#jean never set her little sister on fire so obviously they are having a great relationship right? -wait. what.

[dandelion-wings]

The Barbara-and-Diluc conversation is somehow simultaneously very first-drafty, yet flowing with remarkable ease. My biggest concern had been how to get Diluc concerned about/invested in Barbara and Jean's relationship, but I think it's not actually as big a leap as it seemed like it was going to be?

"Hmmm." Master Diluc keeps looking at her, though his oar-strokes don't falter, steady and straight as he drives them on towards the distant shore of the lake. "I would be more confident if it was only Kaeya. He doesn't always take enough care for his own safety, and I could see him lingering to explore without backup. But I would expect Jean to do the sensible thing and get backup. Moreover, if she had plans with you, I would also expect her to have let you know. That she hasn't is what concerns me." "It's not that strange," Barbara assures him quickly. "She does try to let me know when something comes up, but she can't always do that right away. I do worry a little, sometimes, but I wouldn't have been so worried about this time if Lisa hadn't been worried too." Master Diluc's frown only deepens. "It happens that often?" "She does have a very important job, and without Grand Master Varka here... of course she's busy." "I wouldn't have thought she was *that* busy. I knew she was neglecting herself, but she's always had time for others. Even if it's at her own expense." He's still looking in her direction, but his frown is distant, now, turned inward. Barbara is glad for that, because she *knows* her smile slips for a moment when he says that. She reassembles it quickly. There's no time for her own disappointments, not right now, on such an urgent mission. Not even if Master Diluc has noticed the same thing she has: that for anyone *else*, Jean finds the time, somehow, even if it's only a little, even if it's to her own detriment. They're all second to her duties, but it's only Barbara whom she often can't squeeze in at all. "I don't mind," Barbara says, reminding herself as much as she is assuring him. "As a healer, I have to insist she take some time to herself. If that means we don't get to make up our plans... that's all right." Master Diluc's gaze refocuses on her. "I doubt," he says, a little wryly, "that she's taking any of that time for herself. But that's beside the point." He shakes off the brief glint of humor so quickly that Barbara almost doubts she'd seen it. "It doesn't seem fair for her to make time in her schedule for paperwork and visits to the Dawn Winery, but not for you. Did you have a quarrel?" It *isn't* fair. Hearing that from someone else's lips makes unexpected resentment surge through her, rising almost to her throat before Barbara swallows it back down. Jean's not being unfair; she's only expecting Barbara to remember their upbringing as Gunnhildrs and understand the depths of her duty the way no one else can be expected to. Forcing the unworthy feeling away, Barbara focuses on the strange question Master Diluc had leapt to. ...Or maybe not so strange. Barbara isn't sure exactly what happened between him and Sir Diluc, but she knows their relationship is troubled. Jean has fussed about it now and then when she actually has managed to spend time with Barbara.

[bruhstories]

Dazed and Confused

Summary: You and Connie have been friends for ten years, crushing on each other like a bunch of idiots who can't confess their feelings for one another. Until you go on a trip with your friends. Pairing: Connie Springer x Fem!Reader Warnings & Content: 18+, language, oral sex (female & male receiving), unprotected sex, weed smoking, alcohol consumption, f l u f f Word Count: 4.2 k

A/N: I got so pissed at that last anon that I finished this oneshot quicker lol. @fiaficsxo here it is!

You loved parties. Not the loud music and thick smoke, not the booze and smell of vomit, but your friends. Every time they gathered at someone's place, your heart fluttered, filled with happiness and content and long-lasting memories.

Connie had the brilliant idea of spending a week in the mountains during your spring break, and you wasted an entire night searching for the perfect cottage to rent. Luckily everyone was down with his suggestion, the only problem was how you'd sleep. Historia obviously wanted to share a room with Ymir. Mikasa and Eren were an item now, so they'd have to sleep together. Armin wanted to try his luck with Annie, so no one objected to that. Jean declared that he wanted to bunk with Connie, like the two eligible bachelors they were, and that left you and Sasha to share a room together. You didn't mind it, in all honesty you loved Sasha with all your heart — but you secretly hoped someone would pick up on your feelings for Connie and let you sleep with him. You weren't that lucky.

You packed your bag the night before the trip, obsessively ticking everything on your list and double checking every item and pocket. It was ready, with one item missing — the white lace babydoll smoothed on your dorm bed. You chewed the pen cap, debating whether to bring it with you or not. You bought it for special occasions, but you haven't had a dick appointment in a long time, and you doubted you'd have one this week. With a shrug, you decided to bring it — you never know what might happen. Nighttime passed quickly and you soon found yourself all dolled up, albeit still sleepy from all the tossing and turning, excited to make more memories with your friends.

The train station was packed with people, especially students who went back to their hometowns for the break, and you were relieved to find Armin and Mikasa there. You three were always punctual, followed by Jean and Annie. Eren, Sasha and Connie were always late, which is why you told them the train leaves at 7 am instead of 7:30. It was a dirty strategy, but no one wanted to miss such a fun opportunity because of those lazy fuckers. And lo and behold, they decided to appear at 7:15.

"That was some good thinking." Jean shook his head, hand sympathetically placed on your shoulder.

"I'm only glad you guys rolled with it." You laughed without noticing the way Connie stared at you, and even he didn't understand exactly what he felt. Was he grumpy because he hated morning, or was it Jean's hand on you that irked him?

"It's not polite to stare." Sasha pulled Connie out of his thoughts.

"I wasn't staring, I was looking." Connie rolled his eyes, gripping the handle of his suitcase a bit too tightly.

"I just don't get it why you don't tell her you like her." The girl popped a bubblegum baloon, proceeding to chew it very loudly.

"Are you kidding me? She obviously likes Jean. Look how she's laughing!"

Sasha placed an arm on his shoulder, a sheepish smile on her face. "You, my friend, are a dumbass."

"Takes one to know one."

To say that your friends were loud during the train ride was an understatement. They didn't really care about the nasty glares other passengers shot at them, opting to talk, sing, eat and practically embarrass themselves. But two hours later you arrived, and the fresh, crisp air of the mountains was a blessing. You didn't regret coming, all of you deserved a break after all the exams, studying and all-nighters you guys pulled.

"We could visit the military museum!" Armin suggested, but Connie scrunched his nose.

"We came here to get high, drink and spend time together, why the fuck would we visit some old ass building?"

"I'd like to go to the museum." You awkwardly smiled, earning a 'see?' from the blond. Mikasa, Eren and Annie backed you up, and since it was a democracy, you ended up leaving your bags at the cottage and touring the small town to find the military museum. The building wasn't massive, and inside it was dark, with crimson carpets and dim lights. It was actually quite a romantic atmosphere, had it not been for the weapons and armours displayed in glass cases. Connie watched you intently, taking in every movement, every flinch, every hair tucking, every scrunch of your cute nose. You absorbed the information, hungry for knowledge. This was something you and Connie didn't share — yes, you were down to drinking and smoking, but you were also eager to learn and study, while he always preached how 'you can always retake an exam but you can't relive a party.' He wasn't stupid by any means, but unlike you, Jean, Armin and Mikasa — who alwaysstudied and never skipped lectures — Connie would wing it and somehow end up getting better grades. His strategy didn't always work, and sometimes, when you were in college, he'd ask you to tutor him. Now you were second year undergraduates, and while you were studying different subjects, you still made time for each other.

"That's a nice, uhh..." Connie squinted, "...shotgun."

"It's a musket." You chuckled, your fingers accidentally brushing his as you turned around to face him.

"Shotgun, musket, same thing."

"Actually, muskets are muzzle-loaded and fire a single bullet, but shotguns pack multiple pellets in one shell." You explained. "I'm sorry, you're probably not interested in my ramblings."

"No, no, it's... interesting. I just wasn't expecting you to know so much about guns." He rubbed his nape and smiled at you.

"Well, I do study history, in case you forgot."

"How could I forget that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" You awkwardly elbowed Connie. Why was it so hard for you to just tell him your feelings? Oh, right, because you've been friends for ten years and if he didn't like you back, it would only ruin a great friendship.

"It means you brag about it so much it's kind of hard to forget." He told you, quickly realising just how insulting that sounded.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that's how you felt..." You sighed, eyes darting back to the weapons.

"No, I didn't- forget it." Connie shook his head. Well played.

Back at the cottage, with enough food and booze to last the group a month, you decided to stay in your room for the rest of the day. It wasn't the first time you had embarrassing moments with Connie, but this particular one made you anxious to be around him. Did he really dislike you that much, or was it just friendly banter? If you were to ask him, you could find out, but every scenario in your head had a bad outcome, so avoiding him for now was the smartest choice. Sasha pleaded with you to spend the evening in the living room with everyone else, but you brushed her off, telling her you weren't feeling quite well.

"Text me if you need anything." She told you before leaving. It was immature to act this way, you knew that all too well, but it wasn't like Connie cared, right? You eventually decided to go downstairs after finishing a long episode of your favourite tv show, your stomach begging for nourishment. As silently as possible, you tiptoed behind the couch. The hallway was dim, the sun had already set, and the only lights were the ones from the wide TV screen in the living room where your friends were watching some corny horror movie. You could cut the suspense and tension with a knife, and when you dropped a teaspoon, everyone jumped.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just me!"

"Jesus Christ, Y/N, you almost gave me a heart attack." Jean got up from the floor and walked behind the couch. "How are you feeling? Sasha said you're ill."

"I'm fine, don't worry." You picked the spoon up and threw it in the sink. "It's just a headache, I'll sleep it off."

"Good, we need you here." The man wrapped an arm around you. "You're missing how Connie's crapping his pants at this shitty movie."

From the outside it would seem like you and Jean were a couple, but the truth was far from it. You two grew up together, his family was friends with your family, and what you had was nothing more than a brother-sister relationship. Jean's little remark earned a disgruntled look from Connie, you quickly picked up on that, and so you playfully jabbed him in the stomach.

"Connie's crapping his pants? You're the one who almost had a heart attack." You grinned.

"Oi, that was only because you dropped your stupid spoon. I was invested in the movie."

"Mhm, sure you were."

"Hey, you sure you don't want to join us?" Mikasa waved at you from the living room. You pondered over her question. Perhaps it wouldn't be too awkward to sit with them.

"Alright, sure, why not?"

"Come, sit next to me." Sasha shuffled to the side, but what she really meant by that was 'sit next to Connie', because she shuffled to the otherside.

The following two nights were surprisingly quiet, all you did was play board games, watch movies and walk around the town taking pictures. The tension between Connie and you seemed to dissipate, and you both forgot the unpleasant interaction you had on the first day. But on the fourth night, that's when shit hit the fan. Annie and Armin left for a date, and Eren and Mikasa wanted to spend the night alone in their room, leaving you, Sasha, Jean and Connie unsupervised, bored and tipsy. There was absolutely nothing good to watch on the TV, and you almost wanted to scream when your friends wanted to play truth or dare. It was one of those games you despised, because the whole point of it was to put the players in uncomfortable situations. And you didn't like being uncomfortable, unlike your friends.

"Jean, truth or dare?" Sasha beamed.

"Dare, duh."

"Alright, I dare you to switch roommates for the rest of the week." She sipped her blackberry cider.

"Okay? So, I'll stay with Y/N, then."

Good lord, if looks could kill, Connie's would annihilate Jean and Sasha off the face of the Earth.

"No, no, you'll stay with me. Y/N will stay with Connie."

"Eh? Why does your dare involve us?" You asked, confused and curious of your friend's proposal.

"Because." She shrugged. "Don't pussy out."

"I'm not pussying out. A dare's a dare." Jean scoffed. "I'm gonna go take my shit in your room and shower."

"Y-yeah, I'll go bring mine, too." You got up, using this time to hyperventilate alone. What the fuck was Sasha even thinking? Was this some stupid joke? But your friends wouldn't harm you, so why would she suggest such a stupid thing?

You took a quick shower before curling up in the bed, blankets covering you from neck to toe. Connie wasn't back yet, and you didn't want to go after him, that would just be odd. You were hoping you'd fall asleep before he returned, to avoid any unnecessary fuss, but just as you closed your eyes, the door opened. Maybe you could pretend you were asleep? He struggled to find his pyjamas in the dark, stumbling over furniture and knocking things down, and you turned the bedside lamp on to ease his search.

"Did I wake you up?" Connie bit his lower lip, and through the dim light you watched the way his grey eyes glistened, the way his short brown hair was ruffled, and how the sage green t-shirt hugged his toned abdomen.

"No, no, 's alright. I wasn't sleeping. I can't exactly fall asleep." You clutched the blanket at your chest as you shook the intrusive thoughts away. Connie was your friend, damn it, there was no room for romance between you.

"I can sleep on the floor if you want."

"Oh, God, no, it's... stiff."

"Um, yeah, it kinda is. Alright then, I'll jump in the shower real quick before going to bed." He stumbled into the bathroom and you really wanted to fall asleep now.

But you couldn't. Every time you closed your eyes, Connie's face popped in your head. So much for resting. You tossed and turned on the mattress, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but nothing helped. It didn't take long for him to finish his shower, and you mentally chastised yourself for not falling asleep when you felt him shuffle under the same blanket that was covering you. For a minute, you didn't utter a word, you barely breathed, afraid to disturb the silence in the room.

"Are you asleep?"

"Nope." You heard the click of Connie's phone and turned around. You couldn't see him, but you could hear him.

"Do you wanna talk about something? Until we fall asleep, I mean." You suggested.

"Hmm, sure." He turned on his side and you felt his breath fanning over your cheeks. You were too close to him. "Actually, d'you wanna smoke?"

"Aren't the others gonna be mad if we smoke without them?"

"They don't have to know. Besides, you and I never smoked together." Connie was already up, rummaging through his backpack with the flashlight of his phone. "And then we can talk as much as you want."

"Alright, I'm down."

You laid on the floor, your head next to Connie's as you looked at the ceiling, smoke leaving your lips. He took the joint from you, fingers touching yours and you blushed, the haze of the weed melting your worries away.

"Do you want me to skip the song?" Connie asked, and for a moment you forgot there was a song playing.

"No, I like it." You confessed. "I didn't know you liked Led Zeppelin."

"There's lots of things you don't know about me, Y/N." He passed you the joint.

"Okay, tell me something else I don't know."

"I like it when you randomly say historical or scientific facts."

"Didn't you say I brag too much about it?" You took one final drag before you stubbed the joint out in a makeshift ashtray filled with a bit of water. By this point you were high as a kite, every trace of rationality gone.

"That doesn't mean I don't like it." Connie smiled and you could feel it in his voice. "Now you tell me something I don't know about you."

"I can't sleep with open doors. It freaks me out." You sat up, a breeze blowing through the window sending shivers down your spine. "It's a bit cold, do you mind if I close the window?"

"Go ahead."

You got up and picked the ashtray up but before you could close the window, you stumbled over a chest of drawers, the ashes mixed with water spilling over your t-shirt.

"You okay?" He quickly crawled to you, concern written all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm just clumsy." You laughed it off and waved your free hand. "I'll go get changed, I should have a spare shirt."

But you didn't have a spare shirt. All you had was that stupid white babydoll, and anxiety seeped through your veins. You couldn't exactly show up in that in front of your crush. And you didn't want to ask him for a shirt either. Fuck it, what else could you do?

You peeked out the bathroom door and saw Connie back in bed, lazily scrolling through his phone. God, this was embarrassing.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." He laughed, but when your facial expression didn't change, he frowned. "Y/N?"

"Um, so, I didn't have a spare shirt and- Jesus, this is awkward." You opened the door and his eyes widened. "Is it alright if I sleep in this?"

"Oh, I get it now." Connie scoffed.

"Get what?"

"You were hoping you'd share a room with Jean, right?" He sounded almost disgusted.

"Excuse you? Where did you even get that idea?" You slammed the bathroom door shut, arms folded across your chest.

"I'm not stupid, Y/N. I've seen the way you two act. Do yourselves a favour and just fuck already."

You were speechless. Completely reactionless. The weed amplified your anger, but his words brought tears to your eyes.

"You... you fucking asshole! You think I brought this for Jean? I brought it for you!"

"Eh? M-me?" Connie was confused, and you were pissed.

"Yes, you. Jean's like a brother to me, oh my God! Ew!"

"Wait, so you and Jean are not in love with each other?"

"In love?? Connie, how high are you exactly?" You walked closer to the bed, arms still crossed.

"But- Fuck, I am stupid." He shook his head, the memories of you flirting with him flashing before his eyes. "I fucked up, didn't I?"

"A bit..." Your muscles relaxed and you sat on the mattress. "Really, Connie, I... I like you. A lot. But you're always giving me mixed signals."

"That's because I always thought you liked Jean!" He threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

"No, you're the only one."

"Huh, guess I've really been dazed and confused."

Calloused fingertips ran across your hips leaving goosebumps in their trail. Your hands roamed his back and the way Connie kissed you was better than any high you've ever experienced. He was touch-starved, and you were just as needy. His knee found its place between your thighs and you moaned when it barely brushed your cunt.

"I've been dreaming for this moment for as long as I can remember." Connie breathed into your neck, the hot breath tickling your skin.

"Me too, you blind bat." You laughed and he turned you over, hovering over you.

"'M sorry I didn't notice quicker." He kissed you again. One hand travelled lower, pushing your underwear to the side before he pushed two fingers between your folds. "Fuck, you're so wet."

"Well, at least now I don't have to finger myself thinking about you." You whimpered with a grin.

"Oh?" Connie arched a brow. "Is that what you've been doing?" He curled up his fingers and you threw your head back with a moan. "I thought you were a prude."

"T-there's lots of things you d-don't know about m-me!" You replied back between oh’sand ah’s, imitating his words from an hour ago. That only earned a sneer from Connie, his head dipping between your thighs. "Wait, what are you do- ooh fuck!"

His tongue lapped at your cunt, fingers pumping in and out of you, and you completely sunk into the mattress, moaning his name over and over again. You gripped the sheets, flexing the muscles in your legs as you squirmed and thrashed. Connie stopped and you almost crushed his skull with your thighs at the empty feeling. He pulled your underwear down and shoved the cotton panties in your mouth.

"Don't wake everyone up, Y/N. You don't want them knowing what a little slut you are, do you?"

You shook your head and Connie went back to circling your clit with his tongue, adrenaline rushing through your entire body with each lick, each suck. Tears of pleasure pooled at your eyes, nose and cheeks red from the thrill of your incoming orgasm. The way he was sloppily eating your pussy and moaning while doing it drove you insane, and within seconds you came undone, thighs trembling with delight. In fact, you were so sore you had to push his head back, begging him to stop so you could return the favour.

"You taste so sweet." Connie licked his lips. You don't know what possessed you to pull him into a kiss after you removed the makeshift gag, but he was right, you were sweet.

"Can I...?" Your eyes drifted down to his twitching cock, your voice soft and quiet.

"You wanna suck it?"

"Yes."

"Later. Right now, I wanna fuck you."

Connie gave you no time to protest, his elbow pushed one of your things to the side, the blushing tip of his cock grazing over your overstimulated clit, up and down your slit. Inch by inch it disappeared into your cunt and he let out a satisfied sigh. You bucked your hips, manicured nails digging into his shoulders with each thrust.

"Shit, you're so fucking tight!" Connie growled, head lowering to kiss you. You could still taste yourself on his lips and that only made you clench your spongy walls around his cock. That seemed to please him, because he rocked his hips harder and faster. "You like it?"

"Oh, God, yes!" You gasped, beads of sweat forming on your forehead as you clawed his back.

"Fuck, I want you to ride me." He gripped your hips tighter and turned you over. You tried your best to get in the new position without letting his cock slip out of you, and when you finally adjusted yourself, it was a whole new challenge. Gravity pulled you down, and his tip brushed your cervix, your eyes squinting at the slight pain. "If it hurts, stop-"

"No!" You cried out, your hands resting on his chest. You bounced up and down, the uncomfortable feeling slowly replaced with pleasure. Connie's hands traced your thighs as you rode him, another wave of heat flushing through your core. His palm met your cunt, thumb circling over your clit. "I can't c-come again!"

"Yes, you can. And you will cream on my cock."

The disgust words worked like magic and you flexed your thighs, bouncing faster, head thrown back, hair cascading down your back. "You're so beautiful, Y/N."

"Connie, I-" The words stopped in your throat, the pressure too much for you to handle.

"You what?"

"I'm- oh, God!"

"Atta girl!" He praised you when he felt your silken walls relaxing and your thighs quaking. The second orgasm was so intense you let yourself fall over his chest, dizzy and tired. You thought he'd give you a break, but Connie wrapped an arm around your back, holding you in place before giving your oversensitive cunt a few more thrusts. "Now you can return the favour."

You mustered up some strength to get up and kneel in front of the bed, between his legs.

"Please don't come in my mouth." You asked him before wrapping your pretty lips around his cock.

"Gotchaah-" Connie choked on his words when he felt himself in your hot mouth. You bobbed your head up and down, cheeks hollowed and eyes on him. You didn't break eye contact when you pulled away and spat on the tip, hand pumping his cock to smear the spit. "Hot." He mumbled before you went back to sucking. You felt the throbbing, tightening your lips around him and picking up the pace. "Y/N-"

It all happened in a flash — Connie yanked your hair and pulled your head back, thick ropes of milky white cum shooting all over your face and neck.

"Eew!" You scrunched your nose, hand under your chin to stop it from dripping down the floor.

"What do you mean ew? That's, like, a billion kids!"

"Actually, a fertile man produces around-"

"Don't start. Do not." He pressed his index finger over your lips. "Let's get you cleaned up."

You woke up sore, especially between your thighs, but damn, was it worth it. Connie wrapped an arm around your waist, mumbling something about how pretty you are, but you assumed he was still sleeping — or still high. The sun shone through the blinds and you squinted, annoyed by the brightness, and so you turned around, watching the way your crush snored peacefully.

"Cute." You smiled and planted a kiss on his forehead, waking him up. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Why?" Connie rubbed his eyes. "Waking up to you is a blessing."

You couldn't hide the tinting of your cheeks and the grin on your lips. "I didn't think you were the romantic type."

"There's lots of things-"

"I don't know about you. But I'd like to know those things. If you let me, of course." You bit your lower lip, eyes filled with hope.

"Can I be your boyfriend?" He sat up, his eyes serious.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Okay, so maybe Sasha knew a thing or two when she dared Jean to switch roommates.

You walked into the kitchen after getting ready for the day, with Connie following behind you. Everyone was eating their breakfast, and Jean instantly dashed to you.

"Connie, bro, take me back. Sasha's leaving crumbs all over the bed! I can't sleep like that!"

"I can't, man, I wanna spend the rest of the week with my girlfriend." He sneered and you elbowed him.

"I forgot to mention Jean's overprotecti-"

"Your what? Hands off my sister from another mister, you creep!"

"Creep? You're the one who was sexting someone's sister last night." Sasha chimed in, mouth full of cereal.

"Thanks, Sash." Jean rolled his eyes. "For real, how did this happen?"

"You see, mate, when a man and a woman love each other-"

"Nope. I will not hear this."

[amidstsaltandsmoke]

Hey! How about 113&90 or 133&68? Of course you can pick one or all or none, lol! I hope you're doing great!! 🤗🤗

Hiii!!! Thank you so much for sending these!! I've gone ahead with 113 ("I prefer blondes") & 90 ("Trust me") and I have zero idea where this idea came from, but some of it made me laugh, so I hope you enjoy my attempt at humor!! 🤣 I had to make a special moodboard for this one, too. I hope you're doing well!!! 💛

__________________________________

It was an ordinary day at the shop. Another day of people reminding her that she was stupidly alone and would probably never be the customer coming in to choose a nice, sexy piece for her (non-existent) partner or the girlfriend on the receiving end.

At least she had her work friends to complain to, although half of them were off the market, too. Dany never could figure out what it was about her that seemed to deflect men rather than attract them to her. Doreah had promised that, objectively speaking, Dany didn’t suffer from resting bitch face. Missandei proclaimed that she was just so beautiful, it was intimidating. Val added onto that, saying that most probably assumed she was already spoken for.

She was in the back room double checking inventory when Doreah all but broke the swinging door down, hissing her name. “Dany! He’s back!”

“Who?” Frowning, it took Dany a second to understand who she meant. Then, she rolled her eyes. “Oh. It doesn’t matter, Doreah, he very clearly had a girlfriend the last couple of times he was in.”

The least she could do was not drool atop their merchandise over a man who was probably trying to help his girlfriend spice things up in the bedroom. While it was a little unusual that there had been so frequent of visits within a short span of time - four times in two weeks, not that she was paying that close attention - there was no point in making it extra awkward for everyone.

He was extremely pleasing to look at, and yes, behind the scenes she had suggested to the girls some explicit things she might like to do with him if ever she had the chance, but a fifth return said something was either working or very much...not. The last thing she wanted to do was verbalize one of those thoughts she may or may not had fantasized about once or twice or...more. She would fire herself on the spot.

“In the last three years in this hell, how many times have you seen the girlfriend hang around outside of the store while her boyfriend does all the perusing?”

Dany shrugged, checking off a few boxes on her clipboard while she hooked several pairs of silky lace panties through her arm to help her keep count. “I don’t know, maybe that’s their thing? Maybe he surprises her and they have perfect, steamy sex.”

The first time he came in, the brunette woman joined him. He looked completely lost and overwhelmed by it all, and on at least two occasions he had locked eyes with Dany when she was trying to discreetly check him out. Mortified at how red his face had turned, she had busied herself rearranging their fragrances that hadn’t needed arranging. There had been some giggling and the woman had squeezed his arm, and Dany tried to avoid having to help them as much as possible, and that included each subsequent appearance after that, even when the brunette kept to herself outside the store. To the point where Dany put Val on the floor so that she could sit back and just ogle him guiltlessly.

Dany saw the way his girlfriend peeked in, beaming at him, probably trying to get a feel for what he would bring home that evening.

“Right, well plot twist: he has asked for you,” Doreah jabbed her finger into Dany’s back.

Spinning around on her heel, her braid whipping around her shoulders, Dany fumbled over her words. “No-no he did not! He doesn’t even know my name.”

“Obviously not!” Doreah chortled, then took hold of Dany’s shoulder with a shake. “He asked for a blonde, and when I pointed to Val, he said - and I quote - ‘the one with the blue eyes’.”

Dany blinked, her inhale suddenly hostage in her chest, shaking her head vehemently. “No, he’s definitely confused - it can’t be the same guy-”

“Get your cute little arse out there and find out for yourself, then!”

Just as pugnacious as she was when she came in to deliver the news, Doreah spun Dany around and forced her back into the main floor. She yiped and instantly wished a sink hole would appear under her feet and take her under, what with the obnoxious entrance she’d just made, the door smacking against the wall and every set of eyes boring into her.

Including his.

Doreah would not live to see another day after today.

Quietly, she cleared her throat, while everyone else went back to their browsing, but for the man who was the subject of her favorite dreams as of late. He turned to face her fully, still at the other end of the store across from her, and he fit his hands into his overly-tight jean pockets. A smile spread across his face, and stupidly, she looked over her shoulder, just to confirm that Doreah hadn’t been behind her. And finally, the cherry on top of the cake was when his eyes then drifted down to her arm, where she still had a whole armful of panties still attached.

Bleeding hells!

Hastily she yanked the door open behind her, Doreah right there and proud of herself, Dany stuffed her clipboard and the pile of undergarments into the woman’s arms. “I hope you enjoy your last few hours alive!” Dany whispered harshly, but that only made her friend splutter with joy.

Going back out, she squared her shoulders and folded her hands in front of her before approaching the obscenely attractive man. She couldn’t help but quickly sweep the area with her eyes just to be sure he wasn’t in other company. There didn’t appear to be anyone outside the open doors, either.

She stopped in front of him, and was horrified to discover, at the most inconvenient moment, that she didn’t know what words were. Her private dreams and distant stalking did not do him justice.

“Hello,” he supplied first.

For a beat, her mouth hung open without a sound until she finally managed, “Hi.”

“So-”

“I heard-”

She grit her teeth together and her cheeks lit on fire, the pair of them laughing awkwardly and immediately averting their eyes to anything but each other.

At the very least, it broke some of the tension. Dany gestured with her hand at the wall behind him, where various colorful, matching sets of lingerie were displayed. “Did you need help finding something?”

“Ah,” he sucked in a breath, briefly following the motion to see what she was referring to, but quickly looked back at her, hand scratching his head, “well, yeah, sort of...I, uh,” he cleared his throat gently. She was glad to know she wasn’t the only one who was nervous, but it was making her anxious, so she took matters into her own hands.

“Might I suggest the purple?” She crossed the floor to one of their mannequins donning one of their more flimsy pieces, silky and shiny bra and the thong to match. With one hand palm up, she tried to gauge his reaction as she pointed it out to him. “It compliments brown hair and fair skin quite nicely.”

His dark brow wrinkled a little, but he followed her, stopping a few feet away and not paying the fiberglass model any mind. Maybe they were fighting...so she had a better idea.

She thrust her finger up in the air to stop him from needing to explain any further, beckoning for him to follow her. They stopped, now, at something a bit more complicated, a red number where the lace bra barely covered the breasts and had a strap that wound around the neck and connected to the middle between the breasts. The panties were attached to a garter and stockings.

This time around, he flushed adorably, and she stored that away in her mind for later. If there was to be any joy found in this encounter, it might be so that she could torture his bashfulness.

“Actually...I’m...not here to shop for anyone else,” he explained, and slowly, she understood, nodding slowly, her mouth forming an ‘o’. Their bed play included some form of role reversal. She wasn’t here to judge anyone’s kinks, or preferences, not especially working for a lingerie shop. And, if it turned out that she was wrong, and perhaps he wasn’t into the ladies at all, at least she knew she never had a chance to begin with.

“Ooh, I see. Well, unfortunately we don’t have anything marketed towards men’s fashions right at this time-” an idea she needed to propose to their marketing and product team, “-but I’m sure we could find something that fits your fancy?”

Dany freely let herself measure him by way of a quick observation - he wore a fitted black tee, so it wasn’t difficult to see that he kept in great shape. Broad, muscled shoulders, biceps fighting to stay within the confines of the short sleeves, lean compact perfection. His thighs? Thick. Great for getting ones’ head trapped between. Uncaring as to what was left of her professional decency, she grabbed his arm to keep him still and rounded him, almost forgetting herself too much and just barely biting her tongue to not whistle. His ass? Perseus could never.

Just as she was moving to guide him toward another area with slightly larger sizes that could accompany his physique, a hand gently caught her wrist, and it was gone in the next breath, but she stopped, facing him once more. He’d stepped in closer, almost invading her space. “No, it’s not any of that,” he chuckled lightly. Then he word vomited, and she didn’t think he could possibly get any more chart-breaking attractive, but she was certain her eyes had shaped themselves into hearts. “Ah, fuck. I’m just gonna say it. I saw you in here a few weeks ago when I was here - I never come to the mall by the way, just...anyway, no offense. I stopped and I was with my sister-in-law and she told me I should try to chat you up...but I thought, who in their right bloody mind casually drops into a sexy lingerie store to hit on someone?”

He huffed dubiously, but she was half in love with him already.

“So, I bowed out like a coward, but obviously I kept coming back, and Margaery - that’s my sister-in-law, the brunette - tagged along for moral support, while I was pretending to be interested in…,” he looked about them by way of explaining, “I mean, not that I’m not - in fact, I am-”

Her toothy grin was so large by now that it actually hurt. Charmingly he rumpled up his face and scratched the back of his neck, then brought both of his hands in front of him and accentuated the space there as he made a go of it again. “What I’m desperately trying to say, and failing at, is...would it be super weird to ask you out? It’s so shallow, I know, and completely not like me; you’re just so beautiful and I know nothing about you-”

Dany couldn’t take it anymore. She kissed him, and he gasped through his nose, frozen in place for a beat until he finally relaxed and put a careful hand on her hip, leaning closer to her. She broke away, the taste of cinnamon lingering on her tongue, either from a mint or gum he must have just had. Peering up at him from beneath her eyelashes, she just needed to be sure…

“You’re sure that wasn’t your girlfriend with you?”

His head nodded once to punctuate his reply. “Positive. She’s my brother’s wife. And...I much prefer blondes, anyway. Trust me.”

“Okay,” she muttered, putting a little space between them, and going warm all over when she remembered where they were, and how about the entire store was putting their heads together and giggling and staring. “I have…,” she glimpsed at her watch, her heart sinking, “...three hours left.”

“I can wait,” he said, and when she was beginning to think he meant he would have the audacity to wait in here and distract her, he clarified, “I mean, I have some errands I can run, and then…?”

“I don’t even know your name,” she blurted with realization.

“Oh, right,” he chuckled, “it’s Jon.”

“Dany,” she returned, holding out her hand. He shook it with a gentle squeeze. After they took their hands back, she made sure nobody was within earshot when she closed in on him again. “Then it’s a date. Under one condition…”

His clear grey eyes narrowed down at her.

“Which one?” Her dark brows jumped and she clandestinely used her eyes to motion to the items on display.

“What? Wait…,” his voice lowered to a rumble, lips barely moving, “seriously?”

Gods, if he only knew the images that she had conjured up in her mind pre-meeting…

“Mhm,” she hummed.

“Uh…,” he was good, very good, as he pretended that he was carrying on a conversation with her while his hand scratched his bearded face, trying to make a hurried decision. She saw the glint in his eye when he had decided, never taking her attention off of him. His gaze dropped down to her lips before drifting back to her eyes. “Third rack by the front…,” she gave a secretive, sidelong look in that direction, “the fourth row down in the second column. Yellow.”

Her eyes widened a hair. “Oh,” she breathed, her chest going tight. It was one of those numbers that, when not on a hanger or mannequin, was difficult to figure out how to get on, but it was a good thing this was her expertise. She swallowed thickly. “May I ask...why yellow?”

Jon reddened exquisitely. “Well... the last time I was here, one of your colleagues was heavily suggesting the best colors that complimented blue eyes, so…,” to her surprise, he skimmed her thumb over the apple of her cheek, just under her blue eyes.

Doreah. That sneaky little shit. It was a script they sometimes followed when a guest first came in, a starting point to help guide them in the right direction and ease nerves, but this was deliberate.

Dany owed Doreah an extra life, now.

“Alright,” she conceded, beaming. “See you at five?”

Jon smirked. “See you at five.”

[billysahoe]

(I feel I’m) In The Mood Also on AO3

Steve goes into a corn maze to find Billy, they get high, they hook up. 

Steve felt like shit. Nancy had called him bullshit and broke up with him, out of nowhere. Steve didn’t get what he had done wrong. They were supposed to go to Tina’s halloween party together tomorrow, but now he didn’t want to go anymore. He couldn’t show up without a date, right? No, he couldn’t. He needed to clear his head. Going for a drive would help.

Steve got into his car, pushed his Foreigner tape into the player and turned up the volume. I Want to Know What Love is started playing. Steve turned it up even more. He drove with the windows open, not really knowing where he was going. He kept pushing the pedal, singing along to the music. he was probably going too fast, but he didn’t care. it was late and the roads were basically empty. Suddenly Steve noticed a car parked further ahead, nearly in the corn. He slowed down when he got closer to the car. It had Californian plates. Inside there was a red headed girl sitting in the passenger seat, looking upset. Steve had never seen the car or this girl before. Tourists maybe? Steve parked his car behind the Californian car and got out. He softly knocked on the passenger side window. “Are you okay?” he asked the girl. She didn’t hear him, obviously. She opened the window a bit and gave him a mean stare, not saying anything. “I said are you okay?” Steve repeated. The girl rolled her eyes. “I’m waiting for my step brother. Leave me alone.” Steve could see she was shivering. “Is your brother in the maze? How long have you been sitting here?” Steve asked. The girl shrugged. “A while. My step brother is an asshole, he won’t be back before he thinks I’ve learned my lesson or something dumb like that.” Steve felt sorry for the girl. “Do you want me to go look for him?” he offered. The girl looked away. “Don’t bother.” she mumbled. Steve decided to do it anyway. He went back to his car and grabbed his flashlight. He then noticed his bat. Should he take it? Maybe the girls brother was still out there because he was being chased by some upside down shit. Maybe the guy was just an asshole like the girl had said. Steve grabbed the bat. Before going into the maze he walked up to the girl one more time. “What’s your brother’s name?” He asked her. “Billy.”

Steve turned on the flashlight and stepped into the maze. It really was dark in there, how could that guy -Billy- see anything? “Billy? are you here?” he called out. No reply. Also no creepy rustling in the corn. Steve took it as a win. He got to the first split and decided to go left. How big was this maze even? Steve took a right turn the next. He called out for Billy again but no reply. Maybe the guy could hear him but just decided to not respond. It was probably kinda creepy to be in a maze and then hear a stranger shout out your name. Stupid. “Billy, your sister sent me!” Steve tried. Still no response. He kept walking through the maze for what felt like hours. The maze seemed really big. Or maybe he had just passed the same spots multiple times already, but everything looked the same so Steve had no idea. What if he couldn’t find his way out of the maze? What if he couldn’t find his way out of the maze and there was a demogorgon in the maze? Steve shivered. He came to a dead end with a pile of corn in the middle. Someone was laying in the pile. “Billy?” Steve tried. The guy sat up. “Who the fuck are you and why do you keep calling for me?” He groaned. Steve pointed the flashlight at him. Billy was tan, blonde curls and bright eyes. He was dressed in a leather jacket and tight jeans. Steve had to admit, the boy looked good. “Don’t fucking shine that at me.” Billy growled. He got up from the corn pile and slapped the flashlight out of Steve’s hands. it turned off when it hit the ground. “Dude, I needed that! And your sister is waiting for you. She seems kinda cold. You should head back.” Billy snickered. “The little bitch couldn’t even come out and get me herself, huh? And she isn’t my sister.” Billy pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. He looked at the bat in Steve’s hand. “So, you’re saying my sister asked you to look for me and you decided to bring that creepy ass bat? Wow, she must have said some really nasty shit about me.” Steve scratched the back of his head. “Not really, just eh, precaution.” He picked up the flashlight and tried to turn it on, but it was dead. Neither of them said anything for a while, the only sound being the wind softly blowing through the corn.

“Well, you found me, you can now leave me alone and tell that shitbird that I’m not coming until I feel like it.” Billy said to Steve. Steve shook his head. “I didn’t go in here for that. At least give me your keys so your sister can turn on the heat.” Billy cackled loudly. “I’m not giving you my keys. And my STEP sister is not getting them either. She will just drive off. Hell, maybe you will kick her out and drive off in my car. I don’t even know who the hell you are.” Steve figured that was fair. Billy didn’t know him after all. “I’m Steve Harrington.” he said. Billy didn’t reply, just sat down in the pile of corn again. “I’m not going anywhere, Harrington. And you’re going back to wherever the hell you came from. Leave me alone.” Steve shook his head and sat down next to Billy in the pile. “What are you doing out here anyway?” he asked him. “None of your business.” Steve nodded. “Alright. Well I’m out here because I went for a drive. To clear my head, you know? I got dumped.” He could hear billy huff. “That sucks.” he said. Steve hummed. They sat in silence for a bit again. “I had to clear my head too. Maxine, my step sister, is driving me crazy. She keeps blaming moving to this shit town on me.” Billy softly said. it was now Steve’s turn to say that sucks, and Billy’s to hum. “So Harrington, do you smoke?” Steve nodded. “Yea but I left my cigs in my car.” Billy laughed at him. “Not what I meant. I got the good shit, from California.” Oh, Billy had meant weed. “How good is it?” Steve asked with a grin.

Billy had rolled the joint while Steve had held up a lighter so he could see what he was doing. The joint didn’t look so bad and it smelled great when Billy lit it. Steve hadn’t smoked in a while, and the last time he did the quality wasn’t even that great. he was excited to try Billy’s Californian weed. Steve coughed after the first drag. Billy laughed at him. Steve took another drag, and it felt less irritating on his throat this time. He passed the joint back to Billy, who took a drag like it was nothing. Billy was going to have a tough time finding weed this good here in Hawkins. “I appreciate you sharing the good weed with me. You’re not gonna find anything this good around here.” Steve said. Billy passed him the joint. “Well, guess you owe me then.” “Owe you what? good weed? Because I just said we don’t have that around here. He passed the joint back to Billy again. “You just owe me, Steve. I don’t care what.”

They finished the joint in what felt like minutes. Steve’s toes were getting a bit cold though. How long had they been sitting here? “Maybe we should head back? Maxine is waiting.” Steve tried. Billy groaned. “Don’t ruin it now, pretty boy.” he said. Pretty boy? Steve sighed. “It’s cold out here, you know.” A chuckle from Billy. “Yea, it fucking is. California was better.” Steve stood up and held his hand out for Billy. “Come on then, let’s go.” Billy grabbed Steve’s hand but then pulled him down. Steve planted his hand above Billy’s shoulder just in time, before crushing him. “You should plant your feet.” He grinned. Steve huffed. “I’m high as fuck, let me be.” Billy licked his lips and stared up at Steve, not letting go of his hand yet. “Me too. And I have a good idea.” He let go of Steve’s hand and Steve rolled sideways to lay next to Billy. “Is it actually a good idea?” Steve asked. Billy nodded and rolled on his side to look at Steve again. “I know a way that will get you warm, AND get you over your ex. Two bird, one stone!” Steve raised a brow at Billy. Was Billy going to summon Nancy and set her on fire to keep them warm or something? Steve laughed at his own thought. “What’s funny?” Billy asked, seeming slightly offended. Steve shook his head. “I just imagined you setting my ex on fire.” Billy started laughing too, what triggered Steve and made him laugh even louder. They laughed so hard they actually had to catch their breath after they quieted down. 

“So what’s the plan?” Steve asked. Billy moved his lips close to Steve’s ear. “We could fuck.” He whispered. He softly bit Steve’s earlobe after. Steve nervously giggled. Billy had to be fucking with him, right? “You’re playing a dangerous game, Billy.” Steve warned him. Billy looked him in the eye. “Why?” he asked. Steve couldn’t read his expression. “Because Hawkins is a small town with close minded people.” Billy swallowed. “Are you close minded, Steve?” Steve shook his head. “I’m not, but you can’t just ask boys if they want to have sex with you, Billy!” Billy nibbled Steve’s earlobe again, and Steve had to admit he quite liked that feeling. He liked Billy being close to him. “I didn’t just ask any boy tho, I’m asking you, pretty boy. Do you want to fuck me?” Steve needed a second to think about it. “Please, Steve.” Billy moaned in his ear. Steve’s dick kicked with interest. “You might have to convince me.” Steve said. If Billy was joking -which Steve didn’t think he was anymore- this was the moment he could admit it. But Billy didn’t laugh or make fun of him. Billy didn’t say he was just fucking around. Billy sat down on top of Steve and bent down to kiss him. 

The kiss felt like fire. Billy was immediately all tongue and teeth and he even moaned. Steve had never been kissed that dirty before. Billy softly bit Steve’s lip and pulled at it before letting go. “Have you done this with a guy before?” he asked Steve. Steve shook his head. “I’ve been with plenty of girls though, I will figure it out.” He then winked at Billy. Billy pressed his hips against Steve’s and rolled them, pulling a moan out of both of them. “Have you?” Steve asked while putting his hands on Billy’s hips and grinding up against him. Billy bent over to whisper in Steve’s ear again. “Yea, I have. I just love having a cock up my ass, Steve. So get on with it and unbuckle your belt.” Billy stood up and Steve let out a little whine. He watched Billy pulling down his own jeans. The boy had a fine ass. Steve grabbed Billy’s sleeve and pulled him down to his knees. “Are you a bit kinky, Harrington?” Billy asked while laying his head on his arms and pushing his ass up in the air. Steve swallowed. “I- I don’t know.” He started unbuckling his belt. Billy had his dick out, it was only fair if Steve undressed right now too, right? “I want you to pull your belt out completely, and then fold it in half.” Billy told him. “And then you’re gonna spank me, alright Stevie?” Steve’s cock felt impossibly hard. God, he wanted to spank Billy. He pulled his Belt out of the loops and then pulled his jeans down so he could free his own cock. He stroked it a few times before folding his belt. “Say please, Billy.” He said. Billy moaned loudly at that. “Yea, just like that baby. Please hit me!” Steve did as Billy asked and let the cool leather hit Billy’s warm skin. The sound of it was loud. Billy’s moan was too. “Please, Steve, again.” Billy begged. He sounded so needy. How could Steve say no to him? He swung the belt again, and he could see Billy’s ass jiggle a bit after impact. It was too dark to see if his ass was getting red though. Steve didn’t know why, but he hoped so. “Again, please.” Billy sounded like he was crying. Steve hit him one more time, as hard as he could. Billy cried out. Steve got on his knees behind Billy and bent over him. “Do you like that?” he whispered in Billy’s ear. Billy sniffed. Steve was sure the boy was crying now. Shit, did he go too far? “Yes. please give me more. I want your cock.” Billy whined. Steve felt a bit confused. Did Billy get off on pain? Steve didn’t just want to hurt the boy. He put his hands on Billy’s asscheeks and Billy hissed at that. “Sorry, I know my fingers are cold.” Steve sheepishly said. “It’s okay.” Billy mumbled. Steve spread Billy’s cheeks and licked a stripe between them without warning. Billy jolted, crying out again. “Fuck Steve! Fuck fuck fuck!” Steve went back in and messily licked Billy’s hole again. Billy pressed his ass back against Steve’s face. Seemed like pain wasn’t the only thing that got Billy off, luckily. “My god Steve you’re so good at this. Don’t stop, please!” Billy babbled. Steve did as requested and kept eating Billy’s ass. He had done it once before with a girl because she asked him too, Steve had figured boys would like it too, and he had been right. Billy’s thighs started shaking and his moans got higher and breathier. “Fuck fuck fuck, Steve I’m gonna-“ Billy didn’t finish his sentence and let out an obscene moan instead while pressing his ass even harder against Steve’s face. Billy was coming. Steve hadn’t even touched his dick. And speaking of dick touching, Steve was in desperate need of touch too. He sat up and wiped his mouth. “I’m close too.” he said while gripping the base of his dick tightly. Billy rolled over so he could look at Steve. “Fuck, just cum on my face.” he said while trying to pull Steve closer. Steve moaned. “Are you serious?” he asked. Billy nodded. “Please please please, Stevie please.” And Steve couldn’t say no to that. He moved closer to billy and started rubbing his dick. “You’re so fucking huge.” Billy said. “Let me have a taste, please?” Steve nodded. He carefully slid his dick between Billy’s lips and moaned at the warmth. it felt really nice. Billy moaned around Steve’s dick and started bobbing his head. Steve was so close already. “Fuck Billy you’re so hot you know that?” he told the boy. He grabbed him by the hair and started guiding him. Billy followed Steve’s rhythm. Steve carefully tried going deeper and Billy didn’t resist. He just seemed to open his mouth even wider. Steve could see drool sliding down Billy’s chin. It should be gross, but instead it turned Steve on. “You like choking on my dick, don’t you?” Steve hummed. Billy moaned around Steve’s dick in response. Steve took it as a yes. Steve thrusted into Billy’s mouth a few times and then pulled out. “Fuck I’m gonna cum.” He grunted. Billy opened his mouth wide and closed his eyes, ready to receive. Steve stroked himself two more times before shooting his load all over Billy’s face. Some got into his mouth, some stuck to his lashes and some dripped down his chin onto his chest and jacket. Steve moaned at the sight. he flopped down next to Billy and rubbed his face. “Fuck, that was amazing.” he smiled. He heard Billy snicker next to him. “It sure was, pretty boy. But my step sister is waiting for me in my car and I have nothing to wipe my face with.” Billy replied. Fuck, Steve had totally forgotten about that. How long had they been here?

They walked back in silence. Steve had offered Billy his sweater to wipe his face. He still looked like a mess after. Steve almost said something about it a few times but then decided not to. Billy had been whiny and needy, but as soon as it was over he was back to the guy that told Steve to fuck off and leave him alone. Steve didn’t want to risk getting punched in the face or something. 

When they exited the maze Billy went straight to his car, not saying anything to Steve. Steve gave him a little wave even though the other boy wasn’t looking at him anymore. Steve got into his car too and drove home.

__

“Jesus christ, Billy, what took you so long!?” Max shouted when Billy got into the car. “Does it matter?” Billy asked. Max studied him closer, from the way his lashes clumped together to the stains on his knees. “You’re a whore.” She said, face scrunched up in disgust. “First day here and you already fucked the first guy you came across.” Billy turned towards her. “You shut the fuck up, Maxine.” He hissed. Max pulled back. “Don’t get so close to me with your fucking dick breath!” She screamed. Billy groaned and started the car. “Shitbird.” “Slut.”

[fiadhulresims]

All outfit descriptions for Annabeth Chase

hi i'm weird so i decided to reread all of the books in which annabeth appears to transcript all the times her clothes and items are described.

i hope this can help someone out there in some way, like drawing her!

Observation: I might have skipped something

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Lightning Thief

“From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.”

“The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.”

“Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.”

“Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve.”

“Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens.”

“Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinching the gold college ring that hung with the beads.”

“A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.”

“Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts.

‘That pine-tree bead’, I said. ‘Is that from your first year?’

She looked. She hadn’t realized what she was doing.

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year’s bead. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress — now that was a weird summer...’

‘And the college ring is your father's?’

‘That's none of your —‘ She stopped herself. ‘Yeah. Yeah, it is.’

‘You don’t have to tell me.’

‘No... it's okay.’ She took a shaky breath. ‘My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn’t have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her...’”

“At the bonfire, the senior counselors awarded the end-of-summer beads (...) The design was pitch black, with a sea-green trident shimmering in the center.”

The Sea of Monsters

“She was wearing jeans and a denim jacket over her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a bandanna.”

“She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, a bronze knife in her hand, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes, like she’d just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.”

“She was wearing a sleeveless silk dress like C.C.'s, only white. Her blond hair was newly washed and combed and braided with gold. Worst of all, she was wearing makeup, which I never thought Annabeth would be caught dead in.”

“She undid the golden braids in her hair.”

“‘S'okay,’ I grunted, though I'd never really wanted to know what Annabeth’s sneaker tasted like.”

“One grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their T-shirt collars.”

The Titan's Curse

“Her blond hair was tucked into a ski cap and her gray eyes were the same color as the ocean.”

“She used to wear no jewelry except for her Camp Half-Blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls — the symbol of her mother, Athena. She pulled off her ski cap, and her long blond hair tumbled down her shoulders.”

“I thought of some harsh things to say, and I might've said them too, but then I looked down and saw something navy blue lying in the snow at my feet. Annabeth's New York Yankees baseball cap.”

The Battle of the Labyrinth

“She was wearing jeans and an orange camp T-shirt and her clay bead necklace. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail.”

“He slung a leather satchel off his back, unzipped it, and produced a sleek silver laptop computer — one of the ones I'd seen in the workshop. On the lid was the blue symbol ∆.”

The Last Olympian

“It's not that she tried to look good. We'd been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing — usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armor.”

“He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue — the same kind of round shield we always used in capture the flag. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty — which wasn't anywhere near us.

‘Whoa,’ I said. ‘A video shield.’”

“My brain started seizing on little random details, like the fact that she was still wearing those silver owl earrings from her dad, who was this brainiac military history professor in San Francisco.”

“She wore her orange camp T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was tucked up in her Yankees cap, which was strange because that should have made her invisible.”

“She was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder — ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.”

“The girl had tangled blond hair and was wearing flannel pajamas.”

“Annabeth was wearing new clothes — jeans and an oversize army jacket.”

“She had pulled her owl helmet low over her face, but I could tell her eyes were red.”

“Kronos whirled to face her and slashed with Backbiter, but somehow Annabeth caught the strike on her dagger hilt.”

The Demigod Files: Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon

“She bumped me with her shoulder, which I guess was supposed to be friendly, but she was wearing full greek armor, so it kind of hurt. Her gray eyes sparkled under her helmet. Her blond ponytail curled around one shoulder. It was hard for anyone to look cute in combat armor, but Annabeth pulled it off.”

The Demigod Files

The Heroes of Olympus

The Lost Hero

“Two teenagers stood in the chariot — a tall blond girl maybe a little older than Jason, and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. They both wore jeans and orange T-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs. The girl leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. She pulled a knife and ran toward Jason's group while the bulky dude was reining in the horses.”

The Mark of Athena

“She took out her camp necklace, strung with her dad’s college ring and a colorful clay bead for each year at Camp Half-Blood. Now there was something else on the leather cord: a red coral pendant Percy had given her when they had started dating. He'd brought it from his father's palace at the bottom of the sea.”

The House of Hades

“She'd tied her blonde hair back with a strip of denim torn from her jeans, and in the fiery light of the river her grey eyes flickered. Despite being beat-up, sooty and dressed like a homeless person, she looked great to Percy.”

“In his massive hand, the white shard looked like another toothpick, but when he offered it to Annabeth she realized it was a sword – a blade of dragon bone, honed to a deadly edge, with a simple grip of leather.”

The Blood of Olympus

“Piper and Annabeth were disguised as lovely Greek serving maidens. Even in their white sleeveless gowns and laced sandals, they had no trouble navigating the rocky path.”

“She looked uncomfortable in her serving-maiden outfit. She kept hunching her shoulders to keep the dress from slipping. Her pinned-up blonde bun had come undone in the back and her hair dangled like long spider legs.”

“Annabeth slung her own amphora off her shoulder. She, too, had a concealed sword, but even without a visible weapon she looked deadly.”

“Annabeth re-adjusted her golden belt.”

“She ripped through her supply pouch and unwrapped a piece of godly food.”

“She fingered the red coral pendant on her necklace – a gift from Percy when they started dating.”

The Demigod Diaries: The Diary of Luke Castellan

“As soon as I lifted the sheet of tin, something flew at me — a blur of flannel and blond hair.”

“Her ribs were bony under her flannel pijamas”

The Demigod Diaries: The Staff of Hermes

“She was wearing her regular orange camp T-shirt and shorts, but her tan arms and legs seemed to glow in the sunlight. Her blond hair swept over her shoulders. Around her neck hung a leather cord with colorful beads from our demigod training camp — Camp Half-Blood.”

“She wore a dark green sleeveless dress that showed off her long blond hair and her slim athletic figure. Her camp necklace had been replaced by a string of gray pearls that matched her eyes.”

Demigods and Magicians

The Staff of Serapis

“At the moment, her most deadly weapon was her backpack, which was loaded with heavy architecture books from the public library.”

“She pulled out something she hadn’t carried with her in a long time: her battered blue New York Yankees cap”

The Crown of Ptolemy

“I'd never actually seen her wearing her Yankees cap before, since she vanished every time she put it on, but there she was — wide-eyed with surprise, caught in the act of sneaking up on Setne.”

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

The Sword of Summer

“She was dressed more sensibly in snow boots, jeans and a parka, with an orange T-shirt peeking out at the neckline.”

“She was better dressed than me — orange North Face ski jacket, black jeans, lace-up winter boots — but if people saw us together they would've mistaken us for brother and sister.”

The Hammer of Thor

“Annabeth was there before me, standing on the platform in jeans and sandals and a long-sleeved purple shirt with a laurel-wreath design and the letters SPQR: UNR.”

“Her blond hair was loose around her shoulders today. She seemed to be growing it out.”

The Ship of the Dead

“Her long blond hair was tied back in a ponytail. Her dark blue T-shirt was emblazoned with the yellow words COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN, UC BERKELEY.”

[amphtaminedreams]

Farewell to Spooky Season, AHS Style: Lookbook no.12

Hi to anyone reading,

Happy belated Halloween!

I capitalise it because if I'm gonna recognise any day as sacred, it’s the spookiest one of the year! Halloween 2020 obviously hasn’t been as exciting as usual, parties and club nights being banned has meant there’s been far less opportunities to dress up, but I still managed to get out for the night before they announced the upcoming second lockdown and do a couple of spooky movie nights (and carve a pumpkin!)!

I originally intended for this lookbook to be last minute halloween costume inspo but I was lazy and didn’t manage to get it out on time-a lot of these looks minus the makeup and maybe an accessory or two could work on any day or night out so I thought I’d go ahead and post it now anyway. Celebrating the fashion moments of American Horror Story is something I’ve wanted to do for a while; it’s probably not the first show you’d think of for sartorial inspiration but Mr. Ryan Murphy has fucking fantastic taste in stylists and the first five seasons of AHS in particular, which I’ll be focussing on in this post, have given us SO many amazing looks. The man may be guilty of many things-subjecting us to the character of Will Schuester, trying to turn Richard Ramirez into a thirst trap, embarrassing everyone who raved about how good Scream Queens was when he wrote season 2-but costume related laziness is not one of them. We see more consistency in a Ryan Murphy character’s wardrobe than we do in their story arcs and I respect that because honestly, as much as I love joining in when it comes to ripping into his ability to cohesively bring an AHS season to a close when it airs, I’d probably be the same; if you put Lady Gaga in front of me and told me to write her lines I’d probably end up getting overly invested in what her character was going to be wearing in the scene too. 

So! Enough Ryan Murphy bashing from me! I’ll get on with it! Starting with 3 season 1 inspired looks:

Murder House: Elizabeth Short, Tate Langdon and Violet Harmon

-striped jumper from caitlinlark on Depop, kick flare jeans from ellagray-

When it comes to reflecting on season 1 of American Horror Story, all I can say do is thank the internet overlords that Tumblr has moved on from the romanticising school shooters and wearing normal people scare me tops phase to instead collectively taking the piss out of the “GO AWAY, TATE!”, “YOU’RE ALL THAT I WANTTT! YOU’RE ALL THAT I HAVEEE!” exchange. 

In terms of fashion *moments*, whilst season 1 doesn’t stand out as much as the seasons that come after, Violet and Tate’s wardrobes did give birth to a bit of a 90s grunge renaissance with their oversized knits and faded jeans and layering of textures. It did also give us good costumes in the form of Alexandra Breckenridge’s Moira O’Hara and Mena Suvari’s portrayal of the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short; unfortunately, I didn’t have a slutty maid costume lying around so I did the best I could at giving the outfit Elizabeth wears when she makes that fateful visit to the Murder House a modern, more party appropriate update.

In terms of season rankings, Murder House isn’t my favourite. It starts off really great but lulls a bit towards the end and I could never get behind Violet and Tate as a couple because you know, one of them is a school shooter who sexually assaults the other’s mum, and that’s a hurdle that I think most couples might struggle to get over irl. That being said, it was the season that started it all and showcased some of the most innovative writing and directing on TV, and it opened up a spot for horror on primetime television which as far as I know was kind of unheard of before then. Back when I first watched it, I had no idea what to expect not only because I’d never seen horror in a serial format but also because it seemed to be able to get away with the kind of storylines you’d expect network executives to fire people over. It introduced us to Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters and Denis O’Hare who would go on to make the show what it is today and more importantly, through Jessica’s glorious portrayal of Constance Langdon, provide us with an endlessly versatile meme format for this trying time.

Asylum: ‘60s Lana Winters, ‘70s Lana Winters, and Sister Mary Eunice McKee

-afghan coat from louisemarcella on Depop, red AA skater dress from julietramage, pink gingham co-ord from zshamim-

I think we can all agree: Asylum would’ve been a perfect series of television if it wasn’t for the completely unnecessary alien storyline. Like, I get that they fit in with the whole good vs. evil theme as a kind of non-biblical alternative to the idea of a higher, all-powerful being but there was already so much going on that it just wasn’t needed. Aside from that, I think the general consensus amongst watchers of the show is that Asylum has the best writing of any season and I think I’d tend to agree. It’s not my favourite because it’s too depressing to rewatch but if we’re talking the first time round, this is the series that had me hooked. Lana Winters?

Iconic. 

Sister Mary Eunice? Iconic. The Name Game? Iconic. Remember when you couldn’t go a day on Facebook without seeing that one photo of Naomi Grossman as Pepper used as the go to “what I really look like” photo in one of those “expectation vs. reality” style posts on your newsfeed? Those were simpler times.

Because this season was mostly situated within the hospital, we didn’t get that many proper outfits but when we did, they were stunning; if I had to state my absolute favourite AHS character of the entire show I’d probably go with Lana Winters and the part her wardrobe played in her characterisation would 100% play a part in that. The late 60s/early 70s was such a wonderful period for fashion and through her character we get to see both of those explored a little. Of course there’s also *that* Sister Mary Eunice scene with the red slip dress and suspenders too which yes, could be a perfect halloween costume, but I also strongly believe should be a perfectly acceptable outfit for any day of the year. 

Coven: Misty Day, Madison Montgomery, and Zoe Benson

-chiffon dress from rags_to_riches on Depop, pinstripe corset from hanpiercey, and tennis skirt from mollie_morton-

I hate to be a basic bitch but I have to say it: Coven is my favourite season of American Horror Story. Once you get over the complete waste of Evan Peters’ acting capabilities that resulted from the *choice* to have him play Kyle, the unnecessary rehash of the Evan/Taissa pairing from season 1 in what I can only assume was an attempt to capitalise on the popularity of the questionable Tate/Violet relationship, and the subsequent sacrifice of any interesting character arc we could’ve foreseen for Zoe Benson beyond her obsessing over a resurrected, non-verbal frat boy, it’s a perfect season. A supreme (heh) balance of horror, humour, and character drama, as well as the stunning aesthetics and forever quotable dialogue, make it my go-to season if I’m ever considering a rewatch. And if you disagree, let me jog your memory with the most mainstream (not to get all “normal people scare me” and suggest AHS is not a mainstream show, I literally just mean in the sense that even those who have never watched the show will have seen this)  reaction GIF set any FX show has even spawned:

Buzzfeed employees had a field day, Emma Roberts enthusiasts (I mean me) finally saw her cemented as the pop culture icon Scream Queens has since showed us she deserves to be (because not enough people have seen Unfabulous, Nancy Drew or Scream 4) and the gays everywhere rejoiced at the year’s worth of meme fodder they’d been provided with. It was Madison Montgomery’s world and we were truly just living in it.

And the fashion! I mean, Stevie Nicks meets 21st century teenage witches! Come on! 

Freakshow: Dandy Mott, Maggie Esmerelda and Elsa Mars

-olive green satin skirt from morganogle on Depop, headscarf from tonijordan, platform sandals from elliefewt, PVC skirt from bethpin_, corset top from sadieflinter, beret from house_of_erotique, flame detail platform boots from mad_rags_vintage-

When people talk about the declining quality of AHS, they usually point to Freakshow as the beginning of the end, but I have to completely disagree. I wasn’t a fan the first time round but on rewatch it’s probably the most emotional season of them all; no, there aren’t as many “horrifying” moments as in other seasons and Elsa is probably Jessica’s worst performance (which is still an incredible one by anybody else’s standards), however it makes up for it with the most sympathetic bunch of characters yet, and on the flip side, also one of the most amusingly depraved with Finn Wittrock’s Dandy Mott. Fans usually argue that the season went downhill once *SPOILER* Twisty the Clown was killed off but for me, he really primarily served as the catalyst for the far more interesting devolution of Dandy, who, imo, is the show’s strongest villain to date, rivalled only by Bloody Face. Then there was the episode Orphans too which made me cry buckets, the sole AHS episode to do so. 

We got a lot of great fashion content in this season too: the theatrical opulence of Elsa Mars’ wardrobe, “Maggie”’s nomadic fortune teller costumes, and all those twee suits we saw Finn Wittrock in. Highly underrated if you ask me. It seems an odd choice for me to use Elsa’s Dominatrix look as an inspiration for one of my looks here when we have that Life on Mars performance outfit and all the extravagant robes Jessica got to waltz around in for reference buuuut I didn’t really have anything to do the vibrancy of either of those justice so I went with the black leather option which is much more me. Am I saying I moonlight as a dominatrix? Maybe. Lol, no. I wish. It’s not for lack of trying. WHERE ARE ALL THE GENUINE TWITTER PAYPIGS AT!? Your girl wants to insult creepy men and get some new clothes out of it xoxo

Hotel: Hypodermic Sally, Liz Taylor, and The Countess

-silk white bralet from xlibby_maix on Depop-

Hotel is another season that I liked a lottttt more upon rewatch, once I knew I was okay to tune out the (completely predictable and utterly nonsensical) Ten Commandments Killer storyline that so much of the season initially seems to hinge on. I love Chloë Sevigny but the fact that her and Wes Bentley’s wooden John and Alex Lowe are positioned as the protagonists at the expense of the far more interesting Liz Taylor, James March and Hypodermic Sally really does a disservice to what is an otherwise great season upon initial viewing.

The visuals this season are magnificent and I think if I had to pick one character’s wardrobe to steal from the entire cast of AHS characters, it would be The Countess (a toss up between her and Misty Day tbh, so I kinda just settle for low-key channelling both). No fucking idea where I'd wear any of her clothes to but I’d make it work. Liz Taylor and Hypodermic Sally have some amazing looks too-there’s just honestly so much to choose from; that being said, this post wouldn’t be complete without a specific ode to the vampire goddess Elizabeth Bathory, who is everything I want to be in life minus the murderous qualities:

Everything. EVER-Y-THING. LOOK AT HER!

Lady Gaga is really a fucking goddess isn’t she. And people were claiming before they’d even seen it that she couldn’t act? A patriarchal society doesn’t like women that can do it all. Just saying. 

Anyways!

That’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed the post if you did read til the end! Sorry I couldn’t get this out before Halloween, I was typing and Picmonkey-ing madly from 2 in the afternoon on the 31st but I taking fucking forever to get ready and had to abandon all hope of getting it out on the day by 4PM. I’ve got so much content planned and it sucks because a couple of them are lookbooks which now feel completely redundant given we’re heading into a second lockdown, but maybe I should just do it anyway? The grunge inspired moodboard I just did seemed to get a good reception too so I’ve got some more of them planned. 

As always, hope everyone is keeping well, and feel free to inbox me with any suggestions, queries or even just to say hi if you need someone to talk to! I check here quite a lot so I should see it. Lots of love to everyone in this time!

Lauren x

[hanniiesuckle17]

Boys vs. Girls

A/n: Not requested but thought this was a cute idea

Member: Vernon Chwe

WARNINGS: swearing, vernon being the cutest fluffing thing ever

Summary: Y/n loves her summer job as a camp counselor. She has been doing it ever since she was a sophomore in high school. Now it’s her second year in college and she still returns to Camp Moheom (Camp Adventure) in the mountains every year. But, for the past two years one of the boy cabin counselors just won’t leave her alone, especially when Cabin Competitions come around. 

Genre: fluff, comedy, camp counselor!au, summer!au, summer camp!au, acquaintance to lovers?!au. friends to lovers!au?, summer romance, college!au

The five and six year old girls ran around me and laughed in the summer air. Some of them were girls that returned year after year, but others were new faces. It didn’t matter though, I loved being a counselor at Camp Moheom. I loved the camp t-shirts and sweatshirts the staff got each year. The mountain air and landscape. Camp Competitions the last week of camp. And the hot boy counselors didn’t hurt either. 

“Y/n!” I turned hearing my name called from nearby. Hyojin, one of the other two girl counselors, was walking towards me with a bright smile on her face. “It’s almost time to head over to the rope course.” I checked my phone with the schedule on it and nodded. “Thanks! I’ll pack up why don’t you head on over with the girls.” She returned the bright smile an gathered all fifteen of our campers together.

“Oh, Y/n.” I looked up from one of the two backpacks a counselor was supposed to carry. “There was a change in schedule. The boys cabin is going to be joining us.” She said before walking off with the girls.

No. I didn’t mind the boys cabin. They’re campers were always relatively nice and sweet boys, as were most of the counselors. However, this summer,  Vernon Chwe had made it his mission to bother me every chance he got. I didn’t hate Vernon. We had been counselors together for the past two years. But, before this summer our encounters mostly consisted of polite small talk and staff meetings. Now every time he saw me he teased, poked, and flirted with me endlessly. I could not wait to kick his ass in Camp Comp. 

Last year the boys won Camp Competitions, but the girls were fired up this year. With a sigh I shouldered the bags and headed across the camp grounds When I got to the rope course, both cabins were already in safety harnesses and climbing in the trees. “Hi Y/n!” I looked up into the trees to see HaeJoon, a little girl who had taking a liking to me, waving down. “Looking good, Haejoon!”

“Look at the beauty that just walked in.” A voice behind me said. “Hello, Vernon.” I turned to see the brown haired boy with a smile plastered on his face. He wore the camp issued black hoodie and jeans. “Let me help you with that, cutie.” He took one of the bags I was carrying and brought it over to the girl’s picnic table. “Thanks, I guess.” I busied myself with looking in our schedule binder, but looked up to find him still leaning against the table. “How was your day?” 

He looked down at me with the smile that all the other girls on staff fawned over. “Was fine until a minuted ago.” “Awww Y/n don’t treat me this way.” His laugh echoed across the trees. Just then another boy counselor walked up. His name was Jihoon, and he and I had been friends for awhile now. “Hey, dummy.” He said with a smile ruffling my hair. I swatted his hand away playfully.

“Would you tell your dongsaeng to get off my ass.” He chuckled and turned to Vernon. “Get off her ass, Vernon.” I smirked looking up at the boy. “I can’t help it if her ass is cute!” I scoffed and turned back to Jihoon. “You guys ready for Camp Comp?” My best friend shrugged and looked to his campers. “Our group is pretty chill this year, but Vernon is pretty hyped about it.” I glanced over to see the smiling boy still there looking at me. “Really? Can’t wait to kick your sorry ass.” 

The rest of the hour was uneventful. Hyojin saved me from the conversation with Vernon and I went climbing with one of the girls. After the rope course was done the girls, Hyojin, our other counselor Hyebin (Hyojin’s sister), and I headed to the mess hall for lunch. The girls happily ate the lunch served and I stood at the head of one of the tables talking to the girls. All of a sudden their was a hand on my waist. 

“Long time no see.” I  turned and Vernon took the opportunity to kiss me on the cheek. All of the girls squealed and Vernon smiled at their reaction. “Girls are you being good for Y/n?” “Yes!” The table shouted. I looked to Hyojin for help and she simply shrugged with a smile on her face. “If you don’t shut your mouth, the next thing that comes out of it will be your teeth.” I said through my teeth. 

I had to admit, I was starting to like the attention Vernon was giving me. I would never admit it though. At my university, I was so busy studying I didn’t have time for dating. Not many boys seemed interested in me anyways. “Well, that’s my cue to leave. See you later girls!” He gave a salute and wink to the table and then returned to his own. 

“Y/n! Are you and Vernon Oppa dating?” HaeJoon asked with a bright toothy smile. Vernon was the girls’ favorite guy counselor by far. I had to confess he was great with kids. “No, we aren’t.” I shook my head and took a sip of my drink. “Y/n is too busy with school to date Vernon.” I choked on my water and shot a glare towards Hyebin who innocently smiled at me. “Does that mean you like him?” All the girls started piling on questions about me and Vernon.

I glanced over to his table only to see him playing around with one of his campers.”Listen, I don’t know how I feel about Vernon. It’s an adult thing okay?” Hyojin and Hyebin laughed at each other making kissy faces. 

“I hate all of you.”

“And The Great Sana sheathed her sword as she stood victorious in the tournament of champions!” I looked around the dimly lit cabin to see all the girls fast asleep. Carefully I climbed the stairs up to the loft where the counselors slept and changed into a crop top and sweatpants. “Nice story, Y/n. Way to set the bar for tomorrow night.” Hyebin said face down on her bed. I chuckled and grabbed my phone when a notification sounded. 

Message from Jihoon’s Dongsaeng

10:26 PM-  Look out your window.

Confused I walked to the window and looked down. There stood Vernon in joggers, a hoodie, and a jean jacket looking up into the loft. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I said with a laugh. “What?” Hyojin came to the window, curious. “You have to go down!” Hyebin perked up and turned to the two of us at the window. “What’s going on?” “Vernon is at the window.” “’No way!”

I sat on my bed in disbelief as the girls quietly squealed as so as to not wake the sleeping campers. “I’m not going.” “Why not?” Hyebin whispered. “You saw him at lunch! The guys is just messing around.” Hyojin shrugged still looking out the window. “It’s like forty degrees out. I think he’s serious.” I sighed and looked out the window once more. “You never know unless you try.” Hyebin said, holding out my Timberlands. “We’ll cover for you when Amber does rounds.” Running a hand through my hair, I took my shoes and slipped them on before grabbing my phone.

Quietly I tiptoed down the stair and passed the girls. The cold air greeted me as I walked out of the cabin. Vernon turned at the sound of my footsteps and smiled. “What do you want, Vernon?” He faked being shot in the heart like the dork he was. “You wound me Y/n, truly.” I tried to hide the smile on my face to no avail. 

“Walk with me?” He held his hand out to me, waiting for me to take it. “You aren’t going to murder me are you?” He laughed and grabbed my hand. “No, not with your friends watching.” He pointed up to the window. Two heads popped out of sight just as we looked up. “Come on. The night it young. We have things to do.” He dragged me off down the trail leading away from the cabin. 

“So, you excited about the competition?” I shrugged. “I mean obviously. The girls are ready to kick butt this year. I’m just a little nervous about the counselor portion.” He nodded and continued to walk a little ahead of me, carefully watching the ground for roots or rocks. “What did you sign up for?” He briefly looked back at me, brown eyes twinkling in the moonlight. 

“All that was left was archery. Thing is I suck. I also signed up for the dance with Hyojin.” I heard him chuckle and I looked down at our hands which were still latched onto each other. Suddenly I felt very nervous. Vernon brought us into a small clearing. A rope swing hung from a big tree and it blew softly in the wind. 

“Are you cold?” Vernon asked turning and looking at me. I shrugged and was about to say no when Vernon removed his jacket and placed it over my shoulders. By instinct I wrapped it around my body and surrounded myself in its warmth. I watched as he walked over and stood on the swing, causing it to sway back and forth. “I could help you, you know.” “With what?” He smiled when he saw me moving towards him.

“With archery.”

“What’s in it for you?”

“The joy of your precious company.”

I couldn’t tell whether or not he was joking. The swing came to a stop and I stood looking up at him. “Wanna ride?” He motioned to the swing with a smirk after hopping off. Gently he pushed me onto the plank of wood and held onto the rope in the middle of the plank. “Ready?” I nodded with a smile. Soon he was pulling the rope after him as he jogged in a circle. When he let go the swing flew and spun in a circle. I laughed at the sensation and held on tightly to the rope. Every once and a while I felt Vernon’s hands on my back pushing me to keep up the momentum. 

“Stop! Stop!” I said with a laugh. Vernon slowed the swing and stood in front of me. “When are you off tomorrow?” He asked slightly out of breath from pushing me around. “After lunch.” He nodded and looked up in thought. “I can ask Hoshi to switch shift with me.” A silence fell between us. I didn’t necessarily desire to fill it this time. Something about Vernon made me curious. Was he really serious about me. Or was this dorky personality just part of some play?

“What about you what are you doing in the Comp?” I looked down at my shoes before meeting his eyes again. “I’m signed up for dance and wrestling.” There were two sections of the Camp Competition. One was girls vs boys, and the other was junior campers vs. senior campers. Vernon and I both were part of the junior staff. The kids did fun games like tug-of-war for JR. v SR, while counselors did things like wrestling. “The boys pressured me into it.” He nervously scratched his neck before looking at me again.“Well I hope you win.” Suddenly his smile returned, upturning at the corner of his lips. 

“Will you be cheering for me?” 

“Only if you win.”

“Works for me, Y/n.”

There was something about the way he said my name that I hadn’t noticed before. Something that made me want to hear it come from him over and over.

“That’s why avocados are the bacon of vegetables.” Tapping Vernon on the shoulder he turned around and his smile became even brighter. “You ready?” He nodded and turned towards Hoshi and his bright red hair. “Thanks for letting me take your shift.” He shooed him off and Vernon’s hand went to the small of my back as we walked out to the archery range.

Pulling the string back taught I kept my eye on the target. My fingers released and the arrow went flying through the air straight into the outer ring. “Hey! You hit the target this time.” Vernon said trying to hide his laughter. “You offered to help, not laugh.” He walked over to me and handed me another arrow. “I know. Take your aim.” I set the arrow in place and pulled it back again. I could feel Vernon’s presence behind me. He placed his hands on my waist and turned me so my hips were squared off to the side.

“Lower your elbow. Keep it straight.” His voice was low and calculated, like he was going through a checklist. He helped me make the adjustments with a gentle touch. “Use your lips as an anchor.” I felt the blush creep up my cheeks. I rested the nock onto the corner of my lips. “And....take a breath....” I could feel his hands still on my waist and it was like every cell of my body was awake at his touch. With a deep breath in and out I awaited his next instruction. “Release.”

My fingers released their grip and the arrow flew silently through the air and straight into the center. “Oh my God, Vernon!” I turned and jumped into his arms. “I did it!” He smiled at looked at arrow smack dab in the middle of the target. “Yeah you did! Congrats!” He looked at me with such adoration that I couldn’t help but blush.

The clearing of someone’s throat caused us to push each other away. “When you guys are finished deciding whether or not to fuck each other, Y/n we need you to help out with the counselor skit.” Jihoon stood with his arms crossed and staring at the two of us. “Uh....yeah. Thanks.” I quickly put the bow away and scurried off away from the awkward encounter.

Jihoon looked to Vernon who still had bright red cheeks slightly hidden by his shaggy brown hair. “Hey, Chwe.” He turned to his hyung, hearing his name. “You hurt her, and I will kick you ass so hard you won’t be able to stand for a month.” Vernon shuddered at his hyungs words and was about to respond until Jihoon walked away leaving him speechless.

With the days coming closer and closer to the end of summer, I began to look forward to Vernon at my window each night. However to avoid more embarrassment I asked him to come after the twins had gone to bed. I slowly tiptoed down the loft stairs into the main room. With a single step a floor board creaked sending a loud noise into the cavernous like room. Flinching, my body stilled and I waited to see if any of the girls woke up. 

Letting out a sigh of relief I balanced myself against the door and slipped on my shoes. “Y/n? Is that you?” A small voice called out. Turning I saw the small frame of Haejoon rubbing her eyes. “Haejoon-ah, go back to bed.” I gave her a smile, hoping to quickly leave soon. 

“Where are you going?”

“I-uh--I’m going to meet a special friend.”

“Can I come with you?”

I chuckled and finished tying my shoes. Picking her up, I placed her on my hip looking at her sleepy grin. “I don’t think he would be very happy if you came along. Besides, you must be well rested for competition tomorrow.” My whispers filled the large dimly lit room. “He?” Ah shit.

“Y/n, are you going to see Vernon oppa?” Her bright toothy smile seemed to light up the room. Nodding, I put a finger to my mouth, “You must keep it a secret. Okay?” She nodded and held out her pinky. Her cute action only made the smile on my face grow bigger. Sealing our secret with a pinky promise, I put her back in bed and quietly exited the cabin. My eyes searched for any sign of the head counselors only to almost let out a scream when a pair of arms wrapped around my midsection.

“Yah! Be quiet or you’ll get us both in trouble!” Turning my head I saw Vernon’s smiling face in the buzzing light outside the girls cabin. “You do know 6/10 horror stories take place at summer camps.” 

“Well then lets go be the couple that gets killed off first.”

“Really?”

“Yeah...that sounded better in my head. Let’s go.”

Withouth letting go of my waist Vernon and I started walking towards the lake. “We’ve got four hours before morning checks. Wanna go for a dip?” He said already half way finished removing his shirt. “Do I have a choice?” It was almost impossible not to laugh with Vernon around. It was getting harder and harder to find things to hate about him.

“What are you going to do when you go back to school?” Vernon asked as he swam in circles around me. “Back to studying most likely. What about you?” He shrugged, finally coming to a standstill and resting his chin on my shoulder. “Procrastinating classes, watching movies, hiding in my bed, hopefully with you.”

I turned at his words coming out of his embrace. “With me?” His hand came up to run through his wet hair. “Well, I mean yeah. With you.” He shyly glanced up at me. I had kind of figured out that Vernon liked me, but I didn’t think that this would turn into anything more than a summer fling. “I...I just didn’t think you were serious about- whatever this is.” Through the warm water I felt his fingers come to rest on my waist.  My hands went to his forearms and traveled up his arms to lay on his shoulders. 

“Of course I’m serious about this. What makes you think I’m not?” This time he stared me straight in the eyes. “Several things.” He scoffed and looked away. “Name three.” “I can name five!” Vernon still wore that quirky little smile on his lips, but his eyes held a seriosuness I hadn’t seen before. He nodded for me to continue.

“One, you flirt with all the girls.” “I’m a very friendly person.” His fingers traced patterns across my skin. His stare was piercing and it never once left my face. He seemed to have a response for everything I said. “Two, you never even talked to me before this year.” “Would you believe I was shy?” Trying to hide my smile I looked past him at the other end of the shore. 

“Three, you make everything a competition.” “When?” I was shocked I had to remind him when an hour ago he challenged me to a race to the other side of the dock. “Four...” My eyes met his soft brown ones again. “Can’t think of one?” 

“Four, you haven’t even made an attempt to kiss me.” He laughed. “I can fix that right now!” Immediatley he pulled me closer and I had to dodge his lips while trying to contain my laughter. “Seriously, what else though.” Without me knowing, Vernon had slowly brought the two of us back to shore and near the dock. He pushed him self up and lended me a hand. “You won’t do any of this with me in front of the others.” 

His hand came up to my cheek and suddenly I felt embarrassed for even mentioning it. Did I really want everyone else to know? “I thought you didn’t want people to know.” I shrugged. “I don’t really know what I want right now.” He nodded and his hand dropped from my cheek. “I’ll walk you back to your cabin.” 

“Vernon...”

My fingers grasped at his wrist stopping him from walking away. He stopped and turned to look back at me.

“Listen, Y/n I don’t blame you.” His smile returned and he took my hand. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Just know that I am serious about this. About you.” The two of us then walked back to my cabin before he left me for the night.

The campers competition had ended and the girls had taken the victory this year. Before everyone moved out to the clearing to watch the counselor’s tournament it started pouring down rain. Everyone was soaked and the ground soon turned to mud. It was the last event of the day before everyone went back inside for the party. 

Vernon and I had barely spoken all day and Hyebin and Hyojin had taken notice. “What’s up with you and Vernon?” Hyebin shouted over the storm. Our red shirts clung to our skin and the black and maroon war paint for the girls team had started to streak down my cheeks as well as theirs. I looked over to the boy counselors in their blue tank tops which heavily hung on their shoulders. Blue and black paint was streaked all over their skin. Vernon’s usually light brown tossled hair was now hanging in dark wet strands in front of his eyes as he talked to Jihoon.

“You like him! I can see it!” My attention turned back to Hyojin’s voice. “Yeah, I think I do.” I felt a tap on my leg and I looked to see Haejoon pulling at my shorts. With a smile I picked her up. “Is Vernon oppa going to be in the next event?” She pointed over to Vernon who was still talking with Jihoon across the way. They were looking across the small clearing filled with puddles and mud at the Sr. counselors. 

“Holy fu-” I shot Hyebin a glare and nodded at Haejoon. “Holy fluff..” She corrected herself. “Is Vernon going up against Jackson?” I turned to find both boys taking off their IDs and shirts and stepping over the fence into the tiny makeshift arena. “We just have to cheer him on!” Haejoon said in my ear. She asked me to take her up to the fence to watch.

I stood behind her as she stood on the barrier. Quickly I explained the rules of the event to her. “For Vernon-ah to win, he has to get the other oppa to tap out twice.” She nodded and whispered in my ear. My eyes found Vernon once again to see him already looking at me. Without looking at my little camper I nodded at her words.

Right before the referee blew his whistle Haejoon and I yelled, “VERNON OPPA! FIGHTING!” That huge megawatt smile grew on his face as he heard us and he sent us a wave before taking his position once again. The whistle was blown and both boys circled each other for a few moments before Vernon went in for the first strike. 

The boys weren’t allowed to physically hit or kick each other, but anything else was fair game. Jackson had Vernon by the waist and tried to knock him off his feet. “Come on Vernon!” I screamed into the crowd. Every person in camp was watching the event and cheering on the counselors. Haejoon cheered wildly beside me as Vernon took the upper hand for a second and pulled Jackson’s leg out from under him causing both boys to fall into the mud.

Jackson recovered quickly and flipped Vernon over onto his stomach and put one of his arms in a lock. “Come on Vernon! You can do it!” The two of us yelled. After another second, Vernon tapped out, splashing dirty water on the ground next to him. Cheers from the Senior side of the field were loud and filled the clearing. Jihoon handed Vernon a bottle of water before turning him back in. 

His face was and body were half covered with mud and sweat. Blue paint and brown mud mixed on his cheeks and hair. He glanced my way and I gave him a thumbs up, hoping to lift his spirits. While Jackson drank some water Vernon came over to Haejoon and me. “Hi,” He said out of breath. His eyes went first to me and then to Haejoon causing a big smile to come on his face.

“How’s your arm?” Carefully I pulled it from his side and looked at the red mark from Jackson’s grip. “It’s fine. There is no such thing as weight class in summer camp, right?” I could see he was making a joke, but something told me he was actually worried. Jackson was a big guy compared to Vernon. My fingers entertwined themselves with his and he looked down at them resting on the fence. “We are cheering for you.” I shouted over the rain. Haejoon smiled at him once last time before he let go of my hand and went back to the ring.

The second round began and I could hear the twins behind us cheering for Vernon. This time he waited for Jackson to attack first. When he did, he used his size advantage to dodge and wrap his arms around Jackson’s stomach. Before I could even blink Vernon used Jackson’s momentum to swing him around and into the ground with Vernon ontop of the heavy built senior. 

Haejoon and I screamed like crazy as Jackson tapped out. Vernon being his dumbass jumped up and did a victory dance high fiving anyone he could see. Soon the third round began and Vernon again let Jackson attack first. The rain pelting hard down on the ground made it slick as the boys wrestled and fell to the ground. The third round was much more of close call. No one could tell who would win until Jackson twisted Vernon’s wrist in the wrong way causing him to tap out. 

The senior campers cheered for their counselor and Jackson ran over to them covered in mud. I put Haejoon on the ground and she ran to Vernon and hugged his leg. I watched as he smiled at her and picked her up with his other hand. I sloshed through the rain over to them and wrapped an arm around his mud covered waist.

“Hi.” He said, once again out of breath. Mud and blue paint was streaked all over his face and chest. “Hey, I’m gonna get your shirt all messy.” He tried to push me away, but I stayed put. With a smile he gave up and adjusted Haejoon on his hip. Before he could say anything else or crack another joke, my hands flew to his neck and I pulled him into a kiss. I could hear the twins squeal from somewhere in the crowd.

Smiling I pulled away to look at his shocked face. “I’m going to put the kid down now if that’s okay.” I chuckled as he let Haejoon down from his arms and she ran off to Hyojin. As soon as he did his lips crashed back onto mine giving me the best kiss I could ever imagine. He pushed a wet strand of hair behind my ear and stroked my cheek. 

Vernon pulled away and smiled at me through the rain. “I didn’t win though?” I shook my head and wiped some of the mud off of his face and shoulders. “Doesn’t matter.” He smiled and pressed his forehead against mine still out of breath. “So, I remember being promised movies in your bed?” He laughed and picked me up by my waist.

“I have never been more excited to go back to school.”

Masterlist

Requests are open my lovelies

[wildflowerirwin]

Runnin’ Just in Case - a.i. (2)

Chapter 1  Fic Playlist

Summary: It wasn’t love he was chasing, but he’s running just in case.

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: this chappie gets filthy: daddy kink, unprotected sex, dirty talk (everything I wish I was doing with Ashton)

Words: a whopping 3.5k

The next morning, Ashton woke up to something tickling his feet. He pulled the blankets back and looked down at his feet to see a fat tabby cat licking his toe. “Little too kinky for me, mate.” Ashton said to the cat before getting up. The cat meowed back at him and jumped off the bed. “You’re a friendly fucker, aren’t you?” Ashton mumbled as he pulled his jeans on. He tugged his shirt on and slipped his boots on before walking out of his room, the cat following behind him.

“Morning, Ashton.” Evelyn smiled at Ashton as he came into the dining room.

“Good morning. This cat has been following me all morning.” Ashton said, taking a seat at the table.

“That’s Willie Nelson, he was Bethany’s first purchase with a credit card.” Evelyn patted her lap gently, the cat jumping up quickly.

“Willie Nelson, eh?” Ashton chuckled.

“Hey, dipshit, stop trying to eat my quesadillas!” Bethany yelled from the kitchen. Ashton craned his neck and peeked into the kitchen, watching as Michael reached for Bethany’s food.

“I just want a small bite.” Michael whined, wrapping his arms around Bethany’s waist. She squealed softly as Michael spun her around and pinned her between the cabinets and himself. He smirked down at her as he took a bite of her quesadilla.

“You’re a dick.” Bethany giggled and poked his stomach to push him away. Michael chuckled and grabbed the pan, bringing it out to the dining room.

“Morning, new guy.” Michael smiled and sat at the table. “Have a quesadilla.”

“Uh, thanks.” Ashton said, grabbing a quesadilla slice. “So, have you and Bethany been dating long?”

“Excuse me?” Bethany asked, looking at Ashton. “You think I would date this literal child?”

“I’m older than you, Bethany.” Michael rolled his eyes.

“By a month.” Bethany huffed, sitting at the table. “Willie, come here.” Bethany snapped her fingers and Willie Nelson hopped up on the table. Bethany pulled a piece of chicken out of her quesadilla and set it on the table for him.

“Bethany and I are for sure not dating. She’s like a sister to me, I could never date her.” Michael said.

“You wish I would date you. I’m so great.” Bethany giggled.

“Yeah, you’re something.” Michael rolled his eyes.

“Anyways.” Evelyn cleared her throat. “Why don’t y’all take Ashton out on the 4-Wheelers and show him around the ranch? He’ll need to get familiar with the land.”

“That sounds great. I think Calum is almost done milking the cows, he can join us.” Bethany smiled.

“He’s out there by himself?” Ashton asked.

“He’s sort of a cow whisperer. They misbehave if he’s with other people.” Evelyn explained.

“I’ve been kicked in the ribs countless times.” Michael said, standing up. “Let’s go.” Ashton got up and followed Michael out of the house, Bethany trailing behind them and Willie Nelson trailing behind her. The three of them walked down to the large red barn where Calum was letting the cows back out into the fenced in enclosure.

“Morning, Cal.” Michael said, walking into the milk house.

“Morning.” Calum mused, closing the gate behind the cows.

“We’re gonna take Ashton around the ranch on the 4-Wheelers.” Bethany smiled.

“That sounds like fun.” Calum smiled. “Where are we startin’?”

“The machine shed so we can get the 4-Wheelers, obviously.” Michael laughed and started walking to the large garage. Bethany grabbed a set of keys and handed it to Ashton.

“These go with the red one over there.” She said, pulling the keys back before Ashton could grab them. “That 4-Wheeler belonged to my dad. If you do anything reckless with it, or cause damage in any way, you will be terminated immediately. And, I don’t mean fired.” She stared at him, her blue eyes turning icy.

“O-Okay, I’ll go easy.” Ashton swallowed hard and carefully took the keys. Bethany turned around and walked toward a bright orange 4-Wheeler. Ashton chewed on his lip and walked to the red one, climbing on.

“She actually will kill you, if you do anything to that ATV.” Calum whispered.

“Is it weird that I’m a little turned on by that?” Ashton whispered back and Calum laughed.

“Yes.” He continued laughing as he started his own 4-Wheeler. Ashton chuckled and started the 4-Wheeler, making eye contact with Bethany. She stared at him as she rode out of the garage and onto the gravel path. The four of them rode side by side through the path before stopping at the pigpen.

“Justin Bieber is looking fatter today.” Mike commented, looking at the large pig.

“You named a pig after Justin Bieber?” Ashton asked, looking at the three of them, to which they all nodded.

“Have you ever read a single article about him? He’s a pig.” Bethany said, hopping over the electric wire, Calum quick on her heels. She walked toward the shelter and refilled the trough with milk and spoiled food from the shed.

“It takes two people to do that?” Ashton asked, turning to Michael.

“No, but Bethany’s nervous to be in the pigpen alone. You know, pigs will eat anything. Humans included.” Michael said, watching Calum and Bethany walk back. “Basically, she’s scared of being eaten alive by the pigs.”

“As everyone should be. You remember the guy from Farlington who got a chunk of his leg bit off by his pigs.” Bethany said, getting back on her 4-Wheeler.

“Anyways,” Calum started. “Justin Bieber is our lead sperm producer. All the pigs in there are his offspring, minus the big mama laying in that patch of mud.”

“That pig there looks deformed.” Ashton said, pointing to a small pig in the shelter.

“That’s Quasimodo. He’s got scoliosis, so he’s got a hump.” Mike said. “We’re gonna eat him soon.”

“Y’all are gonna eat him. I’m gonna give him a funeral, like he deserves.” Bethany said, riding off in front of everyone, the rest following. They stopped in a pasture where horses were grazing.

“This is one of two horse pastures.” Calum said. “The other is on the other end of the property.”

“Mine and Luke’s horses are out here. They don’t get along with the other horses, so they’re exiled out here.” Bethany said.

“Where is Luke today?” Ashton asked.

“He’s got his own farm to worry about. He usually comes in the afternoon.” Mike explained, turning off his 4-Wheeler. Ashton nodded and did the same, getting off his own.

“This is my horse, Faith Hill. And, Luke’s horse, Tim McGraw.” Bethany smiled and rubbed the nose of her horse.

“Are these horses mates?” Ashton asked.

“No, they despise each other.” Calum chuckled. “They just don’t fight each other like they do with the other horses.”

“A horse is only as temperamental as their rider.” Mike said, smirking at Bethany.

“No wonder your horse is a dick.” Bethany said, crossing her arms.

“Let’s keep moving. Tim McGraw looks like he wants to kick someone in the stomach.” Calum said, getting on his 4-Wheeler. The four of them rode off, stopping at the cows, goats, sheep, and alpacas before reaching the other horse pasture. Ashton got off his 4-Wheeler and looked out at the creek running through the pasture and then out at the horizon.

“I bet you never get used to this view.” Ashton mused, awestruck by the country.

“I wouldn’t give up this view for anything.” Bethany smiled, hopping off her 4-Wheeler, Calum and Michael doing the same.

“There’s no place better.” Calum grinned, walking over to a black stallion. “Wouldn’t you agree, Garth Brooks?”

“Are all of the horses named after celebrities?” Ashton asked, turning to look at the horses.

“The horses, yes.” Michael nodded. “Calum’s is Garth Brooks, mine is Dolly Parton.” He chuckled and walked over to the golden horse.

“That auburn one is my mom’s horse, Jo Dee Messina. The sad gray one was my dad’s horse, Toby Keith.” Bethany pointed as she named.

“What about that one with the braided mane?” Ashton asked, pointing to the horse drinking from the creek.

“That one doesn’t have a name yet. Dave was the only one he’d get close to, so we haven’t been able to do much with him.” Calum sighed. Ashton nodded and slowly walked toward the horse.

“You look like a Billy Currington to me.” Ashton smiled, holding his hand out to the horse. He stared at Ashton’s hand for a solid minute before getting close enough to sniff him. Everyone watched in stunned silence as the horse nuzzled its nose against Ashton’s palm. “Billy Currington, for sure.” Ashton smiled, scratching the horse’s neck gently.

“What the actual fuck.” Bethany said, her jaw dropping.

“I have a way with horses.” Ashton chuckled and picked an apple from the ground, feeding it to Billy Currington.

“Not gonna say that turns me on, but I’m feeling some type of way right now.” Bethany said, getting back on her 4-Wheeler.

“God, Bethany, shut up.” Michael laughed, getting on his.

“You guys go on.” Ashton laughed softly. “Billy and I are gonna hang out for a bit.”

“You gonna be able to find your way to the house?” Calum asked.

“I can see the house from here, I’ve got it.” Ashton smiled. “Thanks, though.” Calum nodded and climbed onto his 4-Wheeler, riding away with Michael and Bethany.

By the time Ashton got back to the house, Luke had shown up at the house. “I hear you got the stubborn one to eat out of your hand.” Luke smiled at him.

“More than that.” Ashton smiled. “We rode down the road a ways to the lake.” Ashton said and Evelyn choked a little on her water.

“You went to the lake?” She looked at him.

“Ashton, you can never go back to the lake.” Mike looked at him, shaking his head. “That’s Atkins’ land.”

“Who?” Ashton asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“We’ve been rivals for over 150 years. If they find out one of ours was on their land, they’d literally sue us. You have to avoid them and their property at all costs.” Bethany explained.

“Oh.. Okay.” Ashton nodded. Evelyn sighed softly and stood up from her barstool.

“I need to make a pie for tonight.” She walked away from the group to the kitchen.

“There’s a barn dance tonight in town.” Calum looked at Ashton. “Did your old town have barn dances?”

“No, but the town over did. I’ve only been to a handful.”

“Well, you’ll go to a lot more out here.” Luke said, nodding slowly. “We usually ride our horses in because cops don’t care if you’re on a horse while drunk.”

“We typically get absolutely trashed at barn dances.” Calum chuckled.

“Barn dances here have a DJ, so the music is a little higher quality. The older generations are bitter that we don’t have an actual band anymore, but I prefer the DJ.” Bethany smiled, nudging Michael.

“Does that mean you’re the DJ?” Ashton chuckled, looking at Michael.

“That’s right, I am. I take requests for only a dollar fifty.”

“He takes mine for free.” Bethany giggled softly and leaned into him.

“Are y’all sure you’re not dating?” Ashton raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

“Hundred percent.” Bethany nodded, kissing Michael’s cheek before walking down the hall to her room.

After dinner was eaten and dishes were done, everyone walked down to the horse pastures. Luke and Bethany going the opposite way. “So, what do you think of Ashton?” Luke asked her as they walked.

“I know what you’re on about, and you need to stop.” Bethany warned, crossing her arms.

“I see the way you look at him, buddy. You like him.” Luke smirked, bumping his elbow into hers.

“I do not like him.” Bethany denied, staring straight ahead.

“Bethany, it’s okay to like him. He’s a pretty cool guy.” Luke shrugged. “You know, he plays guitar and drums?”

“Why are you telling me that?” She asked, finally looking at him.

“Because, I know you have a thing for musicians.” Luke smirked.

“You’re literally so annoying.” Bethany groaned, grabbing the saddle for her horse.

“I think you should fuck him.” Luke shrugged, grabbing his own.

“Lucas!” Bethany gasped, throwing a brush at him. “What is wrong with you?”

“What?” Luke laughed and rubbed his arm where the brush hit. “It’s been a while since you’ve been thoroughly fucked, and it shows.”

“Oh, my God. Stop talking before I actually murder you.” Bethany shook her head and tightened the saddle on Faith Hill.

“Just keep it in mind.” Luke smiled and did the same for Tim McGraw. The two of them rode out to the others on the gravel road.

“Bethany, you look ready to commit a crime.” Calum chuckled, riding up next to her.

“Luke told me that I haven’t been thoroughly fucked lately and suggested I fuck Ashton, so I am ready to commit a crime. The crime is murder.” Bethany said, huffing quietly.

“Well, he’s right about you not being thoroughly fucked. However, I think it’s a little soon to be fucking the new farmhand.” Calum nodded.

“God, why do you guys think I haven’t been fucked?” Bethany rolled her eyes.

“Because, you’re so agitated all the time. If you’ve been fucked, you’d be nicer to us.” Calum shrugged.

“You’ve just added yourself to my kill list.” Bethany scoffed, riding faster. The group eventually made it into town and to the barn on the outskirts. They tied their horses to the post and walked inside, Michael immediately going to the stage. Bethany walked to the bar and poured herself a drink.

“What are you drinking?” Ashton asked, standing next to her.

“Bourbon. Want a glass?” She looked up at him, her world melting as her eyes met his.

“I’d love one.” Ashton grinned, his dimples on prominent display to her. Bethany sucked in a breath as she poured another cup full, handing it to Ashton. He took it and looked down at her once more. “A toast.. To you, and your mother, for letting me into your ranch family.”

“Hear, hear.” Bethany smiled, tapping the edge of her cup against his. They both drank, downing their drinks. “So, you’re a drinker?” She smirked up at him.

“I can handle my liquor, if that’s what you’re asking.” Ashton chuckled. Bethany smiled at him before being pulled into the crowd by Calum.

“Mike’s playing our song.” Calum grinned as Come a Little Closer by Dierks Bentley began playing throughout the barn. Bethany giggled softly and held Calum’s hand in hers, placing the other on his shoulder. The two of them danced across the dancefloor, Bethany giggling as Calum stumbled every now and then. Ashton watched them carefully, another drink finding it’s way into his hand.

“Can I cut in?” Ashton approached them as the song came to an end.

“Of course.” Calum smirked at Bethany as he handed her over to Ashton.

“I hope you’re a better dancer than Calum.” Bethany smiled and held Ashton’s hand in her much smaller one.

“I’d like to say I am, but I do have quite a bit of bourbon in me right now.” He chuckled, bringing his hand to her waist and pulling her body closer to his. Bethany smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder as the soul settling chords of Billy Currington echoed from the speakers.

“How fitting.” Bethany giggled and moved in sync with Ashton.

I must be doin' somethin’ right

I just heard you sigh

You leaned into my kiss and closed those deep blue need you eyes

Don't know what I did to earn a love like this, but baby I

Must be doin' somethin’ right

Ashton sung the words quietly into Bethany’s ear as they moved, one step forward and two steps back. Bethany looked up at Ashton, their eyes meeting and the world melting away around them. The icy blue that Ashton had seen in the machine shed had disappeared and was replaced by an ocean, tempting him deeper and deeper into the unknown, until his lips met hers. Bethany’s fingers wound their way into Ashton’s hair as his hand on her waist traveled down, slipping under the hem of her cotton shirt. Their lips moved against each other as if it was the last touch they’d receive. “Follow me.” Bethany mumbled, lacing her fingers with Ashton’s and pulling him out of the barn.

“Where are we going?” He asked, glancing back at the barn.

“Just come with me.” Bethany bit her lip and pulled Ashton through the trees to an abandoned milk house.

“Is this where you’re going to murder me?” Ashton joked, following her inside.

“Not even close.” Bethany giggled and pulled him into another kiss. Ashton brought his hands to her thighs and lifted her up, pressing her body against the nearest wall. His lips found her neck as her fingers tangled in his curls. She let out a quiet moan as his teeth sunk into her skin ever so lightly. “Fuck..” Bethany whimpered, tugging at his hair. Ashton smirked against her skin and pulled back just enough to pull her t-shirt over her head.

“Gonna be a good girl for me?” Ashton mused, trailing his fingertips down her chest to her stomach to the top of her shorts. Bethany nodded, her breathing picking up as her heart raced. “Let me hear you, baby girl.” Ashton looked at her, his eyes darkening.

“Yes, daddy, I’ll be good.” Bethany gasped softly as Ashton set her down, the smirk not leaving his face. He unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them down swiftly. “You’re still wearing too much.” Bethany whined as she bunched up the hem of his shirt. Ashton chuckled to himself and pulled his shirt over his head, Bethany’s eyes landing on his toned chest. “Jesus, fuck..” Bethany mumbled, getting on her knees in front of him.

“Didn’t even have to ask.” Ashton chuckled. “You are gonna be a good girl.” he smirked, unbuttoning his own pants and pushing them down. Bethany licked her lips as she pulled Ashton’s boxers down, her lips immediately wrapping around the tip of his cock. “Ohh, yes.” Ashton sucked in a breath as he gripped Bethany’s hair, pulling it into a makeshift ponytail. “Take daddy’s cock.” Bethany moaned around him as she lowered her head, taking more of him into her mouth. She looked up at him from under her lashes as she bobbed her head against him, taking more each time. “Yes, fuck, that’s it..” Ashton groaned, his head lulling back. Bethany hummed and cupped his balls in her hand as she hollowed her cheeks. “Shit..” Ashton groaned, pulling her mouth off of his throbbing cock.

“What’s wrong?” Bethany looked up at him, afraid she had done something wrong.

“I’m gonna cum if you keep that up, but I’m not cumming until my cock is buried in your pretty pussy.” Ashton bit his lip and pulled Bethany up, bending her over the metal sink. Bethany gasped as Ashton’s palm connected with the skin of her ass.

“Daddy..” She whined, bucking her hips back against his hand. Ashton chuckled from behind her and pulled her lace panties down, letting them fall to her ankles with her shorts. He pushed her legs apart with his knee and rubbed the tip of his cock against her heat, pushing just the tip into the warm embrace. “More, daddy, please.” Bethany whined, her hands gripping the edge of the sink.

“Because you asked nicely.” Ashton smirked, filling her completely.

“Oh, God, fuck..” Bethany moaned, bucking her hips back against his.

“You like that, baby girl?” Ashton bit his lip and dug his fingers into her hips.

“Mhm.” Bethany hummed.

“Use your words.” Ashton demanded, sending his palm into the flesh of her ass once more.

“Yes! Yes, daddy, I love it.” Bethany moaned as Ashton began thrusting at a quick pace. Bethany’s moans grew louder as Ashton’s thrusts grew harder.

“Such a pretty pussy.” Ashton grunted, pulling her hips back against his roughly. “Can’t wait to fill your pussy with my cum.”

“Yes, daddy, make me your fucktoy.” Bethany moaned loudly, her manicured nails scraping against the rusty metal of the sink. “God, I’m so close.” She whimpered, her eyes squeezing closed.

“Cum on daddy’s cock. Wanna feel you, baby.” Ashton groaned, his fingers finding her clit.

“Ah, fuck!” Bethany gasped, her legs shaking as her high washed over her. “Oh, God, daddy!” She whined, her hand gripping his wrist as he continued to thrust faster.

“Ready to take daddy’s cum? Gonna let me fill your pretty pussy?” Ashton moaned, his fingers pressing harder into her skin, surely leaving bruises.

“Yes, daddy. Fill my pussy.” Bethany moaned out. Ashton grunted and stilled behind her as he released into her, his load coating her walls.

“Mm, fuck.. Your pussy takes my cum so well.” Ashton groaned lowly, slowly pulling out. He watched as his load dripped from her aching core. “Fuck, baby girl..” Ashton bit his lip as he pulled her panties and shorts up. “Want you to go back to the dance with my cum leaking from your cunt.” Ashton whispered in her ear.

“Yes, daddy..” Bethany moaned softly and buttoned her shorts. Ashton smirked to himself and pulled his jeans and boxers, tucking himself into the confining material. Bethany pulled her shirt back on and turned to face Ashton as he pulled on his own. She giggled quietly as she pulled him into a slow kiss.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Beth.” Ashton whispered, his lips brushing against hers as she pulled away from him.

“What did you call me?” She looked up at him, the moment suddenly fleeting.

“Beth?” Ashton looked down at her, confusion lacing its way onto his features.

“I-I have to go..” Bethany stuttered, quickly running out of the milk house, Ashton following after her.

“Wait!” He called, but he was too late. She was already on Faith Hill and riding into the darkness.

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[all-the-love-harold]

Chapter 11- A Family to Call Her Own

Ok, I know it’s been a long time since I posted chapter 10, but it’s better late than never right?! As always thanks to @lovesmelikebrandnewstarlight for being an angel and helping me out with this chapter and for being wonderful. 

Let me know what you think

Master List 

Chapter 10

It was the middle of summer in London, which admittedly, wasn’t that hot compared to what Poppy grew up with back home, but she’d lived here for four years now and by her  current standards, 25 degrees celsius, was hot, and being pregnant didn’t help. She was glad that she’d finally reached the end of the first trimester, her morning sickness had almost vanished and her energy had started to come back. The last two weeks had been hell, she was tired the second she woke up and she could barely eat anything without throwing it up. Making it through the work day had been rough, but she was grateful she had Ella and Grimmy to cover for her while she took a power nap in her lunch break. She was coming out of it now though and while she wasn’t out of the woods in terms of the high-risk pregnancy, she was glad that she was feeling better.

It was a Friday, and since Poppy had Friday’s off now, she’d spent the day running a few basic errands, stocking up on groceries and ducking into a few high street stores to buy some basic Maternity wear. She had the slightest bump now, still not enough for people to notice when she was wearing loose clothing, but her jeans were getting uncomfortable, and she could always find an excuse to go to TopShop. She still hadn’t told her family, and she was still nervous to admit it in case something happened, but 12 weeks was traditionally when people announced their pregnancies, so that’s why she was sitting on her bed at 9pm, laptop open, waiting for her mum to answer the skype call.

“Well hello there Miss Poppy, I wasn’t expecting a call from you this morning” her mum answered, pointing the camera up towards the ceiling so that Poppy couldn’t see her face, she could tell that it was a nice day from the lighting in the room and she suddenly found herself missing the cold June days spent at home by the fire, the smell of her mums soup filling the air.

“Hi Mum, I can’t see your face if you point the camera up like that” she said giggling, glad to be talking her

“Oh that’s ok, you don’t want to see my face anyway”

“I really do, I haven’t seen you since Christmas, I miss your face”

“Fine, but don’t complain about my chins” she aimed the camera back at her face “So, why have I been honoured with your call this fine Saturday morning?”

“Can’t I just call for a chat?” Poppy stalled, sudden butterflies filling her stomach.

“You can, but you don’t”

“You’re right, I have some news” she sighed “Is Dad there?”

“Yeah, he’s around here somewhere” she turned around looking for her dad “is it good news?”

Poppy smiled widely  “It’s great news Mum”

Her mum turned back around and looked straight at Poppy through the screen “Are you coming home?”

Poppy shook her head “No mum, I’m not coming home, London’s home now”

She let out a big sigh “This will always be your home Poppy”

“I know mum, but you know what I mean” she smiled “Now go find Dad, and Addie too if she’s around”

“She’s at that boys house again, you’ll have to call her later”

“Alright, I can do that, but get Dad now and I’ll tell you”

“Alright alright” she turned around again “John!” she called “Poppy’s on the computer thing, she’s got something to tell us” she turned back to the screen “He’s in his corner, he’s on his way though”

She heard her dad walk into the room where their computer sat “What’d you say love”

Her mum rolled her eyes “Poppy’s on the computer call, she’s got some news”

John’s torso appeared in the screen “Oh hello darling, how are you?”

“I’m great dad, how are you?”

“Oh I’m alright” he sighed “Still haven’t retired, but I’m getting by”

“What did you want to tell us Poppy?” her mum chimed in, obviously eager to hear the news

“Oh, Uh,” Poppy bit her lip, butterflies forming in the pit of her stomach again, her parents were very traditional, and they’d always told her that she needed to be married before she had a baby, and Poppy always thought she would be, but things don’t always go to plan, and she knew that they’d be happy for her eventually, but at first, she wasn’t sure how they’d react.

“Everything ok?” her  Mum asked

“Yeah Mum, everything’s great, I’m” she swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to hold back the tears “I’m pregnant”

“Oh my goodness” her mum brought her hands to her face, covering her mouth and her Dad, stood there in silence “how far along?”

“12 weeks, today” Poppy smiled

Her Dad cleared his throat “Who’s the, uh, who’s the father?”

“Um” Poppy frowned “his name’s Danny, but he doesn’t want anything to do with it”

Both  parents frowned with her for a moment, her mum finally breaking the silence “Poppy, dear, I think you should think about moving back home, you can’t do this by yourself”

Poppy knew her mum would try and convince her to move home, she’d been doing it for the past four years, but she didn’t think she would straight out say she couldn’t do it on her own.

“I’m not really doing it on my own mum”

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused

“I’ve got Harry”

She laughed “And what happens when Harry goes away on tour? And finds a girl that doesn’t already have a baby?”

“Then I’ll still have Harry.” Poppy said bluntly, knowing that Harry was in this with her for the long hall, even if their relationship wasn’t romantic, she knew that he was going to be there for her and her son.

“Where is he now then?”

She didn’t want to admit that he wasn’t in London right now, but she didn’t really have a choice “He’s in L.A. promoting his movie, he’ll be back on Monday”

“So you’ve only got Harry when it’s convenient for Harry” her mum said bluntly, her mouth set in a hard line

“That’s not how it is Mum, there are times when he has to go away for work, but when he’s here, he’s here, he cancelled rehearsals when we thought I was having a miscarriage, he was there when I had to tell Danny, and he came with me to my first doctor’s appointment, he cooks me dinner every night he left meals in my freezer for while he’s away, he’s here mum and not just when it works for him”

She blinked at the screen “You thought you were having a miscarriage?”

“Yeah, two weeks ago, everything’s fine, he’s healthy in there”

“He?” her dad asked

“Yeah Dad, it’s a boy”

She could see the tears forming in her Mum’s eyes “I’m going to have a grandson?”

“Yeah, you are” she smiled, tears forming in her own eyes

“I’m sorry for saying that about Harry, I know he’s a good friend to you, but friendship only goes so far when there’s a baby in the mix”

“I know mum, and I worry about that all the time, but everything’s going to be ok, he’s not going to let me do this alone”

“Oh I know sweetie, you’re going to be a great mum, I just get worried about you being over there by yourself” the tears were rolling down her cheeks now “Oh I wish I could hug you right now”

Poppy giggled through her own tears “I’m not by myself Mum, I’ve got a lot of really great friends here”

“I know you do Poppy” her dad wiped the tears away from her mums face “When are you due?” she asked looking at her husband and thanking him.

“Technically, December 15th, but because of my uterus thing, I have two different C-section dates scheduled”

“Which are?” her dad asked

“November 10th, and December 1st”

“I guess we’re coming to London for Christmas then” her Mum smiled, rubbing her dad’s arm

“I guess you are” she laughed, pleased with how they reacted

“Alright sweetie, go and call your sister, and if you have any questions about anything, just ring me!”

“Thanks Mum, I’ll text you the photos I have from the scans”

“Oh that’ll be lovely” she smiled

“Bye darling” her dad called “we’re very happy for you, and we’re always here for you”

“Thanks dad, I’ll talk to you soon”

Poppy hung up the call and took a deep breath, relieved that they took the news well. Her mum was right in being sceptical about Harry’s role in all this, Poppy, herself were a little sceptical about how it was all going to work, but she knew that he was always going to be there, and that he would love this little prince just as much as she did, and that was enough for her. After giving herself a few minutes to allow her tears to dry, she went out to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea and call her sister. she sat at her counter and dialled the number, waiting for her to answer

“Poppy! Haven’t heard from you for a while, how’s London?” Addie answered.

“Very British” Poppy laughed

“Never would have guessed” she said sarcastically

“So, Mum tells me you’re at a boy’s house” Poppy questioned.

“It’s just Matt, he’s my Harry, but like, less famous”

Poppy smiled at the thought of her having someone as supportive as Harry “That’s great Ad, how’s school going?”

“It’s school, I can’t wait to be done with it” she said cheerfully “hey, isn’t it Friday night there, shouldn’t you be out doing fun things with your cool friends and not calling your little sister”

Poppy giggled “My friends aren’t that cool, they’re all at home alone too, I called because I have some news”

“Are you coming home?!”

“No, and you’ve been spending too much time with Mum”

“Yeah, I know” she sighed into the mouthpiece “Anyway, what’s your news”

“I’m having a baby Addie”

“Oh my god!” she screamed into the phone and Poppy held it away from her ear “is it Harry’s?”

“Ummm No” she said confused, thinking about what she just said about Matt “You know how babies happen right?”

“You gotta do the sex usually” she said matter-of-factly

“Yeah, I’ve literally never done that with Harry”

“Oh” she sounded taken aback “So you two aren’t friends with benefits?”

“Nooooo” she said, lowering the tone of her voice “does that mean that you and Matt are friends with benefits?”

“Yep” she was starting to sound a little awkward

“Ok, well like, use protection, don’t make the same mistake I did”

“So who is the Dad?”

“Some dude named Danny, apparently his sperm has more stamina than he does”

“Ok gross, I don’t need the details”

“Yeah ok sorry, you really don’t” Poppy cleared her throat “anyway, you’re going to be an aunt in a few months”

“When is it due?”

“He’s due in December,” she emphasized the ‘he’ as an easy way to tell her the sex, “but he’ll probably be early”

“it’s a he?”

“It’s a boy” Poppy smiled even though she knew that Addie couldn’t see her

“Oh my god, is Kiwi about you?” Poppy was surprised by the sudden change of topic “Is that why he posted that photo on Instagram?”

“Um no, that song was written like more than a year ago, I’m a little offended that you think it’s about me to be honest”

“Sorry, I had to ask” she laughed “Congratulations Poppy, this is the most adult thing you’ve ever done”

“I know, it’s terrifying”

***

July 4th 2017 – 12 weeks

Poppy was sitting at her desk, staring out her window at the beautiful blue that was blessing the London sky, wishing she was outside enjoying the pleasant weather, instead of being cooped up inside trying desperately to find a heart rate monitor for some ridiculous game Nick wanted to play with Harry next week. So far, she’d contacted three hospitals, and all of them flat out refused to rent out a heart rate monitor to a radio station, which Poppy thought was reasonable, but it was still her job to find someone that would.

Ella was working away happily at her desk, answering calls and taking messages for different members of staff when Poppy heard her say Harry’s name.

“Harry Styles is here?” she said, curiously into the phone, turning around to look at her. He arrived back from L.A. late last night and went straight back to his house, so he wouldn’t wake Poppy up, but that meant that it had almost been a week since she’d seen him. Poppy shrugged her shoulders at Ella, not knowing why he was here either.

“He’s not scheduled to be in until next week, but let him anyway, I’m sure he won’t cause too much trouble” Poppy’s stomach dropped at the thought of seeing him after having that conversation with her mum the other day. Ella winked at her and put the phone down “Did you know he was coming?”

“I had no idea, I haven’t spoken to him since he got home from L.A”

“Trouble in paradise?” she asked, a tone of menace in her voice

Poppy picked up the pad of post-it-notes that were sitting next to her laptop and playfully threw them at her “Shut up El, there’s nothing going on between us”

The elevator doors opened on the other side of the room and Harry walked out, wearing a hoodie and his paperboy hat, carrying what looked like a gift bag and a tray of coffee’s.

“Mr Styles” Ella said, very professionally

Harry furrowed his brow at her formal introduction, which was out of character for her, “Yeah hey Ella” he handed her a coffee from the tray “Mocha, right?”

“Oooh thank you” she said taking the cup off him “you should visit more often”

“I’ll think about it” he said as he made his way over to Poppy’s desk, placing the gift bag and another cup of coffee in front of her “Hey baby Mumma”

“Hiya” she said, looking at the cup in front of her, feeling the butterflies rise in her stomach as he smiled at her

“It’s tea” he said reassuringly

“Great” she took a sip “how was your flight home?”

“It was alright” he nodded, pushing the gift bag closer to her “Got you a little something in L.A” Poppy frowned at him, pulling the bag closer to her “Don’t give me that face love, it’s not really for you, it’s for the little man”

The frown disappeared from her face as she looked inside the bag to see a flat white box with a ‘Gucci’ logo embossed in the middle “Harry!” she exclaimed, pulling it out of the bag as he smirked, pulling a chair over from the reception area

“What?!” he asked innocently

“It’s Gucci” she untied the ribbon that held the box shut and pulled the lid off, revealing a navy blue baby grow, covered in yellow teddy bears

“D’you like it?”

“I love it H” she said, touching the fabric “It’s so soft”

“It’s 100% wool, and I figured since he’s a winter baby, that it will come in handy”

“It’s great, thank you H” she stood from her chair and opened her arms to hug him “Kid’s not even born yet and he already owns more designer clothes than I do”

“And who’s fault is that?”

Herr mouth twitched into a smirk “Mine”

“Hmm, exactly” he smiled “12 weeks, how does it feel?”

“I haven’t puked in 3 days, it’s wonderful” she laughed, pulling her shirt tight over her belly “Look, I’ve even got a bump”

His eyes widened, and he reached his arm out, stopping just before he touched her “may I?” Poppy nodded, grabbing his hand and placing it over the bump, enjoying the intimacy of the act.  

“That’s your God Son”

His smiled widened and his eyes sparkled with excitement “He’s really in there”

“Oh would you two get a room” Ella called from her desk, watching as Harry removed his hand from her belly and sat back down in the chair he’d taken over to her desk.

“Shut up Ella” Poppy laughed “Get some work done”

“I could say the same to you” she tutted

“Ooh, actually on that note” she pulled a calendar out from her desk draw, “H, when can you come in for your live lounge?”

“Uhhh” he pulled his phone out from his pocket and checked his calendar “Any time in the first three weeks of August”

“How about the 19th?” she said looking at the schedule

“I’m sure that’s fine, but leave it with me and I’ll let you know for sure in a few days”

“Great” she said taking a pencil out from her tin and wrote his name on the 19th with a question mark next to it “See Ella, we’re working” she rolled her eyes and turned back to her desk, opening her own laptop to get some work done.

Poppy noticed the last cup of coffee in the tray that Harry had brought in with him “who’s that for H?”

“Grimmer’s if he’s still in”

“He is” Poppy stood from her chair “let’s go find him, I need to talk to him anyway”

Harry followed her down the hallway to Grimmy’s studio, where he was busy doing some production work. She knocked on the door and opened it as nick took his head phones off and placed them on the desk

“Hiya” he said, a wide smile on his face “Ready for lunch, are we?”

“I could go for some lunch” Harry said, walking in behind her

“Styles!” Nick exclaimed, not expecting to see Harry today, “What are ya doing here?”

“He wants more radio play” she winked and Harry handed grimmy the cup of coffee “so you know that thing you wanted me to get for your interview with this guy next week?” Poppy pointed at Harry

“Yeah”

“I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I haven’t given up yet”

“Don’t be going to any extra trouble for me, and don’t get yourself stressed”

“Yes H” she rolled her eyes, secretly enjoying how much he cared for her, “Now, Mumma’s hungry, let’s get some food”

Grimmy stood up from his chair, “Alright, let’s go then, before you kill us both”

“Let’s just get something delivered, I’ve got work to do”F

[tea-at-221]

I was listening to oldies and then this happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John isn't quite sure he can trust his ears. He's only just shut the door of 221 behind him and already he can hear the music from upstairs. He looks up the stairs, intrigued, but the door is shut.

He catches movement out of the corner of his eye: Mrs. Hudson has heard him come in--somehow--and is gaping at him with an expression that John imagines mirrors his own. She's holding a forgotten feather duster in one hand.

Wordlessly he points up the stairs and raises his eyebrows.

Mrs. Hudson's expression wavers from bewilderment to a fond smile in response.

"Has he done this before?" John yells.

Mrs. Hudson shakes her head and raises her hands to indicate, of course, that she has known Sherlock for years and still has no idea what he does. Then she backs up and closes her door, but not before he catches something that looks suspiciously like a wink being thrown at him.

John can't help how his smile grows as he mounts the 17 steps to their flat. At least he's relatively certain that the musical racket means that Sherlock is in a good mood.

He opens the door and stands on the threshold, his smile holding steady as he observes Sherlock dancing quite enthusiastically. To American music from the 50's.

"You broke my will, but what a thrill...."

Sherlock spotted him almost right away, and gave him an amused grin that said he knew John was catching him doing something frivolous and ridiculous, and that was exactly the point. He was dressed casually in dark jeans and--yes, oddly enough--a faded band t-shirt from some old group John had unsurprisingly never heard of.

Things had been quite different since John had moved back into Baker Street. For one thing, Sherlock was more relaxed these days--playful even; he dressed casually most days, especially on the weekends. Also, he had taken on the role of co-caretaker of Rosie without the slightest nudge from John (who hadn't even dreamed of asking so much from his friend).

And this moment highlighted another new development which kept surprising John whenever he had occasion to notice it: Sherlock had held himself stiffly ever since they'd first met, but now it was as though he had stopped bracing for some inevitable impact. The tension had melted from his frame and he was all loose, easy grace--especially right now as he shimmied goofily over to John. He grabbed the doctor's hand and spun him around into the sitting room, hooking the edge of the front door with one foot and giving it enough of a push that it swung shut securely behind them.

"I laughed at love cause I thought it was funny

But you came along and moved me honey

I've changed my mind

This love is fine

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!"

Sherlock twirled John out and pulled him in again, then again out and spun him around under his arm--lanky git (John made sure it was plenty evident that he was rolling his eyes). His too-tall friend mouthed the lyrics in an exaggerated, animated manner, laughing at John even as he did so. When they were facing each other again, still dancing, John chuckled but narrowed his eyes a bit to indicate that he found this behavior surprising and maybe even alarming enough to have his flatmate committed.

Sherlock pretended not to understand even though the two could interpret each other's subtlest expressions quite well by this point. They'd been past the point of needing to explain themselves for years, as a matter of fact.

"Well, I want to love you like a lover should

You're fine, so kind

Got to tell this world that you're mine, mine, mine, mine...."

John took Sherlock's stock advice and covertly glanced around the room. Understanding dawned when he spied a package torn open on the table Sherlock utilized as a desk, Harry's handwriting clearly visible on the front.

Harry had been sober for a few months now. She was clearly trying her hardest this time, and though it was difficult to feel optimistic without also feeling a bit heartbroken, John had a good feeling about it. And now his dorky sister's sentimental side was showing: during the brief time in their early teens when the two had gotten on well (prior to Harry coming out to their folks), the siblings had often bopped around to the oldies when they were alone and bored. They had unabashedly enjoyed Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Ritchie Valens, The Temptations, and countless others from the 50's and 60's. Evidently she had burned him a CD to remind him of those days, and Sherlock--who still had absolutely no respect for personal property and obviously never would--had beaten him to it. He also without a doubt did not need the meaning of the gift spelled out.

"Well kiss me baby

Mmmm feels good

Let me love you like a lover should

You're fine, so kind

I'm gonna tell this world that you're mine mine mine mine...."

John took in the moment, watching Sherlock dance. An overwhelming wave of warmth rose in his chest suddenly as it occurred to him that, for the first time, he was right where he should be. Harry's recovery was part of it. Rosie was part of it. And Sherlock--the two of them being back at 221b together--well. That was the biggest part. Now he was here, goofing around fondly with a man who had vehemently spurned the notion of romantic entanglement for the whole of his life thus far. A man who had orchestrated this moment of realization for John's benefit, 100% cognizant of the message he was sending and of the fact that his partner-in-crime-solving--not such an idiot after all--would see his intentions clearly.

"Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!"

The song came to an end. Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" immediately picked up in its place but Sherlock released his hands, still laughing, and said something about wine as he headed to the kitchen.

John turned the volume on the music down ever-so-slightly and followed. He came to stand behind Sherlock and watched him pour a glass of white wine for each of them.

"Rosie's staying on with your parents for the weekend then, I take it."

"Yes. They begged to keep her." Sherlock turned and handed him his glass, and all at once the light went out of his expression as a hint of guilt appeared in his eyes.

His very, very blue eyes. John swallowed, though he'd yet to take a sip from his glass.

"I hope that was okay," Sherlock said sheepishly. "I should have asked."

John smiled slowly, and Sherlock looked puzzled at his friend's evident pleasure. He had failed to let John make the executive parenting decisions, and as far as he understood it that was a bit not good.

John shrugged, a brief little lift and fall of his shoulders. He rocked back on his heels and raised his glass toward Sherlock as if toasting him. "Not at all, actually. I mean...." John paused, and they stared at each other for a moment. "You're...sort of like her other parent, right? It's...fine." The blond flushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. He suddenly seemed to remember his drink, and he took a swig.

Sherlock continued to stare for a moment, something quiet and understated playing out in his eyes and around the corners of his mouth. "I...am?"

John smiled, baffled. "Of course?" Then, taken aback, "We'd be lost without you." His smile faded as Sherlock continued to need a moment to absorb that. He looked down at the floor, gathered himself, and then met Sherlock's eyes again. With gravity, but also with a tight chest. "Hell with it. That's not really what I meant to say. I mean that I...I, would be lost without you." He swallowed again, suddenly. "Sherlock."

Abruptly, Sherlock reanimated and downed half his glass. He set the rest on the counter behind him, distracted. "John...."

"Yes...?"

"Put your glass down," Sherlock said solemnly.

John had long since passed the point of questioning Sherlock's demands; it was useless to deny him, and honestly he never wanted to. He set his glass on the table behind him, gaze fixed on Sherlock.

"So...you're okay with my role in your daughter's life."

John nodded, not sure he could or should speak.

Sherlock stepped minutely closer. "And... my role? You're happy with that?"

A pause. "Could be better," John murmured, his voice huskier than he would have liked.

"Better...how?"

Those pale eyes, flickering back and forth as they studied his own.

John's left hand had reached out before he was even aware of having the intention to move. It settled gently in the slight curve of Sherlock's waist, and John's thumb stroked over the thin t-shirt reverently. Sherlock looked pained. He didn't seem to be breathing.

John pulled, and Sherlock shuffled closer. Close enough that John was able to brush the tip of his nose against the other man's. His heart was pounding; he felt almost ill with adrenaline, but it was so late in the game. So very, very late.

"You could kiss me," he whispered, and looked up from beneath his lashes at the taller man, who he could see was trembling and regarding him with a mix of desperation and fear. "You could..." he lifted up just a bit on his toes, his lips brushing Sherlock's, "never stop kissing me."

Sherlock released a shaky, almost explosive breath and grabbed John's collar, pulling him to his tip-toes to press their lips together. After an intense, shiver-inducing moment, he pulled back a fraction for a breath, then met John's lips once more.

John clutched him tightly and very gently sucked at Sherlock's bottom lip, and then the top. Sherlock hummed.

"Yes?" John whispered, a tiny smile curling his lips.

"Yes, John." Sherlock's hands came up to frame his face. "Yes anything. Yes always, please."

And then they resumed with the never stopping.

[mellowedolans]

Someone to me - Grayson Dolan Imagine

Hi! This is my first imagine so please enjoy! Please let me know what you ACTUALLY think of this. I’ve never done this before so I have no idea what I am doing. IF YOU LIKE IT LET ME KNOW, MAYBE I will do a part 2 :) !

Summary: Y/n gets dragged to a party when she meets a handsome stranger at the start of a panic attack. 

Warning!: This imagine does deal with anxiety, mainly social anxiety. I am not saying that this is how everyone who has a panic attack or deals/struggles with anxiety feels. This is just how it is for me. In no way am I trying to romanticize anxiety. I know that it is a mental illness that many struggle with every day because I do struggle with it. I just had this idea after having a panic attack after being forced to give a speech in front of a lot of people.

The room felt as though it was on fire and suffocating you. There were way too many people shoved into James Charles’ apartment in the bustling city of Los Angeles. You didn’t even know why you were at this party. You didn’t know anyone and really didn’t belong with this crew of people. It had been your friend f/n, who begged you to come with her. Now, this was her scene. She was an aspiring model who had somehow stumbled upon several internet celebrities and became great friends with James and some other people. Now you were a different case. You were y/n, a shy, awkward, human being who had written a novel that was in the works of being published by a big publishing company here in LA. Your friend had been kind enough to let you crash with her while you hammered out the last details of your novel and then you planned to book it back to your home state ASAP. It was obvious how much f/n was enjoying herself. She seemed as though she didn’t have a care in the world as she danced to the pop music that blasted through the speakers, casually sipping some kind of alcohol from her red solo cup. It was as though f/n was the center of attention, which definitely didn’t bother you. You were the most content that you were going to be at this party as you stood quietly from the far left corner of the apartment, gripping the already warm water bottle that you had grabbed from y/f’s fridge before being physically dragged out the apartment by a relentless f/n. You were shaken out of your thoughts someone tapping your shoulder. You quickly turned around to be met with the most attractive guy who you had ever had ever laid your eyes on. He had dark brown hair and a jawline that could cut glass, with a small angel wing necklace the dangled from what was his left ear but your right. “What are you doing here all by yourself?” He inquired, tilting his head ever-so-slightly to the right, making your heart melt a little. “Um...I don’t know, my friend f/n dragged me here.”  You said, inwardly cringing at the fact that you stumbled over your words, but that was nothing new. You suffered from social anxiety so putting yourself out there and meeting new people was extremely difficult for you. “Oh, you know f/n?” The attractive young man responded fairly quickly and you figured by the way that he said that sentence that he probably had some kind of romantic interest in her. You couldn’t blame him, she was everything that you would never be. “Yeah, she’s been my... um, best friend since I was ten. I mean we were both ten but she was a grade younger than I so...”  You looked up to see the poor guy completely confused by what you were saying. This is why you hated talking to new people, you just made yourself seem like some big idiot. “I’m sorry, I’m not good with talking to people.” With that he laughed, making you feel like absolute shit. “Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong, you were just talking really quiet and for some goddamn reason James has the speaker blasted and it’s kind of hard to hear you.” The boy explained, making your heart soar, realizing that he wasn’t mocking or making fun of you like most guys have done to you in the past. “So what are you doing in LA? No offense, but you don’t seem to be enjoying yourself.” “I’m a writer and I’m working on getting my book published.” You explained, raising your voice slightly so he could hear you more clearly. His eyes became the size of saucers. “Really?” You nodded your head in response, suddenly being hit with a wave of anxiousness as you realized more and more people were making their way into the apartment, making the exit seem farther and farther away and as although you were trapped in here. “That’s amazing!” “Thanks.” You choked out, feeling as though the air in your lungs was being sucked out by a vacuum. It felt as though all eyes were on you, even though they obviously weren’t. In your head, you imagined that they were all secretly judging you. Judging your body, the way you were dressed in jeans and a graphic t-shirt, the way you wore your hair. It felt as though they were judging every inch of your exterior and it made it feel as though the room was collapsing even more inwards. “Are you okay?” He was gentle, placing a hand on the middle of your back ever so slightly, as though you were a fragile piece of glass that could break at any moment. You nodded your head again but the boy did not shake off his look of worry for your safety. He bit his lip as though in concentration and quickly grabbed his phone from his jean jacket and texted someone. He looked up and gave you a small grin. “Give me one more minute, okay?” Still confused but very intrigued by the handsome man standing in front of you, you nodded your head again for the third time. “Here you go Grayson, you owe this sister big time.” You looked up to see James giving the guy, Grayson, a set of keys. James turned his head and looked at you. “Oh hi, y/n! Sorry, I haven’t seen you here, I’ve been kind of busy making sure no one ruins my place.” He leaned in and gave you a quick hug, which you awkwardly returned. “I see you’ve met Grayson, we’ve known each other forever...” It was as though James had a realization as he stopped speaking and looked between the two of you. “Oh I see what’s going on and you better not do anything nasty in there!” With that, a crash was heard coming from the opposite end of the house, causing James to turn in that direction. “Sorry, duty calls and I mean it Grayson, no dirty business!” He gave Grayson one more look and disappeared among the flock of people. “Hey, follow me please, if you don’t mind.” With that, he grabbed your small hand in his larger and much warmer one and led you down a much less condensed hallway with several doors on each side. Grayson led you to the end of the hallway and stopped in front of a light gray door on the right side. He reached into his pocket, grabbed the keys that James gave him and preceded to attempt to find what key fit into the lock. As he did that, you noticed a girl pinned up against the wall by a boy as they made out very lustfully. Upon further inspection, you realized it was f/n. You quickly directed your eyes to focus down on a small portion of the hardwood floors that you were currently standing on and waited for Grayson to be done doing whatever he was doing. “Aha!” With that, Grayson jiggled the door handle and opened the room. “Come in here.” With that, you cautiously stepped inside and Grayson followed suit. Inside was a plan room that you guessed was a guest bathroom. It was clean, with white walls, a gray comforter, and a white desk in the corner. You turned around as you heard a locking sound, meaning that Grayson had locked the door that you had entered from. This scared you. Although he seemed like a genuinely nice person, you had learned in the past that looks could be deceiving. What was he planning on doing with you? James had warned Grayson about doing any funny business but you weren’t sure if he was the type to listen to the rules. Slightly scared, you raised your hands from your sides, searching for your phone and inwardly sighing when you found it. At least you had your phone just in case if this Grayson boy did attempt to try something. While you had been doing this, you hadn’t realized that he had made his way over to the bed, where he took a seat on the edge and silently observed you. It was when he groaned and flopped back onto the bed that you paid attention. “I’m sorry, I just realized how insanely creepy it must be for you to have some stranger take you into some locked bedroom. I promise that I won’t do anything like that to you, I would never take advantage of someone like that.” “Then what are you doing?” You weren’t sure where this burst of confidence was coming from, but you couldn’t say that you were upset by it. “I just realized that you were about to have a panic attack. I used to get them pretty frequently when I was sixteen. I get them every so often but I’ve learned how to control it better.” You were shocked by his words. How could someone you perfect and put together get such anxious thoughts as you do? “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so bitchy.” There you went again, apologizing. You always seemed to do that when you got anxious, even if you had done nothing wrong. “Why are you sorry?” In a split second, Grayson was up and standing in front of you. He gently raised his hands to your cheeks, holding them tenderly in his hands, forcing you to look directly into his beautiful brown eyes. You couldn’t believe how close you were to him. Any wrong move and your lips would be planted on top of his. Not that you minded, Grayson was undeniably handsome but you weren’t entirely sure that he would want that to happen. “I don’t know, I just get anxious in these types of social situations. I guess I’m just used to being the girl on the sidelines. F/n was always the one who got all of the attention while I just laid in my room, writing and wishing that I wasn’t so goddamn awkward. I guess I’m just used to be a nobody.” “Don’t say that.” He voice commanded and you felt as though you were falling even more into his eyes. “You are not a nobody. You are a beautiful girl inside and out that I’m very happy I got to meet tonight. I want you to know that you will always be somebody to me.” With that, Grayson leaned in, molding your lips with his.

[bucky-my-barnes]

Preference #1: How You Meet!

Tony:

Walking down the sidewalk minding your own business on the way to work you overhear a loud crash followed by a woman screaming. Throwing your phone in your bag you headed towards the screaming to see if you could help, you were a nurse after all. Upon reaching the scene you see a lady standing over a child who wasn’t moving and a car smoking against a fire hydrant that was spraying everywhere. Leaning down you wanted to tend to the child seeing he wasn’t breathing at all and covered in injuries.

Quickly you started administering CPR not noticing the sounds going on around you as something large clearly landed beside you. Coughing the child gasps for air, turning you see Iron Man next tp you. “Please take him to the hospital, I’ll phone ahead and tell them you are coming!”You pleaded with him taking the child and setting them in his suit covered arms.

Obviously you knew who it was, you did watch the news after all, and there was no one better to help than a Superhero! Seeing him nod and take off the jets thrusting him up into the air. For some reason you couldn’t help but hope you would see him again.

Steve:

A long time ago your parents had become in debt to the wrong people, and now you found yourself forced to be an agent of HYDRA. Not that you wanted to be of course, but it was the only way you could secure your little sisters freedom. Not only did they make you to hurt people, but they also forced you to undergo experiments at their whimsy. Unfortunately none of the powers you developed could hurt anyone, quite the contrary as you found yourself able to speed up cell growth and heal people. It also worked on plants which if you saw nature much might excite or even help you.

Stalking down the corridors doing your usual guard duty since they didn’t trust you to do much else at that point, you heard a loud banging followed by the alarms sounding. A breech was made somewhere, and that meant that you were now very much in danger from whatever force could infiltrate a HYDRA base. Someone wearing a red, white, and blue costume rounded the corner making you feel as if your heart was in your throat. Taking a deep breath you close your eyes and wait for what was going to happen next but nothing came.

“Drop your weapon and I won’t hurt you.”The deep voice rang out firmly causing you to drop it almost immediately. “Come with me you don’t have to do this.”He pleaded the look behind his eyes telling you that he was being truthful.

“I can’t they will take my sister if I leave.”You say biting your lower lip softly before taking off running in the opposite direction dreading the consequences you would face later for not addressing the threat.

Clint:

Coming out of the military, the Army to be specific you had no idea what you were going to do now that you were just a civilian. It felt weird to be out of fatigues and back into jeans but after serving your time and then some you were looking forward to having some sort of semblance of a life. Where the choices you made were your own, and you had a soft bed to sleep in at night especially the same bed every night. However as you walked around your old stomping grounds in New York you felt the ground start to rumble. Suddenly out of almost now where there were Chitauri everywhere to be seen, people screaming and things turning to chaos around you.

Grabbing your pistol out of your ankle holster you knew you only had a good six shots at most in it, so you would only use it when necessary. Quickly you began helping people get out of the way and into a place that would hopefully be safer. One of the creatures decided to try and take you out, so you quickly shot it in the head watching it drop to the ground in front of you. Unfortunately that kept you distracted long enough that you didn’t hear the one land behind you, and it swung out grabbing your leg forcing you into the air.

The next thing you knew you were hurdling towards the ground, an arrow now sticking out of it’s skull killing it immediately. There was nothing you could do but fall from that height and embrace your death… until you felt a pair of warm arms around you effectively catching you. “Falling for me already?”The blonde man asked with a chuckle.

Bruce:

Today was an exciting day because at your university there was going to be a couple of guest speakers to talk about the importance of studying science. While it wasn’t exactly the type of science you were studying which was Environmental Science, it was open to you as a science major. So when you had the chance to listen to two Avengers speak, there was no way you weren’t going to take on that opportunity. Opening the door you knew you were kind of early, but as you had always been taught to be. Taking a seat in the front row you didn’t even acknowledge that they were setting up on the stage.

Looking down at your phone you made sure to let your roommate know that you weren’t going to be home until later because of the talk. Hearing someone clear their throat in front of you jarred you from your current thought. Gazing up your (e/c) eyes met with soft brown ones in return, clearly this was Dr. Bruce Banner standing before you. “You are a little early aren’t you?”He asked with a clear amused expression.

“Well like my Dad always told me, if you are on time, you’re late. I guess it’s still ingrained in me today.”You replied blushing.

“He seems like a wise man.”Bruce chuckled before winking and walking back towards the stage after someone beckoned him.

Thor:

When Jane called you and asked you to help break her and some others into a top secret SHIELD facility you couldn’t believe your ears. So you met up where she asked you to randevu them just outside of the fenced in area. Opening the back of the van you set your tools down and began getting them situated. “Alright so does someone want to explain to me what is going on?”You begin looking to Jane and Darcy with a confused expression.

“Well (Y/N), I think it is best if he explains.”Jane said pointing to a blonde haired man now standing beside you. Curiously you turned your expression towards him to let him speak, although you were taken aback by how handsome he was.

“If I may Lady/Sir (Y/N), my name is Thor, and my hammer Mjolnir is being held captive in there. If I can just get to it, I can prove who I am. We need your help, Lady Jane here says that you are our only hope. Please, I beg of you.”He said falling to his knees before you.

“Thor, as in Norse mythology Thor?”You asked scoffing almost unable to believe his story, but a part of you wanted it to be true. “Alright lock and load, let’s do this before I change my mind.”You sighed leading the way, your bag of tools in tow.

Loki:

Running around with your sister Lady Sif when you were a child it was only natural that you would encounter the Princes’ at some point. It seemed your sister was infatuated with Thor even then, but you didn’t see what she saw. In fact it was Loki that caught your attention, he just had an air about him that appealed to you. You admired his intelligence, and the fact that he could wield magic even though you had never seen it in person.

However you would never utter those words, and you didn’t have to for he read your mind. It was shocking to him that you would prefer his company over his brothers, it wasn’t everyday that people even paid attention to his presence but here you were. “Would you like to accompany me to the gardens and see the flowers?”Loki asked holding out his small hand waiting for you to put yours in it.

“I would love to my Prince.”You smiled taking his hand giving him a little bow/curtsy before following him, your sister long since forgotten. Not that she noticed your disappearance anyway, too caught up in Thor.

Pietro:

It was rather quickly that the two of you met, it was when everyone was fighting Ultron, you being a mutant and in the area you decided to lend your help to the Avengers. Everything was going on so fast but luckily you had the power to slow down time so when you saw a white haired man going to protect another man and a child it was a clear recipe for disaster. Keeping time as slow as possible you teleported over grabbing all of them before teleporting away again, resuming time as normal. The bullets hit the concrete but Wanda didn’t know that she thought her brother was gone ending the fight once and for all.

“Y-You saved me.”Pietro said blinking still not quite sure what had happened but he was grateful to be alive to say the least. “Thank you, I can’t thank you enough.”He blurted out hugging you tightly before letting go.

“Keep out of trouble Speedy.”You chuckled before winking and teleporting back to Xavier’s school.

Peter Parker:

When your father told you he was going to enroll you in Midtown, Peter’s school so you could keep an eye on him it didn’t exactly sit well. Not only was Peter not even aware of your existence, but he had no idea your father wanted someone to watch over him. However when he offered to pay you a pretty penny and offered to finally build you, your own suit you couldn’t pass up that opportunity. He explained to the school who you were, and how you wouldn’t be going by your last name as he didn’t want someone to be able to threaten you if they knew who your father was. Then he requested that Peter be the one to show you around which they quickly agreed to, because let’s face it who turns down Tony Stark?

Leaving you to your own devices to wait for Peter you started to feel bad that he wouldn’t know why you were really there, or who you really were. That all melted away when you saw a cute boy with brown curly hair and a pleasant smile on his face. “Hi I’m Peter Parker, I assume you are (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N)? I’m supposed to be showing you around today if that’s okay, it looks like we have the same schedule.”He said introducing himself holding his hand out for you to shake.

“That’s right, and that would be great Peter thanks!”You said as cheerfully as you could muster on a Monday morning taking his hand.

Bucky:

Tony had called you in to help someone as you had helped him many times before with his PTSD and other issues. When you were on the phone he didn’t sound exactly happy to be helping this person but said it was a personal favor for Steve or as the rest of the world knew him: Captain America. Walking into the building you knew it was serious when you were met with not only Tony but Steve and Sam as well. “Hello boys, to what do I owe the pleasure of being invited to Stark tower?”You ask trying to lighten the mood a little catching on that this was a source of tension so it could only be one person… The Winter Soldier.

“You see we need someone that Bucky can talk to that isn’t an Avenger, he is getting better in some ways and falling back in others. Every night he seems to have nightmares about the things he did for HYDRA and it wasn’t him.”Steve explained getting a scoff from Tony but when Steve glared at him he stuck his hands in the air defensively. Leading the way through the hallways you felt like there was pit in the depths of your stomach, it wasn’t fear...it was curiosity? Obviously you knew who he was and what he had done, specifically to Tony no less. However it was you that made him see the other side of things and brought them together.

Pushing you into a room Tony shut and locked the door behind you. “Well that was a little excessive Anthony.”You said receiving a scoff that almost sounded like a laugh from the other side of the room where Bucky sat. “Sorry he does seem to have a flair for the dramatic after all.”You apologized sitting in the chair across from him earning another scoff in your direction. “Alright let’s get down to business. I’m Dr. (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N), I’m a psychologist, I’m not going to lie about why I am here. Your friends are worried, and I am here to help provided that you want me to.”You explain holding your hand out for him to shake.

“James Barnes, but everyone calls me Bucky.”He said shaking your hand apprehensively.

Sam:

Working as a volunteer for the VA hospital was one of your more rewarding efforts that you had taken on. Ever since your brother was killed in action it was the thing that helped put you back together in the end. Currently you were going around asking people if they needed anything to drink or eat, pushing a snack cart along. Not paying attention you accidentally rammed someone with it rather harshly enough to send the handle back into your stomach. “Oh my goodness I’m so sorry!”You cried out rushing over to help the man off the floor. As he became eye level you couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was, and that didn’t help the blush go away any faster. “I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, are you alright?”You asked checking him for injuries.

“I’m okay, it’s really no big deal. It’s not everyday that I run into someone like you.”Sam said looking you up and down curiously. “I’m Sam, and it’s nice to see another dedicated volunteer, so much so that you didn’t see me coming.”He joked winking at you.

“I’m (Y/N), and this place really does miracles if you let it, not just for the Veteran’s it serves but for their families too.”You explained with a smile knowing that you could very easily become good friends with Sam.

Natasha:

How you got where you were today, you didn’t know but it wasn’t a happy place to be sure. It was a small dilapidated cell with a rotting mattress on the floor and a chamber pot in the corner. The only thing on the walls were the small tally mark scratches you had started to make just to keep track of the days, not that it mattered. It’s just where they kept you when they weren’t taking your blood, or injecting you with God knows what. Sure you had the power to manipulate the elements but you refused to hurt anyone, and that rubbed them the wrong way. More than once it led to them trying to torture you into using them, and last time it almost worked.

It was only a matter of time before they cracked you, and it was coming sooner rather than later. Hearing the door slam open you jumped and slid to the corner of the cell, even though if they truly wanted to get to you it would do no good. The cell opened and you closed your eyes hoping that the fear you were experiencing didn’t set off your powers. Instead you heard a woman’s voice which was new to you, usually it had been all males. “Are you okay?”The voice called again.

“Please don’t hurt me.”You said softly barely above a whisper, having not used your voice in what felt like years.

“I promise I’m here to help you, my name is Natasha. Let’s get out of here, what do you say to that?”She asked making you smile taking her hand.

“I think my name is (Y/N).”You said trying to recall what your parents had called you as a child for the first time in a long time you felt...safe.

Wanda:

Being the manager for The Avenger’s was fun to say the least, but they did not make it easy by any stretch of the word. Tony called you and the others in because he and Fury were going to introduce the two newest additions to the initiative. Great two more people to chase after to make sure they weren’t doing something they weren’t supposed to do. A PR nightmare in the waiting is what you kept thinking before you walked into the room seeing the most beautiful woman you thought you had ever seen. Clearing your throat you put on a smile and tried not to think about her knowing full well she could read minds after reading her file.

“Ah right on time as always (Y/N)”Tony said with a smile motioning for you to come closer. “This is our manager, so please take it as easy on her as possible. We all make her job so much worse than it has to be I’m afraid.”He said introducing you with a laugh.

“I’m Wanda, and this is my brother Pietro.”The woman said introducing them with a timid smile, one just like it mimicked on her brothers face.

“It’s nice to meet you both, don’t worry I’m sure we will be good friends. I am just here to try and keep you guys out of trouble, or deal with it if you can’t.”You said letting out a giggle, seeing them both physically relax a little seeing that you weren’t a threat of any kind. “It’s definitely understandable to be a little tense after all you have been through, please if you need anything let me know.”You said sincerely.

[laughaholic-me]

If Hades Were Human

We all know the Greek Gods are known for fits of jealousy, rage, murder, unfair punishments, infidelity, and much more. What if they were punished? Born again into unknown bodies, stripped of their heritage, and had to walk the world alone? They still have their memories and knowledge, but weak mortals with no power can’t accomplish great deeds, right?

Hades > Bren

Hades: God of the Underworld

Bren: Name meaning “a flame; a part of the fire”

“Dude, I thought I told you to stop doing that shit in the apartment.” Bren scolded his roommate.

“Fuck off…” he groaned.

The guy was obviously high off his rocker, and Bren decided enough was enough.

He grabbed Chase by his collar and dragged him to the bathroom. Chase was screaming and kicking the whole way.

We’re going to get another noise complaint…

Bren threw Chase into the dirty tub and didn’t bother to care that the curtains were now broken underneath Chase. He gave Chase warnings about using inside their shared apartment. He already brought enough troubled people in as it is, but Bren is sick and tired of the smell molding to him. His clothes always smell off no matter how many times he washes them, and he saved Chase in fights with other users too many times.

He twisted the handle to cold and turned on the water. Chase began to thrash and cough as freezing water sprayed him.

“Bren! What the fuck, man!” He yelled.

“I warned you! I fucking warned you to cut it out!” Bren wasn’t letting up. Not this time. “You find somewhere else to stay. I’m done with your shit.”

Chase stared wide-eyed, “Or what?”

“I’ll turn you in. I know you’re dealing too.”

Chase seemed to understand, and he slumped, clearly out of energy. Bren shut the water off and left the bathroom. He grabbed his leather jacket off of the couch and began to put it on.

“I’m going out, but when I get back, you better be gone.” Bren grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys, then paused at the door. “Keep your key or not. I don’t care.”

He was going out to buy new locks anyway. Just one key, but maybe a couple locks for the door. It’s not the safest of neighborhoods.

An hour later, he was walking out of the department store with two new locks: one doorknob, and one deadbolt. He decided to take a detour to give Chase a little more time to sober up enough to pack.

Bren let his mind wander along with his feet. He wonders who Persephone ended up as. She probably still has her green thumb. She’s probably just as scary, too. He used to miss his wife immensely, but as time went on, and his past life faded, his feelings began to fade as well. He still thinks of her but trusts that their lives are far different now. He now thinks about how many marriages between the gods and goddesses were more for convenience than anything.

He was always surprised when he grew feelings for others. In 5th-grade, Rachel Ramos held his heart. Then in 8th, Stacey De Luca captured his attention. In high school, it was a variety; Camilla Peters, Haley Johnson, Tiffany Kim, Veronica Green, and Daniella Gutierrez. All were intense women who didn’t really listen to anybody.

Bren guessed he had a type. He never bothered to try and date them. Once high school came along and teens were discovering their sexual needs, they usually ended up being one night stands at parties. They never wished for anything more and he never offered anything more. He soon got the label of “Playboy”, and Bren felt ashamed that he was acting like his infuriating godly brothers, Zeus and Poseidon.

He found himself refusing the calls of women from then on, and completely ignoring them even as his third year of college is coming up.

Bren was brought out of his thoughts when he looked up and realized he’s walked right to the local cemetery.

Some things just never change.

He opens the gate to the side of it and begins walking around. He studies the names and dates. People we always wary of his obsession with death. He watched “Tim Burton’s: The Corpse Bride” almost every day when he was six. His collection of DVDs consisted of movies that focus on death (“The Bucket List”, “Wuthering Heights”, “The Kite Runner”, “The Lovely Bones”, “Up”, “The Book Thief”, etc.)His parents were certainly worried, but every psychologist they took him to said he was fairly normal; No psychopathic tendencies that they are aware of.

His beloved parents, Debra and Mary, often tried getting him into other things. Sports, dance, gymnastics, even checkers. Bren just wasn’t interested in much. He enjoyed reading, but the tales were just as dark as his favorite shows and movies.

His moms kept a close eye on his drawings, but could never find anything that raised any flags. He drew normal kid stuff and talked like a normal kid. Wisdom and enhanced vocabulary aside.

Bren ran his hand over the large tombstone that his parents shared. He was the one who insisted that they stay together, where they belong. It was a bit more expensive, but he decided it was worth the cost.

Debra would be having a meltdown if she knew where he was living. Mary would have a stern look but say nothing. He liked to call Debra the Mother Hen, while Mary was the Momma Bear.

Bren knelt down, hand still flat against the grave marker, and pressed a kiss to the cold marble.

“How long ago did you lose them?”

Bren flinched away and fell onto his ass. The grass was wet from a recent water. He looked to see a small-framed girl standing by him. Her pin-straight hair was behind her ears, showing her pearl earrings. She had some regular jeans on and a plain green t-shirt. A boring girl.

He ignored her and looked away. She interrupted a sensitive moment for himself and didn’t feel like giving her the time of day.

“I asked you a question.” Her voice sounded again.

“And I ignored you.” He sighed.

“Until now,” She raised an eyebrow.

He glared at her as she came to crouch next to him. Now that she was closer, he noticed that her eyes were rimmed with red, and her nose was running slightly.

“I’m still waiting.” She smiled at him.

He looked at his parents' names. “A year.”

She nodded and looked with him. “Nice quote.”

It was one by Walt Whitman that Bren chose. The same quote that was above his crib when they completed his nursery, and the same one he kept with him when he moved. “Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed.”

“What about you? You obviously came here to see someone.”

She gently smiled, “My older sister. It’s only been a few months.”

He nodded, “Are you going to leave me alone now?”

She grinned and stood up, “I suppose so. But,” She looked at him once more. “I have the feeling our fates are crossed.”

Bren hates cynical people, and this girl was no different.

He walked back into his apartment and immediately got to work with changing the locks. Chase was obviously gone, but Bren thinks it’s gonna take another week before he’s able to get rid of the stench.

He walks outside and tests the new key on the locks: Success.

“I told you.”

Bren swivels around to see the very same girl from the cemetery. Shit.

She was leaning against the railing with a half-peeled orange in hand. She pulled a wedge out and pointed it at him. “Our lives were meant to intermingle.”

She tosses it into her mouth and walks into the apartment next to Bren’s.

Bren groaned and went back into his own apartment. He knew all about “fate” and he wanted nothing to do with it.

But...the boring girl has an interesting mind. Hades was surrounded by darkness, and for a while, it felt like Bren had to suffer the very same.

But the boring girl with an interesting mind seems dead-set on annoying him to death.

All Modern Greek Stories

[dfhkala]

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[taekookismylifeline]

(yoonseok) - trust my heart when it beats for you

ao3: (x)

Summary: Jung Hoseok has had an awkward Thing for Min Yoongi for four years of his school life. He is certain that the only thing that gets in the way of them and everlasting love is the fact that Min Yoongi doesn't know he exists, but that all changes due to one drunken text message: a pick-up line. Ready to flee to another country under a false identity in mortification, he finds himself ruining their blossoming friendship and confessing when Yoongi asks why Hoseok had tried to flirt with him. However, things take a turn after his confession when Yoongi starts to (awkwardly) flirt back.

Pairings: Yoonseok, Taekook and Namjin

Chapters: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13)

Chapter Fourteen -  if you don't want me, i don't want me either

“So,” Jimin began after screaming his name across the field and running towards him. He threw a ball up into the air and caught it effortlessly as he sat next to Yoongi on the bench at break. “Rumour on the street is that Taehyung is interested in someone. He posted something on his Snapchat. Know anything about it?”

Yoongi shook his head, his mind blank. Usually, it would be a right laugh to talk to Jimin but after the event in the library, he wanted nothing than to stare at a patch of grass and wordlessly ponder over what had gone wrong. If only he had rectified his mistake and corrected himself, corrected Hoseok. He should have explained that he was just scared, scared of Hoseok entering his world and then leaving without them ever truly understanding each other.

“Hmm...” Jimin mused, throwing the ball again then hitting it with the palm of his hand so that it rolled onto the patch of grass that Yoongi was attempting to lose himself in. “I guess I can go ask him...” Yoongi saw Jimin peer at him, obviously waiting for Yoongi to ask him to stay, but upon receiving no protest Jimin gave in. “Say, what’s up with you?”

“Nothing.” It was an effort just to talk, his throat was painfully constricted with unshed tears. “Just tired.”

Jimin frowned at him and Yoongi prayed that his feeble excuse deemed satisfactory, but to no avail. “You sure?” Jimin dragged the ball from under Yoongi’s feet with his sports trainers he was always so insistent on keeping clean. “You look a little down. Did something happen? You fail a test, or something?”

Yoongi shook his head, glanced at his phone. Jeongguk had messaged him ten minutes ago that he would meet him at the bench but had not showed up. Namjoon had left to retrieve a drink from a vending machine.

“No answer? Really?” Jimin tilted his head back and exposed his throat, tossing the ball back into the air again. “God, you’re the second person to do this to me today. ‘Seok, you know him right? Hoseok? He was being really annoying before school, being all moody. He and Tae were talking and shut up when they saw me – they always do that – so I thought it was about Taehyung’s secret girlfriend or something.” Jimin rolled his eyes in mild annoyance and then pouted. There was a small side of Yoongi that wondered whether Jimin really even cared; he seemed to have an extensive network of friends all over the country.

And then Jimin’s words processed inside of his mind and snapped at his heart strings. Hoseok was saddened before school, this image seemed like a complete opposite to the Hoseok that had turned up in the library and looked as if he were performing a painfully unfunny comedy act. What had happened in that space of time?

What was the truth behind Hoseok’s words? Did he truly mean for them to be friends? Why was Hoseok sacrificing himself for what he believed Yoongi wanted? Why did he mean so much to Hoseok?

He realised that Hoseok would never know how much he meant to Yoongi if he never fixed their situation. But how would he go about doing it? How would he ever face Hoseok again?

“Hey, are you even listening to me?” Jimin called to him, laying a hand on his shoulder and jostling him with an amused smile on his face. “Earth to Yoongi! I need to tell you something, you might be interested.”

Yoongi looked towards Jimin instinctively upon receiving contact, Jimin was reaching into his pocket for his phone. “First of all, are you free this weekend?” Jimin was grinning at him rather cheekily as if he were trying to be cunning.

Yoongi nodded in response; he hadn’t even thought about what to fill the time of his weekend with, having only focussed on getting through the first week without Hoseok.

“Great! So you’re coming with me to a club on Saturday, there’s a party there – don’t worry, someone I know knows the owner so we can get in – and I’ll introduce you to someone.” Jimin was talking quickly, a sign that he was enthused.

A sense of trepidation immediately fell over him. “No. You’re not dragging me out again to meet some random stranger. It was fun the first few times but eventually you see the bad sides of all those clubs. Last time that girl – who you said was ‘chill’ – spilt her drink over my jeans and insisted I take them off to get the stain out-” Jimin’s hysteric laughter enfolded the last of his words and swallowed them. “It’s not funny,” he tried again but failed utterly when a laugh of his own slipped out of his mouth.

“Okay, okay,” Jimin digressed, his shoulders still heaving with laughter as he clung onto the nape of Yoongi’s neck. “This time’ll be different, I swear,” a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes and he winked. “This time you might want to take your pants off.” He hooted with laughter while Yoongi sat, not being successful in pretending to be unamused as a smile itched at his mouth.

Jimin thrust his phone onto Yoongi’s hand and gestured for him to look at the screen. It was a Facebook profile, Jimin had pulled up a picture of a girl posing with a boy who was tagged with the same name, brother and sister. “They’ll both be there – it’s up to you which one you want.” Jimin smirked knowingly at him, Yoongi frowned. “After all the girls I’ve tried to set you up with I realised eventually that there might be a reason why you’re not interested. Him, he’s bi,” Jimin pointed at the boy frozen in the picture, “so it won’t be a problem.”

Yoongi was in too much shock to form a response which Jimin misinterpreted as Yoongi being too overwhelmed with joy to talk. “Exactly, I’m amazing! So, you’re coming. You want his number?” Fortunately, Yoongi wasn’t numb enough to comply so he shook his head.

“Oh, wow, so it’s just a one-time thing? Never knew you had it in you, Yoongs!” Jimin clapped him on his back as father would do to his son. Yoongi wasn’t particularly thrilled with the comparison that he had drawn in his mind as he imagined the concern etched into the lines of his own father’s face if he could see that scenario that Yoongi found himself in. “His name’s Jinsoo, by the way, I’m sure you’ll be needing it.” Of course Jimin had to add a suggestive wink which caused Yoongi to purse his lips in distaste.

“I’m not going to sleep with him,” Yoongi stated to which Jimin raised his eyebrows dubiously as if to say, ‘sure’. “I’m only gonna go because I’ve got nothing better to do.” Yoongi was extremely glad when Namjoon crept up on Jimin out of nowhere, having snuck behind the bench, and caused him to jump.

“You scared the fuck out of me,” Jimin whined and let out a shaky bout of laughter, a hand over his heart. Yoongi scooted over so that Namjoon could fit himself in between the two. “Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted,” he glared at Namjoon who deftly ignored him, cracking open his can of drink, “I was telling Yoongs about the guy who wants to meet him.”

“Which guy?” Namjoon inquired before snapping his fingers, “oh, that guy!” He gave Jimin a disapproving look. “Didn’t I already tell you that he wouldn’t be interested?”

Jimin tutted and shook his head. “Ah, ‘Joon, that’s not quite true now, is it? Yoongs just told me that he’s interested in meeting him.”

Namjoon almost spilt his drink as he jolted and turned to face Yoongi, his expression alarmed. “What? But what about-”

A feeling of panic surged through him and he cut across Namjoon, “nothing.” Namjoon furrowed his brows, eyes scurrying over his face as if he could solve the mystery without words. Jimin was watching him from behind Namjoon, a teasing smile on his face provoking the reckless side of him. Jimin always held that power over him ever since they had met when Jimin dared him to smash a chemical tube which let out a foul smelling steam and set the fire alarm off.

“I’m going on Saturday, I haven’t been out like that in ages.”

“That’s my boy,” Jimin approved with a smile packed full of mystery. “Come along will you, ‘Joon? You can finally hang out with ‘Seok and Tae, they’re both coming. I’ll talk to ‘Guk – speaking of, where is he?”

Namjoon was watching him warily, apparently having guessed that Hoseok and Taehyung would no doubt be tagging along. Yoongi’s fists tightened, his nails dug into his palms and started stinging, but he didn’t unclench his hands as the pain felt good, refreshing, even. “I don’t know,” he answered. “He might be down at the courts.”

Jimin sighed before vaulting over the bench, he threw the ball at Yoongi who caught it on an instinct. “Okay, I’ll go talk to him! See you later!” He lifted his hand to gesture goodbye and then began madly dashing across the field, around the corner of the school building and out of sight.

Namjoon turned to him straightaway, not giving him time for a breather. “What happened? Why didn’t you tell Hoseok what’s going on?”

Yoongi turned his attention towards the mud stains that were smeared on the ball. “I was going to,” he started, hating the sound of his voice, “but he came in and told me that he understood how I felt and that there would be ‘no more flirting or kissing’. He told me that he was fine with being friends.” Yoongi shrugged. “I couldn’t say no. In the moment it just sounded like that was what he wanted, and I just went along with it.”

There was the sound of a large exhale next to him and he knew that Namjoon was struggling on voicing his disapproval. He would have liked Namjoon to have done so but at the same time he most likely would have broken down. To have the voice of reason spit at him would be the end of the world.

“Yoongs, I’m sure you’re aware that Hoseok only said that because he was sure that it was what you wanted?”

“He said that he’d get over me,” Yoongi retorted, bristling slightly. “That was what I feared the most, you know that, and he admitted it. That’s why I did it.” He was gripping the ball too tightly, it shot out of his hands and rolled onto the floor.

Namjoon dropped his eyes to the ball. “Do you really believe that someone who has liked you for over three years would just drop you like that?” His voice was quiet, meaning that Yoongi had to focus his attention on Namjoon just to hear what he was saying. “I understand how you feel, I think we all feel insecure with ourselves from time to time,” he was speaking from the heart. Out of all the disappointment and disapproval, this hurt Yoongi the most; to hear Namjoon voicing his fears.

“But you can’t make someone else’s decisions for them. You decided that Hoseok wouldn’t like you after the first few weeks of talking but that wasn’t your decision to make. In my personal opinion, I think those first few weeks made Hoseok more attracted to you than he already was, and I don’t think that’ll fade anytime soon.”

Yoongi’s hands were cold on his lap but Namjoon’s words brought a hot flush to his neck, warming his skin. A knot of tension uncoiled somewhat in his stomach. “Thank you,” he muttered, slightly embarrassed. “Do you think I can fix it?”

He lifted his gaze to look at Namjoon who looked affirmed. “Of course. I wouldn’t do it online, though, I’d do it in person,” he advised. His eyes watched Yoongi’s face. “You’re not going to meet that guy on Saturday, are you?”

Yoongi shook his head. “No, I just knew that Jimin wouldn’t stop going on about it.”

Namjoon chuckled. “True, he’s very insistent.” Yoongi smiled back, his shoulders feeling slightly lighter now that some of the tension had decreased. “So, talk to Hoseok before Saturday, okay? That way you can enjoy yourself.”

When Yoongi nodded and vowed that he would do Namjoon’s bidding, he sincerely believed that he meant it, but as the days went by he found that chances to get Hoseok on his own were slim to none. Whenever he would spend time in the basketball court he would look to the fence and find that no one was sitting behind it, clearly ogling him or watching with a stupidly gorgeous smile. Although they took the same route to classes, he was certain that Hoseok had discovered another route to avoid him or that he would arrive early or later to his own class. Yoongi couldn’t even speak to him in the classroom as they were in different sets for Maths, English and Science, in fact, the only lesson that they shared was History which next took place on last lesson Friday.

In the end, he didn’t want to have to the next few days to talk to Hoseok, so he had to go against Namjoon’s advice. He opened up the Messenger app and cursed when he saw the green icon next to Hoseok’s name disappear. He should have asked for Hoseok’s Kakao but he hadn’t wanted to seem too into it in case their relationship fizzled out, which he supposed was ironic. He would have to wait until Friday to approach Hoseok.

The news that Jeongguk had wished to bestow onto them was, as he had predicted, about Taehyung. He told them on Tuesday afternoon that on the weekend, on the bus ride home, Taehyung had asked him to the party on Saturday, but instructed him not to tell anybody or bring someone with him as it was ‘a small gathering’. Yoongi had voiced that Taehyung’s way of being smooth really wasn’t discreet at all, but Jeongguk didn’t seem to have heard him as he was too busy staring at the back of Taehyung’s head in the canteen. He and Namjoon had exchanged amused glances.

“Do you think he’s gonna ask you out, then?” Yoongi had asked, directing his gaze at his carrot sticks when seeing Hoseok’s head bob out from behind Taehyung.

Jeongguk shook his head, palming a few of Namjoon’s apple slices. “I don’t know, I don’t want to assume that he likes me, but if he keeps doing what he’s doing I’m probably just gonna make a move.”

Namjoon, in return, took Jeongguk’s bag of crisps whilst nodding his approval. “Please do, I haven’t even seen you two in action, but if it’s as sappy as Yoongs tells me then you’d be doing us a favour.”

Yoongi had laughed when Jeongguk shot Namjoon an unimpressed look, a hint of a smile playing on his mouth. “Oh, right, like you can talk, when you got rejected by Seokjin you were sad for days – you wrote poetry, and now you’re together I think you still do,” he had crinkled his nose.

Namjoon spluttered helplessly as the younger happily took back his packet of crisps and offered some to Yoongi who accepted them thankfully.

“Are you talking to Taehyung?” Yoongi had inquired. “Outside of school? Like, on an app or something?” The reluctant look on Jeongguk’s face told him everything that he needed to know. “Then how are you gonna get to know him before you do... whatever on Saturday?”

Jeongguk’s cheek bulged from where his tongue was wandering. “I’ve been thinking about talking to him, but I don’t want to seem desperate.”

Yoongi rolled his eyes. “‘Guk, he was the one who almost choked on his own drool just looking at you, I think you’re okay.”

Jeongguk laughed, a satisfied smile curving onto his face. “Okay, so I’ll message him tonight, then.”

Yoongi couldn’t help but watch fondly and think of the first time that Hoseok had messaged him after asking to hang out. He had been more confused than anything, not sure as to why Hoseok who he had only known for two hours wanted to talk to him outside of school hours, wanted to meet up. He missed it immensely. The crisps had lurched dangerously in his stomach and he had had to excuse himself to head to the toilets.

Friday arrived unceremoniously. Yoongi’s mum wished him the best in his studies, he climbed onto the bus and went to school, and he attended lessons with an ever increasing feeling of dread pouring through his veins. Eventually, History, the last lesson of the day, arrived and the gnawing inside of his skin had never been so grating. He wanted to talk to Hoseok. It was strange that he had gone 6 years without ever knowing the boy but after spending only a few weeks together he didn’t know where or what he was without Hoseok. It was petrifying, yet, he found that he didn’t much care anymore.

Hoseok had arrived before him, sitting in his usual position with his textbook in front of him, his eyebrows knotted together in concentration and his lips parted, tongue sticking out slightly. Yoongi’s heart slipped through his ribcage and plummeted. He hadn’t ever seen anything so beautiful.

He took out a laptop and slowly strode over to Hoseok, not wanting to disturb him, not wanting to destroy the perfect picture of beauty. He set the laptop down quietly but obviously not quietly enough as Hoseok paused in his work and sat up. He smiled, oh god, Yoongi had forgotten how gorgeous that smile was.

“Yoongi, hi!” He chirped and pushed his notebook over to Yoongi’s side as Yoongi took a seat and returned the greeting. “I think I’ve perfected an essay structure, I looked online for one and kinda copied it, but it should be okay,” he seemed bashful, as if the structure’s worth relied solely on Yoongi’s opinion.

Hoseok wasn’t acting strangely at all, it was almost as if Monday hadn’t happened and neither had any of those times that Hoseok had deliberately avoided him. Yoongi wanted to believe that nothing had changed, that Hoseok still thought that he was beautiful and that the kiss in the bus stop had progressed their relationship further. Everything was ruined, though, when Yoongi read over the structure and found it impressive, he voiced his thoughts and handed it back to Hoseok who grinned at him before dropping his gaze too quickly and openly avoiding the touch of Yoongi’s fingers.

The pain that Yoongi had experienced on Monday was nothing in comparison to the agony he felt now. His heart was screeching with every beat and skin itched as if it wanted him to scratch itself from his body, Hoseok must have thought that he was repulsive.

“Okay, so,” Hoseok cleared his throat and focussed on the book in front of him. Yoongi watched him defiantly, trying to gain his attention but to no avail. “We’ve finished the first paragraph, which is the introduction, but I think we need to add a criticism of this viewpoint here...” Yoongi must have heard what Hoseok was saying as he fingers were moving along the keys and typing out the words but he didn’t process them.

He knew that Hoseok was intent on keeping their relationship professional, student to student but it wasn’t a compromise for stranger to stranger, Yoongi wanted neither. He wanted everything. He wanted every smile, every touch, every glance, every laugh. He wanted to be selfish. He wanted Hoseok and he wanted Hoseok to want him. Maybe that was why Hoseok couldn’t stand to touch him.

“Are you going to that party on Saturday?” The question ripped out of his throat and burst into the air that was being occupied by Hoseok’s insistent tangent of facts. He must have interrupted Hoseok mid-flow as Hoseok finally looked at him, his eyes startled. “Sorry,” he added lamely.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Hoseok looked away again and Yoongi ground his teeth in frustration. “Yeah, I am. Did Jimin tell you?” Now that Hoseok wasn’t on the territory that he must have promised himself never to stray from, school work, he seemed less confident, less polished.

“Yeah,” Yoongi answered. He wanted to spill everything in that moment but he was discouraged by the fact that Hoseok was refusing to look him in the eye.

“Oh,” Hoseok seemed unsure on what to do with his hands. He settled with flicking his pen from side to side. Yoongi found himself watching its movements until his vision blurred. “Are you going?”

Yoongi nodded, realised that Hoseok couldn’t possibly see him because of his refusal to look at him, then voiced his answer. “Yeah. With Namjoon.”

“Oh,” Hoseok said again. “I’m going with Taehyung.”

“He’s going with Jeongguk,” Yoongi blurted, remembering too late that their last discussion of the topic was before the kiss and before he had fucked everything up. It was him this time that refused to look up when he saw Hoseok look up at him in surprise.

“Yeah,” Hoseok admitted, his voice slightly warmer. “Yeah, they’re going together.”

Hoseok’s tone had ignited something in his stomach, and he didn’t care if he was imagining it or not, he grasped hold of the hope that was fluttering thinly in front of him. “You’ll be alone?”

He almost jumped when Hoseok looked up from the textbook and met his eye. His expression scrunched up into one of disbelief. “No, actually,” he scoffed causing Yoongi to recoil. “I’m meeting someone there, she’s a friend of Jimin’s. I’ll be with her the whole night, if it goes well.”

Yoongi was certain that he had been impaled. He didn’t dare breathe, feeling something rank and wet fill up his lungs. Hoseok was flaunting this piece of information in front of him, whether it was true or not didn’t particularly matter as of this moment because Hoseok was playing with him.

Something sour churned in his stomach, it burned his heart and pumped through his veins, boiling under his skin. He wasn’t angry, ‘angry’ would be an understatement. He was furious, shaking with rage. He wasn’t thinking when the words poured out of his mouth like scalding sludge. “Oh? I’m also meeting one of Jimin’s friends, he seems nice enough. I’d show you the messages but I don’t think they’re... appropriate.”

Yoongi had longed for Hoseok to look at him, but not like this. Hoseok was easy to read, his expressions weren’t guarded at all and the emotion swimming in his eyes might as well have been his Facebook wall status of ‘I’m feeling...’

Hoseok’s eyebrows were pinched so tightly it looked like they were going to collapse into his nose bridge, and his eyes blazed with a fire of such intensity Yoongi almost forgot that Hoseok’s evident fury was directed at him. “Right,” Hoseok snapped and didn’t speak to Yoongi for the rest of the lesson.

As soon as the bell rang Hoseok sprang up and grabbed his books off of the table, he wasted no time in cramming them into his bag and he strode away, out of the door and out of sight. Yoongi felt it all crash down onto him, he felt his ribs splinter under the pressure. He had fucked up again. He had given into his impulsive feeling of anger when Hoseok had taunted him and had only resulted in pushing Hoseok further away.

Why had Hoseok taunted him in the first place? Was it because he had asked whether Hoseok wanted company at the party and he had grown offended when figuring out that Yoongi wanted to spend time with him? It was understandable, to him it would appear that Yoongi led him on by promising to like him and then rejecting him after a kiss, but it hurt even so.

He was beyond frustrated with himself, how dare he feel sorry for himself when he was the one who insisted on fucking everything up? Still, an underlying rage buzzed through his veins. Hoseok might not have been lying, after all, Jimin had tried to set up all of his friends with someone at least once.

Yoongi wasn’t simply angry, he was catastrophically jealous. After Saturday, Hoseok could have found himself a girlfriend who was captivating and stunningly beautiful. After Saturday, Hoseok wouldn’t look back and Yoongi would be left behind in the dirt. But there was nothing he could do to stop it; he had no right to tell Hoseok not to meet the girl, Hoseok wouldn’t listen to him anyway, why should he?

If Hoseok was going to take up Jimin’s offer, why shouldn’t he? It was evident that whatever he and Hoseok once had had burnt up in lights of the bus last Sunday night.

He made up his mind.

Min Yoongi: hey

Park Jimin: heyy Park Jimin: u still up for sat? u don’t have to meet jinsoo if u don’t want too Park Jimin: NJ says I shouldn’t pressure u or whatever

Min Yoongi: no, it’s fine Min Yoongi: I’m all for it actually, I’d love to meet him Min Yoongi: just don’t tell Namjoon

Park Jimin: oooh good! Cuz ive told him all about u, he’s interested too ;) Park Jimin: mmkay sure thing, ill distract him when introducing u two Park Jimin: u want JS’s No?

Min Yoongi: thanks Min Yoongi: no, it’s alright

Park Jimin: I knew it, I told him that ur mysterious Park Jimin: he likes it Park Jimin: so u wanna get sum d or a relationship or wat

Min Yoongi: I’m not having this conversation with you

Park Jimin: rude! I’d bet u’d open ur heart to NJ Park Jimin: oh JS says to wear red btw Park Jimin: thinks itll look good on u

Min Yoongi: what am I a doll? Min Yoongi: wait Min Yoongi: how many pictures have you sent him of me?

Park Jimin: ur his doll now Park Jimin: hmmm.... not many Park Jimin: 10?

Min Yoongi: wow, that’s creepy. All without my permission Min Yoongi: I can barely remember what he looks like

Park Jimin: hahahaha don’t worry Park Jimin: (10 pictures attached)

Min Yoongi: thanks?

Park Jimin: do u think he’s hot?

Min Yoongi: sure I guess

Park Jimin: he says thx u are too

Min Yoongi: um Min Yoongi: stop being the messenger Min Yoongi: I’m gonna go now Min Yoongi: see you both tomorrow

Park Jimin: hahaha sorry Park Jimin: meet u at yours @7 so I can take u Park Jimin: JS says see u cutie x

[scribomaniac]

The Woes of Having Neighbors, Chapter 11: New Year’s Eve Part 1

Aelin could not wait for tonight’s party. It was gonna be the party that ended all parties. It was New Year’s Eve and everyone was coming. All her closest friends, acquaintances from work, frenemies, and then some.  They’d all be here in just a few short hours.  

Just a few short hours, shit they had their work cut out for them. She’d tasked Lysandra and Aedion with procuring food and snacks for tonight; Aedion to carry it, and Lysandra to keep them on task.  Technically Aedion could’ve done it by himself, but lord knew what trouble that boy could get into unsupervised.  He’d probably blow all the money on pinatas or something.

Elide, Manon, and Asterin were in charge of cooking the food once it arrived. Or, well, Elide would cook, and Asterin and Manon would taste test and offer any necessary moral support. Why the dark eyed girl needed moral support, Aelin wasn’t entirely sure … she assumed it had to do with Lorcan, but last she’d heard, Elide had all but cussed the man out.

Lorcan Salvaterre. He’d gotten an invitation just by being Rowan’s friend, but if he were anyone else’s he’d be celebrating the night elsewhere. Aelin didn’t know the dark haired man all that well, or at all, really, but from what she’d heard from Elide and the rest of Rowan’s cadre, she didn’t like the sound of him one bit. She hoped he and Maeve would live unhappily ever after somewhere far, far away. Hell, they could even live happily together, just so long as they left Rifthold.

It’d taken a long time for Aelin to feel safe in this city, to feel comfortable, and to stop looking over her shoulder every five feet. She’d gone to great lengths to rid Rifthold of its dangers, of its nefarious underbelly. She didn’t want to have to start all over again thanks to the couple from hell.  Maeve might not seem all too dangerous, not on the outside, but Aelin knew better than to be lulled into a false sense of security because of some pretty face.

Shaking her head, Aelin dispersed those thoughts and returned to the present. Looking around the living room of her apartment, she saw Dorian and Chaol dutifully moving sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows into her guest bedroom for the guests who planned on spending the night. After they finished that task, Aelin would have them set up some cheap folding tables she’d rented and they could start setting out the snacks once Lysandra and Aedion returned.

Looking at her watch–only three hours until the party was due to start–Aelin hoped that’d be soon. She also hoped Evangeline and Nehemia returned from walking Fleetfoot before her cousin and friend. Lysandra had a nasty protective streak when it came to her younger sister, and even though she knew the young girl could take care of herself, and that Nehemia was with her–Nehemia, proud owner of a brown belt in karate–if Evangeline wasn’t back before her, the dark haired beauty would call in the national guard while simultaneously chewing Aelin’s ear out.

Just as she was about to pull her phone out and call her long time friend, Nehemia and Evangeline walked through the door following a bouncing and barking Fleetfoot. “Oh good, you’re back!”

Nehemia narrowed her eyes at Aelin, crossing her toned arms over her chest, “You weren’t worried, were you?” Suspicion coated her tone, and Aelin had to hold back a wince. Nehemia could take care of herself. Aelin knew that. Nehemia knew that Aelin knew that. But if the dark skinned woman thought Aelin was worried about her, her pride would be hurt and she’d be pissed. And a pissed Nehemia was just as bad a protective Lysandra.

God, why did she have so many willful friends?

Hands up in a classic ’don’t shoot’ fashion, Aelin gave her friend a sharp grin and reassured her. “Never,” she said, feeling some tension in her shoulders fade away when Nehemia’s smile mirrored her own. Rolling her eyes and putting her hands down, she joked, “If anything, I was worried you two had kidnapped my dog.”

Fleetfoot barked and came up to lean against her owner, silently begging for affection. Smile softening, Aelin reached down and scratched the dog behind her ears.

“One of these days, Aelin,” Evangeline called from the couch, a terribly gleeful smile on her face. “One of these days.”

Laughing, Aelin shook her head and said, “Hellion.” The young girl’s smile widened with pride before she turned and focused her attention on the TV.

“All right,” Aelin said, mostly to herself, and clapped her hands as she tried to refocus her thoughts. “What next?” The apartment was almost finished, it just needed a few more touch ups here or there, Elide would start the food once Lysandra and Aedion arrived, then there was …

“Well,” Nehemia’s voice, dryer than any desert, cut through her mind’s ramblings, “You should probably start getting ready.”

Aelin blinked at her friend once. Twice. Thrice. “What?”

Raising a brow, Nehemia’s brown eyes gave Aelin a once over. “Party’s going to start soon,” she hedged. Then with a smirk asked, “Were you really planning on wearing stained jeans and a holey t-shirt to the party?”

Aelin looked down at her clothes. Yes, they were shoddy, but they were her pre-party clothes! She’d change, obviously. She double checked her watch. She still had plenty of time. “I’ll get ready soon, it won’t take long.”

Snorting, Nehemia cocked her head to the side and asked, “Really, Aelin? Remember the last time you said that? I think it was junior year, and–”

A blush with the heat to rival the fire of Brannon, Aelin squawked and headed for her room, “Okay, fine! You win! I’m going!”

Turned out, Nehemia had been right to send Aelin off to get ready. Although she hadn’t taken the full three hours to prepare, it had been a close thing. She always underestimated how long she needed to shower, pick and outfit, do her hair and makeup, pick a new outfit, touch up her makeup, and then decide on accessories. It happened everytime, and every time she was taken by surprise.

Thank god she had such willful friends.

When she finally re-entered the living room, she saw that several people had already arrived. Those that had never heard the term ’fashionably late’ apparently. Amongst the early birds were a few of Manon’s friends, Sorrel, Vesta, and Imogen. If those three were here, then eight more women would be arriving within the hour. Manon called them her Thirteen, which Aelin thought was a little unoriginal but still sounded pretty cool. They were Manon’s closest–read, only–friends. Besides Elide, of course, but that was different.

Ansel, Ilias, and Mikhail were here, too, which didn’t surprise Aelin, since they never stayed late and made up for it by always arriving early.

Emrys and Malakai were just walking in, Luca trailing not too far behind, holding a bottle of wine. That was awfully nice of them, Aelin would have to personally thank them later.

“Aelin!” A voice giggled from behind her. Turning around, Aelin found Asterin smiling gleefully at her, a glass of rum and coke in her hand and a haze over her eyes. Aelin would’ve rolled her eyes if it had been anyone but Asterin. Everyone knew the girl liked to party and had perfected the art of maintaining a light buzz. “Girl you look hot!”

Smirking, Aelin looked down at herself. She was wearing a tight black dress that hugged all her curves and left nothing to the imagination. Hell, it was so tight she couldn’t even wear underwear with it.

She’d bought the dress ages ago and had never gotten around to wearing it. She probably never would have, either, if it hadn’t been for Rowan. He’d spotted it a few weeks ago and stared at it until Aelin had finally asked if he liked it.

“Wear this for me,” he’d whispered in response, his voice hoarse and weak. “Please.”

Well how could she say no to that?

It wasn’t anything too special, especially with its jewel neckline or its long sleeves, but the back, that’s what made it. Or, well, the lack of it did. Where there should have been fabric, there was only skin all the way down, ending just before the swell of her ass.

She’d done her hair up, too, so everyone would have a view of the scarred and tattooed flesh of her back, and the only jewelry she wore were her golden, dangling earrings, crafted to look like dragons. Add a pair of black pumps, and she looked like hell in heels.

“I know,” she told Asterin confidently, making her laugh.

Leaning in to touch one of the dragon earrings, the other blonde whispered conspiratorially, “If things don’t work out with Rowan, give me a call yeah?”

Chuckling, Aelin nodded, “Will do.”

Puckering her lips and giving Aelin an air kiss, Asterin took her leave.

Soon party guests began showing up in earnest. First was Dorian’s cousin, Roland, with two of the Thirteen–Faline and Fallon, if Aelin wasn’t mistaken–which made Manon go into mama bear mode. Lovely.

Then there were Kharis and Deji, Nehemia’s younger brothers.  They were mostly invited so Evangeline wouldn’t be the only minor in the group.

Next were Kaltain Rompier, Aelin’s former arch-nemesis turned begrudging friend, along with her latest loser of a beau.

Nesryn came followed by a gaggle of people Aelin had never met before, but she shrugged that off. Faliq was a shrewd woman, if she liked these people enough to bring them to Aelin’s home, then they must be all right.

Finally, an hour after the party officially began Rowan walked through her door along with the rest of his cadre.  

His green eyes immediately found hers and then widened as he took in what she was wearing. Freezing in the middle of the living room, his eyes traced her every movement as strode towards him. Heart thumping almost painfully in her chest, Aelin smiled, her face shining like a confident, golden sun, and she performed a graceful twirl, giving him a peek at her back, before kissing his cheek.

“Like what you see?” She asked, her mouth right next to his ear. She was pressed so close against him, she could feel the tremor her words sent down his body.

Groaning lowly, his hands came up to rest on her hips. “Aelin,” he let out a short laugh, his warm breath fanning against her neck as he asked, “are you trying to kill me?”

“Not actively,” she said, then took his earlobe into her mouth, just for fun.

The hands on her hips trembled and tightened, his blunt fingernails digging through the fabric of her dress and into her skin. “Aelin,” he said, as softly as a prayer.  

Somewhere from the crowd came a harsh wolf whistle, making Aelin jump. She was going to kill Aedion.

Pulling away, she decided she’d deal with her cousin later and smiled up at Rowan, “Oops,” she stuck out her tongue, leaning against him as she said, “I guess we got a little carried away.”

Rowan huffed out a laugh and reached up to stroke his thumb against her cheek. “Maybe just a little.” This time it was him who leaned in to whisper into her ear, “Just wait until everyone leaves. I’ll carry you away all night long.”

“I’ll hold you to that, buzzard,” she responded. Turning her head, Aelin pressed a quick peck to his lips before stepping back. Taking his hand, and preening when he intertwined their fingers, she led him into the thick of the party.

It was a minute until midnight and the party had been a wonderful success. We’ll, almost. There had been a slight Lorcan issue–he’d invited Maeve, the dumbass–but it had been handled and dealt with almost an hour ago now, and there had been no drama since.

Aelin and Rowan stood by a window, watching as small white flakes fell to the ground. The snow most likely wouldn’t stick, but it was pretty all the same. And the drafty window provided a slight reprieve from the heat her guests were creating. Rowan stood behind her, his arms around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder. Every now and again he’d place a kiss against the curve her her jaw, the line of her neck, the spot behind her ear, making Aelin would shiver and smile like a giddy child.

Soon the countdown would begin, and she’d turn around to kiss Rowan; bring in the year with him. She hadn’t had someone to kiss on New Year’s sincerely Sam, and that was … it felt like a lifetime ago.

Although part of her, a part that would always belong to Sam, twanged painfully at the thought of moving on, a bigger part knew he’d want her to do so, that he wanted her to be happy. Rowan kissed her neck again, and her heart soared, drowning out the small twang in its elation.

Twisting her neck to sneak a kiss to some unseen part of Rowan’s face, making him chuckle, she basked in the happiness he brought her.

The countdown was starting. Thirty seconds, twenty nine, twenty eight … “Aelin,” Rowan mumbled. She could feel every syllable his lips made against her skin, raising bumps along her neck. She hummed, letting him know she was listening.

“Aelin, I love you.” It was so quiet, Aelin almost missed it. Then thought she’d dreamed it.

Turning in his arms, she looked at him with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. Rowan stared back at her, a small smile on his lips. Leaning in until his lips were a hair’s breadth away from hers, he said it again, “I love you.” And kissed her.

If Aelin had thought she had dreamt it, the kiss proved her wrong. There was no way she could dream such a kiss. It was so light, so tender and chaste and full of love, it filled her up and made her feel like she could fly. No dream could ever do that kiss justice.

Rowan pulled away and Aelin gave chase, wrapping an arm around his neck so he couldn’t go far. Resting their foreheads together, she looked deep into his forest green eyes and smiled at him. “Rowan,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Pressing a brief kiss to his lips, she pulled back, “I,” she kissed him again, “love,” kiss, “you,” kiss, “too,” she kissed once more, addicted to his lips.

Then, feeling he needed to hear it all in one go, she said, “I love you, too.”

People around them began to cheer and holler as the countdown finished. Aelin didn’t care about any of that, though, the only thing she cared about was standing right before her, looking down at her like she was the most precious thing in the entire world.

Reaching up onto her tiptoes, Aelin pulled him down for another kiss, one worthy or bringing in the New Year.

Breaking away one last time, she smiled mischievously at him, “Rowan,” she said, oh so innocently. He hummed, his eyes glazed over with unspoken heat, “Did you know,” she leaned up to whisper into his ear, “that I’m not wearing any underwear?”

“Aelin.”