#it's also great because there's no need to drive there's a bus that runs right from my place into the city in the morning + evening so it

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 44)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (39) & Jordan Nobbs x Leah Williamson Mini (3)

Masterlist (other parts here)

((**This is now my largest chapter at 7.5k. Enjoy!**))

YFN had instantly fallen asleep in her seat on the plane and woke to the jolt of the landing gear absorbing the impact on touchdown. She shook her fatigue away and took her phone off flight mode. 11:15am UK time. She gave a sigh of relief that the flight had been quicker than usual. She knew she’d been cutting it close with the flight time and instead of Ruby picking her up as planned, she’d told her to go to the stadium instead so she could get an Uber. It worked out well, because it meant she had time to speak to Jordan without feeling rude talking in front of Ruby.

She collected her bags and timed the Uber well, hopping in immediately as she exited the building. The stadium was thirty minutes from the airport so she’d be arriving just at kick off. She wasn't too concerned, though. Bridget and Emily were also in Manchester for a 1300 game between Man City and Brighton and were getting a bit more experience up onsite with Ruby at her game. She was lucky to have such good workmates.

She slid into the cab with a polite hello and found the only contact with a fish in it.

“Hey chicken! How was Barcelona?”

“Oh my god, Dory, it was amazing. Absolutely amazing. But I’m dead on my feet.”

Jordan laughed. “I’m guessing Lucy didn’t let you sleep much?”

“Don’t be cheeky. But you are correct.”

“How many hours are you running on?”

She counted. “I had two hours sleep on the plane so…about five hours?”

“What?!”

“I think…I remember we had a ‘midnight snack’ but that was about 4am so…”

“You’re unbelievable. Priorities, right?”

YFN chuckled. “I have no regrets beyond the struggle to walk-”

“Oh god! I don’t want to hear it.”

They both laughed together.

“How are you? Tell me everything.”

Jordan hummed and then proceeded to tell YFN about her dreams and the flowers and note that morning.

“Why didn’t you lead with that?!”

“I don't know. Good news before bad?”

“You think the flowers and note are bad news?”

“I don’t know. My head’s all over the place from the dreams. They were good and bad, but it’s just wrecked me emotionally.”

“I understand that…it’s not great for game day. Are you on your way there now?”

“Yeah, I’m on the bus. We have another hour and a half to go.”

“Well, you can’t resolve these emotions before the game because that would be a miracle. So how about you put a movie on and distract yourself? Don’t sleep, you won’t be able to.

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that to be fair…”

“Perfect. Have you messaged her?”

“No. I can’t do that today. Trying not to mess with my head before the game.”

“That’s all good, I was going to suggest maybe not responding until after the game.”

“You’re doing two games today, aren’t you?”

YFN’s mouth almost dropped open. “You have no idea how proud I am that you remembered that? I told you a while ago...”

“Oh, sorry, I should probably keep up my forgetfulness, right? Who are you again?”

YFN laughed. “I love forgetful Dory. She’s my favourite. Along with cuddly Dory. Football Dory though…jeez she’s terrifying.”

“I definitely will be today.”

“Get those emotions out, girl! Just don’t hurt anyone or get red carded please.”

“No promises.”

“As for your question, yep. I have the 1200 Man United versus West Ham game at Leigh and then the 1845 Arsenal versus Leicester game at King Power.”

“Oh that's right! Kyra…”

YFN had obviously told Jordan about Kyra. They both thought it was cute.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Our bus will drop us back at Villa Park about 7pm tonight…I can drive and meet you there?”

YFN could tell that Jordan needed comfort, and most of her friends were in London. She did the timing math in her head.

“You’d arrive about 8pm tonight with the traffic…how about you get a lift with my guy, Matt? He’s relocating to my game and then driving me back to Birmingham after it’s done.”

“Oh, yeah! That works out brilliant, that does. God, you’re so good at this logistics stuff. I just kick a ball around.”

YFN had a giggle at the visual image and messaged Matt. “And you look great doing it. Plus, you do more than that and you know it.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

YFN bit her lip as she thought a little. Jordan needed some love, and she knew just what to do. “What do you think about us asking Katie and Caitlin to stay the night? We’ll all finish up around 9pm in Leicester so they’ll have overnight accommodation. If I message them then they’ll have time for the team to cancel their room. They can come home with us.”

“Ohhh I didn’t think of that! See, this is why you’re the best.”

YFN grinned at the sound of genuine happiness in Jordan’s voice. She knew she missed them a lot.

She looked up and could see the stadium approaching in the distance. “I’m excited! Okay, I’m almost at the stadium. I’ll message the group.”

“Okay, love you!”

“Love you more. I’m so excited to see you tonight! Have a good game today, please. Smash it.”

They hung up happy and she opened a message from Matt that replied with an excited yes. Being a Villa supporter meant his dream just came true. YFN wondered how the car ride with them would be to Leicester and couldn’t help but be amused.

YFN then put a message in their little four-way group. Caitlin was usually the first to respond whether it be message or Instagram, and today was no exception. She’d answered an unequivocal yes for the both of them before she’d even stepped foot into the stadium.

The national anthems were playing just as she arrived and met up with her workmates. Bridget was running the boundary line, excitedly videoing the singing while Emily and Ruby were taking photos.

“Hey, Em.”

“YFN! Hi!” She gushed, wearing her purple and yellow Lumos hoodie. YFN was wearing Lucy’s hoodie so she opted for a beanie instead. “How was your flight?”

“I slept the entire trip,” she admitted with a chuckle.

Emily snapped a few shots of the starting line-ups.

“How are you and Bridget?”

“Oh, great! Yeah, we’re excited to be staying in Manchester tonight. Because we all have tomorrow off, we have plans to sight see and visit some family.”

They chatted for a little longer when YFN recognised the photographer from the last game she’d been to. The one who followed her home. She pretended to not notice him as she kept speaking to Emily and then made her way around the field to get a few good videos and say hi to Ruby and Bridget also. Bridget was running a mile a minute as she usually did, and Ruby mentioned that she had a date with Matt the next day. Ruby also ran a mile a minute, just with her mouth rather than her legs like Bridget. The whistle blew.

“Oh are those two already leaving already?” She asked rhetorically as Bridget and Emily waved on the way out. “Aw I didn’t say bye! Anyways, Matt said he’d take me on a date but I don’t know where-” she snapped a few photos and then cringed at the tackle she’d just captured, “-and I know it’s going to be amazing because we’ve been talking for a while now and…well not a while but since we all met and we were first partnered up-” she jogged further up the field to take another and came back when she was satisfied, “-and we’ve both been talking about supervising this next group of people coming in and we’re so excited for them to join us-” she took photos while YFN pulled her phone out to get a good Instagram video of Man United’s goal as they were both standing just a few metres from the West Ham goal. Goal number one, just three minutes in. YFN uploaded the video straight to their social media with an update on the score, “-and I just think it’s going to be amazing to have so many people with us. Is that guy staring at us?”

YFN turned to the photographer who’d been following her around the boundary, more focussed on her than the game.

“Yeah…just ignore him. He won’t hurt us.” She said, repeating what Catherine had said to her. Phone still on video mode in her hand, she pressed record but before she could lift her arm up to video him, they were interrupted.

“Now, now, physical violence isn’t my thing.” The voice teased from behind them.

YFN didn’t even have to turn, but she did out of polite habit as Mark stepped next to her, his eyes focussed on the game. She kept her phone on record and down near her body, but angling the mic towards him.

“Mark.”

“YFN. I hear you had a lovely trip up to Edinburgh to meet your…controversial leader.”

Ruby frowned, not understanding.

“He’s just teasing,” she assured. “Could you give us a minute?”

Ruby nodded and headed back up the field.

“So none of them know then?”

“What could you possibly be referring to, Mark?”

“Joanne.” He almost hissed. “That heartless woman.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Well let me be clear, then. I know your boss. She took something from me, so I’m going to tear her whole fucking business down.”

“Which business would that be?”

“The only one not protected by a board. Lumos. Her baby that she’s trying so desperately to hide. And you know exactly how I’m going to start?”

“By getting a photographer to follow me?”

He gave a grin that sent shivers down her spine. “Something along those lines.”

He handed her a large yellow envelope. Against her better judgement, she took it and looked inside. She found several printed photos of herself and Lucy kissing at the airport. The photos weren’t the best quality, they looked like they’d been taken on a phone, but still…it was disturbing.

She turned her attention back to the game as if she were unbothered. “Congratulations. You gave me photos of my girlfriend and I. You do realise that we are public? We have nothing to hide.”

“You don’t think that someone in your position dating one of the most famous footballers of all time is a conflict of interest? Let me give you some advice…people will care. Whoever Joanne has investing in her company will. And this is just the start. I’ll get more and more dirt on not just you, but your workmates also. I’ll drag you all into the fucking ground.”

She sharply breathed in. “You want to ruin a good thing for a little rivalry?”

“A good thing?” He scoffed. “Nobody wants to watch women play. Look around you. The stands are only filled with friends and family. As for everyone who works at Lumos…” He shrugged. “Collateral.”

YFN let herself look at him. He was determined and deadly serious.

“See that photographer? Get used to seeing him around. As for Joe…tell her I’m going to tear down her company before it even begins.”

It was a dominant display by Manchester United who ended up winning 5-0 with five different goal scorers. YFN felt for West Ham who she’d grown a soft spot for since her visit, and especially felt empathetic for their Captain, Mackenzie Arnold, a fellow Australian, as she was the goalkeeper. She couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been mentally after a game like that. You’d feel like it was all your fault while having to be the one to pull the team together.

A few of the players wandered over to her after the match, one being Mackenzie. She gave her a hug and surprisingly agreed to an interview. She interviewed her alongside Mary Earps, letting the two talk business. Mary didn’t exactly have a quiet game, she’d had shots that she’d saved and they both bantered about that, with YFN steering the questions when and where she wanted. The fact that they both pointed out the brilliance in several different moments of each teams and gushed over not just their team but the opposite was the exact reason she’d fallen in love with women’s football. After those two, she interviewed Kirsty Smith and Riko Ueki with Ella Toone and Lucia Garcia. The dynamics of who she put together were interesting and got the results she wanted. She felt like she was Graham Norton putting interesting guests on and leading them here and there with questions, making sure they each felt acknowledged and appreciated for their time and their skill on the pitch.

They finished up around 2:30pm and stopped for a late lunch and some quick editing and posts before they started their two-and-a-half-hour drive to Leicester for their next game. It was only early evening, and YFN could already feel herself getting tired.

As they got into the car, Ruby noted that and told her to get some sleep. She had no idea that Ruby could be quiet for long enough and was pleasantly surprised.

Just before she went to sleep, she sent the video recording of Mark’s voice to Catherine who she knew was busy with few royal duties, and then she fell asleep just after she put her phone on charge.

YFN woke to the loud sound of her phone ringing and she jumped, her face feeling half numb from the window. The car was stopped and she looked outside to Ruby who’d noticed her wake and gave her a thumbs up from the fuel bowser. She gave one back and answered the phone without checking the caller ID.

“YFN! Are you okay?!”

She recognised the voice immediately. “Cath- I mean. Joe? Wow, you really did a great job of sounding not yourself before we met.”

Catherine gave a light chuckle. “One of my secret talents. I listened to your video. Did he threaten you?”

“Not physically, just what you heard on the video.”

“He’s absolutely insistent and much more of a pain than I’d expected.” She sounded annoyed and that was amusing to YFN as she was always painted as the perfect Princess. “I’m so sorry. I spoke to Joe and even she is surprised. He will not hurt you. If you feel unsafe at all, I will hire security.”

“That’s okay, I think we’re okay for now. He seems to be all bark at the moment..”

“He is, I assure you. Also, there is no conflict of interest here. I’m aware of your relationship. We are not even covering her games yet and when we do, it is absolutely not a conflict of interest. The man doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I know you, I chose you for a reason and your judgement, and your actions won’t be compromised by your relationship. Not only that, but there’s nothing in which to base these allegations on just yet. I understand the implications that may occur with you interviewing her and potentially being seen as biased, but I’ve seen your work, I’ve seen you interview friends and colleagues without that bias. I chose carefully.” She sighed. “My plan was for us to build your reputation in the field so high it would surpass any of these allegations before they even occurred.”

“I appreciate the support, and I promise that anything to do with Lucy or her team against another team will not be an issue. I want everyone and every team to be represented, regardless of if they’re against her or not.”

“Perfect. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, I think. In the meantime, you don’t need to hide your relationship. I’d never ask or expect that of you.”

“Thank you…also I’m assuming part of your security check on us is that you look for anything controversial which may be used against us like this?”

She hesitated. “Yes. I don’t like it, but we need to protect ourselves and the business from any potential threats…”

“I understand, and I agree.” Ruby hopped back into the car then with a grin. “You have my support…Joe.”

Catherine took the hint. “He won’t find anything controversial on the other employees because there is nothing. We just need to stay a tight knit group and continue our jobs.”

“Copy that, will do. Would you like me to send out a group memo about him?”

Ruby started to drive again.

“Yes, absolutely. If you don’t mind, I’ll write it and you send it?”

“Perfect, that saves me the work.”

“Lastly, the office won’t be ready tomorrow.”

“Oh?” Her interest peaked at that. She could be with Lucy on her day off. Jonatan had been giving her more days off with her knee. She only had to train four days this week, Tuesday to Friday.

“It’s all related. Mark somehow managed to talk to the local council…anyways I’m sorting it. It’ll be ready by Wednesday, I promise you.”

“Okay. That’s perfectly fine. I’ll meet up with the real estate agent and then the original ten of us will settle in and prep for the new group to arrive.”

“I thought it would be best to start the new group on Thursday instead because of the timing with the office date moving, but I wanted to check with you first to make sure you weren’t losing too much preparation time with them for the next round?”

YFN thought about it a little. Their first game was Saturday, and it was the only one. Catherine had gotten permission for ten employees at that game which allowed her to send two original crew with a full new crew to train. “I think Thursday will work. It’ll give us two full days to cover everything which is enough, and for eight of them, they’ll get experience on Saturday at Stamford Bridge. If I feel we need more, I’ll organise Saturday with the others not at the game to prep more.”

“Agreed! We think very much alike, you know.” It was a compliment that made her blush.

Catherine asked if she had any more questions before the call ended. She wasn’t surprised it wasn’t a long conversation, as she knew she’d been busy all day with regular duties and then Mark’s drama in the background. She couldn’t help but think about the possibility of booking a flight to Barcelona to spend the next two days with Lucy, as she knew she had the next day off. She could explore Barcelona with Narla and do a bit of work on the Tuesday while Lucy was training… She bit her lip and shook her head. Jordan needed her. Jordan was her priority. Thinking of, she looked up Jordan’s game which was almost finished. It had been fairly even all game and Jordan had been subbed on in the 65th minute, having a goal attempt in the 66th minute. YFN smiled as she watched Jordan running around, looking frustrated which was so opposite to her everyday self. Aston Villa were up 1-0 and she watched while Ruby listened to the end of the game. Multiple fouls were made by both teams. Aston Villa scored a second goal. A foul by Jordan at the 90 minute mark. And then it was over. Jordan had only played 30 minutes, but she’d made an impact. YFN sent Jordan a message saying how proud she was of her.

They arrived in Leicester around 5:45pm and stopped at a local café for another snack and a drink before the game. Being too early at the stadium meant boredom. They made sure to arrive around 6:15pm and set their equipment up, capturing the players during warm up. The Leicester players exited first to warm up and a few came over to chat. Luck have it, Courtney was one of them. Australians tended to flock together outside of Australia, she realised. YFN asked if she’d do an interview after the game and she agreed for the price of a hoodie. She liked Courtney and could see why Kyra did too. They were both cheeky.

“Hey stranger.”

YFN turned to see Leah’s smile as she stepped next to her. She was alone and not in kit, not quite ready to play after her ACL.

“Leah!” She smiled, pulling her into a hug. She liked Leah, regardless of her issues with Jordan, and she’d previously spoken to Jordan about their little growing friendship. She was okay with it, of course, otherwise YFN wouldn’t have been so forward. “How are you?”

“Oh mate, desperate to get onto that field, I’m telling ya.” She looked longingly at the pitch and then back to YFN. “I watched your interviews. They’re great! I don’t know why anyone hasn’t interviewed like that before.”

“The ones from last week?”

“Yeah and this morning. I loved it, honestly. I’ll be happy to do interviews anytime with you, just let me know.”

“That’s just given me an idea…” She hummed as she thought.

“Taking me up on the offer already?” She laughed.

“Actually I’ve been trying to work out different segments and ideas that would make us stand out from other companies….you’re not playing today. There are always players who are not playing but watching their teams. So it might be a good idea to get players willing to on the sidelines with us to interview and to film some of the snippets we upload with their own perspective and jokes and insight. Sort of like when you’re excitedly screaming motivation at the girls from the bench, but this time they’d be in snippets for our social media. It’ll promote the team and show just how supportive all of the players are with each other. Plus, I think it'd be hilarious.”

“Sort of like when they mic up the cricket players?”

“EXACTLY.”

“Put me in, coach. I love the sound of that. Plus, if it mucks up, you can just blame me.”

“You are 100% my scapegoat if it goes bad.” She laughed. “You’d be willing to today?”

She shrugged. “I have nothing else going on and I’m used to the camera so why not.”

“Perfect! Yeah, oh that’s so exciting-” She stopped and bit her lip as she thought of Jordan.

“What is it?”

“Um…maybe not today? Maybe next game?”

The frustrating thing was that she didn’t know yet if she’d even be at Arsenal’s next game. It depended on the roster.

“YFN, just tell me.”

“So…hm…here’s the thing…”

“Please don’t tell me this is about Jordan?” She asked, a little upset. “I was hoping that wouldn’t affect our relationship…”

“It won’t! Dory’s fine with us being friends. It’s just…”

“Spit it out, mate.”

“She’s going to be here in under an hour.”

She swore Leah paled. She definitely froze. “Oh.”

“Yeah…so she’ll already be with me on the sidelines for company.”

“She just finished a game…” she looked at her watch. “…so if she’s coming here I guess it’s to talk about us?”

“Leah…”

“She told you about this morning?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” She groaned and ran her hand through her hair. “Look, I don’t know your opinion on everything and I don’t want to drag you into it all, but I promise you I just want the best for Jordan.”

“And the best for Jordan is you?”

Leah held her eye contact. “Yes. Just…I know I don’t have the right to ask but I will. Can you please maybe tell Jordan it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to go with me this Friday night to the awards? I want to win her back, to be there for her but I can’t without opportunity to actually be around her.”

“I won’t convince her to do something she doesn’t want to…”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. Just…advocate for me? You don’t have to push it. Just…please?”

“I’ll have a talk to her,” she murmured.

“CHICKEN!”

The Arsenal players were headed out for their warm up and most were headed her way led by the Irishwoman who was being overtaken by a smiley, wavy Kyra.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. Also, I can still do that thing with you, I can be over the other side away from Jordan if she doesn’t want me near.”

“Thanks Leah, I’ll ask her about it when she gets here,” she replied with a smile.

“Ask who about what?!” Kyra asked as she landed on YFN’s back. YFN’s hands immediately caught her legs.

“Oof. You do realise I’m small, right?”

“Yeah, but I knew you’d catch me. When’s Nobbs here?”

A few of the Arsenal girls looked awkward because Leah was there. “It’s okay…” she assured them. “She’ll be here during the first half.”

“Okaaaaay.”

“Oh, also Kyra invited herself tonight.” Caitlin said as she wrestled Kyra off of YFN so she and Katie could give her a hug.

“Tonight? Where was our invite?” Beth asked.

YFN grinned sheepishly. “Our apartment isn’t big enough for the entire Arsenal squad…”

“I’m just joking, this one wants an early sleep anyways,” she said as she nudged Viv who looked unimpressed as usual.

“Aw what a granny!” Kyra teased.

YFN couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Viv’s face. Kyra giggled at her joke, ducking away from Caitlin’s motherly swat to the back of the head when a blue shirt appeared amongst the red and Kyra stilled.

“Hey…”

“Courtney!” YFN replied, making sure she didn’t feel left out. “Hey!”

Courtney looked around, her eyes finding Kyra and then tearing them away pretending she hadn’t looked at her. “Just letting you know Sam and Sophie are both good for the interview after the game. Do you know who it’ll be with?”

“Awesome! Yeah, I was hoping Beth and Frida would be up for it…”

“Me? Yes please! Not sure if I’ll be subbed on though,” Beth said eagerly.

Viv rolled her eyes. “She’ll be subbed on.”

“FRIDA!” Katie yelled.

“FRIDA!!” Beth yelled shortly after. Viv covered her ears and YFN chuckled at that.

The blonde spun around and jogged over. “Yes?”

Frida Maanum was a Norwegian midfielder who’d been with Arsenal since 2021. She was rarely chosen to be interviewed and softly spoken, so YFN thought it’d be great to involve her and help her confidence out with Beth who she could always rely on to talk if she didn’t.

“Want to do an interview with me after the game? YFN wants to know.”

Frida looked over at YFN with a polite hello wave. “It’s going to be with Sam Tierney and Sophie Howard from Leicester. You can absolutely say no if you want.”

“You want me?” She sounded surprised.

“Of course she wants ya, you’re amazin’.” Katie said with a playful grab of her shoulder.

“O…okay. Yeah.” She smiled at YFN which made the Australian feel good for asking.

“Aw, I’ll look after you mate! No need to be nervous!” Beth said loudly, extending an arm around her shoulder.

“So…Beth and Frida,” YFN said to Courtney with a smile. “And then you and Kyra. Is that okay Kyra?”

“Yeah that’s cool.” Kyra said, suddenly quiet.

Courtney’s eyes widened hearing that she’d be interviewed with Kyra. YFN knew it was sneaky of her but it was an opportunity for Courtney to reject the idea before she surprised her with her ex. Not that they were ever public knowledge.

“Okay. I’ll see you after the game.” She said, directed straight at YFN but she knew it was more for Kyra from the tone of it.

Caitlin and YFN shared a sheepish look.

“Come on girls, Jonas is about to kick our asses. Let’s get warmin’ up!” Katie ordered.

“If you see me shouting from the sidelines, it’s because I’m mic’d up!” Leah warned them and received some amused looks in return.

“You’d better not be focusin’ on my ass.” Katie teased.

Caitlin messed up Kyra’s hair. “You’d better be focusing on this one’s debut!”

They all jogged off and Leah turned to YFN.

“Okay boss, where do you want me?”

Jordan and Matt arrived just after 7pm, both with wide grins. Matt because he’d just spent a car ride with Jordan and Jordan because of YFN.

“Dory! Come here!” She took her friend in a hug big enough to lift the footballer off the ground and a few Arsenal fans spotted Jordan and shouted their love for her as she did so.

“I missed you.” She mumbled into Lucy’s hoodie.

“It’s been a day. Needy, hm?”

“I’m always needy.” Jordan grumbled as she put her down.

“I missed you too.” YFN chuckled before turning to Matt. “You look excited, mate.”

He was still grinning ear to ear and nodded.

“I think I tired him out with all the talking, to be fair.”

“I’m glad you two got on for the drive then. Matt, are you okay taking a few of us back to Birmingham tonight? If not, I can ask Ruby…”

“Yes!” He almost shouted and then cleared his throat. “Um, yes, of course. Who..?

“Uh Dory, Katie, Caitlin, Kyra and myself. Oh actually that won’t work… Ruby will have to take some of us anyways… maybe those three and I’ll ask Ruby if she can take Kyra and I.”

“Done.”

“How was the game?”

“Yeah, great. Noel and I got some great footage. A few of the girls were asking about interviews but I said we’d start next week.”

“Next week hopefully… and congrats on Aston Villa’s first win for the season?!”

“Yeah!” Jordan grinned. “I wasn’t on for long but I think I did alright.”

Loud noises from the crowd turned their attention to Leicester running towards goal. The ball was pushed out by Lotte for a corner.

“I’ll go record that.” Matt said as he ran towards the goal up the side of the pitch. Jordan spotted Leah behind the goal then.

“Leah…?”

“You had to have expected her to be here,” YFN teased.

“Well yeah but…is she recording with a phone?”

“I have her mic’d up for some footage. Trying something new out and she’s helping.”

Jordan frowned but her eyes remained on her, mixed emotions in her eyes.

The crowd went wild as Leicester scored from their corner. Jordan swore. The game reset.

“She really wants you to go with her on Friday..”

Jordan’s eyes flicked up to meet hers. “She said that? What else did she say?”

“Nothing you don’t already know… that she wants the best for you, she wants to win you back, and she wants an opportunity to do so.”

Jordan groaned. “I can’t. We rarely went to events together before. Now she wants to show me off to the world like I’m hers when I’m not?”

“I think she just wants a night with you, Jords…”

“Nope. No way. Unless she has another plus one and you come to chaperone us.”

YFN tilted her head. It wasn’t football but… “I could get an invite?”

Jordan spun back around. “You could?”

“My boss can 100% get me a ticket. Now, did you mean it?”

“I mean…” she looked over at Leah. “If you’re going, I will.”

“And is this really what you want?”

Jordan got a little frustrated and pouted, trying to think. She was a bundle of confused emotions and the dreams wouldn’t have helped. YFN put her arm around her and pulled her close.

“What do you think?”

“I think whatever this is, you need to resolve it. The best way to do that is communication. I think you should go. Sooner or later it’s going to be clear to you if you do or don’t want to have her back in your life.”

Leah looked over at the pair, her and Jordan looking at each other. She nodded. “I’ll go.”

“You’re sure?”

“I think I wanted to, I just didn’t want to admit it. Plus, you’ll be there now so it’ll be less awkward.” She grinned up at her.

YFN rolled her eyes and messaged ‘Joe’. Just as she finished the message, Leicester was surging forward, forward, forward, and tucked away their second goal. Two goals in two minutes. A terrible start for Arsenal.

Jordan settled next to YFN, following her and her camera around, watching the game intently. She always wanted the best for Arsenal. They had more of a catch up in between photos that she’d changed to as Matt was now doing the videography. YFN didn’t miss Leah off and on staring across at them just as longingly as she stared at the pitch she missed. Jordan and YFN gradually moved closer to Leah through that first half, though Leah ducked away to the change rooms for half time with her girls.

While it was half time, Ruby, Matt and YFN on worked on their footage while they talked.

“New office tomorrow?!” Matt asked excitedly.

“Oh…no. That’s been delayed until Wednesday. Waiting on approvals. New group are now starting Thursday.”

“You’re not going to Barcelona?” Jordan asked. “Doesn’t Lucy have tomorrow off?”

“You spoke with her?”

“Yeah she messaged me. I assumed you suggested it,” she laughed, “she’s terrible at messaging.”

“Not with me.” YFN winked. “Also that was all her, I promise.”

Jordan rolled her eyes and nudged her almost off her chair. “She misses you.”

“I was there this morning…”

“You miss her too.”

“Dory…” She groaned.

“No.” She said, putting her hand on the camera YFN was playing with which made her look up at her. Ruby and Matt shifted a little nervously as they could do nothing but listen. Jordan looked serious. “Don’t you dare stay here tonight just for me. You barely get any time with her as it is. She’s my friend too, and I like to see her happy. And you happy. And you’re both never as happy as when you’re together.” YFN opened her mouth to argue but Jordan continued. “Let me live vicariously through you. You’ve already done enough, I have Katie and Caitlin and Kyra tonight! They need a bed.”

“You’re kicking me out of our apartment?” YFN laughed.

“Only if you can find a flight.”

She put her camera down and took Jordan into a warm, long hug, mumbling into her. “I love you, Dory. You know that? If we’re both single in five years, I’m going to propose.”

Jordan laughed but they were both emotional. They just wanted the best for each other. “Okay but Blu will be ring-bearer.”

YFN laughed back into her and sat back, wiping tears away that she didn’t even know had formed.

“You’re putting Kyra on the couch?”

“I’ll let her share my bed if she shuts up.”

“She’s only small, she’ll be asleep before you all finish dinner. She tends to tire herself out fast, the little baby.”

“Little baby,” Jordan mimicked adoringly. “Now look for flights. I’ll message Lucy.”

“Or…how about we make it a surprise?”

“I love it! If she thinks you’re robbing her and knocks you out though, that’s not on me.”

She did wonder what Lucy’s reaction would be. She found a flight from Birmingham to Barcelona at 11pm.

“Won’t you need her to unlock the door?”

“I have keys…”

“You two are adorable.”

“I found an 11pm flight from Birmingham…”

“Do you think you’ll make that?!” Ruby asked. “I’m happy to take you…”

“That…sort of works out perfect because then the girls will all fit in Matt’s car. Um…the game finishes at 8:30pm. Interviews until 9pm. Arrive at the airport around 10pm. Cutting it close for international but it’s a late flight and nobody will be there… I think we can make it?” She shrugged and booked the flight anyways. If she didn’t make it, it wasn’t meant to be.

Jordan grinned. “Tell her to thank me when you get there.”

“Honestly, I’m probably going to be passed out from fatigue all day and not even get the chance.”

Her phone buzzed. It was the flight confirmation.

“Are you sure?” She asked Jordan. Sure, she’d already booked the flight, but it was cheap and she didn’t care. She wanted Jordan to be okay.

Jordan grabbed her around the shoulders and smiled. “I promise it’s okay. You’ve really cheered me up today and helped with my Friday night decision. Plus, I have the girls tonight. We both know you’ll just pass out anyways.”

“How dare you…” she laughed as the crowd began cheering loudly as the players re-entered the field. Ruby and Matt got to work. She stood to do the same when her phone buzzed again.

Joe: Done, they sent us through two invitations. Check your emails. Enjoy!

She grinned at the message and then at Jordan.

“What?” She handed her phone over and Jordan took it, an ecstatic look crossing her face. “Yes mate!”

She took her phone back and pocketed it, holding her camera up to take photos of the players as they ran out.

“One condition.”

“Anything.”

She jerked her head towards Leah who was wandering over to the pair. “You tell her.”

Jordan groaned. “Okay but at the end of the night. She can sweat until then.”

YFN chuckled at that.

Starting the second half 2-0 against them meant Arsenal had to push deep. And they did. Arsenal kicked six goals in the second half. Their first came at a hesitation from Courtney which YFN felt terrible for. She was next to Leah when that happened who filmed a mic’d up scream of joy from behind the Leicester goal as the shot went in. Slowly Jordan gravitated towards Leah more during the match, Leah managing to let her come at her own pace. The rest of the match was an absolute riot. Caitlin with an assist and a goal, Katie with an assist, and Kyra with multiple attempts at goal. She was shocked when she saw Courtney take Kyra down in the 83rd minute and wondered just how much of the history between them she didn’t know. The game ended 2-6 Arsenal. A complete second half dominance that had Leah screaming with joy on the sidelines. It turned out to be the perfect day to test the mic’d up segment, as she posted the live updates with video’s Leah had taken of her yelling at the girls running towards goal and screaming, turning the camera around on herself to show her celebrating. It was great content.

Regardless of the outcome, the Leicester players still came over for their interviews. First she had Sam, Sophie, Frida and Beth who actually did get some game time and almost a first goal since she’d come back from her ACL tear. Beth was the loudest, of course, and helped Frida to open up a bit. Frida had some back and forth with the Leicester girls talking about some of the plays including Sam’s goal. Overall, she was happy with the results of the interview, and how much the girls had come out of their shells.

Next was her interview with Courtney and Kyra who seemed equally nervous next to each other. They knew each other well though. YFN waited to sense the overall mood before she allowed herself to go in with some cheeky questions about Courtney’s tackle on Kyra, and Kyra’s debut. Her goal was to get them to start teasing each other, and it worked. At first, they didn’t want to address each other, and after a few comments here and there, it was more them talking and throwing cheeky comments to each other, and YFN could almost sit back and enjoy watching the show. She had to steer it a few times of course, both were young, but the tension between the two was obvious. For the sake of the viewers and their privacy, YFN made sure to make it known to the camera that they were teammates and brought up that they went to school together as justification which started a whole other line of questioning about their start in football.

Only when she was satisfied that she’d helped them break whatever awkwardness they’d previously had, did she end the interview, but not before she told Kyra how proud she was of her on camera for her debut. Courtney gave her a proud shove for that too.

Being Australians, and women, they all hugged their goodbyes, Kyra whispering a thanks into her ear. As they were packing up, she could see them still chatting as Courtney was being called away. She gave Kyra her phone and she typed into it what YFN assumed was her number. Courtney gave an awkward wave, obviously not knowing whether a hug was appropriate, and ran into the change rooms. Kyra turned to YFN with a grin and a little fist pump. It was adorable.

She looked past Kyra to where Leah and Jordan were standing, Jordan telling her she’d go on Friday. Leah’s expression flashed excitement before she contained it, and then it went a little shy as she pretended to be calm about it. They didn’t speak for long, just enough for Jordan to agree before she wandered off with Leah’s eyes following her longingly. She watched for a while until she met YFN’s eye and blushed, having been caught. She mouthed a ‘thank you’ to which she gave a smile in return.

“We really need to go.” Ruby stressed. She looked at the time and groaned. She only had time for quick goodbyes with everyone and a threat to Katie and Caitlin to not have sex in her bed. Katie seemed to enjoy the idea of the threat, to be honest, and that terrified her.

She rushed through security as quickly as possible and was the last person to board the flight, sweating and grateful she’d made it, though cursing herself for having to stay longer just to make sure Kyra and Courtney were good. As with her morning flight, she passed out immediately and wished she had a chance for a shower before seeing Lucy. Instead of a shower, she tidied herself up in the bathroom at the Barcelona airport when she touched down, changing her clothes and washing away the day. She brushed her teeth and did her nightly makeup routine, ignoring some funny looks. She sure as hell wasn’t going to let her skin suffer more than it already was with the change in weather between the UK and Spain.

Her Uber dropped her off at just before 3am and for some reason she was nervous, jiggling the keys Lucy had given her in her hands and playing with the little flags. At the front door she took a deep breath in and unlocked the door, entering as quietly as possible so as to not wake Lucy or Narla. She kicked off her shoes and left her suitcase in the entrance, not wanting to risk the wheels waking them. The smell as she walked into the house was home. Vanilla and bitter orange, and whatever the hell Lucy had been cooking for dinner. She swore she could even smell the big breakfast they’d had that morning. She looked at the trophy Lucy still had out and smiled, putting her phone on charge next to it before tip-toeing her way into the bedroom.

Lucy was quite literally dead asleep. She was on her back facing YFN’s side of the bed, one hand touching the pillow YFN had been sleeping on the night before. She was beautiful. She loved seeing her so vulnerable and herself. Her dark hair was spread out over the pillow, another thing she loved. Lucy with her hair down. She clicked the door closed quietly and snuck around to her side of the bed, avoiding Lucy’s collection of shoes around the bed. She carefully laid down and when she touched Lucy’s hand to move it, she jerked awake, her head rising and her eyes opening.

“It’s just me.” She whispered and put a hand to her cheek, coming closer so Lucy could see her better without her glasses.

“What? What?” She was dazed and confused, her body tense.

“Shhh. Shhhh.” She comforted and cuddled up to her, her head finding Lucy’s collarbone. “It’s okay, it’s just me. I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“Little one?” She asked, unbelieving. “You…you’re here.”

Her arms wrapped around YFN tighter than they ever had before, holding her close to her body, her own body softening into her. “Is everything okay?!”

“Everything’s fine, Luce. I have the next two days off. I’m all yours.”

Lucy groaned happily and kissed her wherever she could reach.

“Sleep now, Luce.”

“You’re home,” she whispered huskily with emotion, her voice already fading.

“I’m home.”

[whousestypewriters]

i don't even know your name - jameson hawthorne x reader

pairing: jameson hawthorne x fem!reader

warnings: swearing, kissing + like running away from the police

a/n: hehe my first tig fic! and my first on this account. i had this little idea at exactly 12:26am in the middle of revamping this blog and wanted to write it i shouldve gone to bed, so sorry if this is crap - sleep deprivation is reallll. its also unedited-

part two: you again??

ok so technically you did steal a car.

but come on, the seven police cars driving after you is just a little bit excessive. especially since its not even a decent car... from a junkyard - which to be honest you're still surprised it even started. no even cares about the damn thing except for you and the junkyard owner who apparently has a vendetta against you.

you've met the guy twice, he's a stinky old man who spends most of his days wasted and drunk. and he's never once paid attention to you sneaking in and out basically living in the car you've just stolen. sorry, borrowed.

the red and blue flashing lights bring you back to your current situation and you wince when you shift gears and swing almost violently around the corner into oncoming traffic. swerving around the honking cars and bright lights you manage to merge back into the right lanes and push forward trying to put distance between you and the cops.

you slip through the cars not even caring about the other people at this point. you just need this car. getting a job these days is harder then it seems and you'd just been offered a job with really good pay and the only requirement was you needed your own car to get to and from work.

so seeing as you're an eighteen year old homeless girl with little to no money, temporarily borrowing this car seemed like a really good idea - until it wasn't of course.

pulling over on the side of the road you decide to abandon the car and try to get away on foot - you can always catch the bus right? following the flow of the crowd you swirl your way through checking over your shoulder every few seconds, not even noticing the fact that you've gone up steps and entered a large line until the security guard calls out to you.

"hey kid! ticket?" swinging around you look up to the stern guard.

"pardon?"

"where's your ticket?"

"oh..." you trail off and the guard steps forward.

"miss, do you have a ticket?"

"....no?"

stepping forward the guard starts to reach for his gun. "miss i'm going to need to ask you to leave."

looking behind you, you try and work out your best escape route from the now approaching police men and the menacing guard at your back.

"uh yeah i'm leaving now," you say swinging around and slipping under the guard and bolting through the doors.

you enter probably the grandest entry room ever. its like straight out of a movie with the grand staircases and people in elegant clothing, unfortunately you don't get much time to admire everything with security and police on your ass.

pushing past the shrieking guests aside you run through the crowd to the next room, straight into the middle of... a dinner party.

great.

this is just great.

"GET HER!" the one of the policemen yells from behind you. you take off again rushing past women in fancy dresses and men in tuxes trying your very best not to step on any of their outfits - because hey, you may be homeless dressed like a middle aged man, but damnit you can appreciate a good outfit.

running into a hallway you panic slightly, choosing a random door and slamming it shut. trying to get ahold of your breath you close your eyes and rest your head against the door, taking deep breaths.

a throat clears from behind you and you practically jump out of your skin.

"hello."

"holy shit! doesn't anybody knock these days??" you shriek.

you look around the office trying to find the owner of the voice but to no avail. the office seemed plain enough a large plush chair behind a mahogany desk with sofas and book shelves adorning the sides of the wall.

"hello?" you look around the office again, bending down to check under the desk.

"look up," the voice comes again.

looking up you see the shadow of a boy sitting on the overhanging ledge of the bookshelf.

"who are you?" you ask eyeing the door and wondering if you still have enough time to get away before the police arrive.

"i think we should really be focusing more on you." the boy's voice vibrates through the room. he leans forward to the point of almost falling off the edge but somehow still staying on.

"i'm not important," you say, then motion up to him. "you'll fall."

"i can assure you i won't." for a moment the boy just lingers there before launching himself off the bookshelf and landing on the floor in front of you. "and besides you've piqued my interest." he strolls over to the desk and casually leans against it as if he wasn't a freaking godlike person.

seriously that bookshelf had to be at least three and a half meters tall!

the boy - now that you can see him better - is also godlike in his looks. its devastating how handsome he is. he's around your age with soft brown hair that seemed to be styled when the night began and had fallen across his forehead and his eyes. his eyes were like emeralds sparkling in the moonlight. suddenly you're favourite colour is green.

"now tell me again, who are you?" he grins - its an awful grin, the type that makes you want to die because its so beautiful.

swallowing the lump that formed in your throat you push the words out. "as i said, that's not important. what is important is that you forget you ever saw me."

the boy raises an eyebrow flashing another grin. "i'm afraid i can't do that."

"why?"

"because you are quiet unforgettable."

you freeze for a moment, then roll your eyes. "is that what you tell every girl who barges into a room to hide?"

"ahh so you're hiding?"

clenching your jaw at that slight bit of information you let slip, you nod.

"from?"

"who do you think jackass? i'm dressed like a 1950's street urchin and just crashed probably the most fancy dinner party i'll ever see, so really, who do you think i'm hiding from? fucking peppa pig?"

a loud bang comes from down the hall and you swing around wishing you had ran instead of talking to the mystery boy.

"come here." his voice snaps you out of your panic.

"what?"

"come here, you don't want to be caught? get over here."

narrowing your eyes at him you move closer to him. "what are you gonna do?"

he stares at you for a moment. "can i touch you?"

"WHAT?"

"not like that, god. that's where your mind went? no. i was just being respectful before i kissed you."

that you pause at. "you're going to kiss me?"

"well, with your permission of course."

"you don't have it."

the boy pouts playfully. "why not?"

"because believe it or not, crashing dinner parties and kissing random strangers who's names i don't know isn't something i do on a regular basis."

"well if you don't want to get caught...." he trails off.

"ew so what if i kiss you, you won't give me up? you think you're that good do you?"

"sweetheart, i am that good."

"not helping your case."

"if i kiss you it hides your face, none of them would ever try and cross me," the boy offers grinning again - does he ever stop smiling? seriously its harmful to look at someone this good looking for this amount of time.

"cause you're just that good right?"

"you're a quick learner."

the commotion from outside comes closer and you tense up weighing your options. goddamnit you're gonna have to kiss him.

"fine you have my permission," you huff. "just don't rat me out."

"i would never."

the police must have reached your door because they knock twice asking if someone is inside that they come out now.

"fucking hell," you mutter. "i cannot believe i'm doing this. i don't even know your name."

"don't worry you're in good hands," the boy says his voice low. he wraps his arms around your waist looking at you to make sure its okay.

"if you don't come out now we're coming in!" the voice from outside yells banging against the door twice more.

"by the way, the names jameson," the boy says before he seals his lips to yours and the door is ripped open with men pouring in.

but you hardly notice it. the boy's - jameson as he called himself - lips are warm as the press into yours. its soft but searing sending tingles through your brain. every thought or protest you had fell out of your head and your hands shoot up into his hair as he tightens is own arms around you.

you're so lost in the kiss you don't even hear the men behind you clearing their throats awkwardly.

pulling away jameson looks at you for a moment seemingly just as stunned as you are before he pulls your head to his chest and rests a hand on the back of your hair keeping your face hidden.

"yes?"

"have you seen a girl; brunette, around your age, wearing a black cocktail dress run through here or past here?" one of the officers asks avoiding eye contact.

"what did you say she was wearing again?" jameson asks.

"a black cocktail dress." these are like the worst policemen ever.

"well... yes-" you tense, this is it. this is where he rats you out, motherfuc-"but she went down the hall and through to the ballroom probably hiding in the crowd."

nodding each of the policemen leave the room and storm their way down the hallway. "uh sorry about interrupting you two as well," the last one says on his way out.

when its safe you pull back from jameson and thank him.

"its not over yet," he grins - seriously who decided he should be this handsome? and takes your hand leading you out the room and down the hallway. "follow me."

you slip out through the now empty entryway and run down the stairs together. this feels suspiciously like a romance novel. when you reach the steps you pull jameson to a stop. "wait don't you have to go to this dinner thing?"

"if it means not spending time with you, i'm okay with missing it," he winks.

"nope, you're not trying to flirt your way into being an outlaw with me," you tease.

"it was worth a shot."

smiling up at the boy who let you go free tonight you reach up on your tip toes and place a soft kiss on his cheek. "i'll be seeing ya jameson."

you slip out into the night leaving jameson on the steps. leaving behind the dangerous feeling that you could lose your heart to that boy.

at least you won't see him again.

[taglist] @nqds, @nuncscioquidsitamor-14, @lxvebelle [if you wanted to be added or removed lemme know!]

a/n pt2: i hope you liked it!!

[cwritesforfun]

Art Donaldson x Fem!Reader: In Love

Y/N = Your Name

*** I do not own the Challengers characters or plot or anything from the movie ***

Masterlist

Y/N’s POV

You play tennis at Stanford and it’s great. You got a full-ride scholarship to play. You study management with a focus on Human Resources as well. It’s interesting to you.

You were Tashi Duncan's designated partner for practice until she got injured. She knocked on your door one late night and told you to win it all for her since she couldn't. It was intense, but you thanked her for her words. Once Tashi got injured, you were suddenly the one everyone watched on and off the court. It was terrifying because, until this point, you didn't even know if you wanted to play professionally. This changed everything and you were determined to make everyone proud.

You're sitting in the dining hall with your chicken wrap reading when you hear, "Hey Y/N. Could I join you for lunch?" You see Art Donaldson standing there smiling with his food and you say, "Sure, Art. Please sit." He smiles at you before sitting down and says, "So uh the College Championships are this weekend, are you nervous?" You answer, "Of course, why wouldn't I be? We all thought it would be Tashi taking the win and now all eyes are on me. I want to make everyone proud. It's nerve-wracking." He replies, "But you also have to make yourself proud in the process or it's not worth it." You nod and reply, "I know, but I think this season has just been very crazy and it hasn't set in for me, I still feel like this isn't my real life. Are you excited for the Championships?" He nods and answers, "I am, but I'm nervous. I know I've been improving a lot this year, but there's always room to grow." You reply, "On your backhand for example?" His eyes widen and he asks, "Are you serious?" You answer, "Yeah... if you want, we can practice together. I could use the extra practice." He replies, "Then you're on, Y/N."

You fall into an easy conversation with Art before exchanging numbers. You both practice together and it goes really well.

On the way to the Championships, you slide into your seat on the team bus and look out the window. You hear Art ask, "Hey, is this seat taken?" You shake your head and you reply, "Please join me." Art smiles and says, "I think you'll kill it today. I hope you know that I'm proud of you. I've seen how far you've come from the beginning to get to where we are now. You've come so far and grown into an amazing player. Not that you weren't before, but uh... everyone can always improve." You laugh and reply, "Thanks, Art. You know you have really pretty eyes." His face blushes bright pink and you ask, "Omg, are you blushing? That's so cute." He replies, "I think you're really cute and pretty too, for the record." You smile.

Art cheers loudly for you when you win your first match and even more when you win the Women's College Tennis Championship. The game ended and you could not be more shocked. You ran to hug your friends including, Art. They were all so excited for you. You all celebrate at the winner's party. Art even dances with you and makes sure you eat + drink lots of water. He's so sweet.

You and Art go on your first date then you go on weekly dates... you also practice together when you can.

You graduate college and you go professional in tennis. You call Art all the time and you try to visit him at least once a month or every two months depending on both of your schedules. You're both still happy and you realize you love him. You've fallen so in love with Art and you need to tell him. You plan out a practice schedule with your Coach and you start your drive to see him.

You arrive on campus and call Tashi who tells you that Art is headed to the dining hall for lunch right now. You park off campus since it's free and you run to the dining hall. You notice Art ordering food so you slide into the booth where you two first hit it off. It quickly became your booth together every time you ate together at the dining hall last year. You watch Art turn around, do a double take, and then run with his food to the booth. He sets his food down before you stand and hug him. He presses a kiss to the side of your head and says, "Oh I've missed you so much. I can't believe you're real and here. Wait why are you here?" He pulls away and you answer, "I missed you and needed to see you. I wanted to tell you something." He asks, "What's up? Should I be worried? Usually needing to talk is bad." You answer, "No, it's not bad. I just wanted to tell you that I love you. Yeah, I love Art Donaldson. It's okay if you can't say it back yet, but I wanted you to know it." He smiles widely and exclaims, "Baby of course I love you back." You smile and you both kiss. He then asks, "Do you want something to eat? I can grab you the chicken wrap that you love from here. It will only take a minute." You nod and answer, "Pretty please, that sounds great." He kisses you on the side of the head again before going to grab you food.

You drive to Art's apartment after lunch and you show him your practice schedule. You decide to go with Art to practice tomorrow to surprise the teams. You want to see your old Coach and old team. You missed their energy and support.

As you lay in bed, Art exclaims, "I haven't been sleeping as well without you. I need your arms cuddling me to sleep." You ask, "Is that your way of asking if I want to cuddle?" He shrugs and says, "Please." You laugh and you wrap your arms around him. He rests his head next to yours and asks, "How did you know you loved me?" You answer, "Umm I've been falling in love with you the whole time we've been dating, but I realized I loved you like yesterday. I knew when you were texting me checking in with how I was and how attentive you were during our calls. I knew I needed to tell you in person because I missed you too." He replies, "I'm really glad you came to visit me. I've missed you so much. How long can you stay?" You answer, "I'm all yours for one week, baby." He smiles and you see him blushing. You ask, "When did you know you loved me?" He answers, "This is kind of embarrassing, but I've always fallen in love very fast. I started falling for you as soon as you told me that my eyes were pretty before the college championships you won." You smile and reply, "I remember that. It was so cute. I really wanted to tell you that I liked you right then, but I didn't know if would mess with our minds before the matches." He replies, "I would've dedicated the match to you and asked you out right then if you had. I really liked you after our first conversation." You reply, "I really liked you too. I thought you were into Tashi at first, which is why I also didn't say something sooner." He replies, "My Tashi phase was very short compared to my Y/N phase. I think I'll forever be in my Y/N phase." You reply, "Good to know. Good to know. I'm in my Art Donaldson forever phase too." He leans up and kisses you.

Art goes professional and graduates within the next year. You both move in together and try to attend as many matches as you can in the same tournaments. You support each other publicly and it gains a lot of attention from brands. You become a brand ambassador for a sportswear brand and a dress brand. It's very exciting for you. Life is good.

Art supports you when you quit tennis 3 years later ... when he asks why, you have to tell him that you're pregnant... he starts crying happy tears.

You start a job at a management agency and you use your time off to attend some of Art's matches. He is excited for you to be working and he treats you like a Princess anytime he's around you. You find out you're having a girl and he helps you design the bedroom.

You're both currently visiting Stanford ... Art wouldn't tell you why. It was weird. He just told you to request time off for 3 days and you both drove to Stanford. You walk into the dining hall and you see flowers on the table you both used to sit at. Art picks them up and exclaims, "Y/N, this table is where we both started liking each other and where we both said I love you for the first time. I felt it was the only place to do this... Y/N I've loved you for 5 years and I want more of them with you. With you and our future baby girl by my side, I know I can do anything. You make me feel loved and understood. You radiate such joy and positivity that I adore. I guess what I'm trying to say is..." He kneels on the ground and asks, "Y/N, will you marry me?" You feel the tears on your face and smile. He's literally perfect. You exclaim, "Yes I'll marry you, Art." You both kiss.

You get married at a courthouse on one of your free weekends because Art said he couldn't wait to be with you forever. Your family was sad but also so happy. You reassured them that you'd have a fun summer gathering with both families to celebrate.

....................

BRB...writing some for Patrick and Tashi too... maybe more Art... let me know... I can tag you, lmk that too... teehee thanks for reading

Masterlist

[8myass]

nct 2023 yandere headcannons ♡

genre. angst, some are smutty/suggestive, fluff? (not much) cw. yandere!nct + sungchan + shotaro pairing. nct x female reader

✩ ​JAEMIN ✩ tw. gaslighting, mind games/manipulation wc. 0.2k

Jaemin would be the best yandere, honestly. He’s not necessarily crazy to the fullest extent of what a yandere “typically” is, but he would get obsessively in love when he loves. He would write you love notes and show up at your house with flowers when you didn’t even know you gave him your address. You didn’t, you never gave it to him, but he’d be such a good sweet talker that you’d be convinced you’re just not remembering the events correctly and go about your life without bothering to think about how you could’ve completely blurred out an entire memory. But he’d never lie to you, he seems like such a nice guy. I mean, he buys you everything you’ve ever wanted, why would he lie to you? He would buy you your favorite candies, band merchandise, books, everything you’d ever want, he’d know what you like without even trying. But every time you’d ask him how he knows so much about you, having not known you for long enough that you’d tell him anything like that, he would just brush it off and claim you did tell him, you’re just not remembering it right. Everything with him would just be a game, you’d never expect what he’d come up with next, but it’d always leave you confused and questioning the truth, yet he’d always reassure you. Because, again, how could he ever lie to you? All he wants to do is spoil you, he’s just a sweet guy, right?

✩ HAECHAN ✩ tw. bullying, mind games/manipulation, gaslighting wc. 97 (idk why hyuck’s is so short omg 😭)

Haechan would be the type of yandere to bully you into loving him. I mean, he’d go to great lengths to make you feel vulnerable, sensitive, weak, embarrassed even. He’d want you to think of him as your savior. Sure, he’s the one doing it to you, but you’d never hold it against him. He doesn’t mean it after all – that’s what he tells you. And you’re too naively alone to think the only person who wants to associate themselves with you anymore could be the whole reason your life has been ruined in the first place.

✩ LUCAS ✩ tw. cursing, implied kidnapping, crying, implied inflicting pain on reader, possessiveness wc. 0.2k

Lucas would be such a BAD yandere. Literally, he could never hurt anyone, but he could love excessively. Maybe his love would come off as a little suffocating. He doesn’t mean for it to be like that. He just can’t help but love someone as amazing as you so much that it hurts both of you. Like I said, he’d be such a bad yandere, he’s violent but it’s not by choice. You just wanna keep running away from him and it drives him crazy. Who is that new guy you’ve been talking to? Why do you think he’s so much better than him? Why is it that you’ve been ignoring him for this new toy? This asshole is just a shiny object, he’s your soulmate, your one and only, why can’t you see that? It’s not his fault he has to hide you from the rest of the world to keep you from returning to anyone else who isn’t him. He didn’t wanna do this either and each time you cry, he cries. You’re his love and he regrets everything he’s done to hurt you, but yet he won’t stop because you’re his and you need to know that you’re his. 

✩ HENDERY ✩ tw. stalking, stealing reader’s things wc. 0.1k

Hendery is also not the best yandere. He doesn’t really understand what’s happening to him. His body reacts differently when you’re around, his heart flutters out of his chest every time you say his name. You two aren’t close, you just know him as a friend of a friend and only really see him at parties or in class or sometimes at lunch, but he’s always there, always. He can’t help it, he just wants to be around you all the time so he lets himself follow you. It’s probably not the smartest or most honest thing he could be doing, why not go up and talk to you like a normal person? He’s not shy or antisocial, but you’re just different. He doesn’t wanna embarrass himself around you, even when you laugh at his jokes he can’t help but think that you’re laughing at him instead. What if you’re judging him? Are you laughing with him or at him? Would you still find him funny if you realized he’d stolen your dirty sports bra from your gym locker just so he could always be close to you? 

✩ TAEYONG ✩ tw. victim blaming, gaslighting, cursing, degrading wc. 0.2k

Taeyong would be super caring, taking care of your every need like that’s what he was born to do. However, he couldn’t help but be frustrated when you admitted you only saw him as a brotherly figure in your life after he confessed to you. He poured his heart out to you after everything he’s done for you and all you do is reject him? That broke him, you broke him. Do you know how annoying it was to come over to your house every morning and make you breakfast when you were fully capable of doing it yourself? What about how aggravating it was to be expected to drive you to school every day and watch as you walked over to that boy toy of yours, seeing him hanging all over you in your slutty schoolgirl clothes? And when you prance around in his presence in just a t-shirt and underwear, do you understand how hard it was to control his urges then?? You have no clue what he has had to go through just to get you in this position, confessing to you and telling you how much he adores you. Now, all you give him is heartbreak. Well, now it’s your time to be broken. After all the suffering he’s gone through, now it’s finally your turn.

✩ TEN ✩ tw. slight stalking, gaslighting, mind games/manipulation, cursing, implied sex w/ reader’s friends, sadistic ten wc. 0.2k

Ten would be the kind of yandere that would love the chase – the chase is better than anything that comes after. He wants you to play hard to get, so he’ll play as the greatest example of a person you would despise the most. Don’t worry, he’s done his research. You hate everything that he is, just as he had planned. He’s a manwhore, flipping through women like they mean absolutely nothing to him because they don’t. He’d flirt with you and try his “manipulation games” on you, all of which you can see through just as he wants you to and it makes you even more repulsed by him. In the end, you’d wind up hating him more than anything in this world. He’d hit on your friends and they’d easily fall for his games, letting him take advantage of them, only to get even deeper under your skin, targeting even closer to home this time. You would confront him about it, tell him to leave you and your friends alone because none of you want anything to do with him. He would savor every moment of your anger and rage, wallowing in the misery that he’s surrounded you with. He loves this, seeing you so distressed, pleading with him to leave you alone. It’s not that easy, though. You’re like a fly caught in a spider’s web. Sadly, you haven’t realized that once he set his eyes on you, your life was in his hands.

✩ JENO ✩ tw. cursing, mentions manipulation (no one is actually manipulated), implied stalking, pictures being taken w/o reader’s permission, possessiveness wc. 0.2k

Jeno would always come off as cold, but that’s not how he is with you. He’s an absolute asshole to everyone else, but you’re just the only one he likes. You’d be his safe place, the person he can confide in and talk to and the only one he can be vulnerable around, let his true self show. You’re intelligent, you’d see through any game he tried to play if he wanted to manipulate you like that. He never would, he likes you exactly how you are and he only prays that you feel the same about him. But, goddamn, would he have one hell of a collection of your pictures decorating every room in his house. Most of them would be pictures you didn’t know he took, others would be pictures you willingly allowed him to take, thinking all he’d do was keep them buried in the memories in his camera, but you were dead wrong, and instead, your beautiful pictures litter the walls of his home. You’ve never been over because of how often you’d run into a photograph you didn’t know was being taken on a surface in his house, he’d only ever come to yours. However, he does have a major aggressive side and won’t hesitate to display that to others who decide they wanna touch what’s his. He even makes sure you know that you’re his, there’s no such thing as you belonging to someone else, not even yourself. You are his and you need to learn that. 

✩ JAEHYUN ✩ tw. mentally unstable reader, getting in a stranger’s car in the middle of the night?? (stay safe y’all), getting engaged in like a week??, broke reader, gold digger reader, manipulation, sadistic jae wc. 0.3k

Jaehyun is a menace. I mean, a literal menace. You met him at your job that you’re working only to get out of a money slump you’ve been in since you graduated school and your parents kicked you out. You haven’t been sleeping right and your mind has been all funky, you’re not necessarily who you used to be. Your bubbly personality has been stolen from you by the endless amounts of sleep you’ve lost trying to make enough money to eat at least a meal a day. Well, actually, you didn’t meet him at the job, you met him after the job. It was late and you were walking home, but he stopped you, asking to give you a ride. You were too tired to reject his proposal, especially after he kept pestering you, so you just got into his car and told him your address. He brought you home the next couple of nights as well until he finally proposed the question of marriage. You actually popped something in your jaw out of shock, what the hell was wrong with him? However, as much as you wanted to reject his offer, he managed to blur all your rationality with the color green. He had actually managed to score a beautiful girl such as yourself with the thought of being able to live a rich life, he was proud of himself. Once you two finalized the marriage, he started getting harsher, meaner, more manipulative and sadistic. You wanted to get away from him, but you practically signed your life away under your marriage certificate, you couldn’t leave him now or you’d lose everything. He’d make your life hell, take everything you have away from you, you were sure of that much. You had to tolerate his shit behavior toward you now, make him as happy as you could, make yourself the perfect wife that he wants, even if it means you’ll be miserable for the rest of your life, at least you won’t be living on the streets somewhere. And he did it, that’s exactly the mindset he wants you to have.

✩ RENJUN ✩ tw. mentions shrine, pictures taken w/o reader knowing, clothes stolen from reader, implied stalking, masturbation (m receiving), panty-fucking wc. 0.2k

Renjun is actually the most adorable yandere in the world. He would be so soft and so sweet. I mean, behind closed doors he’d be the one to keep a shrine of you in his house. You’d have a room all to yourself. It’d be pink, just as he expects to be your favorite color, and it’d be filled with pictures of you, because how could you not want to look at yourself every day, and the pieces of clothing he’s stolen from your own room would be adorning the drawers of the dresser, the clothing you’d been searching for because you thought you lost them in your room. Oh, silly girl, it’s okay to lose things sometimes, maybe just go out and buy some more, the cherry panties always were the cutest on you. You’d trust him so much that you wouldn’t expect him to snap pictures of your naked body and post them all over the walls of his house, you would never expect such an innocent boy to touch himself while staring at those same pictures while holding your dirty panties from the other day, right? He’ll call you in the middle of the night just to hear your raspy voice, becoming turned on by the tired aura you’re alluding. You drive him crazy, he’d never do this for anyone else. He’s crazed, a madman in love with a beautiful princess who knows nothing of how obsessed he is.

✩ SHOTARO ✩ tw. mind games, rich girl reader, poor taro, depression, homicide, suicide, dubcon aspects, controlling taro, slight possessiveness wc. 0.3k

Shotaro would be a lot more cruel than what you’d think. But it’s exactly that, you’d never think that he’d ever be capable of doing the things he’s very much done. Once he falls, it’s completely over for you and your once-happy life. You were a bubbly girl, you got the best grades in school, everyone loved you, you were friends with just about everyone, and you even came from a rich family, you were spoiled rotten and got everything you ever wanted just handed to you without working for anything. That’s one thing he envied you for, because everything you have, he doesn’t nearly have the same. He’s poor and can barely even afford to feed his family a single meal a day even having worked all week. You never even noticed him. You were so oblivious to his persistent stares and obvious perverted remarks. He just wanted to take you all for himself, force your parents out of that mansion of yours and force himself into it. He just didn’t know how he could do that until he came across your depressed, homicidal little brother. You didn’t see it coming and even when it happened, you were in so much shock that you couldn’t even tell what had happened in the first place. Your brother committed suicide after killing both your parents right in front of your eyes. The only reason you got out of taking the blame for it all is because of the high-end surveillance cameras all throughout your house. Still in a state of disbelief, you went about living your life, slowly falling into his little plan even deeper as you completely distanced yourself from those you were close with, grades dropped, a depressive personality replaced your once bright one. You eventually found your way into his arms, unknowingly giving yourself to him without even trying, your mind not in the right place to be declining any amount of physical touch. In not even a week, he had moved in and attempted to replace the joyous atmosphere that once resided in your house with a warmer and more controlled one. You were at his constant mercy, doing everything for him, your soul so bent to his every will that you had no place to reject anything he says, does, or asks of you. You were his and you even knew that by now.

✩ SUNGCHAN ✩ tw. drugging, paralysis, doll reader wc. 0.1k

Sungchan is a gentle giant, really. He would treat you with care, making sure you’re never hurt and that he doesn’t pull too hard while brushing your hair in the mornings. He would make sure that every time he cooks breakfast for you, he’d slip just the right amount of pills into your omelet so that you’re paralyzed just enough for you to still be breathing and blinking. He’d dress you in the prettiest pink dresses and decorate your dollhouse, I mean room, with the prettiest pink decor. He would do your hair in pigtails with pink ribbons holding them up. Your makeup would be terrible, but it’d make you look all the more like a pretty doll, his pretty doll. You were all his to treat however he wanted. You would never disobey him and you’d always love him, he’d make sure of that with the paralyzers pumping through your veins. You were the only one he’d go to such lengths to keep, all the other ones were meaningless when it came down to you. You were just the lucky one he chose to love forever.

✩ KUN ✩ tw. knife, cursing, threatening, pet names (‘queen’, ‘princess’, ‘lady’), kidnapping, fictional world in kun’s head??, name calling (‘psychopath’), reader x kun are complete strangers wc. 0.2k

Kun would be a gentleman. Okay, sure, he’d have his crazy moments, like when he holds a knife up to some asshole’s throat because he laid a hand on you. But it’s fine because he’d never hurt you. He would only hurt for you. He loves you, he won’t let you forget that. He’ll take you out on romantic dinners, hold you close every night so you can fall asleep in his arms, hold the doors for you, bring you chocolate and flowers on your anniversary, treat you like a lady no matter where you are. You’d be his queen, his princess, his lady, you’d be his entire world and he won’t treat you any differently. Another one of his crazy moments might be when he kidnaps you and refuses to allow you to leave his house so he can do all of those things with the real you instead of the “you” in the fictional world inside his head. But that’s also fine because you’re safe, he would never hurt you. You’re his pride and joy, the reason he keeps living. Sure, you’ve told him you hate him for this, claimed you didn’t even know who he was, called him a psychopath, and all you’re trying to do is hurt his feelings, but no matter how mad he gets at you or how much you refuse to accept his love right now, you’ll see that he keeps his promise of never hurting you.

✩ WINWIN ✩ tw. murder, framing reader’s sister, dubcon aspects, implied stalking, alcohol consumption wc. 0.2k

Winwin is the biggest sweetheart, how could he ever do something so gruesome as to kill your family? You were rendered homeless, an orphan, you had nothing. You were the biggest suspect in the case, but when a murder weapon with your older sister’s fingerprints turned up in a ditch not too far from the house the murder happened in, you were also rendered an only child. You had nowhere to go and no one to turn to, until you met him in a random turn of events. You’ve never seen him before and while drunk, you definitely didn’t recognize his voice either. He knew you, he’s known you for quite some time. When you woke up in his bed the following morning, it was hard to believe you had run into such a generous man. You had apparently told him all about what happened to you in this past year and he graciously offered you a place to stay, which you had also accepted in your drunken state. You were more hesitant now that you were in a better mindset, but you just couldn’t say no to his soft eyes and grateful smile, so you wound up moving in with him. Your life was so easy and so simple from then on out. Sure, you never had any friends because they’d all go missing the moment they started talking to you, but that’s really the only complaint you could ever have, everything you wanted fit so perfectly into your hands as soon as you put it out into the world, or into his head.

✩ TAEIL ✩ tw. slow-burn romance, crying, mentions being dumped/stood up, cursing, sleeping w/ his brother??, choking, possessiveness, dub/noncon aspects wc. 0.2k

Taeil was calm and patient with getting you. He met you and let your relationship slowly develop. He wouldn’t make any rash decisions and he would let you venture into relationships outside of your slow-paced one, allowing you to experience adventure before coming right back to him, which you always did. You’d crawl back to him on all fours, crying, begging for him to take you back because you were stood up or dumped and you were now so desperate for male attention that it all had to come right back to him. You were never rejected though, he was wrapped around your pretty little finger. But soon, you made it a point to hurt him, you did it all on purpose, at least that’s what he thought. You didn’t, you were drunk and he wasn’t around and you were so so so lonely, you slept with his brother. Once he found out, he was livid, to say the least. You were really in for it when he got his hands on you next, and you did not get to leave him ever again. “Surprise, bitch,” he would say to you, his hand gripping your throat tightly as you struggled underneath his body and unforgiving scowl, “You broke me, are you happy? Now you can find adventure in me, and me alone.” 

✩ DOYOUNG ✩ tw. tsundere doyo, blood, black eye, bruises, physical abuse wc. 0.1k

Doyoung bullies you because he likes you, he’d be a tsundere type yandere. He’d want your heart, but he also wouldn’t like to admit that he’d fall apart without you in his life, especially considering he likes to believe that he hates you. It’s easy for him to ignore the stinging in his chest whenever you tell him you hate him with blood spilling from your nose, a black eye, and bruises that were all over your body from the beating you took from him the previous day. You were more of a punching bag to him. The more he loved you, the harder it was for him to stop abusing you. Every day it would happen, he looked at it as a joyous time because he got to see you and touch you and hear your adorable little squeals and pleas. He was awful to you and you never would’ve loved him because of how terrible of a person he was, this ate at him and so he made sure every punch he bashed into your pretty face was just as painful as the heartbreak he experiences every time he looks at you.

✩ JOHNNY ✩ tw. size kink, corruption kink, mind games/manipulation, gaslighting, sleeping w/ reader’s sister and mom and best friend, drugging, depression, victim blaming (not to reader) wc. 0.2k

Johnny obviously is a lot bigger than you, which is a whole lot of his attraction to you. You’re just so tiny and huggable, squeezable even. He loves that about you, you’re so small and adorable. He just wants to break you, but he isn’t capable of doing such a thing. He “loves” you, after all. So, he’ll break you through other people. He wants to keep you tiny and sweet, you’re not allowed to get bigger and you’re definitely not allowed to become any less innocent. No one else is allowed to corrupt you because you’re only his to ruin. He would do everything you like, put the most effort into making you feel loved. In the end, he’d make you fall in love with him, you’d be so head over heels for him that when he sleeps with your best friend, you’d be crushed. When he sleeps with your sister, you’d be crushed. When he sleeps with your mom, you’d be absolutely shattered. Your entire world was completely destroyed. Of course, they’d all be drugged, none of them ever would’ve done that to you under their own free will, but you don’t know that. You’d fall into a deep depression, and who else would be there to lift you back up other than him? You couldn’t be mad at him, you loved him. Plus, he didn’t do it, he convinced you that he was forced into it because he was drunk and wasn’t in his right mind while they were, they took advantage of him in his most vulnerable state. You felt bad for him and cowered into his arms, accepting him as the only true person in your life anymore.

✩ JISUNG ✩ tw. power imbalance, alcohol consumption, bruises, professor x student relations, author reader, blackmailing, dubcon aspects, explicit photos and videos, cursing, name calling (‘whore’), degradation wc. 0.3k

Jisung loves having power advantages over the one he “loves”. If you have anything more than he has, you’re worthless to him. It’s such a good thing that he found you, he might’ve been lonely if he hadn’t found you stumbling out of the bar in the middle of the night with tears pouring down your cheeks, alcohol staining your breath, bruises coating the delicate skin of your wrists. You looked absolutely ruined, perfect. You had no idea whose hands you managed yourself into when you tripped over the uneven sidewalk and fell straight into his loving arms. Your eyes were dazed and your words couldn’t be understood even by an equally drunk person. You were unable to tell him where your car was or even where your house was when he shoved you into his car to help drive you home. You were perfect, really. He couldn’t have found a more vulnerable, pretty girl such as yourself. He already knew who you were, you were a professor at the college he also attended. Aside from that, your father owned the entirety of the college and you had a job on the side as an author that was just starting to pick up. If pictures of you having sex with one of your students had gotten out, it could ruin your entire life, not just a single career path. You were made aware of this matter as soon as you woke up naked in the bed of one of your students, photos and videos of the events that had taken place last night all over his phone. He made sure to show you every single thing he had on his phone of how nasty you were last night. You begged him not to let anyone else see them, pleaded that he kept them for his eyes only if he kept them at all. However, just in doing that, you made the biggest mistake of your life. Claiming you’d do anything for him as long as they didn’t get out to the public? Such a dumb little whore you were, giving your life up to him so easily.

✩ CHENLE ✩ tw. bribing, sugar daddy/website mentioned, hookups, sex for cash, cursing, name calling (from reader to reader; ‘whore’), implied murder, dacryphilia, degradation wc. 0.1k

Chenle would also use his money to bribe you into being with him. Of course, it’d be more of a simple hookup at first. You’d sleep with him for cash out of desperation, knowing you seem like a whore, but you didn’t care because money was the most important thing. But no matter how many times you claimed it would be just a one-time thing, he would always call you back to his place with a higher reward. You kept falling right back into his greedy grasp, always as desperate for the cash as you were the first time you met. His routine worked out lovely until you found your way onto some sugar daddy website, finding yourself a replacement for him. So, were you tired of him already? He was pissed, to say the least. You just abandoned him like that, how could you? He wasn’t done with you. And he’ll make sure you understand that when that new sugar daddy of yours is lying lifeless on the floor as he fucks you into tears, telling you everything he plans on doing to his little piggy bank.

✩ YANGYANG ✩ tw. clingy yang, possessiveness, implied kidnapping, persistent boy yang, pet name (‘darling’) wc. 0.2k

Yangyang, yeah, sure, he’s a brat, but you’d never see that side of him. His entire personality would revolve around you. You don’t like mean people? He’d be the nicest boy around. You want a man who goes to the gym? He’ll get a gym membership and work out every damn day. You want your man to be a cat person and not a dog person? He’ll buy himself a whole house full of cats and name them all after something you like. You can tell him to completely change his appearance and he’d do that for you, because he loves you. The only thing he could never do is leave you alone. You have his heart now and you’re never gonna get rid of him. Eventually, you’ll start getting tired of his persistent nature and clinginess, so you’ll tell him off. He’ll be confused and won’t know what’s gotten into you, or even how to react, but then he’ll just go back to being obsessive over you. Maybe after the twelfth or thirteenth time of you flipping on him, he’ll begin to understand that you don’t want him in all the ways he wants you. And maybe that’s when he snaps. Maybe that’s when he takes you all for himself and he shows you all the ways he is willing to take you. Now, now, you can scream at him all you want, but he won’t listen to your pleas. Once he has his mind set on something, he’ll never give up till he gets what he wants. And you’re what he wants. Now that he has you, he’s never gonna let you go, ever, you’re his forever now, darling.

✩ YUTA ✩ tw. stalking, voyeurist yu, hidden cameras, pictures being taken w/o reader’s permission, stealing clothes, breaking into reader’s house wc. 0.2k

Yuta would be all about the stalking aspect of being a yandere. He would be outside your window watching you get dressed, snapping pictures to add to his collection, popping hidden cameras into your shower so he could watch you even when the windows don’t show you. He’d sneak in your slightly opened window at night and watch you sleep, gently petting your hair while telling you how much he loves you. You’d wake up with missing clothes from your laundry basket, chilled from the window being pulled open all the way when you could’ve sworn you only propped it open a little for a gentle gust of wind to come in, and a feeling of unease running through you. You would go about your day like usual, then come back home and wake up with the same feeling of unease as the last morning. This was routine for you, you’ve gotten used to the cold night air filling your room, having to run out and buy new pairs of panties because yours disappear nightly, and you don’t even question it when you find weird-looking black blocks behind an empty shampoo bottle in the shower. You’re too naive to understand what all these signs are pointing to, and, frankly, you’re too fed up with this lifetime to care.

✩ JUNGWOO ✩ tw. neighbor woo, too kind/too trusting reader, manipulation wc. 0.3k

Jungwoo is your adorable and friendly neighbor-type yandere. You met him when you moved into the house next to his, your last landlord throwing you out for not paying your rent on time. You convinced your parents to put the down payment on the house and you’ll take care of the mortgage. They agreed to it only to get you out of their hair, and boy are you glad they did, you would’ve been living on the streets if you couldn’t convince them to help you. Your first impression of him was that he was quite the innocent boy, you were extremely confused about how he was able to live on his own. Time passed while you were living there so quickly. You were working every day and every night just to make ends meet, but he always seemed to be at home, like he never worked a day in his life. You never said anything to him about it, no matter how often it was eating at your mind, because you were just too nice to pry into details about his life. That’s what he loved you most for, you were so kind and considerate, even though all your kindness was only causing you to suffer more and more in your day-to-day life. You’d hand out a hundred-dollar bill to a homeless man because he claimed he needed food while sitting right outside a cheap restaurant, you were just so sweet. Soon, your payments stopped coming to the bank, your letters never stayed in the mailbox long enough for the mailman to collect them. You were soon kicked from your new house because you “failed to pay the mortgage”. You knew you were paying so you had no idea what they were talking about. But his plan worked out marvelously because as soon as you were kicked out and offered a place to stay in your lovely neighbor’s house, it was very quickly accepted. You didn’t want to live on the streets after all, and surely your neighbor’s arms were far better than being homeless.

✩ XIAOJUN ✩ tw. superiority complex, xiao refuses to accept rejection, cursing, name calling (‘bitch’), humiliation, degradation, revenge sex, kidnapping, reader is tied up, recording, implied noncon, bruises, hickeys/love bites, scratches, blackmailing wc. 0.2k

Xiaojun is one cocky motherfucker with a huge superiority complex who refuses to accept rejection. So when you come right out and say that you’re not interested in him or his unattractive personality, it instantly turns his vision red. You have no right to call him unattractive, you bitch. He’ll make sure you pay for ever insulting him like that, he’ll teach you many lessons and when he’s done with you, he’ll hang you out to dry and he’ll embarrass you just like you embarrassed him in that moment. All your friends laughing at his flushed face, eyes filled with amusement as he hurries off into the bathroom, not wanting to stare at your disgusting face anymore. He wanted to ruin you, he wanted to absolutely break you. Who the fuck do you think you are to treat him like that? Do you not understand what he’s capable of? Honestly, he didn’t even understand what he was capable of until he had you tied in his basement, cameras taped all around the room to record every angle just right, taking advantage of your vulnerable state in every way he could. You were weak and he expected you to know that by the time he was through with you. You’re nothing, how dare you talk to him like that? He’d break you, ruin you, then he’d make you walk into school the next day with bruises, bites, hickeys, scratches, shame all over you. And you wouldn’t say a word to anyone because, if you did, he would leak every video he recorded to every social media site and humiliate you even more.

✩ MARK ✩ tw. stalking, bully reader, slight bimbo reader, explicit depictions of murder, implied kidnapping wc. 0.3k

Mark knew he was way out of your league. He was weird and nowhere near your type. He saw your uncomfortable glances in his direction every time he would get a little too close, the laughs you and your friends would start up when he stuttered while speaking up in class, or the repulsed looks the new man you were all about that week would give him once you told him about how he’s your little obsessive stalker. He wouldn’t even be creepy about his love for you, he wouldn’t. He would keep his love on the down-low, trying not to draw too much attention to how often he scans your beautiful curves, watches you twirl your hair, puts too much focus into watching your hands caress the skin of your exposed thighs that are only that way due to your excessively short skirt. He knows your quirks, he knows everything about you because he actually pays attention. Everyone else ignores the real you, and he sees that. But, you don’t. You think it’s normal to hide yourself away from people and ignore the burning guilt inside you every time you do something cruel to another person. Him, however, he will always be that cruel person you so desperately try to be. Only, he’s quite the opposite of you because he hides it. But you’re both the same, you both hide your true selves because the world would eat people like the both of you up. He is the monster that sleeps under your bed at night, the thing you should be afraid of. He’s the one who grabbed that new man best friend out of his room in the middle of the night to hang from his staircase after writing a suicide note on his behalf, he’s the one who forced peanut butter down your sister’s throat even though she’s deathly allergic to peanuts, he’s the one that ran over your best friend’s head with her boyfriend’s car to frame him for the murder of his beloved girlfriend. You shouldn’t be running from yourself, he’s the one you should be running from. He’s the dangerous thing, he’s what you’re afraid of. But don’t worry, if you’re not scared now that you’re alone, you’ll be even more scared when you’re with him and promised that you’ll never be alone again!

[olivia091108]

How to be a jackass:part 1

Summary:meeting bam and Ryan in westchester

Word count:3306

So far filming for season two of jackass has probably been the best time I’ve ever had even though I’m getting injured or pranked every day.

All the guys are great and at first I thought it’s gonna be awkward not only being the new person but being the only girl.Thank god I was wrong for once I don’t think any of them actually cared as long as I actually did gnarly stunts.

The only people I haven’t met are the boys from westchester but Jeff says that we’re gonna film a group stunt with all of us soon.

I’ve done some mediocre stunts like pouting glitter in my eye which didn’t come out for a week and licking a mouse trap Owch. I also did one with wee man where he dressed as a baby and put in a pram and when people would ask to see ‘my baby’ they would be kinda disturbed.

Today I walk on to set and check the stunt list. Today I’m gonna get a pregnant belly strapped to me and walk around town drinking some beer.

——————————————————

Time skip

After getting a mean old lady shouting at me for ‘destroying my baby’ Jeff called all of us over and told us that at 5:30am to meet here because we’re driving to westchester tomorrow.Jeff actually banned us from going out after like we usually would do we finished for the day and I got the bus back to mine and my sisters apartment

Don’t get me wrong I’m excited but really 5:30 I’m sure there’s no harm in waking up later. I walk into the apartment and go to my room to pack since we will be staying there for 5 days.

I walk into my room and start packing stuff but I can’t find one of my favourite tops so I walk into Ella’s room to see if she’s taken it and I barge in without knocking to see her and Oliver mud sex scrambling to cover themselves with the sheet.

“Get out!”

“In a sec do you have my blue top the one with the buttons”

“Are you serio-“ I sigh and lean against the wall and she knows I won’t leave until she gives it to me. “It’s in my closet” I walk over and grab it off the hanger and scrunch it up in my hands

“Oh yeah by the way I’m gonna be gone for a few day”

“Leave!” She throws a pillow at me but I dick out the room before it can hit me

An hour later ella and Oliver knock on my door and wait for me to reply before walking in with very serious looks on both their faces.

Y/n we need to talk to you about something. You can’t just walk in without knocking we don’t have any privacy with you.

Alright I’ll knock next time

“It’s not just the knocking you always come home late and wreck the houses remember you broke olis computer at like 5:30 you never clean up after yourself and we just think that you should move back with mum and dad because we can’t keep living with you.”

“What your kicking me out I pay rent here”

“You don’t even pay a quarter y/n your’e basically living here for free.I rang dad he said it was fine you moving back soon”

“You know I can’t do that el”

“You could always get your’e own place I could help you have the money know”

“Fuck you. you know what I’ll leave right now.” I grab all my clothes in my wardrobe and try to shove it into my small suitcase and mange to mostly zip it and I grab a few personal thing and hold my piggy bank under my arm before leaving

It might’ve been a irrational idea because now I have nowhere to stay for the night and I can’t go to my parents not how I left there

It’s 1am I might as well go to set and wait till morning but with busses not running I have to walk 5 miles uptown.

Once I get there I only have to wait 2 and a half hours so I set my suitcase down and use it as a seat I dig around in my pocket for the taser I took from Johnny just in case.

I feel a hand grab me and by instinct Tase whoever it was. By the time my eyes have adjusted I realise I must’ve fallen asleep and everyone’s here to go to westchester.

While Jeff is complaining the taser Dave asks if I’ve been here all night. Nah I just thought I should get here early yknow only been here half hour.

We separate into 3 cars to get there and I’m in with Johnny Dave and wee man. I’m in the back with Dave and decide to use the 6 hour car drive as an opportunity for some sleep since I got 2 hours max last night.

—————————————————-

I wake up not being able to breathe and feeling plastic on my face I try and pry one of my friends hands off of me but it’s no use and I have to rip the plastic bag now being able to breathe properly

I hear Knoxville’s laugh and a Camrea is pointed in my face all that adrenaline woke me up quick but I’m still not wide awake and I just flip him off while sitting up and stretching being confined in a car really isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world.

“Cmon y/n we’re here grab your bags.” I take my almost bursting suitcase and walk it into the large house we will be staying at. I hear taking and follow it to the living room seeing Johnny talking to the two boys I recognise from episodes but still haven’t met.

Jeff introduces them the one with the dark hair and blue eyes is bam and the blonde one with a beard is called Ryan. We all introduce ourselves and start chatting and getting to know eatch other. Another girl is here called Jenn she’s bams girlfriend she seems nice but I haven’t spoken to her much

I excuse myself to the bathroom and i see a blonde lady in the kitchen and ask her if she needs a hand. If you don’t mind that would be great

“I’m April bams mum it’s so nice to have you all hear but I am a bit worried honestly”

“Im y/n thanks for letting us stay and I promise I will try to protect you and your house.”

Me and April talk about all kinds of things and I soon meet her husband Phil who is such a sweetheart and it makes me feel even worse for him seeing how bam treats him.

I’m sorry your supposed to be getting to know eatchother and I’ve stolen you away thanks for your help with the dinner.

“Oh it’s no worries you seem wayy more interesting than them boys.”

Speaking of Chris has snuck up behind me and lifted me up and body slammed me onto one of the sofas it wouldn’t of hurt that bad if people weren’t sitting on it.

I sit up and move off of whoever I fell on and jsut laugh it off and I start talking to Ryan about some of his stunts and his life and what not. While telling me about cky videos and high school with his friends bam started to join in adding to the story.

After an hour of talking to the two of them we got along really well and had quite a few things in common with them. We got called for dinner and while I was eating I could feel myself drifting off even though I slept in the car for 6 hours.

I ended up face planting into the food which made everyone laugh and while I used the bottom of my shirt to wipe it off the topic of rooms came up.

Some people were gonna have to share because there’s not enough rooms Steve o and pontius are sharing as well as Dave and ehren. Johnny is with me and wee man and Preston are together.

We all go to our rooms and get unpacked and settled. “Yknow we’re only here for 5 days don’t you”.

“Can’t a girl have options” i didn’t want to tell Johnny about getting kicked out I just wanted to have fun here. While I get changed into my pjamas I get into bed and shut my eyes trying to fall asleep but either from the excitement of tomorrow or because I napped today I couldn’t.

I looked at the clock and it was 12:34 Knoxville was asleep by now I could tell by his heavy breathing. I decided to go downstairs and have some water so I snuck out of my room and when I got downstairs I see Jenn down their about to leave

“How come you aren’t staying?”

“Bams just being a bit of a dick right now but I’ll see you in a couple days bye”

I sit in the kitchen having some water and once I’ve finished I still don’t feel like sleeping so I decide to look around. As best as you can in the dark. I quietly open the front door and step into the garden it had a skate ramp and a swimming pool in it. I went to go back inside but the door is locked I’m not gonna ring the doorbell or id wake everyone up.

I walk round the back and I see a window open so I jump from the ramp to the roof and pull myself up I walk along to reach the window but I see something move next to me. It’s a squirrel. Shit I’m fucking terrified of them they’re Satan reincarnated.

“Oh my god oh my god stop”I try to move as quick as I can to the window and quickly climb in to the room and close the window quietly while repeating those words.

“Jenn I told you to go away”bam room shit. I don’t answer and attempt to just get out of the room but I step on something and it slips out from under me and I fall onto the bed.

“Shit sorry.” Bam leans over and turns his bedside lamp on and rub his eyes. “What are you doing”

“I got locked out of the house then I had to climb threw your’e window to get away from the squirrel like I said sorry and night.”

“Are you on something” bam asks not believing me. I pull a confused face not knowing why he would be confused. “ why were you running from a squirrel?”

“Cos they’re fucking scary haven’t you seen Charlie and the chocolate factory?” At my distress yknow way he does. Laugh.I soon join in and we’re just sat they’re laughing together in His room.

Once the laughing stops he breaks the silence. “How did you even get up here?”bam asks thinking back on my story “I jumped off your ramp.you any good at skating”

“Yeah pretty good you?”

“Stepped foot on one once and fell onto someone’s bed. It seems pretty cool other than that though”

“I could teach you sometime.”

“I’ll hold you to that bam” me and bam speak about anything and everything with me now sitting above his covers on his bed and we switched the lamp off.

He tells me all about his family and when he asks about mine something in the room shifts it’s awkward.

Well I actually left home when I was 16 because me and my mum never got along she always preferred my sister i always hung out with my dad but I didn’t have many friends but these girls invited me to hangout with them and I snuck out an we went to some abandoned school and we would go there smoke some weed and whatever and once we were spray painting and the police turned up my friends ran and a policeman got me and I kicked him in the balls and they took me to jail and when my mum got that call she went crazy she said she was so disappointed in what I’ve become and that she won’t bail me out because she didn’t actually want me to come home. My dad eventually came in and took me home but I got there and my room was all boxed up and she kicked me out and said she didn’t want to see me again so I moved in with my sister.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t know”

“Yeah well how could you I don’t tell anybody so I’m could u try not to mention that”

“Pinky promise”we interlock pinkies and I kiss my hand and he copies.the conversation moves on and soon enough we’re shushing the other to stop Laughing until I notice the clock and see that it’s 2:12 and I can tell bams tired and I am as well.

“Wait y/n it was cool talking to you and if you need to talk I’m always here.” I grab a pillow an throw it at hand face. Don’t get all sappy now bam I thought you were supposed to be a cool skater boy.

I leave and head back to my room and wriggle into bed having to shove Johnny over a bit and for a second I lay there thinking about bam and how much I trusted him I wonder what tomorrow will be like before I know it I’m out like a light.

This one was acc really long

Omg guys I’m so pissed I wrote this like a week ago but I didn’t press save and I LOST RVEYTHUNG the first one was way better

Requests always open

-liv

[f0point5]

*grabbing McLaren by the shoulders and shaking violently*

JUST BECAUSE MAX VERSTAPPEN MAKES GREAT STRATEGY CALLS DOESN’T MEAN EVERY DRIVER CAN OR SHOULD DO THE SAME

Literally this.

There are some drivers that have the racing IQ to know what everyone else is doing and what they’re doing and are able to make the calculations on the fly. And that is a gift. It should not be an expectation of every driver. They have a team and all that data and a radio for a reason. Use it.

But also, Max makes “calls” like suggestions, and the team go back and check if they can back it up with data and then they go with his call or not. I haven’t heard his radio from today but last year in Zandvoort, Max’s “call” was stay out while it was raining and GP said “no now is a good time to come in” and he came in and it was the right call. Max doesn’t have free run of the strategy decisions. He said it best when GP asked him what he thought and he was like “well I can’t see the radar, you can”. Max has the race IQ to think quickly and he knows what he can drive through and what he can’t and then team trust him but he also doesn’t have them on the radio like “hey bro what would you like to do today?” With no guidance.

Lando just gets asked what he wants to do by his team while he’s driving around and they just go with his call with no challenge. He’s not the one sitting in front of the data, and they’re not the ones hopped up on adrenaline. He doesn’t have a history of making the right calls so why are they always asking him to do that? In fact, he has a history of making pretty bad ones. And that’s okay because that boys not his job but if you know it’s not his strength what are you hoping for here? Of course he’s not on the level of strategy he needs to be…because they’re asking him to be strategist and he’s not. He’s not going to out-strategise Hannah Schmitz, but McLaren don’t give him too much help with that.

Fundamentally, race engineers and strategists need to start doing what they’re paid for.

And while they’re at it, stop throwing Oscar under every available bus.

[ladylaviniya]

Lassoed In Love

Chapter 2 || Masterlist || Chapter 4

Chapter Summary: Clark drives you home and reveals a dark detail about himself. You have to wonder if it's true...you get hints about how nosey and prejudice the town can be.

Pairing: Farmer!Clark Kent X Teacher!reader

Chapter Warnings: 18+ Dead Dove Do Not Eat, (No Sex In This Chapter), Slowburn, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Prison Conviction, Violation of Privacy, Debating Parenting.

Word Count: 3k

Author Notes: Sorry for publishing almost 2hrs late. I have been battling a bad case of influenza and just woke up. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, please remember this is a purely fictional story. I like to specify that it's important to believe and trust people who claim to be victims of abuse, just because someone treats you kindly doesn't mean they don't have the potential to harm you too. If anyone tells you they've raped someone or done time for rape even if they weren't guilty, always stay vigilant! Stay safe! Preferably stay away! Lassoed in Love is specifically fiction and Clark Kent's accused convictions are false.

Inspiring Song: "Monster" by Imagine Dragons

“Can you be at my house at six thirty? Or would you rather I come here? I am unsure how late the bus runs or if there’s a taxi service in Smallville.”

You both moved to leave her room, walking down the hall, back to the living room, near the kitchen.

“I’ll come to your house,” Lara suggested, “You’re near the town right? I might need to...I reckon dad’s getting no where with your car. I can see him out there shaking his head.”

Veering into the kitchen, you went to wash your hands in the sink, the blood that had dried over them washed clean away in the soap suds.

“Do you know where Ms. Gwendolyn-Lee lived?”

She thought for a moment, “Oh yea...wait...you look like her a bit.”

“She was my great great aunt. I inherited the house,” You peered out the kitchen window, “Shouldn’t your father be back by now?”

She grit her teeth and sucked in a breath, she stood briefly out of the kitchen to look at the mesh fly screen door. She popped her head back into the kitchen and said calmly, “Here he comes now.”

As he trudged up to the porch, he carefully stomped his muddy boots, scraping off the excess dirt before he swung open the door. His deep navy gaze swept over his daughter, then turned towards you. His eyes widened subtly as he took in the sight of his old flannel shirt on your body, but he refrained from making any comment about it.

“Get your things together,” he instructed. “I managed to hook your car up, got it out of the gulley, but I doubt there’s much to be done, I might suggest it’s scrap metal now.”

His dark face was expressionless, as usual, but you sensed that he’d made up his mind and wouldn’t budge.

Clark looked at his daughter. “Have you said what you wanted to her?”

You nodded and looked to Lara.

“Yes, she did.” Lara met her father’s eyes squarely. “She’s going to tutor me. I’m going to try to get into the military, take a ASVAB test and apply to be a diesel mechanic or even engineer.”

His eyes widened again. Lara appeared nervous with the way her hands balled and unfurled at her sides.

“It’s your choice. Just be sure you’re confident, knowing what you’ll be getting into.”

“I have to try.”

Clark nodded once, his firm gaze indicating the conversation had ended there. You turned to bid farewell to Lara, your gesture was met with her shy wave back. Following her father out onto the dirt path lining the side of the road, you couldn’t help but acknowledge the hint of concern in his words.

There, just off the path stood your car, hooked onto a tow bar at the back of his rusty blue truck, your cars crushed bonnet bearing testament to your recent misadventure.

He had done so much for you, rescuing you from a potentially hazardous situation, providing comfort, and now, he was even helping to tow your car. Additionally, he had kissed you in a manner that left your senses reeling. You couldn’t help but acknowledge that Clark was indeed a formidable individual.

Your cheeks grew hot as you recalled the memory of those searing kisses, their fiery intensity still lingering in your memory. Never in your life had you been so forward with a man, and the thought of your unconventional actions left you feeling both mortified as equally aroused.

You hastily clambered into the passenger seat of the pickup truck, your movements lacking any semblance of grace as you tried to maintain a proper, respectable demeanor. You fidgeted with your hands, clasping them primly in your lap, while your feet remained side-by-side, neatly placed on the floorboard. When Clark rejoined you in the vehicle and settled into the driver’s seat, you bit your lip, but his gaze didn’t so much as flicker in your direction, leaving you to grapple with your own embarrassment.

He casted a sardonic look after turning on the engine. “I can’t just drop you off at some random house lady. Where do you live?”

You realised sheepishly that you had been lost in the memory of Clark’s intimate kisses. You found yourself acutely aware of every movement, as the strong muscular expanse of his thigh shifted against yours, the heat of his skin palpable even through the thick denim of his well-worn jeans. Your noted that you were sitting in the middle of the seat, with very little space between you, it made you feel strangely constricted and breathless. The proximity to him was both overwhelming and exhilarating.

“Down Crow Street first house on the right,” you said hastily, and slid over by the window.

“Ms. Gwendolyn-Lees house?” he murmured.

You nodded.

Clark couldn’t deny that he relished the feeling of your presence beside him, the way your body gently brushed against his arm and leg with every gear change. However, despite the undeniable attraction and comfort he found in your proximity, he didn’t verbalize his appreciation. He acknowledged that things had spiralled out of control earlier, but he made a conscious choice to prevent any further escalation. At present, Lara’s situation occupied his thoughts, and her well-being overshadowed any personal desires or distractions, even for your warm body into his arms.

Clark’s voice dropped to a low, velvety tone that sent a chilling shiver down your spine, as you could discern the undercurrent of menace in his words. He continued, “The Army... it’s a tough climb for a girl, regardless of how much they claim to be feminist-friendly these days. There are those waiting to step on her toes and push her around at every opportunity. I don’t want Lara to getting hurt because you want to play miss goody-two-shoes.”

His eyes may have been solidly on the road, but you could see how they were filled with anguish, confusion and fear all at once. He chewed his pink lips and whispered something under his breath. He was fearsomely protective of his daughter even from you.

Clark’s attempt to intimidate you fell flat as you defiantly turned to face him, your eyes ablaze with defiance. You matched his intense gaze with unwavering determination and challenged his accusations with a spirited fervour.

“Mr. Kent,” you asserted with a resolute lift of your chin, “I never promised Lara that she would be guaranteed a military career upon completion of her studies. She fully acknowledged that fact. However, her academic standing should be more than sufficient for consideration, provided she enrols back into school to earn her diploma and fulfil the necessary credit requirements. That is the offer I made to her: a chance.”

His hands tightened on the wheel.

“And if she doesn’t make it? If she fails?”

“She wants to fix automobiles, Mr. Kent. Even if she isn’t accepted, at least she’ll know she tried, and she’ll have a decent qualifying diploma for the future.”

“So she can do exactly what she would have done without the diploma. You know what I call that? Fancy toilet paper.”

You rolled your eyes and gagged, “Mr. Kent, I believe you may be undermining your daughter’s true potential. She has demonstrated remarkable intellect and maturity for her age. On Monday, I plan to reach out to my network of contacts within the military community for further information on the necessary qualifications and requirements, including AFQT score prerequisites.” You held up a finger and wagged it a little, “Rest assured that I am fully committed to exploring every possible avenue to help your daughter achieve her aspirations.”

Wagging your finger at him? Oh, if you were his women, oh how he would’ve pulled over and belted and fucked you on the bonnet of his pick up, stark and cold in the middle of the afternoon.

He swallowed hard, trying to fight the sudden hard on growing in his jeans. He needed to scare you away. He couldn’t let himself see you again, even if it ruined Lara’s chances.

“The people in town won’t appreciate you tutoring her. They’ll gossip.”

You snorted, gossip? Why should you even care? “Why? Because their incompetence allowed a high achieving student to sliip through their fingers? Just let me handle them, Mr. Kent.”

He sighed long and hard, shaking his head a little. He pursed his lips and fell silent.

With the journey nearing its end, the dirt path road stretched out in front of you, its length having seemed endless moments ago. Clark remained silent as he navigated the remainder of the route, leaving you no choice but to respect the silence that enveloped the vehicle. Your mind raced with thoughts and emotions, a myriad of unresolved issues swirling in the wake of his words. The old house where you resided materialized on the horizon. As the vehicle rolled to a halt, its engine purring to a standstill, the silence persisted, the air thick with unspoken tension and lingering questions.

He quickly turned off his engine and looked up the road at the other houses in the neighbourhood, praying no one would see you both. His hands were still clenching the steering wheel. A deep worrisome sigh left his lips, he broke the silence with a calm warning, “It’s not just about Lara. If you want to ensure your own well-being, I suggest you refrain from speaking to anyone about our encounter. I’ll take the liberty of transporting your car to Frank’s auto repair, see what he can do. However, it would be wise to resist the urge to tell anyone about this, us, meeting.”

“Why?” You said in disbelief.

Clark faced you fully and leant forward slightly as if he was about to tell you a hilariously dirty joke...he smile and said a little too whimsically, “Because lady, I’m an ex-con. I did time for rape.”

The thumping jump your body made against his door while you scrambled for the car handle latch was obvious. He continued to sinister smirk, his brows raised as he waved you goodbye. Your throat felt impossibly dry. Your mind a tad dizzy.

You left the vehicle without uttering a word in response to his bold statement, silently cursing yourself afterward for your lack of a fitting comeback. His words had struck you to your core, leaving you momentarily stunned and unable to react. Rape! The very thought filled you with a deep sense of revulsion and disbelief. Your mind couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that you had kissed him, and the realization left you feeling shaken to the core. Finally, you hastily bid him farewell and informed him that Lara would be arriving at three thirty on Monday, before hastily disappearing into the house. You tried not to feel guilty when you made sure to lock the door behind you. He had helped you after all. He had pulled you out of your own car....but he had also indulged and kissed you. If Lara had not come...would he have....

As the hour ticked by, reality gradually sank in, and you found yourself standing alone in the antiquated kitchen, observing your cat Oz devouring his wet and dry food with relish from its gleaming silver bowl. You couldn’t help but reflect on the man and his outlandish claim, feeling a surge of defiance rising within you. You scoffed outwardly, muttering to yourself, “What complete nonsense! If that man is truly a rapist, I swear I’ll...I’ll...roast you for Thanksgiving, Oz.”

The ginger feline looked remarkably unconcerned. After all, he was just a lazy fat cat. Did he even know what thanksgiving was? You appreciated his lack of reaction, as if it confirmed your judgement being almighty and wise.

The realization that Clark had not unequivocally confessed to rape gave you pause. He had stated that he had served time in prison for rape, a revelation that seemed to open the door to a myriad of ambiguities. The perplexity deepened as you recalled Lara’s accounts of her outcasted and ignored existence. This notion puzzled you as to why Clark would have been granted custody of his daughter if the charges held any truth. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the matter, one thing was certain: your instincts whispered vehemently that Clark was innocent.

The man who had saved you from a life-threatening situation, gently cleansing your wounds with his tender touch and soothing your aching head with the coolness of an ice pack, had also bestowed upon you a kiss filled with a warmth that seeped into your very being. His actions stood in stark contrast to those of a man capable of causing harm to a woman. It was he who had halted the tender exchange of kisses between you, even as you had willingly surrendered yourself to his embrace.

It seemed utterly ridiculous to even entertain the notion that he could be a rapist. True, it may not have taken much restraint on his part to halt the intimate exchange of kisses, given that you weren’t considered conventionally attractive and your inexperience. Yet, as you pondered the matter further, you couldn’t shake the memory of the undeniable physical response of his erection you had felt, a reaction which spoke volumes in its own right. Perhaps he’d simply been deprived of physical outlets for some time and you had unwittingly provided an opportunity, but there was still no hint of violence in his touch.

Perhaps Clark Kent was already aroused and you had unwittingly ignited a flame within him, to you his spark that lit up his desire would remain a mystery to you. Nevertheless, you couldn’t dispute the fact that he had not abused his position or forcibly taken advantage of you. Except...What if he had?

As your heart raced with a powerful, rhythmic beat, an intense warmth pervaded your being. A throbbing, insistent ache manifested deep within you, causing your inner muscles to contract involuntarily. Without even thinking, your hand instinctively sought temporary relief under your skirt before, startled by your own actions, you pulled it away abruptly.

What if, instead of merely halting the kisses, he had taken the initiative to touch, cup, and caress you with his hands and mouth? The mere thought of this sent shivers of desire through you, leaving you feeling as if you were melting in response. Your mind raced with fantasies of his touch, and you found yourself involuntarily pressing your thighs together, desperate for relief from the profound ache that consumed you. A low, involuntary whimper escaped from your lips, startling the cat resting nearby.

The question loomed in the air: would you have actually tried to halt his advances? Could you have summoned the strength to resist the allure of his touch? Or would you now be standing there, your body quivering with excitement as memories of shared passion consumed you instead of simply imagining it? Your body hummed with anticipation, stirred not from a place of true understanding but from the awakening of primal desires.

The intensity of the passion you had experienced had been utterly foreign to you, vastly different from the joyful hum in your bones you held for knowledge and teaching. Discovering that your body was capable of such powerful sensations was a harrowing realization, as you had long believed that you were not one to experience such grand arousal like others bragged about in your age group. You weren’t some kitten in heat, no, you were like a forest fire ready to burn the earth in pursue if the same touch Clark Kent had done to you. Now, your own flesh seemed to whisper secrets that left you feeling betrayed, and your thoughts and emotions danced to an unfamiliar tune. It was as if your very being had been transformed into something unfamiliar and intoxicating. Something wickedly beautiful.

In that moment, it became undeniable. Lust had consumed your very being, a sensation ignited by none other than Clark Kent himself. This realization was both marvellous and mortifying. The potency of your feelings was overwhelming, leaving you both astounded and humiliated by the depth of your desire.

On Monday, you made a hasty lunch break phone call to an old college friend who served in the air force to inquire about the process of making sure Lara’s studies would count towards her diploma. Despite your qualifications, there were still numerous forms to fill out before she could earn the necessary credits via private tutoring. You placed the call from the ancient pay phone in the underused teacher’s lounge, a cramped space that only held three chairs, a table, a mini-fridge, and a coffee maker. Surprisingly, Lana Lang, the eighth grade teacher, popped into the room as you were talking.

“Y/N, are you feeling ill or anything?”

“No, I’m alright.” You stood, “I was making a call.”

“Oh. I just wondered. You’d been in here alone for a while, and I thought you might not be feeling up to hall duty soon.... Who were you calling?”

The query had been posed without a trace of hesitation, reflecting the unfiltered openness characteristic of Smallville’s close-knit community. Lana, a local who had grown up in the heart of the town, had once held the title of prom queen. In this close-knit environment, secrets rarely remained hidden for long, and the exchange of personal information was a common occurrence. You felt unperturbed by Lana’s unabashed curiosity, as you were already accustomed to such directness within the confines of this intimate community, where small towns functioned as extended families. At first you found such things rude and personally invasive.

“An old college friend. I needed some information on teaching requirements.”

Lana’s expression turned to one of alarm as she spoke, “Are you questioning your qualifications? The school board will be absolutely distraught if there’s an issue. You have no idea how difficult it is to find a teacher with the proper credentials willing to move to such a small town. They were at the brink of panic before you agreed to take the job. Without your arrival, the children would be forced to commute over sixty miles each day just to receive an education.”

Or attend homeschooling like Lara Kent.

TO BE CONTINUED....

“Actually, it’s not that,” you quickly explained, seizing the opportunity to delve into your intentions. “I’ve been contemplating the idea of initiating private tutoring, as I believe it might benefit the children.” You deliberately refrained from mentioning Lara Kent, respecting her father’s request for discretion. Relief washed over Lana’s face as she concluded that the situation wasn’t dire.

“Thank goodness it isn’t bad news,” she sighed, waving goodbye and offering a smile before withdrawing her head from the room, her curiosity sufficiently quelled.

You sincerely hoped that Lana wouldn’t mention your plan to Beryl Braverman, the third-to-fifth grade teacher, but you couldn’t deny that the likelihood of secrecy was slim. Information had an uncanny way of propagating swiftly in Smallville, leaving little room for concealment. Lana exuded warmth and humor in her teachings, mirroring your laidback approach. However, Beryl’s strict demeanor and abruptness with students left you feeling unsettled. You had overheard rumblings about Beryl considering an early retirement. Despite her shortcomings, her departure would undeniably upset the local board, as Lana had previously pointed out - it was almost impossible to encourage new teachers to move to Smallville.

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[fairyniceyeah]

🌹🩵 I'm under cold rain again

Title from Take me down (The Rose)

Summary: After a week of vacation with his parents Hajoon is ready to see his members again. But instead he is sick, a few hours away, alone and the security guards are more than rude to him. All he wants to be is home.

CW: emeto, kind of public emeto, idol mistreatment

Sickie: Hajoon/Dylan Caretaker: /

Never had Hajoon thought that a week of vacation could end so horribly.

They had all taken a week off to spend time with their families. Jaehyeong hadn’t seen his parents who lived in Samcheok for some time now and, considering their work, the drive down to Busan was way too long for Dojoon to just casually go see his. A flight to America for just a week wouldn’t have made sense, so Woosung had decided to visit his grandparents. And Hajoon had gone home to his family in Gwangju.

It really had been an amazing time he had spent with his parents - despite their fights in his teenage years Hajoon did love his parents a lot. They had grown closer the further apart they were and now as an adult Hajoon appreciated them a lot. So it had been great to spend a whole week just with his parents and they even had taken time off to be together the whole time. 

While he missed his members Hajoon was a bit sad to let his parents go again but he knew that much longer than a week would end up with petty disagreements again.

🌹

Yet the day had come that they traveled back to Seoul, so he and his travel protectors were waiting at the station with a few other people for the bus that was running late. He had said his goodbyes to his parents already at home so they hadn’t had to take the whole day off when he left in the middle of the morning. The two security guards were immersed in a conversation and Hajoon, for the first time that day, had the time to breathe.

There was a headache pulsating in his head since yesterday evening, the reason why he had overslept and therefore had already started the day with stress. His mother actually had to wake him which had nearly ended in a fight because he had accidentally snapped at her before swiftly apologizing. There was a dull sense of nausea in his stomach, had been since he had woken up. What was more concerning to him, however, was the lump in his throat that stopped him from swallowing down the accumulating saliva in his mouth and which seemed to move up every time he tried. 

He could have ignored all of that if he wasn’t full on sweating even though he was freezing and he could tell that his hands were trembling. He had looked pale that morning when he had glanced in the mirror for like two seconds.

Great, not even on the bus yet and he was already miserable. He had taken the motion sickness pill he would need to get through the drive but it seemed to not help against the nausea he was experiencing now. 

Why did he have to feel so off now? Surrounded by strangers and security guards he wasn’t even sure knew his name waiting on a delayed bus of all things. 

For a moment he considered calling one of his members, desperately needing to hear a familiar voice but what could they do? They were about four hours away from him. His parents had done enough for him in the past week, so he didn’t want to bother them. Besides, he had to get back to Seoul no matter what.

Hajoon swallowed again. This time the funny feeling in his throat went up to new heights and for a second he was convinced he was about to puke right then and there. Taking a deep breath he was able to calm down the sensation for a bit but not himself.

He needed space and privacy, now.

“I need to use the bathroom”, he muttered to the security guards who were dressed like normal citizens to not draw any attention to them. One of them rolled his eyes. 

“The bus will be here soon”, he said, annoyance in his voice. Hajoon wasn’t sure what their names were either, they had never introduced themselves when they were hired for just this trip. 

Hajoon also wasn’t sure why hiring two security guards was less expensive than a rental car since his own had broken down a week before but it had been a decision he couldn’t influence. So they had relaxed at a hotel for a week while he was with his family. What a cozy job.

At first Hajoon had been too afraid to ask the guards' names when they hadn’t introduced themselves and then it would have been awkward to ask their names three days down the line. So he had been calling them One and Two in his head. It was weird to say the least but what could he do? Hajoon’s mindset was switching between hating how socially awkward he was and questioning why he had thought that a job where he constantly had to meet new people was the right thing for him knowing fully well just how socially awkward he was. 

“Please”, Hajoon said, coming close to begging them, “I’ll go on my own, surely you can ask the driver to wait for a second. I really need to go.”

“Fine. I’ll go with you, we ain’t losing our job because you wandered off on the last day”, One said, equally irked. 

Hajoon shrunk under his gaze but he was too intimidated to argue. Besides, he was feeling really sick and getting away from the other people was his priority. 

If he truly had to throw up Hajoon wanted to make it to the bathroom to be sick in peace, without an audience. He was terrified that he was actually sick - a three hours drive away from home and in the company of the most uncaring people he ever had had the misfortune of working with. There was nothing he could do, however, stomach throwing a fit and his body hating him. 

So he nodded and swiftly turned around to walk to the restrooms hidden around a corner behind the ticket shop as fast as possible. He didn't have time to check if anybody was following him or not.

Rushing had not been the right decision, upsetting his stomach even more. He barely made it around the corner before - without any warning - his body forced him to stop and double over. He didn't have a chance to stop it and a mouthful of vomit splattered onto the ground below him. Dumbfounded, he stared down at it, not quite comprehending what had just happened. 

Then it hit him - he had just thrown up at a bus station, alone with two unsympathetic security guards, hours away from Seoul.

Fuck.

“You gotta be kidding me”, One cursed.

“I’m sorry”, Hajoon whispered, frozen on the spot with one hand pressed to his mouth. 

Had that really just happened? At least nobody was there to see except One. 

“You need to puke again?”, he asked roughly. 

Hajoon shook his head. His stomach still felt weird and unsettled but the feeling in his throat had gone away. Small mercies. 

“Good, ‘cause we ain’t nurse-maids."

Embarrassed by the small, yellowish puddle on the ground but too overwhelmed to do anything about it, Hajoon followed the security guard back to the station. One quickly conversed with Two, who threw him an angry glance and huffed.

Hajoon couldn't help but shrink into himself, shivering in the cold air. He just wanted to be home.

As if hearing his prayers, the bus appeared in the distance and One ushered him into a seat while Two went to store their bags. 

Luckily the bus was rather empty except for an older lady and a young family. 

Hajoon sank down on the window seat, completely exhausted and close to tears. This was not about to be a fun drive. One seemed to agree with him on that account and shoved a plastic bag at him before taking his own seat in the row in front of Hajoon. He was quickly joined by Two and the bus took off.

More than a bit mortified, Hajoon pushed the bag into the side pocket of his backpack and tried to make himself more comfortable. Shivering in the cold bus, Hajoon pulled his jacket tighter around himself and leaned against the window. His forehead, unlike the rest of his body, seemed to be burning. The cold glass helped until the bus started to shake too much and his head painfully collided with the window. Tears were burning in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. He would not humiliate himself any further.

🌹

The drummer's phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to check. There was a message from Dojoon and desperate for a bit of comfort he quickly opened it.

Dojoon (10:48): Morning! Are you on your way back yet? Hajoon (10:49): Yes

For a moment he contemplated if he really should say something about his condition, making his best friends worry when they couldn’t do anything to help. But he was feeling so alone, so sick and he just wanted to be comforted. Even if it was just via Kakao.

Hajoon (10:51): Hyung, I don’t feel good

There was no message from Dojoon for a few minutes and Hajoon just tried to stay calm and not burst into tears.

Dojoon (11:02): Sorry, I just came back home myself and was unpacking. What’s wrong? Hajoon (11:02): I threw up  Dojoon (11:03): Oh, baby. I’m so sorry you’re feeling bad. Anything I can do? Hajoon (11:04): Can I call you? Dojoon (11:04): Certainly!

Hajoon was glad the older member agreed, just staring at his phone screen was making him feel quite queasy. Quickly he pulled up his hyung’s contact and pressed the call button. It didn’t even take two beeps until the call went through.

“Hi, Joon-ah”, Dojoon greeted on the other end. Hajoon had to press his fingernails into his palms so he wouldn’t burst into tears after just hearing his voice. He would give anything to hug his hyung right now. Or Woosung. Or Jaehyeong.

“Hey.” His voice didn't come out as confident as he would have liked and Dojoon certainly picked up on that. Besides, his hyung wasn’t stupid, he knew Hajoon wasn’t the type to cry wolf so something actually was wrong.

“What’s happened?”, Dojoon asked, concerned. His voice was so soft and comforting. Hajoon wanted to be at home, right now.

“Hyung”, Hajoon whispered, “The bus was late, we were waiting for so long, I am freezing cold and a bit damp from the rain. I didn’t even make it to the bathrooms at the station. I don't know what's wrong with me.”

"That sounds miserable, baby. I’m so sorry. And you got sick before you even entered the bus?", Dojoon clarified, sounding so very worried.

"Hm." Hajoon hummed in agreement. He didn't particularly want to re-live that moment in his mind again. He still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around it.

“So, it’s not just motion sickness?”, Dojoon asked and Hajoon shook his head before remembering that Dojoon couldn’t see him. Dojoon couldn’t see him, because Dojoon was about 300 kilometers away from him.

That’s when the tears fell and he quietly sobbed into the receiver.

“I think I’m running a fever too. I really don’t feel good”, he whispered. He didn’t want to be glared at by the security guards, who already seemed to have forgotten his existence. Neither did he want to get noticed by any of the other travelers.

“Oh, Joon-ah. I wish I could do anything to help you”, Dojoon sighed. Hajoon knew he was telling the truth. As much as Dojoon could be a loud and wild bother, he really cared about his members. 

“Talking with you helps”, Hajoon mumbled, wiping at his eyes. 

“I’m glad. Do you have any medication? Are the guards taking good care of you?"

“I took the motion sickness pill but I don’t think it helps. I do have my migraine medication but I don't think it's a migraine and I don't want to end up completely knocked out in public.” He skirted around the other question but Dojoon couldn’t be fooled.

“Yeah, I don't think that would be a good idea", his hyung agreed, "And the security? Do they have anything to help?”

“No.” Well, Hajoon wasn't going to ask. The less contact where they could belittle him and make him feel shit about himself the better.

“Are they at least nice?”

Hajoon glanced between the seats and saw that both of them had earphones in and were on their phones. They didn't seem to care that he was their responsibility. Still, he didn’t want to seem ungrateful. They weren’t paid to be nice or take care of a sick adult, they were there to protect him and they did. 

There was just nothing they could protect him from.

“Not really”, Hajoon settled on saying. He didn’t want to lie to Dojoon and he felt like he deserved to complain a bit. 

“Oh, baby. I'm sorry you're having such a miserable time”, Dojoon cooed. His tone would be patronizing in any other situation, it should have been in this too. But it wasn’t.

“Hyung, I just wanna be home”, Hajoon whispered.

“I know, I want you here too. Woosung should be back from his grandparents, too, any … oh speaking off. Hey, Sammy, glad you’re back. Hm, it’s Hajoon, he’s not feeling good. Hold on, I’ll put us on speaker”, Dojoon said and then the familiar voice of his oldest hyung came through: “Hi, baby, what’s wrong? I miss you.”

“Miss you too, hyung”, Hajoon replied, “I think I got a stomach bug or something. I threw up a bit.”

“Oh, that’s miserable”, Woosung said, sounding genuinely sorry, “how long until you’re back?”

“Three hours, give or take.”

“That’s not so long, you’ll be with us soon. Actually, around that time I agreed to pick up Jeff from the train station. Leo, can you?”, Woosung asked, voice full of regret.

“Of course I’ll pick my favorite drummer up”, Dojoon agreed readily, making Hajoon giggle a bit.

“I’m really sorry, Hajoon-ah”, Woosung cut in then, “but I’ve been driving non-stop and I really need to use the bathroom. Call me if you want to though. Bye.” Hasty footsteps were heard and Dojoon started to laugh.

“You would have had the time of your life seeing him potty-dancing like that”, Dojoon commented and Hajoon had to smile a bit at the mental image. Then Dojoon’s voice got louder: “Yes, you did! Just go, dumbass.”

Hajoon burst into wet giggles at that.

“Now, that’s better”, Dojoon commented and for a moment they were silent.

“Tell me about your time with your parents? How was Busan?”, Hajoon asked, “Distract me.”

Immediately Dojoon launched into storytelling about everything that had happened the past week. The good Italian restaurant they had been at. Meeting old school friends. The seagull that had stolen his fries. While it all was very entertaining Hajoon kept yawning. He was so tired. Even if his motion sickness didn’t translate into more than the nausea he was feeling anyway, it still made him tired.

As he yawned again, Dojoon stopped in the middle of a story about … ice cream? Hajoon wasn’t sure.

“Why don’t you try to close your eyes and sleep? Maybe when you wake up you’re already here”, Dojoon suggested, “I promise, I will meet you at the bus station and take you home, okay?”

Sleeping through the whole drive sounded like a dream - pun intended. Hajoon was so tired anyway and if he didn't have to be conscious until Dojoon was there to give him one of his bear hugs, Hajoon was fine with it.

“I will try, hyung”, Hajoon replied, “promise you will be there?” Hajoon really didn’t care that he sounded like a child right now.

“Promise”, Dojoon said, “close your eyes. It’s only two and a half hours and I will be there. Call any of us if you need anything or just want to talk. Love you, baby.”

“Thanks, hyung. Love you, too. Bye”, Hajoon replied to the seldomly used but always felt words.

“Bye. Sleep well.”

Hajoon opened his bag to search for his headphones, ignoring the crinkling of the plastic bag he really hoped he wouldn’t have to use. When he found the headphones he quickly connected them to his phone, putting on his comfort playlist. It consisted to the biggest part of their own songs and some songs by other groups – mainly those the groups had written for their fans or members like #LoveStay, Star 1117 and Circles. They all included messages of hope and love and comfort. Something Hajoon really needed right now. Just hearing his leader's voice in his ears comforted him despite making him miss Woosung even more.

Despite freezing to the core the drummer managed to curl himself into a small ball, legs pulled up onto the seat next to him. He didn’t really care that it was forbidden, he just really needed the added warmth and comfort. He rested his head against the backrest and closed his eyes.

🌹

He hadn’t expected to be able to actually fall asleep. Normally he never was somebody who was able to fall asleep while driving - a mix of motion sickness and general discomfort. He would try and shift around until he gave up.

So when he woke up he was very disoriented - not sure where, how or why he was. Then the nausea hit. 

Hajoon gagged against his hand, suddenly wide awake in his panic. He didn’t want to be sick. Especially not on a bus without anybody to rub his back or help him when needed. But he wasn’t given a choice and since he didn’t want to throw up all over himself he frantically opened his backpack to rip out the plastic bag.

As soon as he had managed to open it he shoved his head inside, burping loudly. If he wasn’t feeling so wretched he would be embarrassed. Right now, all he wanted was to stop feeling so sick. 

Tasting the sourness of bile on his tongue, he gagged violently again, eyes watering. This couldn’t be happening. He burped a second time, the noise echoing back at him.

Yet nothing would come up. He could only stare at the empty bottom of the half-see through bag and pray for death. 

Despite everything Hajoon nearly wished he would throw up then. He had been feeling so ill for so long and getting out the mouthful of vomit at the bus station had not helped at all. At least if he got it out now, he might feel better physically. But that wasn’t happening, apparently.

Still, his body seemed to fight itself. While his mouth and throat kept making him miserable, his stomach seemed to want to hold onto its contents. 

This was torture.

🌹

A few minutes of silent tears and nearly unbearable nausea later, some higher deity seemed to have mercy on him. The bus started to slow down and as Hajoon dared to look up he saw that they were pulling into a gas station.

"We're taking a fifteen minute break, be back by 12:08", the driver announced. Hajoon wasted no time. As soon as the doors were open he stumbled past the stunned guards and down the stairs to the outside. 

He pressed his back flat against the side of the bus, just trying to breathe in the fresh air. It did help. Not by a lot but the shock of cold had him more awake.

Light rain was spraying down but he was mostly protected by standing on the right side of the bus, shielded from the wind. The weather also meant that nobody really paid attention to him, not many people were out and, those that were, were more focused on themselves.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply only to get interrupted by one of the security guards. Hajoon winced, squinting. It seemed to be Two.

"Do you need to use the bathroom?", he asked gruffly, “I’m going over there now. Your chance.”

Hajoon shook his head. Being out of the stuffy bus really helped the nausea a lot and he didn’t actually need to use the toilet.

"Right, just don’t complain. You can stay out here in the rain until we leave if you want", Two announced and left.

🌹

Weak-feeling and with trembling limbs, Hajoon squatted down as he didn't quite feel like he could keep standing. But he would have to go back into the bus too soon anyways for him to willingly move back inside to sit down now. The plastic bag crinkled in his hand and he grimaced at the sound. Hastily he placed it in the pocket of his jeans, not wanting anybody to see it.

His queasy stomach had started to ache over time and he was now sure that he was definitely running a fever. He doubled over a bit, only able to keep his balance with leaning against the bus, and placed a hand on his stomach. It barely helped.

Hajoon wanted to call Dojoon again, or any of his members, but as he patted the pockets of his jeans he came up empty handed. In his rush outside he must have forgotten to grab his phone.

Frustrated tears rolled down his face. Why couldn't he just be home with his members? He didn’t want to be alone. He knew it was ridiculous missing his members after just a week but he was so desperate for comfort. 

"Hey there", a soft voice said and, very confused, Hajoon dared to look up. A young woman was kneeling in front of him, the mother of the family in the bus. She gave him a gentle smile. 

"I noticed you're not feeling so good, are you?", she asked sympathetically. Confused and slightly overwhelmed, Hajoon shook his head. 

Having somebody notice he was not doing good was overwhelming. For one part he was scared that she recognized him and it would end up on the internet but for the other part, the bigger part, he couldn't help but tear up again at the kindness she showed him. 

"Your friends are kind of being assholes about it, huh?", she said, a hint of fury in her voice. She must mean the security guards. Hajoon shrugged, not caring to check if the two even noticed that he was approached by a stranger. Not that he thought that she would harm him but just on principle. 

"I guess so", Hajoon mumbled.

"I’m sorry. Anyways, my name is Haeun”, she introduced herself. 

After a moment Hajoon realized he probably should introduce himself too. But he was too tired to think of a different name or even think about if it was inappropriate to give a wrong one. So he just mumbled: “Hajoon.”

“Hajoon-ssi, it’s nice to meet you. What I actually came for, though: I have some antiemetics in my bag, if you would like to try?", the woman suggested, “traveling with kids is fun.”

At Hajoon’s reluctant glance, she added: “Don’t worry, the meds are also for adults.”

“Yeah, okay, thank you”, Hajoon whispered, “I … just I don’t know if I can keep them down.”

“Let me give you one just in case. You don’t need to take it if you don’t want to but it might help you feel better”, Haeun replied with a sad smile and reached into her bag to pull out a bottle of pills. When she looked up, her face went hard.

For a milli-second Hajoon was confused, then a tight grip on his arm unceremoniously yanked him upright. Everything swirled and he tilted to the side, vision graying out before it turned sharp again. He placed his free hand to his mouth, gagging violently as the motion upset his stomach. Luckily, nothing came up. Still, he was plagued by misery for a good minute until he got his tongue under control again. 

By then he found himself standing in the bus. One still had a strong, nearly painful grasp on his arm and Two was red in the face. Unceremoniously Hajoon was shoved into his seat and he was just barely able to stop himself from colliding with the window. 

“Are you fucking stupid?”, Two whisper-yelled and came close enough to Hajoon’s face that he could feel his breath. The drummer whimpered a bit, scared. He was sure that if they weren’t trying to keep everything on the down-low the other man would have yelled loudly. “Taking pills from a stranger? Do you actually want us to lose our jobs?”

Of course they only cared about their jobs. Not about his well-being if it hadn’t turned out to be actual nausea medication. 

Hajoon felt tears run down his face and the guards huffed. “I just wanted something against the nausea. I don’t feel good”, he sobbed helplessly. He was scared, lonely, nauseous and feverish. Didn’t they have any sympathy to spare?

“Suck it up. You’re an idol, isn’t that what you are supposed to do?”, Two added, still angry, “just sit here and don’t you dare fuck this up. Try not to puke, jeez.”

Hajoon sobbed into his hands, uncaring if anybody saw. He curled up into the corner of the seat and just prayed the drive was over soon.

🌹

Hajoon didn’t think he had ever been so relieved to be somewhere as the bus pulled into the bus station at Seoul. 

He had managed to sleep again a bit for the last leg of the drive but the nausea had been at an all time high. He didn’t understand - normally he got motion sick so easily but when he was actually sick it didn’t happen? Not that he particularly wanted to be sick in public but maybe it would have helped him feel just a tiny bit better. 

Most of the time he had just closed his eyes and tried to focus on the music - he had had to skip Nauseous though, the song a constant reminder and a teasing sound in his ear. Hajoon wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to listen to it normally again.

The bus had long grown stuffy with bad air and tension. But it was only a few minutes until he was about to see Dojoon again and he was growing impatient with longing. 

Somehow having driven through Seoul made the waiting even worse as he was so close and yet so far away. The heavy, gray clouds and the rain outside were matching his mood and made him just want to lie in a warm bed. Soon.

Finally, the bus came to a stop and as soon as the doors opened Hajoon stumbled outside, uncaring that he nearly fell down the last step or that he was basically drenched in rain the second he was under the open sky. 

He had made it all the way back. With his body shaking from exhaustion, fear and sickness, but he was back to be reunited with his friends.

And finally, fresh air. He took a deep breath and glanced left and right to see if he could spot Dojoon. Indeed, there was a lone figure with an umbrella in the distance. There was no doubt in Hajoon’s mind that it was his Dojoon-hyung.  

Nobody else was there, the other people must have decided to wait inside one of the nearby cafés during the downpour. At least something went right.

Hajoon walked towards Dojoon as quickly as his churning stomach allowed, pressing one hand against the upset organ as rain and tears ran down his face. Dojoon broke out in a run as soon as he spotted him and Hajoon supposed he was about to be scolded for getting himself drenched. 

Seeing his hyung triggered something within him, maybe it was just his body feeling safe or something else. Whatever it was - just as Dojoon was about to hug him, Hajoon couldn’t help but lurch forward, placing his hands on his knees. A large wave of stomach contents spewed from his mouth onto the ground and partially on Dojoon’s shoes. 

To his credit, his hyung just stepped backwards and suddenly the only water on Hajoon’s face was his own tears.

A hand came to rest on his back and held him steady as he kept retching and gagging for what felt like a small eternity. Still, after feeling sick all day with barely any relief it was nearly a good feeling to finally bring something up. Even if it seemed like it was his whole internal system.

Ultimately his stomach seemed to be empty and Hajoon was able to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. Dojoon’s hand never left him as Hajoon straightened back up – well, as far as his aching stomach muscles allowed. Then he turned around to face his hyung.

Dojoon was completely soaked by the rain, the water running down his face and dripping down his nose and chin. Still, he kept holding the umbrella over Hajoon’s head to keep him from getting soaked even more. We’ll be in the rain indeed.

“Hyung”, Hajoon whispered and strong arms wrapped around him, a hand guiding his head to rest on Dojoon’s shoulder. One last time his tears spilled over and he cried for himself and the misery he had gone through. And he cried out of relief because he knew he wasn’t alone anymore.

Hajoon didn’t even care just how damp everything was, that he never managed to thank the woman and that he probably would have to face the guards one last time – he finally had his hyung. 

“I’ve got you, baby”, Dojoon whispered, stroking his back, “I’m here. Let’s get you home."

Notes: Happy Birthday, Hajoon!

Masterlist links: Fairy's Full Masterlist Fairy's Masterlist - The Rose  

[smgsecretsanta]

A gift from @legenspeople to @axo-fucking-lotls!!!

Text under the cut

Hey guys!

I know, it feels like a ‘déjà vu’, but this time, it’s a genuine request to be reunited after so long. We’re all wary of Josh, but none of you would doubt your old friend Chris! (I know I had my fair share of pranks, but come on…) So, to reunite after more than a year (!!!) I decided to plan a weekend at the beach! I rent a beach house (with Josh money, I have not become rich since the last time you guys saw me) so we can take advantage of the big waves and the sun!

We hope to see all of you there!

Chris and Josh

----

Sam had received the email of their next reunion while she was in Peru. After the events at the Washington’s mountains, she had decided to leave America to travel around the globe. Australia, Laos, South Africa, Egypt, Greece… she had bought an airplane ticket as soon as the police released them, and she had not been home since – except for a few stopovers to avoid losing her citizenship. After the events, she would have done anything to be far from the mountains and her traumatized friend group – the only news she had gotten from them was through the few phone calls she had shared with Chris during the year.

She had met many different people, saw many nice cities, but also slept in the most disgusting or surprising places to avoid wasting money on an overpriced hotel room or apartment. She never stayed for longer than one season to work in a touristic shop or to rent skiing equipment, depending on whether it was the cold or hot season.

Sam stopped traveling five months ago in Peru. She was starting to feel exhausted, plus she felt great there. She had two roommates who rapidly became close friends and a job she enjoyed most of the time. She was constantly wondering when she would come back to the United States, and the email had been the sign she had been waiting for.

It had hurt to leave her new friends, but Sam knew she needed to come back eventually. And when she had stepped out of the airplane, she felt better than she had for a long time. She thought that she would feel like a stranger in her own country, but she had been wrong.

Sam was currently on the bus, which was driving toward the address Chris had given to all of them. She was relieved when she saw that the place was not as secluded as the Washington lodge had been – it was still a private beach, but a small town was next door if they needed it.

The bus arrived at the stop, and she got out of it, along with a few other people. They all went a different way from hers. They all walked toward the middle of the town while she went away from it.

It was a nice walk to the beach house. Once she arrived, she was surprised at how big it was. She knew it was Josh’s parents who were paying, but after they blew up their ski lodge, she had expected them to be more reluctant to pay something big.

Sam was about to knock on the door when she saw the paper Chris put in the window.

“To anyone showing up late, we are at the beach!”

Sam searched for a minute the way to the beach and found it behind the house. The young woman started advancing toward her destination, but she was soon stopped by a familiar voice behind her.

“Sam! You made it!”

Sam turned around to face Jess who was running toward her. They jumped into each other’s arms in a long hug. Jess smiled.

“I’m so glad you could come! It would have felt incomplete without you… oh! What do you think of my new swimsuit?”

She stepped away from the hug and gave Sam a spin to show her friend her swimsuit. Sam was glad that Jess was comfortable enough in her body to show her skin again. The first summer after the event, according to what Chris told her, Jess had refused to do anything because she was embarrassed of the scars she had from that terrible night. It had taken a long time for her to not feel insecure about the marks.

She was happy now. It made Sam’s heart feel lighter.

“So? What do you think? Pretty cute, right?”

Sam, who had not paid attention to her clothes, took a quick look at her in the light purple bathing suit before nodding.

“Fits you well.”

“Aw, thank you! Now come on, we need to join the others.”

Jess grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her in the direction of the beach. They quickly felt the sand underneath their feet and saw their group further ahead. As soon as she saw them, Ashley waved.

“Hey Sam, it’s nice to see you.”

“It’s nice to see you too.”

Chris got out of the water and ran toward them wearing a wetsuit. Before he could get too close, Sam stopped him.

“You are not getting a hug while you are completely wet.”

Chris pouted.

“What! But I thought you missed me!”

“Hardly. Also, what’s with the wetsuit?”

“Tried to catch some waves.”

“Really?”

“Yep, and it was a complete disaster.” Said Emily. “I have it on videos if you want to see.”

Matt laughed as he recalled the show he got to see earlier. Sam felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Mike.

“Hey, Mickey! What’s good?”

He showed the bucket filled with ice and beer in his hands. He put it on the ground and grabbed two, passing one to Sam.

“Nothing is better than a beer under the sun.”

Sam took the offered alcohol. She looked over Mike’s shoulder to see Josh, who stood there, awkwardly. When he saw that she took notice of him, he approached slowly. His eyes were jumping from a spot to another.

“Hey, Sam… listen, I’m sorry about what happened last time. I goofed up big time, ha ha… hum, so yeah, just wanted to say that.”

The scars all over his face were healing well. Chris had said Josh had been distant and exhausted when they managed to get him out of the mine. He had looked completely out of himself, scaring Chris and the others, but she knew that, since then, he got the medical and psychological help he needed, and now he looked like their old friend again. She was thankful that Chris had kept her updated on his progress.

Of course, she had been angry at him for the prank, but she was one of the first to forgive him. Sam knew he did not mean to harm them, and that he had a rough time after Hannah and Beth’s death. It still felt good to hear Josh say it.

Sam opened her arms. Josh hesitated before hugging her tightly. He buried his face in her shoulder, and she could feel him tremble.

“It’s all alright. Let’s just have fun now. And Mike brought beer, so let’s get wasted.”

The group cheered behind her, and she could hear the bottles opening. Josh snorted. He let go of her, his eyes slightly red.

“Yeah! Let’s get this party started!”

Sam enjoyed the sun while lying on the beach and sipping her beer. She talked with Emily – who showed her the comic show that was Chris trying to surf – while observing her friends.

Matt and Jess were making a sandcastle, chatting like two architects on a mission. They had thought of bringing shovels and buckets and were making good use of them. Their castle was enormous, yet simple. It was funny seeing them put buckets of sand over buckets of sand. Every time their bodies were obviously tensing from the possibility of it destroying the entire structure of their work.

Although Chris had given up on surfing, he and Josh were in the water, trying their best to jump over the waves as they crashed their way. They were laughing loudly. Ashley was cheering them on with the bare minimum of enthusiasm each time one of the boys were turning to her to ask her to watch them. Sitting next to her, Mike was booing them while drinking his beer.

Sam realized how much she had missed them. One year had been too much, and now after almost two years without even being anywhere close to any of them – or anything she felt close to – she realized how hard it had been. It had felt good to distance herself from everything, but she was glad to be back.

When it was starting to be too cold to stay in bathing suits, the group went to the lake house to change. When they were in better clothes, Sam proposed to hike around the beach. It did not take long to convince Emily to agree, and soon they were all outside again.

Matt and Emily were walking in the front, swaying their hands in between them. Behind them, Jess was taking pictures of the sunset and showing them to Ashley. Mike and Josh were talking and laughing loudly in the back, which often made Emily snap and tell them to shut up. They kept talking like she never said anything, which made Chris laugh.

“They’re lucky Matt won’t let go of her hand, or else she would have jumped at their throat.” He said into Sam's ear.

She snickered at the thought.

In front of them, Ashley turned her head to them. She sent a shy wave and smiled toward Chris before looking in front of her again. Chris responded in the same way with the same awkward shyness.

“So, maybe I missed something, but I thought you two were officially a thing now?”

“Oh, well…”

Josh wrapped his arms around both of them.

“They are ‘taking it slow’.”

“Oh, I see.”

Chris scoffed. “Hey, it’s not a bad thing!”

Josh raised his hands in surrender. “You do what you do bro.”

“You two go at your own pace.” Said Sam with a gentle punch at Chris’ shoulder. “I’m happy for you.”

“And what about you?” Added Josh with a smirk. “Met anyone interesting on your trip?”

“I met a lot of interesting people on my trip. But, if you mean ‘did you meet a romantic partner’, which you definitely do, the answer is: no.”

“Ah! I’m also still single, by the way.”

“Like if she would have guessed otherwise.” Said Mike, joining the conversation.

Sam and Chris both snorted. Josh and Mike started arguing, and Sam tuned them out while Chris rolled his eyes with a laugh.

The rest of the walk was peaceful – if Sam ignored the boys who were still talking. They had been outside long enough to see the sunset. The bright colours reflecting on the water were beautiful. Jess insisted on a group photo to capture the moment. Everyone gathered around Jess and said ‘cheese’ before the ‘click’ of the camera.

Chris, Josh, and Ashley were eager to see the picture. Sam waited until they looked before looking at it herself.

Jessica was smiling in the foreground, holding her phone slightly tilted so everyone could fit in the picture. Right behind her, there was Mike, smiling over her shoulder, and Emily with her arm intertwined with hers. Sam and Ashley were on the right of the trio. The two girls were smiling, obviously trying to hold back a laugh and an eye roll at the three boys behind them. Chris, Matt, and Josh were in the middle of a jump when the photo was taken. Their mouths were open in a scream, and they had thrown their arms in the air to make it as goofy as it could.

Sam snorted before giving the phone back to Jess.

“I knew it was too much to ask for a serious picture.”

They walked back to the lodge when Josh told them he brought a few board games to pick from. Chris and Jess were trying to guess which one he brought, but he refused to tell them if they guessed right or wrong.

Once they were back inside, Josh ran to his room to reappear with a miming game. They were all excited to play and made two teams. On one side, Ashley, Chris, Mike and Josh, and on the other, Sam, Matt, Jess and Emily.

It all started well. Chris started by miming a wolf, a mermaid and then a firefighter. He was great, even though he made Ashley and Josh laugh too hard by exaggerating every one of his moves. They lost precious time since Mike kept telling them to be serious if they wanted to win instead of guessing on his own. Emily managed to make her group guess natation, a lion, a fish, and a photographer. She gained applause from her allies and boos from her enemies, which both delighted her.

It soon turned out to be a nightmare when it was Ashley’s turn to mime. She had made a movement with her hand to begin the impression and, without thinking twice, Josh screamed "ERECTION” which left his two partners laughing while Ashley was just awkwardly frozen in the middle of the living room.

Josh kept guessing different things related to sex, making Chris hyperventilate from how hard he was laughing. Mike tried to keep his mind in the game, but he snapped at the sixth time Josh made a guess. They ended up arguing, forgetting the purpose of the game. It’s not like it mattered, because Ashley had stopped trying to mime anything, sitting on the couch with her face hidden in her hands.

When their time was over, they all turned to Ashley, who weakly said:

“It was an elephant, guys…”

This sad revelation made Sam and her group laugh at the others' misery.

Matt’s turn went as normal as it could have, although he wasn’t good at this. He took too long to choose how to mime, and only managed to make his team win one point. After him, Mike barely read his paper before making an impression. Unlike Matt though, it was impossible to guess what he was miming. After this turn of useless guessing, he gave up his miming and said it had been an impression of a lumberjack. His group exploded with confusion, pointing out that nothing in his movements had resembled a lumberjack.

Mike's poor performance did one thing good for his team; when Jess went next, she kept laughing every time she looked at him from the corner of her eyes. She still managed to make her team guess an actor and a moving van.

Josh’s performance, without surprising anyone, was filled with unnecessary sexual innuendos. His team still succeeded in guessing the action of moping and a police officer.

Sam’s impressions went without trouble. She had picked up what they could agree were the easy ones: eating, dancing, a giraffe, and a queen. Josh and Mike were insisting that it was cheating, but when Emily proposed they took away the last points, they were disappointed to know they still lost by two points.

To celebrate their victory, Matt brought back shooters that they drank while cheering their amazing performance.

The rest of the night was spent listening to music and talking. Sam had taken the time to catch up with the others and she told them some of her traveling stories.

Jess and Mike went to their room around one A.M., and Matt and Emily were soon to leave too. Chris and Ashley were slow dancing to a waltz Josh had put on for them. Sam was sitting on the couch, trying not to laugh at Josh who started twerking next to the unaware couple.

“I missed you guys.” Said Sam, too drunk to contain the thought that kept coming back since she first saw Jess in the morning.

“We missed you too.” Said Ashley, smiling sweetly at her.

“Aww… bring it in!”

Before she could process it, Josh was effectively crushing her in a hug after practically falling on the couch.

“Yeah! Group hug!”

Ashley and Chris joined them, and although she could barely breathe, Sam felt great with her friends around her. The alcohol made her drowsy and she was almost sure that Ashley was going to fall asleep too if they stayed in this position a minute longer.

“We should go to bed.”

“It’s not even late...”

“Shush, Josh, I’m with Sam on this one.” Said Ashley, not doing anything to move from the couch.

Chris was the first one to get up. He pulled on Josh’s hand to get him up. Josh made some hissing cat sounds in protestation, but Chris still managed to get him on his feet. Sam helped Ashley to get up and they walked toward the empty rooms upstairs.

“So, where is your next destination?” She asked. “The Ivory Coast? Brazil? Japan?”

Sam took a second to think. She shrugged. “I don’t know. I might stay here for a little while.”

Ashley managed to look up and smile through her tiredness. “That’s nice. If you’re looking for a place to stay, I have a spare room in my apartment. I live close to Josh and Chris, and the others come often visit us.”

A crash rang behind the two women. They turned to see their two friends sprawled on the floor, laughing and blaming each other for their fall. Sam and Ashley shared a look.

“I understand if you don’t want to see them regularly.” Said Ashley with an exasperated look.

Sam smiled. “I think I’ll take your spare room.”

[arrowverse-next-gen]

Owen runs away exactly once in his teens.

It's right after his parents bring Rosie home to live with them, and everyone is falling over themselves to be around.

Will, who hasn't been at family dinners for 2 months is suddenly there every night, shooting out marching orders to the rest of the bunch, to make sure their parents feel supported. And Owen gets it sure, but also why would he need to clear out every USB drive to make the kid feel welcomed?

Wes just seems happier that Lanie isn't the only little kid in the house anymore. He's calmer leaving Lanie for periods of time that don't involve work, and Owen suspects he's spending a bit more time with a certain farm boy from Smallville, but Wes isn't talking.

Ada is gushing. She loves littles and she seems extra sappy since Rosie came, he thinks she and JJ are close to announcing an engagement, which is great but it's not like he can ask. They're not close like that.

Mis is straight up ignoring everyone who isn't Rosie. He thinks she perfers having a little sister to the rest of them.

Which is why he thinks it's great to have Miriam on his side. Who's always been on his side. Except she's just as enamored with Rosie as Mia is and suddenly Owen feels isolated from the family. He feels like he could sink into the floor and no one would notice or care. So he runs away.

He runs to the one person he thinks might understand. He takes a train and a bus, and he's sure his parents will ground him for life when they find out, but he does it anyway.

He knocks on the apartment door and hopes he didn't misremember her schedule.

The door swings open and she's there smiling like she already knew he was on his way.

'Hey Liz,' he says and he can hear the break in his own voice.

But Eliza doesn't say anything. She just wraps him in a big sister hug and holds him there. And for the first time in weeks the weight in him lessens. Because he knows she's there for him.

[cherienymphe]

Reader on the other hand? Reader not telling is a big sign to show where her loyalties lie and it's not with her husband or any of the other men but the wives. Especially Nat. Reader is dangerous now. Because if any of the other wives want to try to escape or hell, want to hurt their husband, the reader isn't going to say anything. Nat accomplished much on her own, but what could she have accomplished if she had help? Nat running only put herself in danger, but in not telling, it shows that the reader is willing to put her wellbeing on the line just to help another wife against her husband and that's a mindset they can't tolerate. Even when she told Peter about the pregnancy, it could've gone so bad for her. Peter could've punished her like Steve would and he would've been "in the right to". He could've told Bucky immediately, put her on blast for the whole household and it's why while I get feeling for Nat who may or may not be pregnant and who may or may not want Bucky to know, the reader really essentially threw herself under the bus just for the chance to keep Nat from being physically hurt

Still so crazy to expect them to be loyal to their kidnappers. They are clearly very confident in their brainwashing abilities because having that expectation is so unreasonable. But I definitely need to be nicer to the reader because she is putting herself at great risk for her friend and she’s having to make some big decisions when her mind isn’t even in a healthy space. Genuinely curious but would she be this worried or wanting to do this much for the other ladies? Or is it intensified because she got closer to Nat? I don’t see her risking Steve’s wrath to bring Peggy a sandwich. Which isn’t a bad thing, she’s just not as close to the others right?

I don’t see her risking Steve’s wrath to bring Peggy a sandwich.

This made me laugh. Funnily enough, she would. While she's become so dependent on Peter, the reader is very grateful to the other wives. They've tried to help her adjust and have been patient with her and even in some instances tried to protect her (like her birthday party). They've never ridiculed her despite having so much ammo to do so but the reader does feel closer to Nat. She knows that knowing what they did to her friends was a driving force behind Nat's decision. Learning that was the catalyst for her to try and escape again and the reader feels partially responsible even if her friends being murdered wasn't her fault. I don't think I've mentioned it before (maybe once) but on top of everything else, the reader is also dealing with survivor's guilt

[laundrybiscuits]

Director's Commentary: what will today's adventure be

Wrote this on the bus even though absolutely nobody asked for or needed it! Posting because why not. It's 1300 words of commentary for a 3100 word story. WHY NOT.

I've had the vague idea of Erica running a MLP game for a while, but seeing her little speech in Hellfire absolutely locked in her potential as a DM for me. I jotted this down in my ST scratchpad a few weeks back:

I desperately want Erica Sinclair running a MLP GURPS game. Dustin and Eddie are 10000% on board and wildly delighted. Mike is a massive dick about it the entire time. Lucas is in agony between acknowledging that it’s a pretty fucking well-designed game and he’s kind of proud of her but also HIS LITTLE SISTER HAS INFILTRATED HIS NERD GROUP WITH HER GIRLY CARTOON PONY SHIT. If Will’s around, he’s a little skeptical but quickly gets into it; it’s not his genre/style, but he can have fun trying something new. It’s ruthless, and clever, and slightly unbalanced because she hasn’t figured out how to calibrate on the fly for dumbass player decisions yet. She’ll get there. She’s got the taste for it now. The campaign ends when the party ends up luring the innocent Sea Ponies into a blood sacrifice to defeat the demon lord through necromancy and take over his dark reign. Steve shows up for the last fifteen minutes to drive the kids home, just in time to hear Erica describe the incredibly gory showdown, and tries to telepathically communicate to Eddie that this is NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN; Eddie just grins back like hell yeah, baby, you got that right.

Obviously it has changed a bit since that initial thought, but not a huge amount, dynamic-wise. I was somewhat hampered by the fact that I remembered absolutely nothing about my brief stint with GURPS a billion years ago, and also the fact that I have literally never consumed any MLP media whatsoever. No, not even Friendship is Magic, although I was on tumblr during that initial era so I picked up a thing or two via cultural osmosis. To write this ficlet, I ended up spending a very instructive hour or two on YT watching old clips and commercials, and now the G1 theme song is permanently lodged in my brain.

This has more or less been my first time writing Erica, so I tried to put a lot of thought and care into it. In fact, I based her primarily on what my own little sister was like at that age—my sister was a regular player in my D&D games growing up, but she also went on to be a wildly popular homecoming queen, and is a very politically active adult. She's the coolest person I know, and it was an honor to be lovingly bullied by her all throughout our childhoods.

One thing I really hope I get across in this fic is that this Erica is the type to double down when she's uncertain. She's smart and funny enough to get away with it most of the time, and it's actually a big part of what makes me so sure she'll be a great DM; that's definitely a core DM skill, spinning up some off-the-cuff bullshit with the kind of authoritative tone that makes it sound like you've been masterminding this twist for months.

I wanted her to be somewhat uncertain and insecure in this fic, because running a game for the first time, in a (VERY dense) system you've never played before, is kind of a big deal! I've done something similar myself when I wasn't that much older than Erica is in this fic, and you absolutely need nerves of steel to pull it off.

I also wanted her to be fully resolved not to let that uncertainty show, because Erica strikes me as the kind of person who haaaaates being vulnerable. Given her vocab (i.e. probable reading level) and practical inclinations, I think she'd probably deal with it all by over-prepping, which experienced DM Eddie obviously clocks.

She wouldn't have gone to Eddie for advice or help. That's not how she rolls. She'd rather work through the difficult stuff on her own and show up triumphant and already perfect. It's probably something she's going to have to unpack in therapy later in life, but it is also actually a pretty solid DM instinct. Smoke and mirrors, baby.

So anything Erica says can and should be taken with a grain of salt. She's working very hard to have her audience believe she's in charge and absolutely correct about all things. (I also just thought it was pretty funny to include that bit about GURPS being the future of TTRPGs, given the wild ascendancy of DnD and the relatively low profile of GURPS nowadays, but in retrospect I'm not sure that came across.)

By the way: I know it can get confusing when actual kid-acquisition is sort of a trope, but I hope everyone knows that this Eddie's not being serious/literal when he makes the internal comment about adopting Erica! He just loves her a lot and wants to be in her life in a permanent kind of way, and he's a dramatic dork. If he had to pin down a specific extant familial role he literally wanted with Erica, it would probably be "weird gay uncle." The Sinclair fam seems relatively stable/healthy which is a rarity for these kids, but family can always expand, and Eddie is definitely angling to be another part of Erica's familial-type support network. That's just way too awkward and serious a thing to say, hence: joke about adoption.

I actually didn't mean for the Steddie part to come on so strong, but I put them in Steve's house because I thought it'd be funny to have a bit about Dustin casually breaking in to all their houses, and then it became instantly clear when Steve opened the door that the whole setup would be some kind of wild domestic fantasy for him. Like, in his head Eddie is already 100% wifed up. (Not that I think that would be a particularly comfortable dynamic for Eddie, but Steve's allowed to have his little fantasies.)

And then I just wanted to write a little bit about them being really comfortable with each other and being a team, taking care of each other as they deal with the minor inconveniences of everyday life, working together to look out for kids who are their friends but not quite their peers.

I don't think I got too deep into that particular dynamic, but it's one I'm pretty invested in; they're really only a few years older than the kids, but they're also responsible for the kids' care, and it's a very nuanced thing. I've been on both sides of that, and it's an absolutely incredible gift either way. Having friends who are a little further along their paths than you is amazing; having friends who you can provide for and support is amazing. It gives you so much perspective. I don't think of my mentees (for lack of a better word) as anything like my children, and I don't think Steve and Eddie think of the Party that way either. It's a very specific dynamic that I might need to spend more time on in a later fic.

As for the ending...normally I go hard on the pining, as y'all know by now, but this just felt like a very different thing was happening. Also, one time a girl did pull that "talk about what? lol jk come here" thing on me IRL and it was very cute.

Finally, just because I did in fact come up with them, here are the Party names and pony types:

Dustin: Jester the Pegasus Pony

Lucas: Nettle the Pegasus Pony

Mike: Skullcrusher the Earth Pony

Will: Glint the Unicorn

Eddie: Belladonna the Flutter Pony

[pbandjesse]

Oh man it has been a long day! I am sad that our trip is 3/4 done but today was great. We got to do so many things! I am tired but I feel really good at the same time. I feel happy. 

Pi slept okay last night. I really liked Luca. I didn't know it was a fish boy who turns human, I thought it was the other way around. It was great though and I really enjoyed it. 

But right before I went to sleep, right after I turned off the TV I knocked the remote off the table and thankfully did not knock over my cup of water but I scared the hell out of myself and was all awake for a few minutes because I had scared myself so bad. 

But it was a really good sleep. Waking up was tough. But I knew once I had a little caffeine I would be fixed. I felt a little self conscious today. I don't know why. But I tried to put it out of my head and just enjoy the day.

We decided to split one order of eggs and potatoes and that was actually perfect. I got a soda and Jess brought her coffee from last night. And things were good. 

The bus didn't take quite as long today. It was still very weird seeing the different buses come through but not the one we needed. So strange. But once the bus came it was a quick skip to Hollywood studios. 

This was the park I had the least expectations for. And it was not my favorite day but there was a lot to really enjoy! 

For one the weather was very warm but also absolutely beautiful. When we first left the hotel it was very very cold. But by lunch we were so warm that I had to go take my tights off. I was much better after that. 

We got to hit a lot of things today. Our big goal for the morning was to rope drop the run away train. And this was so fun

 Like I didn't expect it to be as amazing as it was. It was like a 20 minute wait from the moment we got in line. And lucky us they had actually let us in the park before 830. So we got in line and got to enjoy all the decorations and people watching and then we were inside!

I liked how they did this one. We are going in a theater. Then we are seeing a little cartoon where Minnie and Micky are going on a picnic. But then Goofy is driving a train and the engine explodes! And the screen exploded! And we had to walk through the screen! It was so fun! Then once we were all the way through we got to sit in a train car and go on a run away train adventure. And while this one was a lot of screens it was very well integrated and it relied more heavily on projections onto animatronic forms. Which was way better and I really liked. 

This was a really fun ride and I really enjoyed that. 

When we got off we were like. Well that was our only planned ride. So we got to just enjoy wandering in the spaces. 

And we started with Star Wars. I am really glad we got to go over there early because it was a lot less busy then later in the day. We started in that area on Star Tours! Which is supposed to be a pleasure tour through space but that was a lie! I did love seeing all the droids and robots but once we were in our space pod, with our 3D glasses,  we were attacked. And the 3D nature of the ride with the movements made me very dizzy and that I did not enjoy at all. That's okay though. It would pass pretty quick. 

We exited through the gift shop and I saw a porg shoulder friend. I have been interested in these magnetic shoulder guys all week but hadn't found one I liked. And I really liked him. 

When I picked him up I was surprised to find that he had one leg! And I was like. Do they all have one leg? I knew that the porgs were invented out of necessity because there were so many puffins where they were filming. And I was thinking maybe because puffins could stand on one leg? But no! I picked up another and it has two legs! I just happened to immediately find the disabled one. And even though I haven't seen Star wars. I decided I had to get him.

The person at the counter tried to get me to replace him with a bipedal one but I said no. And left with my porg. Who I have named Hopscotch. 

We headed deeper into the Star wars land. And while not as shocking as Pandora was I was still very impressed. The droids, the ships, the costumes. I think it felt more real and less alien then Pandora. It's more desert so I wasn't as transformative but it felt more real. 

As we were walking through someone saw our happy birthday pins and asked if we had celebrated today yet. And we said just being here was the celebration. He asked if we wanted to go to the smugglers cantina. And I wanted to say yes. I didn't actually want a snack yet but I didn't think we would get this chance again. So we said yes and went to find the place. 

When we got there we got in right away. I loved everyone's outfits. And the droid dj playing music. We got the blue milk and cookie. Which was actually a coconut rice milk and tastes like pineapples. It was a little to sweet for us but I drank half of it. The bartenders were teasing me about eating my porg!! Everyone kept saying that. Rude! I would cover his ears. 

We would get to see the mandalorian and baby grogu. I loved seeing the build your own droids but I could not justify paying $200 for it even if I really wanted it. 

We would soon leave Star wars and headed to the Indiana Jones show. Which was super fun. Jess got us a pretzel beforehand and we shared that. I liked seeing the explosions and the storyline about how a movie is made was fun. 

This was not my favorite park but there were a lot of fun things. Like we went into a little museum about Walt Disney and we played our own game where we tried to find all the places they photoshopped the cigarette out of his hands. We even found one where they missed it. And it was really fun seeing the dioramas and sketches and things around how Disney world and land came to be. 

Something I have appreciated more and more is how there is a real separation between the IEP of Disney films and the parks. Like there are places where the films don't come into play at all! I was really surprised by that and I don't even really know why. But it's been fun to see. 

We would go to toy story land and decided to order a sandwich to share but it wouldn't be ready for pickup for an hour. So during that time we actually got a walk on to on the toy story shooting gallery game. Which was also 3D but didn't make me dizzy. I really thought that was fun and I absolutely adored all the giant toys. And taking pictures and just really being immersed. It was great. 

We would go and have our little sandwich. While Jess was waiting to pick up the food I had to be very brave and ask two ladies if we could share their table and they were super nice and let us. I had to go and get a chair from someone else but I was just really happy to sit. 

The sun was beating on us really hard core and we were very hot. This sandwich wasn't the best we've had but it was fine. We decided we would do one more thing and get a Micky ice cream bar and then head back to the room. 

We would get Jess an iced latte and that's when I realized how exhausted I was. I was desperate to take my shoes off and lay down.  

We headed to the bus. This was a longer wait then I wanted. My feet were hurting and I was to warm. But soon the bus was there and I was thrilled. 

We got back to the hotel around 2. And got cozy and fell asleep. 

Jess had thought that setting an alarm from 4 would be so much rest but by I think I only actually slept for an hour. And when we woke up we were STRUGGLING to get up. Like I wasn't sure we were going to go through with it. 

But we did. And we actually got redressed and ready pretty quickly and w we are out the door by 430. 

We stopped to get me a little soda and then to the bus stop again. And this time the bus only took a few minutes and we were the only ones to get on! A whole bus to Hollywood studios just for us. The bus driver was very sweet. And we got there in no time. 

We wandered around to see the things we missed. In and out of shops. We decided to get a little gluten free pizza to share since we had an hour before our reservation we decided to treat this as our appetizer. 

And it was pretty good! We would walk around and see the cats movie stuff. And where the rocking roller coaster is. We took pictures of the sun setting on the Hollywood tower of terror. And then as we walked towards where our restaurant reservation was we saw the Muppets 3d experience. And it has a low wait so I asked if we could go. 

Jess didn't have any feelings about the Muppets but I love them so I was really excited. And Bean bunny is a main character! I loved the show though and thought it was very fun. It was a mix of movie and real life animatronics. But the only one I was disappointed in was Bean! He was all wrong! It was crazy like he looked like a real rabbit and not himself?? All the others looked good? It was very strange. But I tried to not let it bug me because the rest of the show was so good. 

And that took us right to our reservation time. We mottered over to the Sci Fi Dine In theater. 

This was so darling. It was not what I had expected. We got to sit in the backseat of a fake car and there was a movie screen and we watched trailers for 1950's sci Fi and it was so silly and I loved it. The food was fine. And our waitress seemed exhausted. But I loved the experience. It was also a wildly quiet restaurant which was actually really nice after how loud the park was. We paid with the end of our dining gift card. 

And then we were off. The sun has gone down. And we were just people watching. During dinner Jess had looked what else there was to see and said that Tower of Terror had a low wait time. And I said I wanted to try to that. Jess said she had never been on it and it's like the one ride I have really really strong memories of. So even though she was scared she said yes. 

When we got over there it had an 75 minute wait but I said I wanted to do it. And it wasn't even a half hour in the end. The line was actually really fun and I even got to give a little Lin to a child who didn't have any at all and that made me feel good. We also saw a lizard. 

I loved that it's twilight zone themed. And  the ride was better then I remembered. It was an absolute blast. It's funny, I was scared but my brain was more able to know I wouldn't actually get hurt. So I was more excited. I was actually writing this post while in line. And paused writing to ride. And it was amazing. 

Like I still think I liked dinosaur better but this was so fucking fun. Jess screamed so loud. I am sure I did too. I planted my feet on the ground and closed my eyes during the drops and was laughing and screaming and it was so good! We got off and I was so happy and my hands were shaking and it was so fun. It has a short 13 minute wait after that but Jess said she couldn't do it. This is fair. 

We took a few minute break. And then we headed to where I am sitting now. To fantasmic the end of the night show. Pausing writing to watch that. Will return. 

We are in the line for the bus back to the hotel now. That show was excellent. Like I'm just so glad we stayed and saw that! Like I felt like the projections of movie clips was still the weakest part, but the actors (both face and fur) and the pyrotechnics were so outrageously good I was just thrilled. It was so fun and even though we had to leave the park with 10,000 other people it wasn't terrible. We made it out and even stopped to use the bathrooms. And once that happened we were just a hop skip and a jump to the bus. Which is letting us on now. 

We will be going to sleep ASAP. Because tomorrow is our last park day. We going going to the OG. We are going to Magic Kingdom. This is going to be our finale and I'm really looking forward to a good day. 

I hope you all get rested and feel good tomorrow too. Sleep well everyone. Wish us luck! 

[poundfooolish]

1. Was up late packing due to poor time management and general malaise. Did not finish my usual battery of household chores before I leave for extended periods.  2. Got up, took a shower, summoned a driver to get me to the bus station with 40 minutes to go, planning to pick up breakfast at the station

3. Driver takes the most labyrinthian path to the station. 10-15 minute drive takes 25 minutes. There's very little traffic

4. Driver decides, rather than drop me off in an open space, to drop me off right next to another car causing me to squeeze through and drop my glasses

5. Have 10 minutes to run up two flights of stairs, with luggage, buy a ticket, and board the only bus that goes up my way

6. Manage to squeeze on just as the last open row is taken

7. Note that I have not had breakfast and it is a ~3 hour ride up north

8. Make the extremely questionable call to read Ghosts of the Tsunami on the ride up which is a good book but extremely heavy

9. Arrive at my destination, my pickup isn't there, phone network is spotty, it is FREEZING, and I'm STARVING

10. Get a cookie and a drink while I attempt to contact The Folks, get about 3 bites and 0 sips in before they call me and I go meet them

11. I have already told them I want to go eat. We instead go to Reny's to get layers and hats and gloves.

12. Mom attempts to get me to switch to a different restaurant that will take longer to reach without consulting my sister, who is paying. We go to the first restaurant because I’m again, Storving.

13. Heavy food is not a great first meal of the day and I feel a little woozy. I am heckled to eat more. I do not eat as much in a sitting as I used to, I’ve worked my way down to more amenable portions.

14. We split up to head home, we take Milo and Nana so we can bring Nana home. We stop by the grocery. Mom tries to talk me into letting Milo have the spare room to himself and I can sleep in her room with her.

15. Milo is 8 and I am 32, and I agreed to come up early so long as I was able to work from home, for which I need a semi-private space. No I am not amenable to give that up just so he feels 'special' I have a JOB TO DO and also I'm so worn.

16. We take Nana home, and mom decides, spontaneously, that we should invite Milo's cousins over to Nana's house so they can play for a little bit. So this happens.

17. FINALLY we go home. I am able to drink my now well-chilled hot chocolate. I need to drag a table up from the basement so I have a desk to work at.

18. At long last I am given time to decompress. I'm so tired.

  I love my mom and my family but it's so much sometimes and I've already had a very stressy week

[mehulseth]

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Aly loudermilk ws sthe 2023 bakini winnner and she was not even a bodybuilder and can lift this. incredibl weight for a woman. He has a point in that he wants to test out what they're going to do and what they're thinking because it sounds awful and he wants people to hear it now when they're jacked up and he's not and it's not mac proper it's the people here and they can hardly keep their mouth shut he also says it's a benefit I agree and in walking around they'll be making snide comments rude gestures and dumb looks and he misses a lot of it most of it is not really for him 'cause he understands what they're thinking it's really for people who need to see it There is a storm coming and Tommy F really ignores my husband and we can't have that kind of **** there's so much of it they were ignoring it when it comes to law and really it is working and we need to look at our assessments and believe in them. But this is a great idea it will

it will

=educate myi husband a little on the industry the atmosphere attitude and the ropes. novice and amatuers there and can explain it as did fitzpatrick and he smiles good nd is seanskee. and he says this easy no competitive yes.and harsh. but fun. and set goals you can attain them...and he says ti sounds llike rejection and yeh they compete nd like madnes and your physique now is a threat lol oh come on is and you can get bigger they saw it no but ok and we get huge on what you do no but big and he says it

= strt him off trying to make money and big money mb and he will learn which and if he can.

he will see the clothing and see why nd the hours of working out and cost to cmompete and might not be able to as he is stuk and would hve to drive or fly and cannot. and if there is a way to grow it here to pay to go elsewhere. and how they awared money so learning bu a lot.

the tude. check it. hear it. lern it and see how serious it is. and the atmosphere of todaysays the ebike is horror and did not stop and always are t it prob the same if not worse true too. but we need it in and why ad so on

big code see what code it will be for them and us and how it works. whaat it does.

learn promptness no tehy are nuts say it now and it is vulgr so we hit them.

see who is who and who are big and why. he sees the two and chancy himself is trump. smaller older. and sees dve and big but last year. this year who knows we shall see others will see them intimidate hima nd will push back and they shigh away from theevent now already. are passie bullies and on a lone child.

check the cost of doing it. though he will grwo he wil consume calories poushing it.

nd see my husbands internal responses and etxternal. a decent idea. and good by us and others who think. furtther they will see mr and mrs ladish at their best trying to ruin it the whole time

Hera

and good we hear him try to say stuff to say we are not right. we are. tons want to see you two oafs at it ck the past and p resent. and willl help we prinit now for that alone we do it

Thor Freya

Olympus

i cannot allow it. thoough brought it here i wont

clancy

so you are not the owner of the center and dont run it no more

Zues Hera

true was kicked out today

Thor Freya

didnt run it well still do and want tos ee your scrawny body there walkng round limpiinig

chancy

haahahah lol pick on chilldren due to most being able to take you down. but heck it iwll get you killed etrump

Zues Hera true too they are hot for you now

we do this then come on down, im sure we will say tons of stuff and be isulting and get beat up. want yo to see it with your own eyes. and us in shape and all and ok ws not last year and true after nad now i get it the son stuff good no. and has seen people who are naturlly huge. so what we are big too. and should nto be poushed around and by you hahahaha and i admit it so. finie we are whimps

chancy

we do this go and see you mmake an ass out of yourself. and we have to prep here. and bad news porobablyl this storm blows. ok we dont need it i go shut up the laundry and shortly. we see him ther emb tommorrow but no rains so i see it.

mac daddy