#if i did not just spend my entire being alive budget tonight maybe i will go to the deeply mediocre donut place and get a donut

[ceratonia-siliqua]

Forever Ch 19

As per usual, check out @send-me-your-hcs next week for the next chapter. 

Ao3 Link 

Warnings: Some depression themes (and other usual warnings) 

Alone. 

A state he hadn’t been in -ever- during the two, wonderful, blissful weeks he’d had with Bucky. He was familiar with loneliness, knew it better than he did constant company. It had never made him ache like this, it had always been a soft, dull sensation poking around the back of his skull. Now it morphed into a sense of anguish, beat itself through his brain and down his spine. It had only been eight hours since Bucky left and Peter was laying on the kitchen floor, legs drawn up into one of Bucky’s massive gray t-shirts, held up only by his arms through the sleeves. His cheek pressed against the cold title, reminding him that their bed would be the same. Instead of rolling over into a patch preheated by Bucky’s furnace like body, he would fall into frigid sheets. It made the back of his throat burn to think about, the tear lines on his cheek already crusty and pulling the skin beneath them tight.

He had the burner phone pressed to his chest, had given up on making dinner while he waited. He knew it had to happen, that Bucky would have to leave for some span of time at some point, but he hated it. Wanted the phone to ring so he could hear the smooth rumble of Bucky’s voice over the line and know that this was all temporary, that Bucky wasn’t leaving him for good. 

The clock on the wall, made of burned wood and careful thought, ticked like it was just as impatient as he was. He jumped as the rice cooker whined, high but brief. Had forgotten he’d put it on, was glad he could just eat plain white rice if nothing else tonight. He thought about mustering up the energy to make the chicken in the fridge when the burner phone lit up.

It got halfway through the first ring when he answered. “Bucky?” 

“This is an automated message from the Peter Stark Tip Hotline. We are calling to provide updates on the case and remind the public that any tips leading to the arrest of Skip Westcott and/or the recovery of Peter Stark will be compensated. Currently police are investigating a sighting of Skip Westcott several weeks ago in West Virginia. There have yet to be any verifiable sightings of Peter Stark. Now a message from Tony Star-“ Peter hung up. 

He could handle the objective monotone update on his case, was relieved in fact to hear that there was so little for them to go on, but he couldn’t listen to his dad. He was already sad, he didn’t need guilt on top of it. 

The phone rang again. He was more hesitant this time but the need to speak to Bucky was too great. He would just hang up if it was the hotline again. 

“Hello?”

“Hey baby, you doin’ okay?” 

“Better now that I’m talking to you.” Felt his face heat at the cheesy line even though it was true.

Bucky chuckled, gravely as it rolled through the speaker. “Well, seems like we’re in a similar boat then.”

Peter couldn’t help but ask, “Did you get that phone call too? From the hotline?” 

A sigh, deep and tired. “Yes, I did. I want to say you shouldn’t have answered it but it could have been me for all you knew.”

“I didn’t listen to all of it. I stopped once my dad’s message was about to play.” 

“That’s for the best, he got heated again.” Peter heard Bucky shifting positions, the sound of his clothes sliding giving him away. “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“No…” I’ve been too sad. The last part of his thoughts he kept to himself, not wanting to come off manipulative. It wasn’t Bucky’s fault he was sad and Peter didn’t want to accidentally suggest he was.

“Baby, you need to eat something.” Tone gentle, concerned but not forceful.

“I know…”

“I know you’re sad sweetheart, but I’ll be home in a few weeks. We can go do something fun when I do.”

Peter bit his lip. “Could we… Could we go dancing?” 

Surprised. “Why the sudden interest in dancing?”

He looked away as though avoiding eye contact despite being utterly alone. “Last time I saw Steve he talked about how he used to go swing dancing with his friend. He didn’t say your name but I was hoping it was you? I wanted to try it with you but if you don’t want to-“

“Peter, I would love nothing more than to take you out to dinner and go dancing. We would just have to be careful. Go a few towns over, maybe even book a hotel and go out of state. Either way if that’s something you really want to try I’ll make it happen.”

“I- I really want to.” Had to bite his lip to keep from saying but we don’t have to. He could let himself have this one, just this once. 

“We can start planning when I get close to coming home. I want a few days with you at the house before we go anywhere.” 

“We could just stay home if you don’t want to go out. Just put some music on and do it at home.” 

“It’s not the same, your first time should be on a dance floor, there is nothing like it and you should experience that first.”

“Okay, Bucky.”

“You still need to eat, Peter.”

Peter sighed. “I was hoping you forget about that part.”

He could hear Bucky smirking over the line. “Nothing slips past me, baby.” 

“Mhm, sure.” It felt good to tease Bucky, even apart. 

“Peter.” 

“I know, I know.” Peeling himself off the floor was a feat but he managed, already in a better mood with Bucky on the line. 

“There is some precooked chopped chicken in the freezer along with a microwave steamer bag if you need something easy.”

“Thanks, I’ll try it.”

_____

The rest of the week was quiet. Spending most of his time alone gave him room to think, room he didn’t really want. Bucky often kept him busy, too busy to think much on the things that bred doubt and concern for him. Without Bucky he was left stranded, on his own with his only life line god knows where and only reachable through phone. Eventually he needed an outlet, something to hit the pressure release on everything. 

So, he wrote.

It took a few minutes to find what he needed. Packages had been flowing into their home at a steady rate and it was hard to catalog it all when all the boxes looked the same. Eventually he found it. A packet of loose notebook paper and a box of different colored, high quality pens. Bucky had picked them out, Peter had never been terribly picky about his pens. Even billionaire households had their cheap ball point pens rolling around more often than not. Most of his letters had been written with pens from cheap bulk packs because he’d gone through them so quickly. Peter Stark may have been the son of a multi billionaire but even he had a carefully budgeted allowance. 

He went to the small table in their kitchen, a rustic pine two seater, and dropped off his cargo. He whipped up a snack, just a simple salami and cracker plate, before sitting down. 

The rainbow array of colors the pens came in was inviting. When he’d written Bucky and other inmates he had been stuck with black and blue ink exclusively. Being able to choose now was a small luxury that he was happy to take advantage of. He plucked a purple one from the package and a clean sheet of paper from the reem. Smoothed the paper across the flat surface of the table before picking up the pen. The light taps of the end against the table as he thought of what to write kept a steady ticking pace. 

Pen touched the pen to paper and he was off. 

_____

Each note had something entirely different on it. Each with something positive and sweet, kind and affectionate. They were hidden around the house. All in places where Bucky would easily (hopefully) find them but not obvious enough that they would be found all at once. He wished he had thought to do it before Bucky left. The idea of tucking notes into his car and between the folds of packed clothes would have been a nice way to remind Bucky of home out on the road. He would just have to remember to do it another time. 

He sat down at the table once again, took a moment to organize his thoughts into neat little boxes as he thought about if he really wanted to do what was next. The difficult part would be getting his message across in such a way it would not be skewed, well, not skewed too much. His words would be twisted and turned endlessly but as long as the base letter was what it needed to be, it would just have to be okay. 

_____

Dad, 

I’m writing this letter to let you know that I’m alive. I can’t say much more about the situation than that. I love you, I didn’t get to say that before everything happened. I know you’ll look for me no matter what I say but I hope you take care of yourself too. I knew I would have to leave you at some point, I just wish it hadn’t been like this. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to reach out again. Currently I’m alone and this has helped fill some of the silence and loneliness. I don’t have much to say, there is just so much that I can’t that I don’t know what to put in instead. I guess for now this will have to be it. 

With Love, 

Peter

_____

The letter was painfully vague and he felt bad for all the false pitfalls he had placed in it. Peter knew his dad’s mind would go to the worst place possible, yet that had in a way been the point. The longer he could keep Tony off of Bucky’s trail the better. He didn’t like the idea of manipulating his father but protecting Bucky came first, no amount of guilt could overcome that. Peter couldn’t help but see the irony in their positions. They had reversed roles. Now Peter was kept prisoner because of his father whilst Bucky was free to roam the streets like he owned them. For Bucky’s sake, he was happy. Having spent so long in prison, Bucky deserved a sense of normalcy and Peter would never in his life guilt him for having it where he couldn’t. It wasn’t Bucky’s fault that his father was overbearing and unwilling to let Peter make his own choices. 

He sealed up the letter and wrote the address he’d had memorized since the first day of kindergarten. He didn’t put a return address on it. Part of him wanted to stick the letter in their mailbox down at the end of the road instead of waiting for Bucky to take it but the letter would be stamped with the nearest city’s location and that was far too big of a risk. Instead, it was clipped to a hanging pin by the door. The letter wouldn’t be touched for weeks but it would be ready for Bucky’s next trip. So, he did what he had been doing since this all began.

He waited for Bucky. —

Twelve days.

Bucky had been gone for twelve long, agonizing, gruelling days.

Peter had spent most of it curled up on the various floors throughout the house. He didn’t know why it helped, but it did. Maybe it was just too hard to make himself sit up and act like a regular person when his heart was halfway across the country. He felt hollow without Bucky here.

But he didn’t feel hollow now. No, he was no longer sprawled across the floor like a dead body or a lifeless doll. Peter was eagerly pacing through the kitchen - the only room on the first floor whose windows faced out front – eyes glued to the small section of their driveway that he could actually see. He’d been pacing like this for an hour and a half already. Bucky had called to say he would be home before 8PM, and the clock on the wall was now reading 7:47.

Finally, finally, at long last, there was a distinct crunch, the unmistakable sound of tires rolling over dirt and rocks. Peter whipped around to face the window and caught the tail end of a silver car driving past. His heart raced. Bucky was home!

A door opened outside, then shut. Peter grinned and rushed for the front door, intending to wrench it open and throw himself into his beau’s arms. His socked feet skidded across the hardwood as he raced for the mudroom, but three loud, sturdy knocks from the other side of the door gave Peter pause.

He was fairly certain Bucky would rush in to see him, not joke around by making him come to the door. Although, maybe he had his hands full or something? He might’ve been knocking because he needed Peter to let him in. The thought made him eagerly reach for the knob, unable to keep the excited grin off his face.

But the smile didn’t last. It was wiped away almost instantly, erased like marker on a whiteboard the moment he opened the door and met the shocked, disbelieving face of none other than Steve Rogers.

[knovesstorytelling]

Murray Mysteries S1E1 Transcript

Episode 1. Mina Murray’s Particularly Powerful Podcast Preface 

Written by May Toudic

Mina: Welcome to Murray Mysteries.

[Theme music plays.]

Mina: Hi! Hello. 

Mina (chuckling nervously): Howdy, nope. 

[She groans.]

Mina: Welcome to this podcast. I’m Mina Murray. Blessed with an alliterative name since 1996. By day, I’m an unemployed twenty-something with a teaching degree. But by night, I, uh. I read books, watch true crime shows, and do jigsaw puzzles with my boyfriend.

[She laughs.]

Mina (pretending to be a sports announcer): And the crowd goes wild!

[She laughs more.]

Mina: Yeah, I know, I know. I sound uh, I sound boring. Honestly, I might be? You’re probably thinking “Everyone and their mother has a podcast nowadays. Why should I listen to this early-onset grandma talk about her life as an unemployed jigsaw puzzler?” If I were you, I probably wouldn’t want to listen to me either. BUT, but. I can be interesting, I promise. I love learning about psychology, and history, and criminology, and a lot of other things ending in -y and—

Mina (laughingly): I like sharing that knowledge too.

Mina: Trust me, I did not get a teaching degree because I love spending all my time with kids and teenagers. I did it because I want to make them better adults. And for every twenty brats there are, there is one who’s actually interested in learning stuff and listening to me rambling on about who came closest to catching Jack the Ripper. Weirdly, that primary school I did my placement in didn’t ask me back full time. Something about topics appropriate to discuss with six-year-olds? Their loss. Honestly, the kids loved it.

Mina: If that didn’t convince you, you should know I also hang out with way more interesting people than myself. My boyfriend, Jonathan, is a solicitor! Yeah, that doesn’t sound any better, but I swear he’s fun. He’s currently on a work trip to Transylvania, so clearly the job has benefits. He’s been sending me a lot of pictures of his food on the way to his client’s place and he said he was going to record his trip for my podcast’s travel segment. Didn’t have the heart to tell him that, uh, this trip’s the first one he’s been sent on in two years and we’re way too broke to fund our own travel segment.

Mina (thoughtfully): I guess we could do some very illegal camping in the nearest park and pretend the ducks are exotic wildlife.

Mina: Doesn’t that sound exciting. Well, beside budget Bear Grylls, I spend most of my time with my best friend and my flatmate, Lucy. Who’s probably the coolest person alive. She’s really hard to keep up with, in, like, the best way. Always has some kind of dodgy plan that will either turn out the best time of your life or a total disaster. No in-between. One time, she took me to this rave in an old, covered market where everyone was wearing vegetable costumes and they all played remixes of Play That Funky Music. I almost lost an eye to an asparagus, but man that was a fun night. Lucy met someone at the party and even ended up dating him for a bit. It didn’t last very long.

[Mina chuckles and clears her throat.]

Mina: The tomato costume should’ve been a … red flag?

[Mina starts giggling]

Mina: In my opinion.

[She giggles more.]

Mina: Sorry. I should be ashamed. Lucy made a pun jar for the flat and I have to put a quid in it every time I make a really bad one.

Mina (quietly): I won’t tell her about this one if you don’t,

Mina (normally): Oh! Oh, oh. I might’ve given her my login details, so there is a strong possibility she will hijack this podcast. Lucy, if you’re listening to this, don’t hijack the podcast?

[A door opens and shuts.]

Lucy (in the distance): Did I hear my name?

[Footsteps come closer.]

Lucy: You didn’t tell me you were recording.

Mina: You were out?

Lucy: Only for a bit! Did you wait until I was gone, you sneak!

Mina: I needed silence! And you were getting ready to the entire discography of Abba.

[Lucy chuckles.]

Mina: Didn’t you have a date?

Lucy: What? Um, no. Just drinks.

Mina: With someone who thought it was a date? Hmm?

Lucy: Maybe? So, what are you talking about?

Mina: You, actually.

Lucy: Oh, great choice of topic! Are you telling them about the—

Mina: —the veg party, yeah.

Lucy: That was a, that was a night.

[Lucy laughs.]

Lucy: I wonder how that tomato’s doing now.

Mina: No, no, don’t call the tomato.

Lucy: It’s just a call, it couldn’t hurt.

Mina: Lucy, what would Karamo say?

Lucy (in a nasally voice): You deserve better than a toxic relationship with some who doesn’t even know a fruit from a vegetable.

Mina: So, what are you going to do?

Lucy: Not call the tomato.

Mina: Good. Now, you’re either going to help me record this, or you’re going to get out of my room because you’re very distracting.

Lucy: I get that a lot. I’ll help you of course. What’s the next item on those little notes of yours?

Mina: Um, I was just about to tell them how we met.

Lucy: Oh, good! Now they can hear it from both points of view. A dual perspective, if you will.

Mina: You’re really milking that theatre degree there, aren’t you?

Lucy: Well, what else am I going to do with it?

Mina: Fair point.

[Lucy laughs.]

Mina: There’s really not much to the story.

[Lucy gasps.]

Lucy: Not much to it? It was a day for the ages. The origin story of our friendship. A platonic meeting of souls!

Mina: It was an eighties-themed pub quiz.

Lucy: Hey, pub quizzes are a magical thing. Anything can happen in a pub quiz. Case in point: meeting of souls.

Mina: So, it was the last day of freshers week. And I made myself go to this thing because I felt like I had missed out on all the university-mandated binge drinking.

Lucy: Mmhmm.

Mina: I went on a couple campus tours, a couple coffee crawls, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk to anyone there. Lucy, on the other hand, was there with a gaggle of glamorous people she’d managed to gather around her like moths to a very sparkly flame.

Lucy: I was wearing that holographic dress, wasn’t I? That was a good dress, I wonder what happened to it.

Mina: Um, you tore out the bit in the back in third year while trying to prove you could do the splits to that um, Brazilian exchange student.

Lucy: Oh. Yeah, I remember that. I think.

Mina: Anyway, I’m sitting there alone in a sticky booth, hoping for a miracle. And this glittering ball of charisma comes up and says “You look like you know stuff.”

Lucy: I’m very observant. You look smart and interesting and very sad and lonely. How could I resist?

Mina: You just wanted someone who was sad enough to have seen every John Hughes movie three times.

Lucy: Well joke’s on me because now I’ve seen them all too. And Molly Ringwald is an eternal icon.

Mina: Yeah, it turns out Lucy’s love of eighties music and my knowledge of history and cheesy movies made us pretty much unbeatable.

Lucy: Mmhmm.

Mina: We won a hundred-pound voucher and Lucy convinced everyone to get a mountain of pub food instead of drinks because she could tell I didn’t want any alcohol.

Lucy: I’m a very good friend. And the chilli chips at that place were amazing!

Mina: Oh, I miss those chilli chips. They piled so much cheese on those, you couldn’t see the chilli or the chips!

Lucy: Nothing will ever beat Jackie’s chips. But we could still order some from that new place tonight and eat while we pack.

Mina: Pack for what?

Lucy: Going on a trip?

Mina: No we’re not, I have stuff to do.

Lucy: Yes we are. My mum wants me to come home and visit and I am not leaving you here alone to brood over your long-lost love, far away across the sea. Come on, it’ll be fun! I promise to do one jigsaw puzzle for every party I drag you to.

Mina: I have to hunt for jobs, Lucy.

Lucy: You can do that online.

Mina: And be around in case they like, need an interview or something.

Lucy: It’s only a couple of hours on the train, you can commute.

Mina (consideringly): Did you say, one puzzle per party?

Lucy: Of less than three hundred pieces. I’m willing to comprise, but I haven’t completely given up on life yet.

Mina: There’s no talking you out of this, is there?

Lucy: Nope.

Mina: I’ll get my suitcase.

Lucy: Yes!

Mina: Goodbye listeners, if you don’t hear from me again, I’m probably being held hostage by one of Lucy’s quaint exes.

[Lucy laughs as the credits music begins to play.]

Credits: Murray Mysteries is a Knoves Storytelling production. This episode was written and produced by May Toudic and featured Drew Victorie as Mina Murray and Megan John as Lucy Westerna. Original music by Sophie Kay. Thank you for listening.

[jawlawsenpai]

Foretell Chapter 2: Awakened

As he makes his way to school Simon meets up with Sebastian. Sebastian was wearing a black and red striped long sleeved shirt, while Simon on the other hand was wearing a blue shirt with a print of a cartoon turtle that has a lightning bolt on its shell with the text "I'm the fastest turtle alive." Sebastian saw Simon and waved at him.

"Morning!" Simon greets Sebastian.

"Hey! happy birthday... Are you okay? You look kinda pale." Sebastian asks.

"I had a really messed up nightmare and I really don't want to talk about it." Simon's proclamation.

"Okay then, so what do you want to cook tonight?"

"I was thinking, how about lasagna?"

"Oh yeah definitely your lasagna tastes amazing."

"Cool I'll make the list of ingredients later and we'll buy some at the store okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

The two headed to class where they met their other friends. Vicky was wearing a Sunday dress that has floral designs and is still completely ignoring Simon. Liz is wearing a white and yellow blouse along with some jeans who also greeted Simon a happy birthday and once again Simon was red as an apple. Rob is wearing his signature red hoodie with a black shirt inside with a pac-man print on it ,he greeted the two boys and gave them both high fives. Vina was wearing a sleeveless white muscle shirt with a crow sitting on top of a skull as a design and ripped jeans, her hair is braided which gives her sex appeal a whole new level, she also has mascara on along with some leather bracelets. On the other hand her sister Rina is wearing a sweat jacket with a print of an aliens head with the text "believe" on it. The twins went up to Simon and hugged him while greeting him a happy birthday. A few moments later the teacher walks in and starts the class.

Without saying it everyone's excited for the party. Simon as well, he's looking forward to cook lasagna for his friends, but at the same time he still questions the nightmare that he saw. Who was that woman? What was that flower all about? How did he manage to dream something like that? Simon simply thought he should stop watching too much horror films.

After an excruciating math test, everyone was relieved for it to be over, more so for Simon's friends. This means that school is over and that they can party at Simon's place. They spent the entire day just talking about the party, now that school's over they all can no longer wait.

Everyone had their own thing to do. Liz and Vicky plan to buy a cake for Simon, even though Simon protests about them buying, Liz is very persistent and in the end Simon can't really stop her. Rob, Vina, and Rina plan to buy party decorations and they plan to go to Simon's house first to prepare and just simply wait for the others to come afterwards. Simon was hesitant at first because his father might be there but then again he remembered that his father didn't come last night and it's highly unlikely for him to return today. After much consideration Simon allowed the three of them to go ahead to his house first after buying the decorations.

After everything was settled they all went their separate ways and went to do their respective jobs. Liz and Vicky went to the bakery, while Rob, Vina, and Rina went to the nearest convenience store. Simon and Sebastian went to the grocery store.

While walking Simon and Sebastian were sightseeing around, it has been a long time since they've been in this part of the valley. Once they saw the old play ground they both smiled, those were happier times. They remembered Simon's mother watching over them as they play on the swing.

"She would've been so proud of you right now, and she'd be the most excited about your birthday out of all of us." Sebastian proclaims.

"Yeah I know she would. She would've been the first one to remind me that it's my birthday today."

As the two walk along they noticed a crowd of people standing around next to an apartment near the play ground. Simon immediately felt a sudden pain in his head. Sebastian notices this and asks Simon if everything was alright. Simon replies saying that everything is fine and that it was just a sudden headache. For some reason Simon felt anxious and afraid. He swallowed his fear and forced himself to go to the crowd.

He pushed his way through the crowd. As he reaches the source of all the commotion he saw the paramedics zipping up a body bag, in a split second Simon manages to take a quick glance. Simon was immediately filled with fear and disgust the face he saw was the same face of the woman from his nightmare, without a doubt, how can he forget such a horrifying scene, a scene so terrifying that it is forever etched into his mind. The only things that are different is the fact that the body will not rise again and that the weird flower that is supposed to be on her chest is nowhere to be seen.

Simon immediately ran to the nearest public restroom, he felt sick and thought of nothing but just vomiting. Sebastian quickly chased after him, once Simon found a restroom and quickly found an empty stall he immediately vomited in it. Sebastian looking confused asked Simon what was going on. Simon immediately replied that he was alright and that he was feeling a little sick because of what he saw.

After the entire ordeal Simon manages to convince Sebastian for them to just leave and go to the grocery store. As soon as they leave Simon witnesses the body bag being taken in the ambulance, in order to not risk him vomiting again he quickly walks away along with Sebastian. Sebastian is still very worried about Simon but he knows when Simon doesn't want to talk about anything he won't so he just went along with Simon in order for them to get home already.

Finally they made it to the grocery store.

"So you got the list?" Asked Sebastian.

"Yup it's in here in my bag hold on a sec."

As Simon picks out his list Sebastian was shocked to see how many ingredients they needed to buy. The list consists of olive oil, 3-4 onions, 2 large bell peppers, tomato sauce, 4-5 tomatoes, some Italian seasoning, garlic powder and that was just for the sauce. For the lasagna itself they needed lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Basically different types of cheese.

" Do we even have the budget for these?" Sebastian's worried question.

"Yeah, I mean I have some of the other ingredients at home I only wrote those so that I wont forget what I need later."

Sebastian is in a state shock for this is the first time he has seen Simon so very competent. Simon understood that look and lightly jabs Sebastian's arm. It took some time but they managed to buy everything they needed. They immediately went to Simon's house to cook the food.

As soon as they arrived at the house they saw Rob blowing up balloons on the floor while Vina and Rina are putting up streamers on the walls, they promised that they'll clean it up afterwards. Simon started cooking the lasagna and Sebastian helped out with the balloons because Rob is clearly having a difficult time. When the lasagna was finished Liz and Vicky made it just in time along with the cake, written on the icing said "Happy 15th Birthday Simon from all your Friends!" Simon was touched, but this isn't an occasion for crying. They all dig in the food and had a wonderful evening. Vina is totally crushing it on karaoke and Rina is taking memorable pictures of everybody. Later on everyone else danced to the songs that Vina picked out except for Vicky and Sebastian who were to awkward and shy to dance in the first place. All in all that night was one of the best nights that everyone had, until someone came along. "What's all that noise!"

The voice came from outside the door, as soon as Simon opened it, it was his father still clearly drunk and with a beer in hand. "What's going on! Who are you kids?! What are you all doing in my house?!" He yelled. Everyone was silent for a moment, they knew that this is what Simon's father is like, until Liz suddenly spoke.

"We were celebrating Simon's birthday Mr.Cross."

"What? It's your birthday? Why didn't you tell me?" The confused question of Mr.Cross.

"Yeah its my birthday dad, I just thought you had more important stuff to do so I didn't bother."

"You could've at least told me!"

"It's okay dad its not a big deal."

"It is a big deal. I'm your father I need to be here at times like these!"

Something just suddenly snapped in Simon.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but when have you ever been here? You spend most of your time in the bar than here. Even when you are here your not here your either drunk or sleeping!" Simon yells.

"Hey! I work my ass off for this family so don't talk to me like that!"

"What family! We haven't been a family ever since mom died. I've moved on dad you clearly haven't!"

"That's it you can't talk to me like that while you're still under my roof!"

"Maybe I don't want to be under your roof anymore! There's nothing here for me anymore!" Simon proclaims.

Blinded by rage Simon's father punched him in the face so hard he fell to the floor and his cheek is swelling and his mouth is bleeding. Rob being the biggest one of them tried to hold Simon's father back but he just get shoved away by the massive man. Simon's father looks at him intently and says. "If that's what you want then fine leave." The burly man went up the stairs and to his bedroom. Simon's friends quickly went to him and helped him get back up.

"If you need a place to go you could stay at my place." Said Sebastian.

"Is that okay with you? Simon asks.

"Of course, you should pack now though."

"We'll go get your stuff and pack for you" Said Rob.

"You guys don't have to." Said Simon.

"Can you guys go get his stuff I'll patch him up." Said Liz.

Everyone nodded. Rob, Vina, Sebastian, Rina, and even Vicky went up to his room to get his stuff. Liz is looking under the cabinets to look for a first aid kit to use. She found one and immediately returns to Simon.

"Has he ever hit you like that before?" Liz's worried question while she cleans Simon's face and hold an ice bag to it.

"Couple of times, and in all of those times he was drunk." He says this in a joking manner.

"This isn't funny Simon, you got hurt. you can report him you know?"

"As much as I hate him he's still my dad. Whatever I said earlier it'll never change the fact that he's my family, the last one to be exact. Besides maybe a little space could do us good."

"I hope you know what you're dong."

Just as she finishes treating Simon's cheek the others came down stairs with two plastic bags and his regular school bag all packed and ready to go. Before they all left they took out garbage bags and cleaned out the living room. As they all walk outside they left the garbage bags out on the porch. As they further walked Simon took one last look at the house, it was a pretty out of placed house to be in an urban area to begin with, pieces of it has gone missing, its rich white and yellow color already faded and the windows are all boarded up, the roof is in serious need of cleaning and repair. Now Simon is expected to live in Sebastian's house, at least for now.

Simon and Sebastian went their way while the others went their own. They all said happy birthday to Simon even though it wasn't all happy in the end. Simon notices their faces clearly showing them being worried. Simon reassures them and tells them that everything will be alright, after that they all left and they all said good night to one another.

As they arrived at Sebastian's house the place was all dark and still a little stuffy. Nevertheless Simon proclaims that its alright for him to sleep on couch, Sebastian tried to change his mind offers him his bedroom, but knowing Simon he knew that he can't convince him. The time was 10:00 p.m. As Sebastian walks up the stairs to sleep Simon quickly dozes of due to him being way to tired and fatigued.

Walking on a garden of strange looking violet flowers. The sky was as red as blood, the clouds were moving at an impossible speed. Simon heard whispers all over the place, the whispers were coming from the distance while at other times it was near as if the person whispering was up next to his ear. Suddenly the clouds stopped moving and poured out rain, but it was no ordinary rain by the color of it and the smell it wasn't water that was falling on Simon it was blood. Simon looked up to the clouds raining blood, as soon as he looked back down he was immediately greeted by the corpse of the woman he saw earlier. The woman once again had no eyes and was crying out blood and smiling right at him. Out of disbelief Simon rubbed his eyes and once he opened his eyes once more the weather was normal again, Simon's clothes were no longer drenched in blood, nothing but odd looking violet flowers can be seen for miles, the whispers has also stopped. Then suddenly the woman was once again beside Simon and whispered right into his ears "Smell the pretty flowers." Out of shocked Simon quickly turned around and like before the woman was no where to be seen. As soon as Simon puts his guard down a bloody hand sprouted from the ground and grabbed Simon's leg and slowly pulls him down the ground. Desperate he tries to claw his way out grabbing on to anything he can get his hands on, and yet it is too late he was then completely submerged underground.

Once again Simon woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air and sweating. He then looks at the time on his phone and on it says that it is 12:00 a.m. Out of frustration Simon scratched his head and buried his head on the pillow and asks himself.

"What's going on? What's happening to me?"

[notsoobviousfangirl]

Peter Parker’s Problematic Adventures in Procrastination

Anon: “can you write a one shot of Peter being extra clingy and cuddly but Tony doesn't mind until he gets suspicious and turns out Peter is guilty of something? Please?”

A/N: I got this request way back in November.... I'M SoRrY I'M SuCH a FaILUrE Anyway, I modified this request slightly since I personally couldn't see Peter being that physically affectionate, but I hope this still lives up to expectations!

   “Can I stay here this weekend?” Peter asked offhandedly one day after a training session. “I have some homework and stuff I need to do, and I can't really concentrate at home.”

    Tony knew that was a totally bogus excuse, but he wasn't about to call him out on it. He enjoyed having the kid around. He had so much energy and he was a seemingly endless source of positivity. Instead, he said, “Sure. Let me know if you need any help. Believe it or not, I still know my way around a differential equation. If it's anything that's not science or math, though, you need to talk to Cap or Nat. Those two seem to know how to do everything else, especially history for some reason.”

    Peter laughed rather awkwardly. “Okay. Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

 *****

    Tony wasn't sure exactly when Peter started spending more at the Tower than at home, but he was aggressively confronted with that realization when he got a frenzied phone call from May.

    “May! How are you?” Tony greeted brightly as he answered the phone, continuing to sketch a blueprint for… he wasn't exactly sure what it was. Evidently he'd started the original set of sketches when he was half-awake and severely sleep deprived. 

    “Is my nephew alive or have you and the government been trying to find a way to cover up his death?” May asked. 

    Her question caught him off guard. Tony stopped what he was doing and countered with a question of his own. “What? Yes, Peter’s alive. Why would you ask that?”

    “He hasn't been home in nearly a week. Not since your last fight with that giant blob thing down in Texas,” she explained. “And I saw some of that footage. Peter got thrown around a lot, and now suddenly I haven't seen him and he won't answer his phone?”

    Tony cringed slightly at the memory. Peter had been thrown through more than a few buildings, enough to make him spend a couple of nights in the infirmary on strict doctor’s orders. “Yeah, that would be enough to make you think he died,” he mused aloud. 

    He was brought into the conversation by May asking, “Then where is he? Is he there?”

    He walked out of the lab to check in the room next door, where he'd seen Peter working on his homework earlier in the day. “Yeah, he's-” Upon entering the room, he found Peter asleep on top of what looked to be a Calculus textbook. Tony nearly aww-ed at the sight. 

    “He's what?” May prompted. “You got a little cut off there. Is he with you or not?”

    Tony didn't have the heart to wake Peter, especially when he looked so exhausted. He decided he'd cover for Peter just this once. “You know what? I just remembered he said something about heading to the library to study. It’s pretty loud over here. Not exactly a good studying environment.”

    She let out a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “I'll call his phone then. Thanks.”

    “No problem,” Tony replied brightly as he grabbed Peter’s phone off the table and took it with him, knowing the kid kept his ringtone on as loud as humanly possible. He wasn't about to have May wake him up and cancel out his plan to let the kid sleep. “Though he might have his phone turned off to study, so I wouldn't be too worried if he doesn't answer.”

    “Of course he would. Alright. Thank you, Tony.”

    “Bye, May.” He said as he shut the door and hung up. He'd have to have a talk with Peter later.

    When later came and went, it was clear the conversation wasn’t going to happen. It was continuously put off for whatever mission happened to pop up that day. Honestly, if Tony had been aware he was putting it off, he wouldn't have been surprised. He should have seen that coming.

 *****

    Tony wasn't sure when he should have been tipped off that something was wrong with Peter: when he got yet another phone call from May or the fact that it was about Peter’s grades of all things.

    He had to admit, he hadn't believed her at first. This was Peter they were talking about. Peter, who was basically a genius and had the grades to show it. Why on earth would May be so concerned about his grades?

    “I got a call from the school, Mr. Stark,” May had shot back when Tony all but laughed off her concerns. “They say he's not doing well in English and that I'd do well to check my email.” She scoffed. “As if I hadn’t been. It was like they were calling me a bad parent. It was awful.”

    “I don't see what this has to do with the kid,” Tony replied.

    She let out a sigh of annoyance. “I checked my email, and like I thought there weren't any emails from the school. On a hunch, I decided to check my trash and my spam just to see if somehow things got swept under the radar. Lo and behold, I have five different emails detailing an urgent need for Peter to get his grade up before the end of the trimester.”

    Tony still wasn’t quite catching on to what she was saying. “Not to belittle your frustrations, but does this rant have a point?” 

    He heard a noise that he couldn’t quite identify; he wasn’t quite sure if it was a scoff or an offended gasp. “I don’t know! Maybe... Maybe you could talk to Peter? He seems to look up to you, though I’m not entirely sure why.” May muttered that last part to herself, though Tony heard it just fine.

    “Ignoring that mildly insulting comment directed at me, I’d be more than happy to talk to the kid. I’m sure this is all some big misunderstanding,” Tony assured her in his own lighthearted way before he hung up.

 *****

    All it took was one question before Peter cracked, spilling the secret he’d been holding in for nearly a month and a half.

    “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark! I just got so swamped with all the training, and the missions, and- and then the homework just sort of caught up to me. And- And- And any time I tried to catch up, I’d just get so frustrated that I couldn’t focus and then that would stress me out-” Peter’s anxiety-filled rant was cut off by Tony.

    “Slow down, kid. What are you saying?” Tony asked.

    “I’m saying I’m failing English and I have a week to fix it or I’m screwed!” He put his face in his hands.

    Tony blinked, silent for a few moments. He was unsure of what to say. “Hold on. You’re… you’re failing English?”

    Peter blushed a bright red. “Yeah,” he squeaked out, clearly ashamed of his predicament.

    Tony shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, you know what? This probably isn’t as bad as you think it is. What did your teacher say you needed to do to fix your grade? Just turn in your missing work?” Peter nodded in response. Tony smiled and awkwardly began rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him. “See? That’s not so bad. You can’t be missing that much.”

    “I’m missing two essays, four analyzed poems, and I haven’t started on my final for the class that’s due on Friday,” Peter lamented as he looked up at him.

    Tony looked at Peter. “How much do you guys do at that school? You seriously did all of that in a month? Christ, kid. Things were different back when I was in school.”

    “Mr. Stark?” As if to say, ‘Do you have a point?’

    “Right, okay.” Tony took another breath as he scrambled to put together some advice for the kid. “You’ve got yourself in a real tight corner, kid. Even tighter than some of the ones I’d gotten myself into back when I was your age. I mean, you’ve taken procrastination to a whole new level.”

    “Mr. Stark-”

    “That being said,” he continued, cutting Peter off, “I’m willing to help you. I’ve mastered the art of bs-ing an essay in a few hours, which means we can those essays done tonight. If we budget our time right the rest of this week, we can everything else done on time.”

    “We?” Peter looked genuinely confused. 

    “Yes, we. You really think I’m gonna let you do all this by yourself? Besides, I’m a huge fan of…” Tony trailed off as he grabbed the paperback book off of Peter’s stack of school supplies. “Hamlet? Oh, come on!” He let out a dissatisfied groan as he slumped in his chair. 

    “You don’t have to help me out if you don’t want to, Mr. Stark,” Peter assured. “Really, it’s fine. I can do this myself.”

    Tony waved his hand dismissively. “And let you have all the fun? No way. You’re stuck with me.” He grabbed one of Peter’s notebooks and flipped to a blank page. Pulling a pen out of his pants pocket, he looks expectantly at Peter. “Where do we start?”

 *****

      It took two all-nighters and a morning cram session for Tony and Peter to get everything done. As Peter quickly packed up his bag, Tony handed him a stack of papers. “I can’t promise you an A, but with any luck it’ll get you a passing grade,” the older man said.

    “I really appreciate this, Mr. Stark. You have no idea.” Peter gave him a smile.

    “No problem, kid.” An awkward silence lapsed as Peter finished packing up. The two stood there, as if waiting for the other to say something. A few moments passed before Tony seemed to find the words he wanted to say. “You know you can always come to me if you need anything. Like help with homework or bail money or girl advice or whatever.” He put his hands in his pockets, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the intimate turn their conversation seemed to take. He just didn't want to see Peter back himself into another situation like this one ever again.

   Peter felt touched by the sentiment, so much so that he surged forward and hugged Tony. No one said anything as Tony tentatively returned the hug. They stood like that for a minute before Peter became suddenly self-aware that he’d hugged Tony without any sort of warning or consent and quickly pulled away. 

    “I, uh, I gotta get to school,” Peter explained quickly as he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried not to physically express how socially awkward he felt in that moment. He took quick strides toward the door. As he reached the door frame, he stopped and turned around. “Thanks again, Mr. Stark.” Before Tony could respond, Peter was out the door.

    Tony smiled at the spot where Peter just was and said to himself, “You’re welcome.”

[ticklishhpickle]

Perfect

Aghhh this is my first fanfiction, if anyone actually reads this, please enjoy! 

Word count: 1800 

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Dan sat in his sofa crease furiously typing on his laptop. He needed to finish writing the script for his new video, film and edit it by tonight. Why do I do this to myself? He thought. I’m a fucking piece of trash. I’m literally the human embodiment of procrastination, jesus fucking christ the video’s not going to be done on time and I’ll be disappointing my viewers agai-

“Dan stop stressing so hard, it’s okay! Surely the Phans can wait another day for your video.”  his train of thought was cut short by his flatmate’s soothing voice. A sympathetic smile graced his pink lips, his arms crossed against his pokemon pyjama shirt.

“No Phil you don’t understand I do this every time, I had all week to finish the video and now you’ve just wasted even more of my time, like you haven’t done enough of that already for the past five years.” Dan replied hotly. Shit. He knew he took it too far this time, but it was for the best. Anything done with Phil could never be a waste of time. He mentally slapped himself, he was sure he told his almost definitely unrequited feelings for Phil to go fuck off in a ditch, and to never come back. He knew he had been snappy with Phil lately, mostly due to his internal struggles with his stupid little crush on the black-haired boy that refused to go away.

Dan didn’t notice Phil’s face fall upon hearing his harsh words. “You don’t mean that. I’m going to leave you to do this, let me know if you need anything.” Phil’s words were soft and kind, just like the man who spoke them. Why did he have to be so.. so nice? Couldn’t he be anyone else and retaliate to the shit Dan just spurted at him? But no, he had to be perfect, sweet and logical Phil Lester. He was not making it any easier on Dan to fall out of love with him.

Dan could no longer concentrate on his video script- the guilt had hit him hard. But this was for the best. Perhaps if he was meaner to Phil, they would slowly drift apart and not be joined at the hip by their previously established unbreakable bond. Surely this would help Dan get over him, he reasoned. After years of relentless pining Dan finally put his foot down and made a plan to distance himself from the closest person to him, his best friend, his long time collaborator and flatmate. The distancing wasn’t necessarily working, per se as they lived in the same flat, shared nearly the exact same lives and with Phil always roping Dan into doing everything with him, they didn’t get much time apart. It was torturous bliss. On one hand, every second spent with Phil made him feel light and free, but whenever the truth of the matter, that Phil almost certainly would move out eventually and start a new life with some beautiful girl, hit him he felt heavy and crushed. The blue-eyed man was so damn oblivious to the effect he had on him. Dan was at the same time grateful yet so incapacitated for Phil’s failure to see something that was staring him right in the face. For heaven’s sake Dan pretty much swooned whenever Phil so much as brushed his fingers against his, by accident of course. Or mindlessly fiddled with his own fringe, making sure it was perfect (it always was). Phil was an idiot in this sense, but Dan was a buffoon.

They didn’t speak until the next evening, just after Dan finally uploaded his new video. It’s not like he didn’t want to talk to Phil, he always did, but the video was a great excuse not to talk to him and to hopefully speed up the murder of his inconvenient- to say the least- feelings.

“You did a really great job, Dan. The thumbnail is hilarious.” Dan’s stomach fluttered. He had actually put a lot of effort into creating an entire picture of the beach with every component made of his own face. He was particularly proud of his Dan-faced sun, a structure extremely reminiscent of the Teletubbies. Play it cool, Dan. Say something that makes it seem like your stomach doesn’t do a fucking gymnastics routine whenever he gives you the slightest compliment.

“Ah it was no big deal, only took me an hour to photoshop myself into a low budget version of the Teletubbies sun.” Dan internally cheered when he got through the sentence without stuttering or blushing (for the most part). “Well it was definitely worth it, it seriously looks great and the whole video is so well put together, Dan.” Dan opened his mouth to respond, when Phil continued, “So now that you’re done with making that masterpiece, do you want to maybe… watch some anime with me?” Phil looked so nervous and adorable, like a little puppy, his blue eyes looking hopefully at Dan.

Say no, say no, anime means spending more time with him, which means more pain in the long run. Dan pondered on this instinctual response for a second, before promptly telling his brain to shut the fuck up and let him enjoy just one night with his best friend.

“I’d like that.”

“OH MY GOD THAT IS THE MOST DRAMATIC THING I HAVE EVER SEEN A POTATO CHIP INVOLVED IN… EVER!!!” Phil bellowed out between shocks of laughter.

“First I take the chip… and then I EAT IT!” Dan imitated the anime character, grabbing a potato chip from the bag wedged in between him and Phil, and shoving it in his mouth for dramatic effect. This triggered another fit of uncontrollable laughter between the two men, that anyone would think they were drunk off their asses. They weren’t, they were just drunk off spending time with their favourite person.

When the laughter finally died down, Phil spoke up. “I’ve missed this Dan. I miss you.” Dan sobered up from the remnants of his laughter-induced drunk state. He knew this was Phil’s subtle way of asking why he had been so distant lately, while allowing Dan to not answer if he wasn’t comfortable. Again, why was Phil so considerate?

Dan considered his options in his head. Firstly, he could ignore the unspoken question and just say I miss you too Phil. But that would be unfair on Phil, surely he deserved to know why his best friend was drifting away after 5 years of friendship. But that left the alternative, of telling Phil how he felt, the very thing Dan had been avoiding for 5 years. Dan looked into Phil’s expectant blue eyes, and his heart ached. Phil deserved so much better than what Dan was treating him, and at the very least an explanation.

“Okay, Phil I’m going to tell you something that I’ve been wanting-no, needing to say for a long time. I know I’ve been so distant from you recently, and there’s a reason for that. You are my most favourite person in the universe, and I’m so lucky that I even have you as a friend. You’re truly amazing Phil.” Phil’s entire face lit up. “But back to the reason for my behaviour lately, yes I’ve been moody and snappy and basically just a dick for the past few weeks, months even and it’s nothing you’ve done. It’s all me.” Dan took a big gulp of air. This was it. “Remember that first night I stayed over and we stayed up until 4am just talking and laughing and sharing stories about our lives?” Phil’s eyes softened and he nodded, he was clearly very fond of the memory too. “That’s when I realised I was falling in proper love with you, and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. And at first I hoped, I prayed that it would go away but the truth is it’s just gotten worse, and so what I’m saying is I’m in love with you Phil, and I know you don’t feel the same way which is why I thought it would be for the best to distance myself from you, so that my stupid feelings would die. But it hasn’t done anything, it’s just upset both of us and God, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Dan didn’t realise his hands were shaking until someone else’s warm pair reached out to steady them. “Dan, you are literally the biggest idiot alive right now.” What the fuck? Dan had just spilled the entire contents of his inner cocktail of turmoil and torturous feelings out, only to be responded to with this? He knew his feelings were stupid and Phil didn’t love him back.. but he didn’t need to be so harsh. Dan’s eyes began to well up and immediately he looked down, avoiding Phil’s gaze.

“Why do you think I haven’t dated anyone since we met? Why do you think I barely spend time with anyone but you? Why do you think, despite being almost 30 I choose to keep living with you? Dan, I’m in love with you too. I always have been.”

Dan’s heart dropped then soared in the matter of two seconds. “You do? Are you serious right now? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better are you, Phil?” He prayed his ears weren’t betraying him.

“Oh Dan, how could I not love you? You’re perfect. I didn’t say anything either for the same reason, I thought you would never love me back.” His pale fingers reached up to cup Dan’s face. His eyes very obviously flickered down to his lips.

“May I?”

Dan swore his brain and heart were malfunctioning, this was too much for them to handle. It was a miracle he made out a choked, “Y-yes.”

Phil closed the small gap between their lips immediately. His lips were soft and warm, just like Dan had imagined so many times. But this was real, so real he could smell the aftershave on Phil he loved so much, so real he could taste the sweetness of Phil on his own lips. It felt like a dream.

When they finally broke apart for air, Dan cut the silence with a typical sarcastic remark. “I mean, so I guess we should be boyfriends now. Like not that I care or anything just thought you might want to.” Phil rolled his eyes at him before pulling him close, “I guess we should.”

Later that night Phil held his boyfriend close, kissing the top of his head before drifting off to sleep. “You may be a low budget Teletubbies sun, but you are my low budget Teletubbies sun.” Dan snorted, before snuggling even further into his boyfriend’s warm chest.