his fingers on the hem of your skirt and dragged it upward gently until he was met with your pretty white panties. Your bare thigh looked so delicious he couldn’t help himself when he leaned down as he lifted your thigh and kissed the soft inside of it.

You let out the breath you’d been holding and put your hands on his shoulders. This was all you wanted all day. You felt your stress vanish with Harry’s lips on your skin.

Harry stood up and brought his hands up to your face, “You’ve been naughty and you hurt my feelings. You’re going to get punished now. Take your clothes off.”

You didn’t waste time to obey. Your clothes were a pile on the floor next to your feet in thirty seconds.

Harry pointed to the bed, “Bend over the bed. Face down. Arms behind your back.”

You bent at the waist and leaned over the bed, your cheek on the comforter as you moved your arms behind your back.

Harry grabbed your wrists in one of his palms and without giving you a moment to relax into the way he was holding your wrists you felt the sting of your bottom being smacked with his leather belt. You jumped and bit your lip to keep quiet. He did say he didn’t want any complaints so you figured keeping silent was the best route.

The truth was that Harry didn’t intend on sending you to the basement. He just wanted to shake you up, fair or not, he didn’t like your attitude and he knew what would get you right in line.

Harry continued striking your ass with his belt and he loved watching how your bottom was pink and small welts were left behind where the edges of the leather landed on your skin.

With your hands held behind your back you couldn’t move or wiggle really. The position was uncomfortable along with the spanking you were getting.

When Harry felt you’d had quite enough, he pulled at your wrists, forcing you to stand.

You looked up at him with tears in your eyes but Harry would not go easy on you. You’d never acted out the way you did today and Harry wanted to make sure it never happened again.

Harry turned you to face away from him and began securing your wrists with the belt he’d just used on your bottom. The he gently pushed you forward toward the bed again, “Lay over the bed again, like before.”

You scooted up to the bed and leaned down but you fell into the bed since you didn’t have the function of your hands to lower yourself slowly.

You heard Harry removing his trousers and then you felt his hands on your raw, sore bottom. His soft touch moved down toward your slit as he felt around to see how wet you were. You were slick and ready.

Harry would never get over how you were wet just about all the time around him. He closed his eyes as he ran his fingers up toward your clit and slid his middle finger into your entrance.

“My little slut, aren’t you? Always wanting my cock even when I’m mean,” Harry spoke as he watched his finger disappear inside your hole, and then as he pulled out how shiny and wet it was.

“Yes, Harry. I’m your little slut. Forever.” You added forever because you knew he liked that. You hoped it softened him up a bit.

Harry spread your cheeks and then spit down over your bum hole. You felt the warm saliva slip down to your pussy. He spat again and then took a finger to press his spit into your ass.

He fingered at your backside a bit and you tried to turn to see his face but you were unable to with the belt at your wrist. You'd had him play with your other hole before and now you wondered if he'd be fucking it too. You kind of hoped he would. You liked his fingers filling your bum up.

Harry's voice was choked as he spoke, "Fuck. I think you're ready for this, puppy. My cock is gonna hurt going in but once you get used to it I think you're gonna like it."

And he was right. It did hurt. When pushed past your entrance the first time it stretched and burned and you couldn't help the yelp that fell from your lips. You tried to stay quiet but his cock was big and you'd never trained for it like he said he would do.

But hearing Harry's deep groan as he pushed in as deep as he could go gave you a smile. He liked it and so you squeezed your eyes closed and gasped as he began to fuck in and out of your hole.

Harry pulled out and then you felt him spit over you again. Then he used his fingers to collect your arousal and he wiped it over you bum, inside your anus and on his cock to get things nice and slick.

When he dipped back into your bum hole this time his cock glided a little easier. It still burned and stretched, though.

Harry began to rock his hips in a steady motion in and out of you and then he brought his palm down over your cheek, a loud crack sounding into the room from the force. You jumped and moaned.

Having him fucking your anus was beginning to feel good. Really good. Your moans grew louder and Harry was gasping and groaning at the feel of you so tight around him.

"This is my new hole to fuck, isn't it, pup? Whenever I please," another swat to your bottom as your ass was getting stuffed made your head spin.

Harry rolled into you deeply, the sound of him smacking into your ass was in rhythm with the squeaking of the bed.

"Tell me your sorry," Harry groaned his words. He was so close to coming it wasn't funny. The view of your little tight hole sucking him in and the way it felt around his cock was too much.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry, Harry. I'll never be rude to you again. Ow!" You sputtered out your words as Harry began to rail you faster after your apology.

You felt your limbs tingle as Harry spanked you again. Then he wrapped a hand around the front of your torso and grasped onto the front of your neck as he squeezed and brought your upward slightly, his hips never stopping from fucking you.

"That's right. Fucking better be sorry. You wanted to be fucked, this is what you're getting today, pup. I'm gonna fill up your little asshole with my come and then leave you here on the bed to think about what you've done."

True to his word, Harry spurted his warm come into your ass as he came with loud, deep groan into the room. He jutted himself as deep as he could get and you squealed at the way it felt inside of you.

When he finished pouring everything he had inside of you he pulled out and watched as your small hole dripped with his come and down to your pussy. He gave you another spanking and then left you in the room. Closing the door behind him.

Harry had left you leaned over the bed, butt naked, leaking his come out of your ass with his belt secured around your wrists behind your back.

You couldn't get up or move and you didn't get to come, but you made Harry come and that drew a smile over your face as you sighed and closed your eyes in contentment.

Feedback/Thoughts | Support Me | Main Masterlist

Thank you for reading! I appreciate any support so remember to comment, reblog, & like 💕

Tags: @victoria-styles @michellekstyles @ssaama @sombrioinvernoemveneza @golden-hoax @a-strange-familiar @reveriehs @yousunshineyoutempter @the-gardener-31 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @swiftmendeshoran @luvonstyles @dancinsunflowerkiwi @tiaamberxx @lukesaprince @harrys-foxy @dirtytissuebox @closureesny @lhharrylilpumpkin @evelynlarue @chaptersleftunwritten @justlemmeadoreyou @harrysmimi @anothermannharry

[thomotomo]

To pin or not pin - Faker x Male Reader

A/N: I hope you'll like it ☺️ Took a bit of time but here it is~ I've got 5 more fics in writing for the T1 cuties and I'll try to publish 1 per week depending on how busy I am ✌️ Please leave a comment and/or reblog if you enjoyed the story 🫰

Being the first openly gay player of the LCK hadn't been easy to you, after all, many people in South Korea weren't open about that yet but you didn't want to hide who you were and even if you had been dropped by a few teams throughout your career who didn't want to bother with bad press, you had been lucky to score a spot in the legendary T1 team.

The whole process had taken a huge toll on your mental health and for the longest while, you had struggled, but now, with all of your teammates and staff being unconditionally supportive you had never been better. And it had reflected in your gameplay, you probably had never been better, basically shutting up any kind of game related homophobic comments. Of course you still had your detractors but you didn't care anymore about them, after all you were part of your dream team, playing alongside Faker. And yeah maybe throughout the time you had been playing with him you might had developed a crush on the guy but this had stayed between you and Minseok (who caught you more often than not trying to keep yourself from grinning brightly every time Sanghyeok was not looking).

The young support was teasing you at every occasion available, laughing at your misery, but luckily for you the famous midlaner was quite oblivious to your turmoil and you would love to keep it this way. Today had been no different than usual, you had been streaming your solo queue to the fans, showcasing your skills while casually chatting with the chat.

[xxxx] donated 25000wons: Hyung do you have a crush on someone?

Oh fuck you hadn't expected that and your heart jumped on your chest. You did your best to keep your face as it had been previously, forcing a chuckle out.

"Ah that's not polite to ask~ If I had a crush you wouldn't know it, it's my private life after all."

You checked the chat, luckily they seemed more interesting in chastising the donator rather than pushing for an answer. Your phone vibrated and you saw a message from Minseok, laughing at you, meaning he was definitely watching you. You bit back a snort, focusing on the game happening and no "incendent" of the sort happened for the rest of the duration of your stream. Once you had ended, you stretched and headed to the common kitchen, grabbing some food from the fridge to cook yourself a nice heartwarming meal.

"So... I you had a crush huh?" Your froze for a second before turning quickly a sending a glare towards your friend.

"Shut up Minseok!"

The younger male laughed at you as you rolled your eyes and turned back towards your cooking, some tofu jjigae, meat and dumplings. Streaming always took much energy out of you that you had to eat a lot to gain back energy.

"Waaah (Y/N), your food smells so good!", you chuckled, Minseok being your best friend, he was the one who ate most of your cooking, and you'd think that he would get tired of the smells of your food. You took a spoon and stirred the stew.

"You want a taste?"

The younger male nodded excitedly and you laughed, bringing the stew filled spoon to his mouth, grinned as he hummed as he took in all the flavours.

"This is so good... You're really the best cook man!"

You beamed at him and patted his head, continuing your conversation, oblivious to the witness who was quietly leaving the area.

Once you had finished preparing the food you and Minseok headed to the common area where everyone usually took meals. Your friend was staring at you intently and you were doing everything in your power to ignore him, knowing what (more like whom) he wanted to talk about.

"So, do you plan on confessing?", ah so he had decided to break the silence himself.

"Probably never. I don't know why you're asking this every few days, it'll always be the same answer."

He groaned in frustration, maybe because he was a hopeless romantic, he was adamant about you having to confess to your captain. You ignored his annoyed complaints and just focused on eating.

" Hm why are you ranting about (Y/N) being a coward Minseok-ah?"

And here was the object of your affections, taking a seat next to your grinning friend and now looking at you intently. You couldn't let the young support say a word about a potential crush or anything in the like so you used his silence to speak.

"It's because I don't want to try to make this new recipe because it's... Pretty complicated."

Sanghyeok looked at you in a confused manner, after all, you were renowned at T1 for being an awesome cook it didn't really make sense for him that you would be scared of trying out a new recipe.

You avoided his gaze, focusing on your meal instead. You could see Minseok trying to keep a straight face, biting his lower lip to keep himself from laughing. The meal was awkwardly quiet, Keria trying to make the two of you speak more but you were just too awkward around Sanghyeok and you didn't want to blurt random mess.

By the time you finished eating you were exhausted and you cleaned up your mess and bid the guys goodnight, quickly shuffling to your room. You closed the door behind you and immediately changed into pajamas and jumped in your bed, trying to gather your thoughts and trying not to cringe at the way you behaved around your crush.

Falling asleep you decided that it was time to put a stop to your crush. The next morning you decided to put your plan to execution, you were going to avoid Sanghyeok as much as possible until eventually your feelings would fiddle out and the problem would be solved.

It couldn't be worse than confessing and then being rejected which surely would've put a more awkward atmosphere than your current plan.

For the next few weeks, you did your best to avoid Sanghyeok or keep interaction to minimal, to the confusion of everyone since you usually liked to ramble about the meta and possible new ideas of counter of some champions and such. You could feel the confused stare of the staff and Tom even took you aside to see how you were doing, wondering if anything bad had happened, after all the team atmosphere was important to maintain a good cohesion. You assured him that everything was okay and that he didn't have to worry about it.

When you and Minseok were chilling in your room, one night, he was quite vocal about the disapproval of your plan, hitting you on the back of the head, but he knew ultimately that he couldn't do anything to reverse your decision and (in his opinion) shit plan.

Sanghyeok had tried to get informations from Minseok since he was your best friend, but the younger man didn't said anything and he just wanted to understand what he had done wrong to you, but he didn't recall anything an

One night Sanghyeok decided that he had enough and one night after your stream he waited until you headed to the kitchen to join you and close the door behind him, effectively trapping you with him.

You were gathering the ingredients to make yourself some instant noodles with eggs and dumpling when the door shutting up took you by surprise. You turned around to see who it was and seeing Sanghyeok standing there with an unreadable expression was kind of scaring you.

"Why have you been avoiding me so much?"

Oh fuck.

"Huh? I... Haven't been avoiding you, I'm just... Busy."

"(Y/N)." Fuck he was using his serious voice on you which was both terrifying and hot but now wasn't the time to think about that.

"Don't lie you have been avoiding me for the past few weeks."

You sighed.

"Ah... It's complicated... Promise me that whatever I say won't change a single thing between us", he blinked at you and nodded whilst you were gathering your thoughts and strength.

"I... Kind of have a crush on you? But I don't want you to be uncomfortable so I've just... Tried to keep it down. So don't hate me for that please. And you know I don't have a good reputation in general with the public so... I don't want you or the team to be affected by this you know..?"

"Hate you? You should have told me this earlier it would've make this whole situation easier."

You were confused about the wording of his sentence and you were about to ask him what he meant, he brought his hands to your face and brought it together with his, kissing you gently. Your eyes opened wide, you hadn't expected that your feelings would be returned but you let yourself melt and before you knew it, your hands naturally found his waist as you deepened the kiss, you couldn't believe what was happening but you were making sure to enjoy every second of it just in case it was a dream.

"Oh finally!"

The two of you jumped apart, looking at Minseok who was standing in the doorframe with a wide grin on his face.

"Oh you can go on, I just wanted to fill my bottle, just don't do anything dirty on the counters please."

The two of you flushed a little at Minseok's implication and he just left while humming a song. Sanghyeok smiled a little and took your hand in his.

"Don't do that again right? I don't care what the medias are going to say, I really like you and I just want us to go back how we were right?"

You nodded, too stunned to say anything, your heart filled with love for the other man in front of you. You quickly gave him a peck, it was only the second time you kissed him but you knew you were already addicted to the feeling of his lips against yours. You couldn't help but look at him and ask in a quiet but giddy voice.

"So... Are we boyfriends now?"

He chuckled and the sound made your heart do flip in your chest.

"Yes we are." Sanghyeok had a soft smile on his lips and you couldn't believe you were the one who put it there now. You had almost forgotten the reason why you were in the kitchen and turned to the food right behind you and took out another pack of ramen to cook for your now boyfriend. You couldn't help a grin to form on your face at that new realization.

Once the meal was ready, the two of you headed to the table to eat and he sat across you and you couldn't help but reach with your feet and lock one of your legs together. He chuckled and you grinned as you dived into your meal. So maybe your plan didn't work like you had originally wanted, but the final result was definitely worth it.

[hyperfixatedimagines]

The Language of Girls

Anon requested: “.. the reader and alicent are in love but alicent starts find another girl “interesting” and the reader sees this and confronts her but it doesn’t go well and the reader leaves..”

A/N: Here it is. I bumped this up the queue because I got inspiration to write it. I apologize to others with older requests I really write as much as I can for all requests every day but sometimes the words flow for one idea a little easier. Anon, I hope this is what you had in mind and that if it’s not, you still enjoy it!

A/N pt. 2: It’s a modern au set at a private all girls boarding school. This is teenage Alicent x f!reader. Canon divergent in that Laenor and Laena are not twins. Laenor is older.

Your mother had sent you to private school in hopes your grades would better and your chances of getting into a good college would be higher.

Your father had demanded it be an all girls boarding school in hopes that you would make friends and finally come out of your shell.

All through elementary and junior high you were the outcast weirdo who no one bothered to get to know.

But now you had a chance to start anew. You hoped things would be different.

-

You walked to your bedroom on your own. Your parents had not bothered to go with you. Your father’s board meeting was too important and your mother simply could not miss her latest botox appointment.

Anxiety built inside you at the thought of who your roommate would be. You had never shared a room with anyone before.

What if we don’t get along? What if she’s a cool, popular, pretty girl and thinks I’m a weirdo? What if she hates me and makes my life hell? Questions swirled in your mind, a tornado starting to form.

You took a deep breath and turned the knob. You opened the door and stepped inside.

“Hello?”

A girl with silver locs came out of the bathroom your room shared with the room next door.

She smiled brightly at the sight of you.

“Hi, you must (y/n). I’m Laena,” she said and stuck her hand out towards you.

You shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

All your worst fears were confirmed. Laena was indeed beautiful, and no doubt she was cool. She would surely be the most popular girl at school.

You were toast.

-

To your great surprise, Laena was nothing like you had feared.

Yes she was cool, and was indeed very popular, but she was also the kindest person you had ever met.

She had helped you unpack your things and get you settled. Then she gave you a tour of the campus and introduced you to all her friends. She even invited you to have lunch with them all.

The other girls were nice as well, though they had all looked you up and down with a less than impressed look on their faces.

But it didn’t matter. Laena shone like the sun and made sure all her warmth radiated onto you.

At lunch, she sat next to you and naturally her friends followed.

They all chatted about various teachers and students that you had no face to connect to. So you ate your food quietly while they all spoke.

“Where is Alicent,” Laena asked one of the other girls.

“She was on a call with her father when we last saw her. I’m guessing it did not go well,” a girl that had been introduced to you as Aliandra declared as she gave herself a once over in a compact mirror.

Laena frowned. “That explains it.”

Then she turned to you.

“Alicent is one of my closest friends. You’ll love her, she’s darling....but she has a complicated relationship with her father,” Laena explained.

You nodded slowly. “I can relate to that. My relationship with my parents is complicated too.”

Oh no, had you shared too much too soon? You cursed yourself silently.

Once again, Laena surprised you.

She placed a gentle hand on your shoulder.

“Thank you for sharing that with me (y/n). I know it’s not an easy thing to do.”

Then she turned back to the other girls and told them all about her elder brother Laenor’s exploits with college boys in the city.

You listened, and laughed when appropriate.

For the first time in a long time you felt hopeful. Maybe things really would be different at this school.

-

Laena invited you to a party one of the girl’s on a different floor was having. She was an upperclassman who had a whole suite to herself. Laena said she had even invited the boys from the nearby all boys private school.

You pretended to be excited.

Laena had been nothing but kind, and she had shared that her brother was gay and didn’t seem to have any issue with it...but you were too scared to tell her that you were into girls.

It seemed too soon.

So you pretended to be excited about the private school boys.

Laena finished getting ready before you. She asked if you wanted her to wait but you had no idea what you were going to wear and didn’t want her to wait long. So you told her you would meet her there.

To her credit, Laena asked if you were sure.

You said you were. So she waved and said she would see you there.

-

You spent way too long thinking about an outfit to wear. Everything you put on seemed to look wrong. Nothing you had felt cute enough for a party.

In truth, you had never been to party so you didn’t even know what you were supposed to look like.

So you settled on something you felt comfortable in that wasn’t shabby.

You regretted not asking Laena to wait for you when you realized you had gotten lost trying to find the right suite.

Frustrated, you walked into one of the communal bathrooms on the second floor of the dormitories.

You froze in the doorway.

Cries emanated from one of the stalls.

You weren’t sure if you should say something or if it was maybe kinder to leave and let whoever it was cry in peace.

Unfortunately for you the girl emerged from the stall, tears still staining her cheeks, and immediately noticed you.

Her face scrunched up in disgust. “Who are you?”

“I’m....new,” you replied, you felt your face warm under her gaze.

“Well don’t linger in the doorway like an idiot. Come inside,” she demanded.

You stepped inside but didn’t go any closer. She furrowed her brow.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just…are you alright,” you asked even though you knew exactly what type of girl you had just met was and you would surely regret asking.

“I’m fine.” She crossed the distance between you and backed you up against the door. “I don’t know what you think you heard but it was nothing worth sharing. Do you understand?”

You nodded.

The girl exhaled. “Good,” she said then returned to the sinks. She touched up her appearance in the mirror.

You didn’t linger. Having had enough of the mean girl who had obviously been crying in the bathroom stall, you turned around and left the bathroom.

Laena walked down the hall towards you. She lit up when she saw you.

“(y/n)! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said as she got closer.

You blushed. “I’m sorry. I got a bit lost.”

Laena waved her hand. “Forget about it. Let’s get to the party. The boys from the Citdel are even cuter than we thought they’d be.”

She wrapped her arm around yours and started to lead you down the hall when the door of the bathroom swung open.

Both you and Laena turned around.

Laena let go of your arm when the mean girl walked out.

“Alicent, we’ve been looking for you all day.”

She ran to the girl and gave her a hug.

To your suprise, the girl hugged Laena back.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for anyone to worry.”

When they pulled away from one another Laena kept her arms on the girl’s shoulders.

“How could we not worry? Are you feeling up to the party tonight? If not we can all go back to my room, watch a couple movies and pig out on my special snack stash?”

The girl shook her head. “No, I know everyone was looking forward to meeting boys from the Citadel tonight. I don’t want to ruin anyones fun.”

Laena gave the girl’s shoulders a squeeze. “You could never ruin anything.”

The girl brought down Laena’s hands from her shoulders.

“It’s okay Laena, really. I’m up for the party.”

Laena sighed. “If you’re sure?”

The girl nodded. “Of course.”

With that Laena laced her fingers with the girl’s and turned towards (y/n). Laena locked eyes with (y/n) and stopped. She playfully hit herself in the head with the palm of her hand. 

“Where are my manners?”

She turned to the girl next to her.

“Alicent this is (y/n). She’s my new roommate.”

Then Laena turned to you.

“(y/n) this is Alicent, my best friend.”

You and Alicent locked eyes.

Alicent blushed and looked away. At least she had the good sense to feel embarrassed by what she had said to you.

You smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you Alicent.”

She nodded. “Sure.”

Then she let go of Laena’s hand and marched down the hall towards the party.

Laena turned to you.

“Did something happen?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Laena frowned, the first time you had seen her make such an expression.

“Don’t worry. Alicent is actually very sweet.”

“I’m sure she is,” you replied.

Laena walked you to the suite where the party was already in full swing. You swallowed hard. Laena noticed.

“Is this your first party?”

You nodded.

Laena perked up and looped her arm around yours.

“Do not worry (y/n). I will make sure your first party is a wonderful memory.”

“That’s sweet of you Laena.” You smiled and felt your anxiety lessen. Laena would take care of you.

“First step, shots!” She shouted and dragged you to the drinks table.

Years of peer pressure school assemblies did not prepare you for the shots of cheap liquor and the cups of mysterious “punch” you drank that night.

But it didn’t matter because, true to her word, Laena had not left your side and made sure you laughed all night.

Though her company did little to distract you from the way Alicent’s gaze lingered on you throughout the night. Her eyes on you made you nervous but also kind of...excited.

-

The morning after your first party was a lot less fun. Your brain pounded inside your skull, making every moment your eyes were open a painful experience.

Laena, ever the steadfast friend, brought painkillers and water over to your bedside.

“You had quite the night,” she teased.

You did your best to smile. “Is every night like that?”

Laena let out a small laugh. “I wish. Sadly, we are a good group of girls most of the time.”

She promised to stay with you until you felt better but she had forgotten her tennis team met early in the morning for practice.

“Don’t worry (y/n). I won’t leave you alone. Your first hangover can be really rough and I don’t want you to go through it by yourself.”

You sat up in bed. “It’s alright Laena. I’ll be okay. Thankfully, classes don’t start for me until tomorrow.”

Laena shook her head. “I won’t hear of it. Let me see who I can wrangle.”

Then she raced out of the room and down the hall.

Minutes later she returned with the last person you wanted to share a morning with.

Alicent.

She and Laena walked into the room. Laena turned to you with a smile.

“Alicent has kindly agreed to nurse you to health.”

She didn’t even look at you. Instead, she looked at Laena with a tight smile. You got the feeling she was doing this more for Laena’s sake than yours.

“That’s not necessary Laena it’s okay really,” you implored.

“I told you I’ll have none of that. This will be a great time to get to know one another,” Laena proclaimed as she grabbed her sports bag.

She turned to Alicent.

“Be sure she stays hydrated. I think we have gatorade in the mini but if not make sure to pop out and grab some, yeah?”

Alicent nodded.

“Of course Laena.”

Then Laena turned back to you. She kissed your cheek before dashing out the door.

“Feel better roomie!”

“Bye Laena,” you called out.

The door closed behind her with a thud and an uncomfortable silence descended on the once bright room.

You cleared your throat and looked towards Alicent.

“You don’t have to stay. I can tell her you did but you can go.”

Alicent finally met your gaze. Her rich brown eyes bore into your own.

“Don’t be stupid. Laena would know if you were lying.”

The anxiety from being around Alicent almost made you forget the pounding in your skull. You brought your hand up to your forehead and closed your eyes.

“Are you alright?” She asked, her voice surprisingly soft.

You nodded. “Yeah I just have this massive headache.”

The ache subsided and you were able to open your eyes.

Alicent stood by your side, looking down at you with concern. “Did you already take some painkillers?”

“Laena gave me some,” you said, uneasy at her drastic change towards you.

She nodded. “Good. Have you eaten?”

You shook your head. “I woke up a few minutes ago.”

“Do you have any food allergies?”

You shook your head again. “Not that I know of.”

Alicent walked out of your dorm room without another word.

You were unsure what prompted the change of heart but you wouldn’t question it. The ache returned and you covered your head with your duvet, seeking relief from the bright light of the sun streaming through your blinds.

-

“Did you really fall asleep again,” came an annoyed voice from above your sheets.

You popped your head out to see Alicent frowning by the doorway.

“You came back?”

Alicent closed the door behind her. She rolled her eyes.

“You’re so dramatic. I said I was going to get you some food.”

You furrowed your brows. “No you didn’t. You just asked if I had eaten and if I had food allergies.”

“And what do those questions imply?” She asked as she set down the bag she was carrying on the desk beside your bed.

“Well...I didn’t- I mean you’re,” you stuttered.

Alicent unpacked the bag. She had brought various cut up fruit in a bowl, oatmeal, and a breakfast sandwich along with a cup of something hot as the steam rose from the small opening on the lid.

“Is all that for me?”

She nodded. “Obviously.” Then she grabbed the cup and handed it to you. “This is ginger tea. It helps a lot with a hangover.”

You sat up in bed and took the cup from her. “Thank you.”

“Whatever. I promised Laena so,” she said and trailed off, not meeting your gaze.

Your stomach grumbled. You let out a small laugh. “Guess you were right to bring some food.”

To your surprise, Alicent smiled.

It was gone as soon as it came but Alicent’s smile was so lovely you decided to get her to smile again just to see it.

“Make sure to eat up, it’ll make you feel better,” she said and moved all the food closer to your reach.

“Thank you Alicent. You didn’t have to do this but you did.”

Alicent shrugged. “It’s nothing,” she insisted.

You grabbed the breakfast sandwich and took a bite. Instantly you felt better. You took another bite and let out a small moan.

When you realized what sound you had made your eyes shot open and you turned to Alicent, hoping she hadn’t noticed.

She had.

Alicent laughed, actually laughed, and you decided her laugh was even more lovely than her smile.

It wasn’t a cruel laugh but more so an empathetic one.

You blushed. “Sorry about that,” you said after you swallowed your food.

“It’s okay. Laena has worse hangover stories about me.” She handed you a napkin.

“Thank you,” you said and took it.

“Like I said, it’s nothing. I’ll be here all morning if you need anything.”

Alicent climbed onto Laena’s bed that was opposite yours and scooted all the way back until she rest against the wall. She took out her phone from her cardigan pocket and started to scroll.

It was silent but no longer uncomfortably so. You ate your food and drank your tea in peace while Alicent tapped away on her phone. Occasionally she would look up and check in on you. Sometimes she even got up and checked that you didn’t feel too hot or too cold.

Every time the back of her hand touched your forehead your whole body flooded with an overwhelming heat. You feared she would notice but she never did.

Instead she’d go back to Laena’s bed and continue to scroll on her phone. 

When you finished all the food she had brought up, at her insistence that you eat a little bit of everything, you let your head rest against your headboard and closed your eyes. The throbbing in your head had stopped some time ago and no nausea had overtaken you. You felt like you were in the clear....

Until suddenly you ran to your bathroom and knelt down on the floor in front of the toilet.

Alicent raced to your side and made sure your hair was out of your face. “Yikes,” she whispered.

Once you were done puking you rinsed your mouth and cleaned up your face. Alicent stood by the door of the bathroom and watched you.

“Maybe I brought too much food.”

You smiled. “Maybe.”

Alicent laughed and this time you joined her. You met her gaze and felt butterflies fill your chest.

Oh no, you thought.

-

Weeks past and your friendship with Alicent grew.

You got to see the side of Alicent that Laena had spoken about, and the more time you spent by Alicent’s side the more time with her you craved.

She had consumed you.

But you would not jeopardize the friendships you had made. Finally, you had a group of girls you could call friends. Well, Laena and Alicent were your friends. Aliandra and the rest of them were more acquaintances as you rarely ever saw them unless you were with Alicent or Laena but still, you had people who knew your name.

Your parents were glad to hear that you had adjusted to life there and that you had found friends. Your mom even pointed out the way you glowed whenever you spoke to them about Alicent. You made sure to tell them Alicent was simply your friend.

And you didn’t mind it. If her friend was all you could be that was good enough for you.

Having Alicent as a friend was better than not having Alicent at all.

She had a way of making you feel like the only person in the room, even when you were surrounded by the other girls. She would make sure to always pay attention whenever you spoke and would hush the rest of the group if they weren’t listening.

Alicent made you feel more than welcomed, she made you feel special.

You quickly learned that Alicent did so as a way to make up for the way she was treated at home.

It didn’t take long before her father contacted her again and Alicent’s mood shifted back to that mean girl you had first met.

But you learned that patience and silent support was what Alicent needed after speaking with her father. Alicent was thankful that she had you, and that you understood exactly what she needed.

Soon a routine had formed for you and Alicent. Every day after dinner the two of you would sneak onto the roof of the dormitories and look at the stars.

Alicent had a secret fascination with astronomy. She even had her own telescope. She loved pointing out the various constellations to you, and you loved the way she lit up whenever she spoke about something she was passionate about.

One time, Alicent caught you staring.

“Why are you looking at me like that,” she asked you with small smirk on her face.

“I uhm- I just...well I-,” you sputtered, unable to think of a lie quick enough.

Alicent laughed and shook her head. “You’re so weird (y/n).”

You smiled. “I know.”

She returned your smile and reached out for your hand. You let her, and she laced her fingers with yours.

“I like that,” she confessed.

You squeezed her hand. “Good.”

Alicent let out another laugh before she returned her attention to the stars.

-

Months into the fall semester, you received devastating news.

Laena’s parents planned to move her to another school. They were moving to another country for business and didn’t like the idea of Laena being alone.

So the girls all spent Laena’s final night together.

Alicent was a mess of tears. You held her the entire time, your arm wrapped around her waist. Alicent rest her head on your shoulder.

“You can’t leave Laena. You’re my oldest friend,” Alicent pleaded.

Laena had shed her fair share of tears since she had received word from her parents. She needed to finish packing.

“I know Ali. I’m sorry. If I could stay you know I would.”

Alicent nodded. “I know. I’ll just miss you so much.”

Laena walked to where the two of your sat, on the edge of your bed, and held both your hands.

“I’ll still keep in contact. Besides, you have each other now.”

Alicent lifted her head from your shoulder and met your gaze. She smiled softly.

“That’s true,” she whispered.

You returned Alicent’s smile and nodded. Sometimes you didn’t trust yourself to speak when she was so close.

Laena looked between the two of you then smiled knowingly. She returned to her things and hours later she finished packing.

Then it was time for fun.

The three of you ate all the sweets and snacks Laena had hid from the prefects on your floor. Then you had a quick bit of karaoke as it was Laena’s favorite group activity.

Finally you all curled up on Laena’s bed, it was slightly wider than yours, and promised to never stop being friends.

Before Alicent left back to her room Laena made you both promise to welcome her cousin Rhaenyra who was scheduled to start in the spring semester.

You promised.

Any family member of Laena’s had to be as sweet. She had welcomed you with open arms and you would surely do the same. Alicent was more relucant to promise but she did.

The next morning you helped Laena bring her things down to where her parents were waiting for her.

Her father loaded all of Laena’s things into the car.

Laena gave you a big hug before she held you by the shoulders and stared into your eyes.

“Before I leave I need to tell you something.”

“Is everything okay? Did you forget something?” You asked and turned your head back towards the dorms.

Laena nodded and brought your attention back to her. “I have everything. I just think you should know that Alicent likes girls.”

You furrowed your brows. “What?”

“Alicent is a lesbian.” Laena gave your shoulders a quick squeeze. “So don’t be afraid to go after her okay?”

“What? Why would you- I mean I don’t even,” you rambled.

Laena laughed. “(y/n), I knew from the second I saw you that you weren’t straight. I’m like a gay people magnet it’s crazy.”

You exhaled. “Sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want things to be weird between us.”

“It’s okay. I know things like this aren’t easy. For the record, nothing will ever change between us because you like girls (y/n).” Laena gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. “Now go get your girl.”

Laena let go of your shoulders and got into her parent’s car. She rolled the window down and waved to you as they pulled away.

You waved back with a bittersweet smile on your face. You would miss Laena...but the bombshell she dropped on you before leaving had your mind reeling.

-

Things hadn’t changed much since Laena’s departure. You didn’t talk to the other girls as often anymore but you and Alicent were closer than ever.

The two of you were practically glued to each other’s side.

That night you prepared everything for the movie night you and Alicent had planned. She really wanted to see the new horror movie on her favorite streaming site so you offered to watch it with her.

Alicent arrived right on time, with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn in her arms.

“Are you ready to watch the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?” She asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

You laughed. “I doubt it will be that scary.”

Alicent walked into the room and set the bowl of popcorn on your bedside table. Then she turned back to you.

“You said that about the last movie we watched and then you made me sleep in Laena’s old bed for two weeks because you were convinced an evil demon was under your bed.”

You rolled your eyes. “Whatever. I still Aliandra totally cursed the room after that fight we had.”

Alicent shook her head. “You’re so weird.”

You walked up to her and playfully shoved her with your shoulder. “You know you love it.”

Alicent laughed. “Ugh, for some ungodly reason I do.”

Then the two of you settled side by side in your bed. Alicent grabbed your arm and wrapped it around her waist. She always claimed it was more comfortable that way and you never argued.

You hit play and within two minutes regretted saying yes to watching it. Alicent would be sleeping in Laena’s bed again for the next several days.

-

As a thank you for spending the night in your room for weeks after you got scared, just as she had predicated, you planned a special picnic for Alicent.

It was on the date of the pink super moon. It had been the only thing Alicent talked about for the past week.

So when night fell, you led Alicent up to the roof and revealed the extensive spread of charcuterie and foreign snacks Alicent loved.

Alicent beamed. “You did this? For me?”

“Of course. I wanted to thank you for staying with me every night after we watched that movie,” you confessed sheepishly.

“You didn’t have to do this (y/n).”

You led Alicent to the picnic blanket and sat opposite her. Alicent sat and immediately grabbed her favorite snack. You smiled as she dipped the vanilla wafers into the chocolate frosting.

She let out a small moan as she ate. You laughed, happy that your plan had worked.

After the two of you had filled your bellies with food and sparkling cider, you sat shoulder to shoulder.

Alicent stared up at the pink super moon while you gazed at her. Neither of you spoke, and you didn’t have to.

“You’re staring at me,” Alicent said before tearing her eyes away from the moon.

You looked away and blushed. “I am not.”

“You totally were, you weirdo,” Alicent teased.

You met her gaze. “And if I was staring?”

“I would ask why,” she replied while looking down at your lips.

“I think you’re beautiful.”

Laena’s words rang in your ears. It was now or never, you thought.

Alicent looked back up at you. “You do?”

You nodded. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

Alicent smiled then leaned in close. You closed the gap between the two of you and pressed your lips to hers. 

Her lips felt soft, and tasted of cider.

Alicent climbed into your lap without breaking the kiss. She cupped your face and kept you close. Your hands settled on her lower back.

You kissed until your lungs begged you for air. Even then you only pulled away long enough to catch your breath before kissing Alicent once more.

-

Winter break felt like ages. You had been apart from your girlfriend for too long and you needed the feel of her lips against yours.

So the second your car pulled up to the dorms you raced out and headed directly to Alicent’s room.

She had sent you a text that she had arrived a few hours early.

You barged into her room and immediately wrapped your arms around her.

Alicent laughed as you peppered kissed to the back and sides of her neck.

“I missed you too (y/n),” she said.

You stopped kissing her and let go. Alicent turned to face you and she gave you a proper kiss.

“Welcome back,” she whispered when she pulled away.

“It’s good to be home,” you replied.

Alicent immediately enlisted your help with unpacking her things and setting up her room for the spring semester. Alicent liked to have a new theme to her room every semester.

After you had helped Alicent set up her room you went to yours. Your driver had texted you that he had brought everything up so all you had to do was unpack.

You opened the door and felt a sense of deja vu as silver hair popped out from the bathroom.

“You must be (y/n),” the silver haired girl said.

She came up to you and wrapped you in a hug.

“And you must be Rhaenyra,” you replied.

Rhaenyra let go of you and nodded.

“Laena has said nothing but great things about you.”

You smiled sheepishly. “I would hope so.”

Rhaenyra laughed and began to ask you all about the school, the girls, and the classes.

You gave Rhaenyra a tour much like the one Laena had given you the previous semester. Then you introduced her to all of the girls. Rhaenyra and the girls clicked instantly.

A part of you was a bit jealous they had gotten along so easily when it had taken you a few weeks before they really warmed up to you.

But she was Laena’s cousin. You knew she had to be as sweet as Laena, and so far she had been. So nothing could bring you down.

After introductions you and Rhaenyra walked back to your dorm. You hoped to introduce her to Alicent but you could not find her. So that would just have to wait until lunch.

-

At lunch, you and Rhaenyra sat with the whole gaggle of girls. They asked Rhaenyra all about how Laena was doing, and they wanted to know more about her. From the answers Rhaenyra gave them you deduced she was not really all that much like Laena.

Rhaenyra rode a motorcycle (she was two years your senior but had been held back a year due to a learning disability she had that wasn’t diagnosed until later in her life), and she liked to play rugby.

Everyone thought Rhaenyra was the coolest and they declared her the coolest girl in school right then and there.

You laughed along but a part of you felt like something was about to shift.

Alicent walked up to the table where you all sat.

You smiled. “Hey, I was looking for you all morning.”

Alicent didn’t reply. Her gaze was completely on Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra stretched her hand out to Alicent and introduced herself.

“Laena mentioned you would be joining us,” Alicent replied and shook Rhaenyra’s hand.

“Sadly, she didn’t mention just how beautiful you are so I’m left completely speechless,” Rhaenyra replied. She turned Alicent’s hand over and kissed the top of it. “A pleasure to meet you Alicent.”

Alicent raised her brows. “Oh,” was all she said.

Thankfully, Rhaenyra’s attention shifted to Aliandra and a bet that she had made with one of the other girls about how much Rhaenyra could bench press.

You stared at Alicent, growing upset at her response to Rhaenyra’s obvious flirting.

Alicent would not meet your gaze, which only made you more upset.

-

Back in your dorm room you clarified to Rhaenyra that Alicent was your girlfriend.

Rhaenyra apologized for flirting with Alicent and promised she would respect your relationship.

You had no reason to doubt her so you didn’t. You took Rhaenyra to the welcome back party in one of the senior’s suites.

It was not Rhaenrya’s first party.

The social butterfly she was, Rhaenyra flitted from person to person. She was the center of attention when she challenged one of the Citadel boys to a drinking contest.

Everyone cheered when she won.

You felt rather inferior to Rhaenyra. Especially since all of the girls who had been your friends now clung to Rhaenyra’s side.

So you left the party and went to Alicent’s room.

Alicent didn’t want to go to the party as she was supposed to have a call from her father after dinner and knew she would be in no mood.

You knocked on the door and heard Alicent tell you to enter. So you opened the door and walked inside.

Alicent sat by the window, frowning.

“Are you alright?”

“No,” Alicent confessed. “I just got off the phone with my dad.”

You nodded slowly. “Okay, what can I do?”

“Hold me,” Alicent asked, her voice breaking.

Immediately you went to her side and wrapped her up in your arms.

-

Things had taken a turn in your relationship with Alicent.

It turned out she had a class with Rhaenyra, and they started to spend a lot of time studying by themselves.

You often asked to join as you had chemistry this semester and science was your worst subject but they insisted it was best to study on their own.

You had no reason to doubt Alicent or Rhaenyra so you believed them.

But suspicion soon crept up your spine.

Rhaenyra rarely spent time in your dorm room. She really only used it to sleep and bathe.

You didn’t know where she went the rest of the time and you were scared it was Alicent’s room.

So one day when Alicent had told you she was busy studying in the library you went to her room.

You noticed photo booth pictures of Alicent and Rhaenyra sitting on Alicent’s desk.

You picked them up.

One of them had Alicent and Rhaenyra a little too close for comfort. Your stomach twisted.

They had lied to you. Clearly they did not spend all their time studying. They just didn’t want to include you, and you had a sneaking suspicion why.

-

Every date you planned with Alicent ended with her canceling it. Something always came up or she simply was too tired from studying to do anything.

You tried to visit Alicent in her dorm room but she was hardly ever there either. You searched the rooftop and only found her telescope covered in cobwebs, yet another sign of how much time had passed since the two of you had gone up there.

She also had developed a habit of leaving you on read, or sending your calls straight to voicemail.

“She’s totally hooking up with Rhaenyra. How do you not see that,” Aliandra asked you.

You sighed. “I don’t want to assume the worst of Ali.”

Aliandra shook her head. “You’re a sweet girl (y/n). You need to end things for your own sake.”

Then she grabbed her books and left. You sat alone in the library, hoping to see a glimpse of your girlfriend.

Was she still your girlfriend? You didn’t even know.

-

In a last ditch effort to save your relationship, you set up a movie night with Alicent.

You knew the sequel to her favorite horror movie was going to drop on streaming sites that night at midnight and that was not something Alicent would miss.

She promised to not cancel this time, and that filled you with hope. Maybe this was just a rough patch.

The night of the premiere arrived and you finished setting up everything in your room. You popped a fresh bag of popcorn and readied Alicent’s favorite snacks.

Then you sat on your bed and waited.

You ended up waiting hours.

You sent texts and calls to no avail. Alicent was not answering and it was past midnight.

Frustrated and angry you marched to Alicent’s room. How could she leave you hanging like that?

You knocked on her door.

“Alicent? Alicent open the door,” you called out.

No answer came. So you knocked again, louder this time.

Still nothing.

So you walked back to your room in defeat.

As you made your way to your room you passed by the large window that overlooked the lot where everyone pulled up to drop people off.

There Rhaenyra pulled in on her motorcycle, Syrax, and came to a stop. You stepped closer to the window and realized Rhaenyra was not alone.

Your heart sank.

It was Alicent. She had her arms wrapped around Rhaenyra’s waist.

Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes. You turned away from the window and raced to your room.

You buried your face in your pillows and let the tears flow. You had lost her.

-

Alicent had ghosted you.

How she had successfully managed that at a small, private, boarding school was beyond you but it was probably due to the fact that you did not like confrontation.

You had accepted the truth.

Rhaenyra had stolen your girlfriend.

She was nothing like Laena.

Thankfully Rhaenyra had not charmed everyone. Aliandra didn’t hate Rhaenyra but she was certainly more skeptical of the silver haired girl.

So you were able to switch rooms and be roommates with Aliandra pretty quickly after you realized the truth.

Aliandra welcomed you to her room but warned she was quite messy. She was very messy indeed but you would deal with it because you never wanted to see Rhaenyra or Alicent ever again.

But you did.

The campus was not very large and you often saw them arm in arm walking about the courtyard.

It hurt every time, and you would always end up crying into your pillow.

-

Weeks later, after countless tears and ruined silk pillowcases, you had finally moved on from Alicent (or so you had deluded yourself).

You had even managed to make new friends.

Things were starting to look up.

Then you saw Alicent’s father walk across the quad. You had only seen him in photos but he was a very distinct man so you knew that was him immediately.

You intended to think nothing of it and walk straight to chemistry class but your feet led you to Alicent’s door.

You sighed. You had moved on. What on Earth were you doing outside Alicent’s door?

“What are you doing here,” came a familiar voice behind you.

You whirled around to see Alicent standing behind you, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

Your heart softened.

“I...I saw your Dad in the quad.”

At the mention of her father fresh tears filled Alicent’s eyes. She pushed past you and into her room.

You followed her and shut the door behind you.

“I wanted to check in on you. To see if you were alright. I know how your dad can be.”

Alicent let out a hollow laugh. “Why do you even care?”

“Unlike you, I have compassion and empathy.”

Alicent turned to face you. “That’s fair.”

She wrapped her arms around herself.

You sighed. “I’m sorry that wasn’t cool. I just...” You shook your head. “Just forget I even came here. I’m sorry.”

You turned to leave but Alicent raced forward and grabbed your wrist.

“Don’t go.”

You closed your eyes. “I can’t stay Alicent.”

You felt her arms wrap around you from behind. She let her forehead rest against the back of your shoulder.

“I’m sorry (y/n). I’m so sorry for how I treated you. It was childish and heartless. Just please...don’t leave.” Alicent sighed. “He was especially cruel today.”

Hearing the pain in her voice weakened your resolve. You opened your eyes and sighed.

“Okay. I’ll stay.”

Alicent let go of you and you turned to face her. She cupped your face with her hand and ran her thumb across your cheek.

“Thank you.”

The two of you climbed into Alicent’s bed, as you had many times before, and she wrapped your arm around her waist. She let her head rest on your shoulder.

Silence enveloped the room.

Like before, it was not uncomfortable silence even though so much had changed between you.

“I want us to be friends (y/n). I miss you,” Alicent whispered.

You winced. It hurt to hear she missed you but only wanted to be friends.

“I can’t,” you admitted. “I’m still in love with you.”

Alicent lifted her head and met your gaze. “I’m sorry I can’t love you the way you deserve (y/n).”

Tears filled your eyes. “It’s okay.”

A tear fell down the side of your cheek and Alicent gently wiped it away. You swallowed the rest of your tears.

Alicent let her head rest of your shoulder once more. She laced her fingers with your free hand.

You couldn’t change the way things were but you could stay there, with Alicent, comforting her after her father had upset her in the way he always did.

She was no longer yours but you would always be the one she sought whenever she needed comfort. You were the only one who truly knew her, and she knew you would comfort her each and every time.

So during summer break you asked your parents to send you back to public school. You couldn’t be Alicent’s comfort anymore, not when she was the source of your heartache.

[twoset-updates]

[270223 词不达意的劳拉 weibo post]

tl;dr: this fan met eddy in a cafe and got to chat with him. translation below (it's quite long but very sweet)

I was helping Twosetter friends in Singapore get tickets [for the Twoset vs Davie show], and I was lucky enough to get a spot ahead in the queue. You could only buy a maximum of four tickets with one account, and she needed three. I thought I shouldn’t waste the luck, so I decided to buy four anyway. At the time it was an impulse decision; I hadn’t even decided whether I’d let someone else have the ticket, or go to the concert myself. So although I had the ticket, I hesitated for a long time thinking whether I should go after all. For one thing, Twoset wouldn't be the only ones performing, and for another, borders had just reopened. Time would be tight to get a visa, and air tickets and hotels in Singapore aren’t cheap, either.

Just like that, Lunar New Year passed. When my friend asked me what I would be doing with the extra ticket, and if I needed help finding someone to take it, I thought of Boss Yang’s “just do it”. Even if it wasn’t for Twoset, I hadn’t been overseas in three years. Recently I had been troubled by certain comments from some people, so I might as well treat it as a vacation to relax. So I applied for the visa, and told myself that I would go if I managed to get it. As it turned out, I really did end up getting it.

I won’t elaborate too much on the performance itself. It was my first time seeing Twoset live, and my first time meeting Twosetters in person, so I was really happy. I felt that the more talented Twosetters are, the more humble they are. They’re all really friendly, too. Someone even brought cookies they had baked (I brought them back with me and still can't bear to eat them). It was like a grand exchange of things everyone had made.

So many things were exchanged

I was also happy to visit the places where Twoset had shot videos, the National Museum of Singapore, Victoria Concert Hall, Merlion Park, the mall where Davie pretended to be tailing Twoset—so many places. I also ate and drank lots of delicious things. Out of all the fans who had flown in, I might be the one who stayed the longest in Singapore. I thought the trip would end just like that, but I didn't expect that the day I was to fly back home, I got a huuuuuuuuge surprise.

In retrospect, meeting Eddy was such a coincidence, it felt like fate. I had only wanted to get a coffee to go from this cafe, and was planning to eat at another restaurant. But when I went in, the staff asked if I wanted to eat in or takeaway, and for some reason, I said I would eat in. The cafe was pretty full, and I was brought to a seat quite far inside the cafe. Then I ordered my meal and the food arrived, and just as I had finished taking photos and was about to start eating, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walk by me to wash their hands. I glanced at them, and got a shock. Was that Eddy?! But I didn't dare to stare at them directly, so I just observed them through my peripheral vision.

The person walked by my table again after washing their hands, and I only saw their side profile and back. Those glasses, the brick red T-shirt from the Christmas video, black skinny jeans, and white Gucci sneakers—who could that be other than Eddy?! I watched as he walked to the seat right by the entrance and sat down.

I was calm on the outside, but on the inside: AHHHHHHH HELP! When did he come in?! Should I go say hi? What if he ate and left quickly! But I thought, I'd be flying back in the afternoon, and I might never get another chance like this. So I took a deep breath and walked towards the entrance.

He was eating alone (I was so lucky; if he had been discussing something with someone else, or if he was with a friend, I would probably have walked back to my seat as I wouldn't dare to disturb him), and had ordered a coffee. On the chair opposite him he had placed his backpack, and there was a large notebook on the table. When I reached his table, he realised I was there, and stopped eating to look up at me. For about two seconds, we just looked at each other silently, neither of us saying a word.

(Me, internally: say something! Don't be such a freak!)

(For the below conversation, it happened in English, unless mentioned otherwise. {} indicates actions, expressions, and additional explanations, and () indicates my thoughts.)

Me: OMG Eddy

E {realised I was a fan so he was a little cautious but smiling}: Hey hello!

Me: OMG, can I sit next to you? {The table next to him was free}

E: Sure, do you want a photo?

Me {nodding vigorously}: I actually came to see your performance, but I'm flying back this afternoon. Actually, this is the last place I'm going to before I head to the airport {I can't stop talking when I'm nervous, sorry, I don't know what I was saying}

E {his tone of voice was very gentle}: Oh where are you from? What's your name?

Me: I'm Laura, from Shanghai, China {I sat on the seat next to him, and turned to face him}

EDIT: I forgot to mention, amidst all this I also asked if he remembered, during the video they filmed in Taiwan about giving fans gifts, I'd asked Lisa to pass him a gift from me. (None of us knew whether Lisa would be chosen, but I told Lisa I'd send the gift to her anyway, and if she wasn't chosen it would be my Christmas gift to her. I'm thankful to Lisa for being such a nice person and agreeing to my request.) [I told him,] I gave him and Brett a Mario luggage tag each, did he remember, those were actually from me. He said, "Oh yea yea I remember that gift." (He really remembered, I'm so happy)

Then Eddy talked a bit about Shanghai with me. He said he'd been to Shanghai, and I couldn't resist teasing him about when he said "Shanghai Stock Exchange" [T/N: during Landmark Charades] (Eddy internally, probably: Why won't the fans from Shanghai give me a break about this). He seemed like he was cringing at himself (super cute!). He said he really didn't know why he said it during the video, and I asked if it was because the tour guide had brought them there when he was in Shanghai? He said he'd actually never been there, and had only been to the Oriental Pearl Tower. I told him he should come to Shanghai and see the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the building is really quite magnificent. I said, "please come to Shanghai, come to China, we fans in Shanghai really look forward to you visiting," and he said they'd look into it. (I know he was just saying it though; it seemed like it would be difficult for them to come to Mainland China.)

At one point, I apologised for my bad English, and he said, in Mandarin, "it's okay, we can speak in Mandarin too." But I kept speaking in English to him (I have no words for myself, I could have listened to him speak more Mandarin!). When he said they'd "look into it" he said it in Mandarin [T/N: original phrase is 再研究一下看看].

I told him his Mandarin is really good, and joked that Brett's sucks, and he laughed. But I hurriedly added that Brett's pronunciation is really good, and with his usual serious/earnest expression, he nodded, saying, "Hm, that is true." I said Brett seems like a pronunciation prodigy—previously there was a German fan who said his German pronunciation was good (and there was a German fan who watched the show with us this time who said the same). Eddy said that is indeed the case, as Brett had a lot of friends from Germany when he was in Europe. But I told him that since he could understand Mandarin puns, it was really impressive too. He smiled bashfully after being praised. (So so so cute!)

Then I suddenly remembered that I had interrupted his meal, and I was worried whether he would have other plans later in the day, so I asked him. I said, "I'm very sorry I interrupted your meal, I don't know if you have any other plans later, is it okay?"

He very seriously looked at his watch, and really thought for a bit, and only then did he tell me he actually did have something on later, but it was alright as there was still a bit of time, and we could continue chatting for a while. {He didn't immediately say "it's okay", and didn't take the chance to end the conversation either; he's really a sincere and nice person.}

At that moment, he suddenly pointed at my right shoulder, and said, "This is really cute." I took a second before I realised he was referring to the violin earrings I was wearing that day. I said, "Yes, this is for the violin gang." He said, "Yea!", and I replied, "I'm part of the piano gang though." He smiled and said, "Oh, that's great." I said, "But a lot of times I'm lazy and don't practice," and I took the chance to ask him if he would sign a mini metronome. I told him I'd actually bought it at Synwin the previous day (and luckily I had it in my bag as I was afraid it would be damaged [if I kept it in my luggage]). He agreed and asked if I had a marker. I said, "Yes, I even have a gold autograph marker." He said, "Cool," and wrote "Go Practice" for me. As he did so, he toyed with the metronome a little, and said, "I didn't know there were mini metronomes like this, it's really cute." I asked (greedily) if he could address the autograph to me, and he checked again that my name is Laura. It's actually a really common name, and I thought he would just write it straight away, but he was considerate and still asked me how to spell it. (He's so nice.)

He even added a emoji, really cute

Alright, I'll "Go Practice"

Because I had to take the metronome and autograph marker out of my bag, I had picked my bag up from the ground, and he noticed that my bag had two pins on it (Puganini and Meowzart pins from the SSO; a Twosetter in Singapore had mailed it to China for us). He said, "Oh, this is cute," and I replied, "Yeah, It's from the SSO," and he said he knew, but he only knew they had made Puganini pins and not Meowzart ones. {He really pronounced the "meow" sound, it was cute.} I said, "Yeah, and it so happens that it's Paganini and Mozart (referring to him and Brett), what a coincidence." He agreed.

My SSO Puganini and Meowzart pins.

Then I remembered that I had made three headbands for the concert—one for Twoset, and two other Paganini and Mozart ones (because I had thought those characters would appear during the show)—and I still had them in my bag, so I hurriedly took them out to show him. First I showed him the TwoSet Violin one, and I told him I'd even glued on LED lights by hand, and turned the lights on to demonstrate. It seemed like he was happy about it but also thought it was a little embarrassing. He hid his face in his hands (ahhh so cute). Then I showed him the Paganini and Mozart headbands, and said, "These don't have lights though." He said they were really cute, and I told him the Mozart one has rabbit ears because Mozart had made the rabbit ear gesture, and the Paganini one has devil horns. Then I paused, and asked if he wanted the headbands. (I thought I'd just ask.)

TwoSet Violin (I put the LED lights on by hand, sorry for the poor craftsmanship)

Paganini (I originally wanted to add lights too, but I gave up afterwards)

Mozart

Unexpectedly, he said, "Sure!" He took them from me, and said, "I'll give this {the Mozart one} to Mozart Brett." Then he wore the Paganini one himself ahhhh (I was so stunned in that moment, I completely wasn't expecting him to take the initiative to wear it, so I just dumbly stared while we continued to talk). After about five seconds, I realised he might feel awkward wearing the headband, so I asked if he wanted to take it off for now, wasn't it awkward? Then he suggested that we should take a selfie first (I completely didn't think that he himself would suggest a selfie with the headband), so he could take the headband off after the selfie, because it did feel awkward after all. (Ahhhhh I'm sorry I keep saying this, but he was so cute when he was being bashful ahhh)

Paganini Eddy is so cute and looks so good!

After the selfie, I told him I was in too much of a rush this time to finish lights on all the headbands, so if they came to Shanghai, I would make a full set of headbands with lights for them, and he said, "Deal!" (So, please come for real TAT)

That was almost it, but just then, I remembered that a while ago a lot of people were curious if they had ever tested which Hogwarts house they were in? At first, he didn't really get what test I was talking about, but when he understood, he said that they'd never done the test.

E: Do you think the test is fun? Should we do it?

Me {nodding}: It's really fun, I think you guys can try it.

E: Which house do you think I'd be in?

Me: I think you're Ravenclaw

E: I think I'm Ravenclaw, too

Me {quietly}: I'm also Ravenclaw (shameless)

E: What about Brett, which house do you think he's in?

Me (I didn't think he would bring up Brett on his own): Hm...... I think he's either Gryffindor or Slytherin

E: Oh? {He seemed to be surprised that I chose two houses; I'm guessing the one he was surprised about was Slytherin.}

Me: Gryffindor because he's very courageous, but Slytherin because he has a realistic {I said it in English and Mandarin} side as well. [T/N: original word for "realistic" was "现实"]

E: Oho, Brett, Slytherin, hehehehehe {a teasing laugh} (I thought, does he think that Slytherins are villains, so he thinks it's funny that a fan thinks Brett is a villain?)

Really, I took up quite a bit of his time, and I apologised a few times throughout the conversation, but he amiably said that it's alright. He listened to me patiently, replied to me earnestly, and fulfilled all my requests. (Now that I think about it, it might be because I told him in the beginning that I would be flying back to Shanghai in the afternoon, that he was very forgiving of me, and for that I'm very, very thankful to him.

P.S. Eddy is more handsome and good-looking close-up than in videos; his eyes are round and bright, his iris and sclera are clearly defined, he looks here and there when he's thinking, and he has double eyelids on both eyes. Sob, he's really cute (for the millionth time)

Finally, he really was like he said: a very gentle listener. At the start of the post, I mentioned that I was feeling troubled, and part of it was for reasons related to my work. There were some issues that I couldn't figure out an answer to, and in the course of my conversation with him I couldn't help but tell him some of it (it's strange, he has the power to disarm people). He patiently and carefully listened to my troubles, and in reply, he didn't simply say something like "you should just do it," but instead he said that it was a tough problem indeed. I told him that that's why I'm grateful to them for making videos and performances that inspired me, and he told me, "If you decide to do it, you can do it."

Me: ......well, since you've said that, I have to do it now.

At this point, I guess I can't get out of the fandom anymore...... It feels like all the challenges I faced in making this trip to Singapore happen were worth it. In the process, I received a lot of sincere help from Twosetters, and I think I did my best to help them sincerely as well. As expected, sincerity is really the solution to everything. I guess that's how it is with Twoset, and this community that formed around them. I think that's one thing about Twoset that differs from others, the most special thing: they brought together this amazing, talented community. It seems if you treat others with sincerity, and have a little luck, you'll be able to make your wishes come true.