#making this pretty much saved a crappy day for me... thank you for the distraction

[tandaforever]

Happy Birthday to the man who brings us so much joy... just by being the lovable man he is. ❤

Here's to 36! May it be all that you wish for. 😘

[xanasaurusrex]

Light - B.M.

Pairing: Beverly Marsh x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1918 words

Warnings: Love confession, mutual pining, swimming, swearing, Richie Tozier (it’s a warning within itself), kissing, tooth-rotting fluff I stg, Losers Club are aged up to 17, super crappy ending, not proofread, I think that’s it! Please let me know if I missed anything!

Summary: The other Losers know for a fact that Bev returns Y/N’s feelings, even though she’s blind to them herself. But after a set up one day, maybe she’ll see the light.

Notes: My first ever It (2017) fic! Also my first fic on Tumblr! Thank you to anyone who read this, because it’s taking a lot of courage to write this, let alone post it…. Yeah, Bev and Richie are my favorite characters in the movies, and, given my url, I figured my first fic should be a Bev fic! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

******

“She likes you back, Y/N,”

“No she doesn’t.”

“Stop fighting it, we all see it!”

Y/N looked at Richie with a roll of her eyes, turning back forward to avoid crashing into anyone or anything with her bike. “Can you stop with that? I don’t want you giving me false hope when I know she doesn’t like me back,”

Richie was the one to roll his eyes this time.

Everyone in the Losers Club knew that Y/N had had a crush on Bev for as long as they could all remember. Since the first day she saw Bev in the pharmacy after they found Ben outside the sewers and had gone in to find the supplies to fix him up.

Bev had been the one to save the day. She had distracted the man at the counter while they took the things they needed, and had come back afterwards to make sure that Ben was okay. Of course, Y/N had realized that it was not the time to be admiring Bev, seeing as Ben had just had a pretty rough run-in with Bowers, and Eddie was freaking out enough as it was.

It didn’t take long for Y/N to fall completely in love with the red-headed Derry resident. She lived in the apartment above hers, and whenever Bev’s dad fell asleep, Bev would climb down the fire escape and climb into Y/N’s window.

Y/N would sit with her and listen to what she said, or would just sit there, and the girls would hug.

On those nights when Bev either couldn’t go down to Y/N’s apartment, or didn’t need to, Y/N would lay down, and stare up at the ceiling, knowing that Bev’s room was directly above her own. She would wonder what Bev was doing, if she was reading the secret admirer note that Ben had given her, or if she was thinking of Y/N just as much as she was thinking of Bev.

It was torture.

It took a little longer for the other members of the Losers Club to realize that Y/N was falling in love with Bev. After that, they all began encouraging her to confess to Bev, because even though at the time they hadn’t seen the light that ignited in Bev’s eyes the second they landed on Y/N, they wanted their friends to be happy, and who else to be happy with but each other?

That was all when they were twelve, nearly five years ago. In that time, they had all seen that Bev loved Y/N the same way Y/N loved Bev. It was hard to watch the two beat around the bush with each other; subtle flirting that neither one noticed (though everyone else did), and even harder to see them think that the other was in love with other people, though everyone else thought it was painfully obvious to everyone else that it was each other they were in love with.

Now, as Y/N and Richie biked home together, Richie tried his best to convince Y/N for the thousandth time that Bev liked her back, no, loved her back.

“I’m sorry Rich, I want to believe you, I really do,” Y/N said for the thousandth time. “But you’ve gotta be blind to not see that Bev and Bill are in love with each other,”

 Richie quickly realized that he didn’t have enough energy to argue with her today, even though he still wanted to, instead opting for a safer topic: the test that Mr. Herrd gave them today, that Richie was fairly sure he had failed.

***

“They’re both fuckin idiots,”

Everyone nodded in agreement at Richie’s statement as the entire Losers Club watched Y/N and Bev play around and splash each other in the lake in the quarry, both of them giggling like little girls, their cheeks bright pink, and not from the sun.

“Bev!” Y/N squealed as Bev splashed her with a particularly large amount of water. After taking a second to regain herself, she retaliated by splashing an even larger amount of water at Bev.

“It’s like they’re both wearing signs saying, ‘I’m in love with the person standing in front of me, but since I’m both a pussy and an idiot, I haven’t said anything yet,”

Stan rolled his eyes at Richie’s language, but agreed nonetheless. “I wish they would just admit it to each other already. To be honest, it’s getting tiring. Should we just… lock them in a room together and not let them leave until they confess?”

“That’s an idea,” Bill smiled.

“Maybe we should say we’re meeting at the Quarry but then none of us show up,” Eddie suggested. “Chances are they’re gonna stay and hang out, and maybe if we’re lucky they’ll say something?”

Richie scoffed. “Knowing them, fat chance. I think if this plan fails, we should go with Stan’s idea,”

The others all agreed, and decided when the best date would be to set this up, and then set the date for their backup plan, and decided they would do it at Bill’s house, since his is the biggest and they would be able to hang around and check in on them regularly without having to hear them kick and scream.

“You guys coming back?” Y/N broke the boys out of their trance after her and Bev realized that they had been splashing each other for nearly fifteen minutes, when they should have been splashing the boys. “We’re getting bored!”

The boys all gave each other a sly look before immediately running back towards the water, splashing Bev and Y/N immediately, all of them laughing as they got splashed back.

***

“Are they coming?”

Bev and Y/N had been at the Quarry for nearly half an hour, both of them laying against the rocks, sunbathing, in just their bikinis. It took everything in both of them not to stare at the other and admire everything about them.

Y/N glanced at the watch that she had taken off her wrist, anticipating that they’d be swimming, and saw that it was now forty five minutes after noon, the time all the Losers had agreed to be at the Quarry.

Y/N sighed. “I don’t think so. Maybe they all forgot?”

Bev laughed. “You think Stan forgot? He’s probably at Richie’s with the others trying to get Richie out of bed. How much d’you wanna bet he stayed up all night on his Gameboy again, and now he’s sleeping the day away?”

She said the last part in a mock-dreamy way, a tone of voice that had Y/N’s heart soaring. She had always loved the sound of Bev’s voice, and there were certain times when it would just go straight to tug on Y/N’s heartstrings. It was never a particular time, just… Bev.

Everything about Bev was magical to Y/N. Somehow, all it took was one small smile, one of Bev’s smiles, and all of a sudden, Y/N was a completely different person.

Normally, she didn’t really like physical contact. It wasn’t anything in particular that had caused it, she just never was a really cuddly person. She could enjoy a short hug, or a quick high five, but anything longer than about three seconds made her uncomfortable

She wasn’t that way with Bev. Y/N would hug her for eternity, and would never want to stop. The two often held hands, and told everyone else that it was purely platonic, though Y/N secretly wished that it would be something more.

Y/N knew that Bev was still talking, but she couldn’t focus on anything more than the way that Bev’s lips were moving, as they moved quickly and perfectly to form the words that were on Bev’s brain.

The conscious, realistic part of Y/N’s brain told her that she should be focusing on what her friend was actually saying. That in just a few seconds, Bev was going to do the thing that they always did in movies where she waved her hand in front of Y/N’s face and asked if she had heard anything she said.

Sure enough, she did.

“Y/N/N, are you even listening to me?” Bev asked with a small chuckle.

The sound alone sent more heat to Y/N’s cheeks.

“S-sorry,” Y/N said quickly, shaking her head, almost as if that would clear her head of the thoughts she shouldn’t be having about her best friend. “Just uh… feeling a little out of it today, that’s all,”

Bev nodded in understanding. “Yeah. Today just… feels weird.”

Y/N nodded in agreement.

The two stayed silent for a few more minutes, before Y/N sat up again. “So, since the boys aren’t coming, we probably shouldn’t wait for them to start swimming, right?”

Bev nodded in agreement, before jumping up and running towards the water, yelling, “Last one in the water is a dancing clown!” behind her, before immediately splashing into the water, getting to a deep enough area, and diving in.

Y/N cursed herself, and then immediately launched herself into the water after Bev, inadvertently splashing her with water as she came out of the water herself at the perfect time.

“Got you!”

***

Y/N shook the water droplets out of her hair, refraining from watching as Bev dried out her own hair, slipping the loose dress that she had brought with her over the bikini that she had worn.

It was now five forty five, and Y/N was going to be expected home for dinner soon. After realizing this, she had reluctantly told Bev that she needed to head home.

Since they lived in the same apartment complex, Bev said she’d go with her.

The sunlight from the sunset bounced off the lake and onto the two girls standing on the beach next to the lake in the Quarry.

Y/N couldn’t help herself this time. She looked up to Bev, and found that she was staring at her the same way, admiring how the golden light danced across her skin, from the top of her coppery red curls to the very bottom of her feet.

Before she could even process what she was doing, Y/N quickly closed the space between her and Bev, pressing her lips against Bev’s.

It only took Bev two seconds to kiss back, relieved that Y/N had been the one to make the first move.

After a few seconds, they realized that they needed air, so the two reluctantly pulled apart, resting their foreheads together.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?” Y/N whispered breathlessly.

“It was love at first sight, wasn’t it?” Bev asked. “I saw you with the boys and I knew that it was always going to be you. It’s always been you, Y/N,”

“It’s always been you, Bev,”

The two pulled apart, Bev’s arms still wrapped around Y/N’s neck, Y/N’s hands placed lovingly on Bev’s waist. As she looked into Bev’s eyes, she saw a glint in her eyes that she hadn’t seen before.

The light made Bev’s eyes even brighter than they already were, and the longer Y/N looked at her, the more she fell in love.

“I love you, Bev,” she confessed quietly, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulder at the confession. “I always have.

[lovelivingmydreams]

What is a happy ending?

So someone (looks sternly at @rondoel) thought giving me insight in a certain OC of theirs and making me feel things is an okay thing to do. That I won't proceed to write a heartbreaking epilogue to my two part Virgil king story. This one not as long. But still. Enjoy:

What is a happy ending?

"Why happily ever after?" King wondered aloud as He studied their latest piece of art.

No one had ever answered that question for Him. Not in a meaningful way at least. And it never truly stopped bothering Him.

"Your majesty?" Anxiety asked carefully. Probably not sure if he had been meant to hear. King wasn't so sure Himself.

Oh well. He might as well finish the thought. Something interesting might come from it.

"Happily ever after. It's so... boring. Why does everyone like it so much?" He had wondered so often...

Anxiety shrugged. "Princey loved that crap. He hated it when I called out the flaws, though he could be just as bad with plot holes.

It's not realistic at all and... well boring is one word for it." His tone and face could almost be mistaken for dismissive, but King could swear He spotted fondness in the upturn of Anxiety's mouth and a slight wistfulness in the shine of his eyes.

King however was more interested in this more nuanced perspective on the story trope. Answers at last?

Anxiety noticed his king desired for him to elaborate and immediately started fidgeting as he tried to find the words to express his thoughts sufficiently.

"I suppose... everyone thinks that's what they want?" His nerves turn the sentence into a question. "When they are little it's an easy goal. You find the one who'll make you whole, or defeat the villain, or both. And then nothing ever bothers you again.

It's not how life works though... and growing up... I think everyone still has a part of them that wants to hold on to things being that... simple..." Anxiety trailed off and looked up at king curiously. His face strangely focused as if he was looking for an answer himself.

"Simple?" King urged wanting to hear more. Anxiety was so close to making sense. So close to bringing about that wonderful feeling when curiosity was sated. A story complete at last.

"Um... yeah... I mean even I feel a little... I don’t know... it feels right?

When you do the right thing, even when it's hard and you get the stuff you want anyway. And when people who hurt you don’t win. You want the world to work like that. If not for you then at least for the servant girl, who just wanted a night off, or the waitress who just wanted to buy her father's dream restaurant. Hard work, kindness, patience... they should be rewarded right?" Anxiety explained. Sounding frustrated. "And..." he let out a resigned sigh before straightening up and continued more decidedly. "Since the world doesn't work that way... why not escape somewhere where it does?" It was passionate. Perhaps in defense of Roman's favorite thing in the world. Then that fight and righteous defiance fell away in favor of a nostalgic fondness. "Thomas did it all the time growing up," Anxiety sighed before returning his attention to the painting that had prompted the question. A Father's Day movie night.

Hugs and snacks and movies with happily ever afters galore. All of Morality's favorite things.

King had to admit it had... stung to discover that Morality had taken up the role He'd given him even after he betrayed everything that title stood for.

Had he ever felt even the slightest bit conflicted when hearing Roman calling him 'Padre'?

Or was it supposed to be fine, since he thought Roman was the only half of Him who felt attached to him that way?

Had it truly never occurred to him that while he took in the confused Roman, he left behind a disoriented and heartbroken Remus who didn't understand why daddy was ignoring him.

What had he done wrong?

Why did he never get bedtime stories or hugs from dad? Why was he shoved away, scolded, ignored?

Why was he not allowed to play in the imagination with his brother?

The last thought had plagued both halves for years.

Even Roman who had stopped admitting to it to please Morality felt conflicted during story times and hugs to this day.

Telling Thomas that he didn't want anything to do with his brother had hurt more than the bump on his head...

But all of that was in the past. They were gone and their unresolved issues were a waste of His time. He had berated, tormented, Anxiety over this. He would not fall victim to such sentimentalities Himself.

"I see... escapism then?" He muttered, trying to get back on topic and not to show the... somewhat emotional turn His thoughts had taken.

Like His halves, His 'Padre' was gone. He probably never existed in the first place.

And Morality would pay for that betrayal and the way he abandoned Remus and how he made Roman fight to earn his love, only to abandon him as well. His suffering had only just begun.

Not because it still mattered. But... any excuse to justify and fuel His wrath even a little bit more was good enough for Him.

He'd probably avenge slights against his minister simply to feign kinship and watch the traitors squirm under his rule just a bit more. Not that he needed a reason to do anything. But justified rage was so much more satisfying to set loose. Because the targets would feel, deep down, they brought this upon themselves.

"Yeah... there's enough crappy stuff going on in the world right? Thomas... wants to use his talents to make people smile. And while that's cheesy, it's also... well it's him," Anxiety shrugged. King hummed in agreement as He framed the picture and put it away. He'd barely paid attention honestly. The answer was satisfactory. But there was a new question on His mind. As He mused over His minister's attachments to His enemies and how to sever them He recalled something intriguing about his recent behavior.

Anxiety had been pulling away from Morality. Why? What had caused a crack in 'the bestest most dynamicest duoest duo'?

And was this something he could use to forge an allegiance. Or to hurt Morality as deeply as He'd been hurt. Or, ideally, both?

King smirked to Himself as He laid a gentle hand on Anxiety's shoulder. He asked about a drawing of the young side and Thomas. He was pleased to note that His minister no longer shrank away every time He moved in his general direction. He might not be comfortable with His touch yet, but he was getting used to it. Something that would surely get to the others who still tiptoed around Anxiety's boundaries.

Maybe, at some point, he could be made to truly see things His way. To see the traitors for the villains they were. Just the thought of the chaos that this realization would unleash... It would be magnificent.

Morality had forgotten something important about 'happily ever after's.

Bad guys don’t get them. And the victor is always the hero.

It was only right that King reminded him of the shadow side of his favourite ending.

By making him live it.

Virgil knew that it was a bad thing that he found himself enjoying talking about his memories to the king and watching them turn into pretty cool paintings.

He was Anxiety, this was definitely a crisis. He can't relax now, not around the reason of said crisis... but if he doesn't relax a little his thoughts might do something really bad. And if he doesn't do whatever the king wants, then the king might do something bad.

So he had to balance on this weird edge of anxious, but cool with it.

The others were counting on him. To stay safe, to keep it together, to keep King distracted, to find a way to get him to lay off a little...

"Worthless." And... the thing is back.

"Dude, seriously, not now!" He snapped at his... shadow.

King just looked on intrigued. Great. Now the shadow had King's attention.

"Failure," it hissed. Right... King is not his biggest problem right now.

So far the shadow had only been mildly annoying even quiet for the most part. But clearly anxious thoughts made it remember it could be a pain in the behind. And worst thing is it got to Virgil even more because it laid out his true fears for King to see and use against him.

"You... you are just... you're just a thought. You can't hurt me." Virgil insisted.

Thomas could deal with his irrational fits. Surely he could manage this thing, right?

"Monsssster," the shadow hissed. No he didn't think that anymore!

"Guardian!" Virgil bit back. Patton said so, Logan said so, Roman said so, Thomas said so... why cant he just believe them?

He found himself struggling to breath again. The thoughts... they were real now... what if they could hurt him...? Can he die? What would happen to Thomas?

"Begone!" Virgil snapped out of his near attack at the sudden outburst from King.

What...?

He looked up just in time to see a flash of metal and shadow's dissolving figure.

"It'll reform later," King muttered as he sheeted his sword.

"It became too bothersome. You should not let your creations have power over you young one. You are their master, don't forget that," he instructed calmly, not looking at him.

Did he just...?

"Return to your business now, I find that I am in need of a break," he then declared as he walked away, still not looking back.

"But..." he came to a halt. "Should you wish to finish our gallery... I might be willing to indulge your presence later."

Virgil didn't quiet know what to do, so he bowed, just in case the king could see it somehow. "Y-yes my king. Thank you," he stammered hurriedly.

When he looked up, the king was gone.

And Virgil ran. He needed to find Lo and Pat before the shadows returned.

His thoughts were a confused mess... he hadn't imagined that right?

King had really stepped in to save him instead of letting Virgil's punishment, gift, curse, whatever run its course...

And then he left it up to Virgil to decide if and when they'd finish up.

There was probably some messed up reason behind it... but still.

Virgil wasn't stupid though. Even if saving him had been a purely noble impulse, King hadn't undone his 'gift' to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Telling him to put his foot down with 'his own creations' didn't really count.

King still messed up real bad and would have to do something pretty impressive to make up for all of that.

And Virgil was pretty sure that it wasn't just his pessimism talking when he thought that the king was no where close to wanting to make nice with any of them.

Or not for the right reasons anyway.

He shook his head. He can worry about all that later. Right now he has to find the others. Before King runs into one of them.

Virgil's trip down memory lane might've been deemed 'entertaining' or whatever, but he hadn't be around for whatever had happened to make the king be out for blood in the first place.

He didn't want to find out what King's idea of 'having fun' was when it came to Pat, Lo or even Janus. Whatever they did, it was still his duty to protect Thomas. Physically, socially, mentally and emotionally. Whether he wanted him to or not.

And not even King was going to stop him from fulfilling his purpose.

@antiredhuman you wanted to be tagged if I wrote more for this au so here you go! Hope you like it!

[katahnisharma]

gone (4) | t.h.

Summary: tom is back from shooting cherry, but he’s not okay.

Warnings: this started as my entry to the lovely b’s writing challenge @worldoftom, but you guys were so amazing and wanted a second part. this is a very emotional chapter and there are mentions of anxiety, depression, and overall intense emotions so please be careful loveys ♡

A/N: hey guys it’s been a while but life has been really really difficult so i'm sorry for the wait! i'm not entirely sure if anyone still cares about this series so here’s hoping :) for this chapter i listened to light of love by florence + the machine and all good things come to an end by the og queen nelly furtado lol. also Tumblr apparently won’t let me link certain things so if you’re looking for my masterlist or playlist it’s in my bio ♡

IF YOU’RE STILL INTERESTED IN BEING ON MY TAGLIST PLEASE FILL OUT THE NEW FORM IN MY BIO BC I WILL BE REVAMPING IT!

gif by @hllands

“Hey, did I leave my notebook in the living room?” You asked, letting your tea bag soak in the mug Tom always saved for you. It was an unspoken rule, that dark blue cup with the constellations on it from his mother was yours only. You mentioned how beautiful it was once, and Tom remembered.

It went on the list with the others.

“You mean the one with the polaroid on the cover? No, it’s not in here.” Tom called back, scrolling through Netflix to find a movie for the both of you. He’d just come back from the junket for Spies in Disguise, and he immediately called his best friend over to spend the day with him.

Well, it was supposed to be more than just another day.

Because today he was going to tell you he loved you.

“Hmm, maybe I left it in my bag upstairs. I’ll get it when I’m done with the tea.” You said, setting your mug down on the counter. It looked like it needed sugar, so you rootled around for the little jar Tom kept in one of his cabinets.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go get it!” Tom said from the couch, his nerves beginning to make him jittery. He thought that while you were in the kitchen, picking a movie would help him calm down. But he couldn’t focus on any of the descriptions, and Tom could feel his heart beat faster and faster.

He needed to get up for a few minutes.

“Are you sure? Do you want me to pick the movie then?” You teased, knowing very well Tom hadn’t found a movie yet. It was a bit of a running gag, him never being able to pick a movie. You would bite your lip to stop from laughing when he eventually got frustrated and handed you the remote.

And even in his nervous state, Tom still grinned because of you.

“Yeah, yeah, like you’re any better. We’ve seen The Avengers twice!” He shot back, a smirk on his lips when he heard you scoff in the kitchen. Apart from your smile, making you jokingly annoyed was Tom’s favorite thing. He liked how cute you were when he teased you.

“Shut up and get my notebook, Tommy!” You laughed, and Tom felt his cheeks warm at the sound.

God you were so fucking perfect.

When Harrison woke up, he almost forgot where he was. But then his vision cleared and there you were, lying in the hospital bed. Harrison’s heart clenched at the sight, remembering the events of last night that landed you here with an IV in your arm. He sat up and stretched, the old wooden chair squeaking against the floor.

The sound was what made you stir, your mind waking up from the dream.

“Harrison?” You whispered, your eyes adjusting to the dim lights in the room. The hospital bed you’d fallen asleep in the night before seemed to glow next to you, but you realized it was just an IV hooked up in your arm. Harrison smiled softly, getting up and coming to stand by your side.

“Hey, you were out like a light.” He said, handing you the glass of water a nurse had brought. You gratefully brought it to your lips, feeling a little dehydrated from whatever fluids were in the IV bag. Harrison gave your free hand a squeeze before crossing to the windows, playing with the blinds to let some sun in.

“How long have you been here?” You asked, playing with the sheets mindlessly. Harrison thought about lying, telling you he’d only arrived a few minutes ago. Because he knew you’d feel bad about it, but you could always tell when he lied.

“Since last night. I stayed here, didn’t want you to be alone.” Harrison replied, and you frowned almost immediately. You felt bad enough that he’d driven you to the hospital on his day off, but knowing that he’d also spent the night sleeping in an uncomfortable, crappy chair didn’t help with the guilt.

“And before you say ‘you shouldn’t have’, just remember you would have done the same for me. So stop beating yourself up about it.” He said, going back to his chair. You winced when it made the same creaking sound, like it was about to break. Harrison noticed, and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“But this chair was really unbearable.” He chuckled, and you finally smiled again.

“Shut up, you idiot.” You giggled, chucking a pillow at Harrison right as the nurse peeked in. You felt your face burn as she smiled at the two of you, Harrison picking up the pillow sheepishly and biting back a laugh.

“Glad to see the patient is feeling better. Can I get you anything, love?” She asked kindly, picking up the now empty class beside you. You smiled at her, shaking your head. You really just wanted to be discharged so you could leave, hospitals always made you nervous. The smell of disinfectant and the general sense of uncertainty were not your favorite sense overloads.

“No, but thank you for everything. Do you know if I’ll be able to leave today?” You asked, and the nurse nodded her head.

“You should be all set to be discharged in an hour. The doctor will check in on you in thirty minutes and then you’re all free to go.” She said, taking the pillow from an embarassed Harrison. You giggled a little when she fluffed the pillow, and returned it to your bed.

“Great, thank you again!” She gave you one last smile before leaving the room, and Harrison breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank god, I’m really hungry.”

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For Harry, last night would probably be one of the worst and strangest of his life.

After Tom broke down and sobbed into his shirt for two hours straight, he became so frenetic that Harry was afraid he would end up accidentally hurting himself. Tom tried to pack a suitcase to go after you, but he almost slipped in the shower and was so disoriented that he ran into the bedroom wall. Then he tried to cook something on the stove for Harry, but left the fire on while he got distracted trying to find your favorite cereal. Tom wasn’t completely all there, and it was pretty obvious to Harry that he was having some sort of episode.

So once Tom was focused enough to eat the banana his brother opened for him, Harry called his mother.

“Mom, I need you to tell me the name of that anxiety medicine. The one that sometimes works as a sedative.” Harry cast a glance at Tom on the couch, watching him slowly chew the banana with glossy eyes. He had been silently crying at odd times this morning, and it was definitely making Harry nervous.

“Why? Harry, what’s happened?” Nikki immediately sounded worried, running over to the medicine cabinet. She kept the anxiety medicine mainly for Harry, who used to have pretty severe bouts himself. The episodes became few and far between, until they stopped altogether.

But now Nicki was concerned Harry was having them again.

“It’s not for me, Mum. It’s for Tom. I think he’s having some sort of breakdown, and I’m afraid he might accidentally do something stupid and hurt himself.” Harry said, looking over his shoulder to see Tom staring at the banana, almost lifelessly.

“For Tom? Harry, please tell me what’s going on.” Nikki said, clutching the bottle in her hand nervously.  

“I think Tom and Y/N might be over.” Harry said, and the words had more weight than he thought they would. Like it was finally a possible reality, one where you and Tom weren’t together anymore.

“Okay, I’m on my way.”

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“Can you get in the car alright? Need any help?” Harrison asked, hovering over you as the two of you walked to the hospital parking lot. You rolled your eyes, smiling at his protective behavior. He’d been like this during your dischargement too, and it was sweet but definitely unnecessary.

“Haz, I told you. I’m perfectly fine, I swear. It really doesn’t hurt that much, and I can absolutely get into the car on my own.” You said, patting his shoulder reassuringly. Harrison sighed, biting his lip a little worriedly.

“Okay, okay, just making sure. I just don’t want you to aggravate the injury or anything. At least not until we get you home and set up.” He replied, and you couldn’t help it. You leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, watching Harrison’s mouth immediately drop open in shock.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“To thank you for being the world’s greatest div. I love you, idiot.” You said, laughing when Harrison slung an arm around your shoulder. He rolled his eyes at you, smiling playfully.

“You know I love you too, but you really didn’t need to give me that weirdass kiss.” Harrison chuckled, immediately ducking into the car before you decided to throw your purse at him. Scoffing, you got into the passenger seat and punched him in the arm.

“Ow! That hurt!”

“I’ll have you know my kisses are wonderful!” You giggled, clapping a hand over your mouth when Harrison started to fake cry and clutch his arm.

“If I agree, will you leave me alone?” Harrison laughed, starting the car and reversing out of the parking lot. You smiled wickedly, reaching up to ruffle his precious hair. Harrison recoiled instantly, whining at your little stunt.

“I take it back, I actually hate you.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where is he?” Nikki asked, rushing into the living room. Harry jumped up and led her to the bedroom, where Tom was curled up in a ball. Under the covers, he was crying softly and clutching what looked like a sweater. It seemed too small to be his, and Harry immediately realized it was your favorite sweater. The one Tom loved on you because it was what you were wearing when both of you met for the first time.

“Tom? Love, look at me please.” Nikki whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked over at Harry and mimed a glass of water, which he left to get from the kitchen. Once they were alone, Nikki gently pulled the covers back. Tom lay there, tears streaming down his face and the front of your sweater soaked.

“She’s gone...” Tom whimpered, trying to pull the covers back over his head. He was completely spent, the possibility that you were really gone hitting him like a train. Tom had pictured the rest of his life with you, and now nothing seemed worthwhile anymore if you weren’t there beside him.

“Y/N? Tell me what happened, Tom.” Nikki said, running a gentle hand through his hair. Tom relaxed under her touch, reminded of all the times in his childhood that he lay in bed upset. Breakups, rejections, failures, his mother had seen them all. And she'd always been there for him.

“We got into a fight...a big fight….and I threw my phone….”

“At her? Tom, how could you do that?” Nikki gasped softly, and Tom’s eyes widened. He found the strength to sit up, looking his mother right in the eyes.

“No...no! I would never hurt her! I threw it at the wall and I locked myself in the bathroom. But….when I came out….she was gone and there was b-blood on the f-floor and...I think-I think I-” Tom couldn’t get the rest of his words out, and Nikki knew enough to envelop her son in a hug.

“It’s okay...it’s okay, Tom.” She sighed, holding her eldest son close. The whole thing was confusing, but if Nikki knew anything about your relationship with Tom it was that it had been the best one he’d ever had. You were kind, intelligent, and strong, exactly what she had always wanted Tom to have in a partner. But hearing Tom cry and work himself up meant she knew what she needed to say. Tom had to stop living in his head.

“Tom? I want you to listen to me, it’ll be okay.”

“But….she’s gone and I hurt her….I can’t ever forgive myself…” Tom sobbed, but Nikki was adamant she would speak and get through to him.

“Look, the past is the past, it’s not in our hands.  You have the chance to ask for her forgiveness, and explain what you’re feeling right now. Don’t let your past actions dictate the future, love. That would be a mistake, because I know Y/N. She loves you and she wants to be there for you. She’ll understand what you’re going through because she cares, that’s what a real partner does. They want the best for you because it’s you. You need to forgive yourself so that she can help you heal.”

“But what if she doesn’t w-want me anymore? I know I scared her….I never wanted to do that b-but she’s been hurt and left because of me….I’m afraid Y/N won’t love me anymore!” Tom cried, his body shaking a little. Nikki rubbed his back and took the water glass from Harry, who’d reappeared in the room.

“Darling, you have to try. You have to fight for the love you want. You don’t think your father and I have gotten angry with each other? We fight and that’s normal, but at the end of it all we come back to each other. I put my feelings aside and listen to him, and he does the same. That’s how it works, we love each other so much that I’ll forgive him and he’ll forgive me.”

Nikki took Harry’s hand and held it, and Tom was finally still. There was no more crying, no more shaking. It was just a moment frozen in time, the three of them together in a little room. Harry hugged Tom and Nikki kissed his forehead, and for the first time in 36 hours Tom wasn’t afraid anymore. The fight wasn’t plaguing him anymore, and neither was the aftertaste of filming that had been slowly poisoning his mind. All he could see was you, like a vision before him wiping his tears away. With that same smile that he had fallen in love with so easily, because it was purely yours.

And that was enough for Tom to be at peace with himself.

“Thank you.” Tom whispered, and Nikki was able to smile again. Harry ruffled his hair, making Tom punch him softly in the arm. He reached for the water glass and the pills in Nikki’s hand, knowing that he needed to take them.

“Take these two and it’ll help a little with the anxiety. It’ll also make you a little drowsy, but it might be good to sleep it all off properly. I’ll stay here with Harry until you wake up, okay?” Nikki said, and Tom let him expend enough energy to nod and smile.

“Just...just please make sure Y/N is okay? Make sure that nothing’s wrong?” Tom said, and Nikki squeezed his right hand. Harry had his left.

“Always. Now get some real sleep, you’re going to need it...”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Can we please listen to something other than your terrible daily mix?” You laughed, Harrison clutching his chest to feign offence. He reluctantly handed you the aux cord and you smiled, knowing exactly what you wanted to play. Taking a couple seconds to sift through your own playlists, you found the song you were looking for and pressed play. Harrison smirked at your choice, rolling his eyes at the songs you played over and over again. He attempted to steal the aux back from you, but you dodged him quickly.

“Hey, focus mister! I’m not about to get into an accident right out of the hospital!” You said, giggling as he started to belt out the lyrics and dance. He laughed, rolling his eyes as he focused on the road again.

“I’m a great driver! I’m just trying to save myself from your shit music taste.” He said with a smirk and now it was your turn to roll your eyes. Harrison wasn’t a bad driver, but he definitely wasn’t a great one. The first time you had gotten into the car with him had been to get groceries and it was a disaster. He forgot to turn around before reversing and nearly hit a little old lady with her cart, and almost got hit merging onto the highway. After that, you were careful to look out for him even if it meant you became a backseat driver.

“Sure, Haz. Whatever you want to believe. Just please get us home in one piece!” You laughed, leaning your head back and letting the sunlight warm your face. If not for the events of the previous day, you would have basked in the glory of such a beautiful day.

But your mind turned to Tom, as it always seemed to.

“Hey, is my bag in the back?” You asked, suddenly desperate to check its contents. Harrison turned down the music, furrowing his eyebrows at your change in mood. You turned to look at him, a slight fear in your eyes. Harrison nodded, gesturing to the backseat.

“Yeah, it’s there. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I just...I just need to make sure something is in there…” You trailed off, swiveling in your seat to grab at your handbag. Harrison watched from the corner of his eye as you set it on your lap, rootling through it quickly.

“Whoa, whoa. What are you looking for?” Harrison asked, a little concerned by how frantic you seemed to be. With a sigh of relief, you feel your hands grasp what you’re looking for and you pull it out slowly. Harrison’s eyes automatically soften, seeing your eyes water with your most prized possession in your hand.

“Is that the notebook Tom bought you? The one he bought you when he found out you wanted to be a writer?”

“Y-yeah...it is. I just wanted to make sure it was still there, you know? That’s dumb, isn’t it? I mean...he probably doesn’t even want to be with me a-anymore. So...so why am I….why am I holding on like this?” You felt the dam break finally, the tears streaming down your face. Harrison bit his lip, pulling the car over and unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Hey...hey...look at me.” Your tears were staining the cover, the little drops of water creating little streams on the surface. It felt like someone had pulled the rug from underneath you, and that you’d discovered there was no floor. What would you do without Tom? You loved him more than anything, but you were no fool. His anger couldn’t have come from out of the blue, it was something repressed that Tom had been feeling for a long time. Without warning, your insecurities began to mount.

Maybe he was bored of you.

Maybe you annoyed him.

Maybe he’d found someone else.

Maybe you weren’t good enough and he’d realized it.

And then the worst of them all.

Maybe the rest of the world was right.

“I’m losing him.” You whispered, and Harrison’s heart clenched at your words. He knew you were always insecure about dating Tom, but you’d never vocalized anything like this before.

“No, no you’re…”

“I’m not an idiot, Haz! I’ve seen the signs! H-he’s done with me….I’m just d-delaying the inevitable. I should have….I should have known I wasn’t good enough for him. He’s him and I’m j-just me, who the hell was I fooling? E-even the fans knew it!”

“Y/N...come on...that’s not-”

“He hasn’t wanted to spend any real time with me since he came back from Cherry. It’s like I don’t even exist to him, I’m invisible until he has to talk to me. I’ve tried five times to get him to have dinner with me and he rejected me every time, Haz. All I’ve heard for two months is ‘I’m going out with the boys, sorry’ or ‘Just going to sleep, don’t feel like eating’. And I tried to understand, I really did. It must have been so hard shooting a movie like that, it would be emotionally draining for anyone. Hell, even the book is emotionally draining-”

“I don’t think...”

“Let me finish, please? Haz, I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired, I’m so tired. I can’t fight for this relationship anymore when I’m not even sure if he wants it. He pushes me away all the time and it hurts me to see him like that. Tom isn’t happy, and I think it’s because of me. So I won’t hold him back anymore, I’ll just quietly disappear. No drama, no fighting, nothing. I can’t bear knowing I’m the reason he’s unhappy, it would kill me to think that.”

You broke again, the tears burning your eyes as you clutched the notebook tighter to your chest. It brought you a little comfort, knowing what you would have to do next. You needed to leave Tom, to let him live his life and be happy. You clearly couldn’t make him happy anymore and though that was something you’d struggled to accept in the last few hours, it was the right thing to do. You had no delusions about the way you looked, you always felt rather plain and boring compared to the beautiful women Tom was used to being around. He would be better off with someone else, someone as amazing as him.

Someone who isn’t you.

Harrison’s throat went dry as you slowly raised a hand to wipe at your tears, your eyes glossing over as you stared lifelessly out the window. He had a horrible feeling that you were serious about what you had just said, and he wasn’t sure how all this had happened. How could he have let you feel like this?

How could they not have noticed?

“Please, please don’t say-”

“Harrison, I have to. I can’t do this anymore.” You whispered, and Harrison stopped mid sentence. You never called him by his full name, it was always just Haz. He squeezed your hand as you cried, sobs wracking your body that made him cry too. You barely got the words out, but Harrison knew them before you said it.

“I have to leave because I love him.”

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[spicycreativity]

Howl - Chapter 1

Rating: Teen

Fic Content Warnings: Blood, injury, suggestive content, alcohol use

Characters: All

Pairing: Analogical, background Moceit because apparently I can't help myself

Add'l Notes: dw if you don't know what a loup-garou is or how the lore works; all is explained in the story / Have I ever been to Louisiana? No 💕Did I write an entire story set in rural-ish Cajun Louisiana anyway because I hate myself? Yes 💕 / If you're from Louisiana and noticed any screw-ups, pls correct me so I can fix it

It also comes with a playlist! For ambience, not necessarily for the lyrics

Summary:

Two things happen to Virgil Landry on Halloween:

1) Logan Doucet, his longtime friend and slightly-less-longtime crush, asks him out

2) He becomes cursed to spend his nights as a half-man, half-wolf monster: a loup-garou

Despite his new affliction, Virgil strives for normalcy all the way up until he can't anymore and everything falls apart.

The floorboards creaked in their familiar pattern as Virgil paced over them, his feet sliding around awkwardly in his over-the-knee boots. He was supposed to meet Logan alone in an hour, an hour! His heart thumped painfully under his ribs. What did Logan want?

Virgil yanked his phone out of his pocket to re-read the message for the 85th time, ignoring a few new messages in his assorted group chats:

Logan: If it's not inconvenient, could you meet me early at the Plaza tonight? Maybe 6:30?

Virgil: yeah sure 

Virgil: everything OK?

Logan: Yes :-)

What did it mean? Was everything okay? Or was Logan just lying to make him feel better? Because if so, it wasn't working. Virgil ran his hands through his hair, careful not to smudge his makeup. It had taken him an hour and a half to perfect his vampire makeup in the mirror and he didn't want to risk messing it up.

With a sigh that turned into a groan, Virgil threw himself down on his couch. It made the walls rattle, nearly displacing a few trinkets on his crappy, rickety shelves. He heard a tell-tale scrape above his head and knew that his favorite painting had gone crooked again. God, this place was a wreck-- Just like Virgil. He made a mental note to ask Patton for help patching up the leaky roof. It was as good a time as any, as they were well out of rainy season, but it did seem a little rude. What was he even supposed to say? Hey, Patton, I know carpentry is literally what you do for a living, but could you help me for free since I'm broke and sad? Thanks, bud. Yeah, right. He sighed again and tugged at his medallion, a rusted old thing with a glass gem in the center. He had picked it up from a thrift store months earlier in anticipation of Halloween, but maybe he should have made some effort to restore it. It smelled strongly of rust and decay and felt terrible between his fingers, all oily and sticky.

So far, the only saving grace of the day was that it wasn't raining now. Virgil had spent his workday in silent anxiety, eyeing the storm clouds through the shop window and rubbing a small piece of sunstone between his thumb and forefinger. It seemed to have worked, as the clouds had dispersed a little and allowed the watery light of the autumn sun to peek through.

Virgil's phone lit up with a few more messages in his group chats: Roman having hysterics over some detail of his costume, Janus and Remus discussing how to avoid the small army of toddlers that always ran rampant at the Halloween parade. Virgil ignored them all. He was in no mood to be friendly, would probably snap at them. Logan hadn't said anything since his message to Virgil, which he had presumably sent on his lunch break. The question haunted Virgil, that great unknown lurking behind him and instilling a fear that no ghost ever could: What did Logan want?

Virgil set his phone down and leaned forward, heaving a sigh that turned into a yawn. Great. Whatever. That meant he was on the verge of hyperventilating, his breathing already irregular. Damn it, Logan knew better than to leave him hanging like this! They'd known each other for so long and he'd always been more perceptive to Virgil's needs than the others.

Especially lately… They'd been spending more time alone, and Virgil couldn't deny the sweet, warm giddiness that enveloped him every time they were alone together. First meetings were always his favorite, seeing Logan's face light up with a smile. He hadn't dared to think that Logan might feel the same way, but it was getting harder and harder to keep his fantasies on a leash. Worst-case scenarios and best-case scenarios dueled in his head: Logan kissing him, Logan telling him they couldn't be friends anymore, Logan confessing, Logan announcing that he had some incurable disease.

Virgil grabbed his phone and jumped to his feet. He couldn't do this anymore, couldn't sit here and torture himself. He would just leave now. He would rather arrive freakishly early than face another minute of this self-inflicted torment 

He double and triple checked he had his wallet and his plastic fangs, which he

was planning on putting on later. The medallion bounced against his exposed chest as he walked and he wondered briefly if it might be more trouble than it was worth. He could always swap it out for one of his pendants, maybe amethyst to calm his nerves. But it looked so good against his skin, falling perfectly in the deep V of his flowy white poet shirt. Unlike his other necklaces, it screamed vampire. And Janus would tease him if he caught Virgil wearing a subpar costume, and then Roman would join in, and Remus, and it would turn into a whole thing . He could wear the stupid medallion for one night.

 -

Virgil regretted this decision as soon as he got his moped going. Even at its 30 mph crawl, the heavy necklace bounced against his chest in a maddening rhythm. At least it was distracting. Every time he started to worry about Logan, the erratic tap-tap-tap of cold metal on his chest brought him back to Earth.

It was a long ride into town down a windy country road. He hugged the shoulder as best as he could despite the lack of traffic; Virgil's neighbors were few, but they all liked to take corners at frighteningly high speeds. The one person who did drive by honked at him and flashed their lights. Virgil's heart dropped and he nearly flipped them off before he realized that they liked his costume. It occurred to him then that he must look pretty absurd: A vampire riding a purple moped, cape fluttering on the wind.

Upon reaching the Plaza, Virgil did a few laps around downtown, smiling at the spiderwebs decorating Vaillant City Hall. Another lap revealed that empty parking spots were already becoming scarce, so Virgil pulled into one and checked his phone. Nothing from Logan. Just more hysterics from Roman, and Patton's best attempts at comfort. Virgil rolled his eyes. Maybe Roman did need some tough love. He scanned through the messages to orient himself, to make sure he didn't look dumb, and then typed out his reply.

Virgil: look, Prince Charming. 2 rolls of body glitter is more than enough. Stop freaking out

Roman: That's DOCTOR Prince Charming to you

Virgil: :*

He put his phone away, tucked his keys in his pocket, and forced himself to walk slowly toward the Plaza. He was still excruciatingly early, but maybe he could pop into a bar or grab a coffee or even swing by his work-- Oh.

There, standing by the reflecting pool with his hands in his pockets, was Logan. Virgil smiled despite his nerves and sped up. Leave it to Logan to somehow be earlier than early.

"Hey, Data," Virgil said once he was in earshot.

Logan's face lit up, and even the yellow contacts he was wearing couldn't mask the fondness in his face. "Evening, Virge," he said. His smile dropped too quickly and he kept his hands shoved in his pockets. Virgil surveyed all this with dread. Was he reading too much into it? Most definitely. Could he stop? No way.

"Everything okay?" Virgil asked, tugging at his medallion and turning his nervous gaze upon the placid waters of the reflecting pool. Great. Now he had two awesome reasons to be nervous. It was an old Vaillant legend that anyone who disturbed the waters of the pool would be cursed, and Virgil did not mess with curses. He usually took pains to avoid the Plaza, even if it meant he had to take the long way to work.

"Yes, Virgil," Logan said in a voice that was far too breathy. He cleared his throat. "As you know, we have been friends for a long time. I…" He paused, blinked. "I forgot what I was going to say."

"Jeeze, Lo," Virgil tried to tease. "You're making me nervous."

"But I--" Logan ran a hand through his hair. "Virgil. I had prepared something far more eloquent than what I am about to say, but I can't seem to remember it at the moment. Forgive me if this comes across as confusing."

"All good," Virgil said, making only a minimal effort to hide his confusion. The medallion was cold and oily under his fingertips, but he couldn't stop messing with it, tugging at it, rattling the chain. He needed some outlet for all this nervous energy.

"We've been spending more time alone together and I

thought-- I wanted--" Logan touched his face and Virgil realized a second later he had tried to push up his glasses, which he wasn't wearing. Oh, how cute. "Virgil, I would like to go steady with you."

A rush of vertigo smacked into Virgil with such force that he had to take a step back just to keep his balance. "Go steady?" he heard himself say. "Like-- Like, boyfriends?"

"If you are amenable to that," Logan said, furiously running his fingers over the piping on his uniform. "If not, I-- We can pretend this never--"

"Yes," Virgil interrupted. "Yes, yes, yes. Logan, I do want that."

"Oh," said Logan, his face breaking into a smile. "Good."

Virgil clenched his fist around the medallion wondering if it was too soon to ask for a kiss. He took a breath and felt something give with a quiet snap. The broken chain snaked along his neck, dragged down by the weight of the pendant. Virgil watched in silent agony as the necklace landed in the water of the reflecting pool with a quiet splash. "Shit."

"Allow me," said Logan, already in motion.

"No!" Virgil caught his hand and held it. "The curse." He realized what he had done and let go of Logan's hand.

"I don't believe in such things, Virgil, but if it's important to you, then I'll leave it."

"Thank you." Virgil stared down at the water and sighed through his nose. He'd already disturbed the water. Would it be better to leave the necklace or take it out? Littering seemed more disrespectful, he supposed. So he bent and grabbed the necklace before he could change his mind. "I'll, uh, de-curse-ify myself later."

Logan nodded, looking preoccupied. "Let me know if I can help. I might be able to repair the chain."

"Actually," said Virgil, stuffing the wet necklace into his pocket, "I was wondering if maybe, um…"

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"Please do."

Virgil closed his eyes so he wouldn't get weirded out by Logan's contacts. He had been expecting a short kiss, sweet and chaste, but Logan's hand tightened in the loose fabric of Virgil's poet shirt and his teeth grazed Virgil's bottom lip. Fuck propriety, then; the Plaza was still fairly empty. Virgil raised a hand to grab a fistful of Logan's hair and ran his tongue along the edge of Logan's lip.

They were interrupted by a wolf whistle and golf claps. "I'll be damned." Crap. Why did it have to be Janus? He was never going to let Virgil live this down.

Virgil pulled away so fast it made pain shoot through his neck. He exhaled sharply and covered the area with his hand for all the good it would do, turning to face Janus with a blush blooming on his cheeks. "What are you supposed to be?" he asked, looking Janus up and down. Janus had always been unnecessarily private about things that really didn't matter. He had evaded all of Virgil's attempts to guess his costume, and now presented wearing an old-fashioned suit including top hat, gloves, and cane.

"Don't change the subject," said Janus, dismissing Virgil with a wave.

In true vampire fashion, Virgil snarled and bared his teeth, then remembered something. "Oh, shit, my fangs!" He dug in his pocket for them, leaving Janus to do… whatever he was going to do.

"Logan, I presume?" Janus asked. Virgil stopped in the process of sticking on one tooth, heart hammering again. Janus and Logan had never met, and they could both be… a bit much in their own ways.

Logan nodded. "Logan Doucet." He held out his hand for a shake.

Janus took it. "Thank God you didn't bother to paint your face, else Virgil would have more than smudged lipstick to contend with. You've got some on your mouth, by the way."

"Thank you," Logan said stiffly. He withdrew his hand and used it to wipe away the lipstick stain on his face. "Nice to meet you, Professor Moriarty."

Virgil's eyes darted back to Janus, who smiled. "When I'm not acting as the Napoleon of Crime, you can call me Janus. Janus Bellefontaine."

"Where's Remus?" Virgil interjected, looking around. "Didn't he ride with you?"

"He got waylaid by some angry mothers because his costume made their kids cry," Janus said, nonchalantly running a

fingertip over the brim of his hat. "He'll be along." To Logan, he said, "Virgil tells me you're an accountant."

"Yes," said Logan. 

"And you haven't killed yourself yet, so I assume you must like it."

Virgil busied himself sticking his fangs onto his canines so he wouldn't worry about the conversation at hand. A sideways glance at Logan revealed that he seemed to find the comment amusing, thank God . "I've always been good with numbers. People, less so."

"Never would have guessed," Janus said, and Virgil didn't have to look at him to know he was smiling that crooked, tight-lipped smile that might have been genuine or might have been mocking. Asshole. "Well, if you have any rich clients, send them my way, won't you? I sell nice suits to dumb men with low self-esteem and too much money and I'm always on the lookout for another rube to swindle."

"If the suits are any good, I'd be happy to," Logan said.

Satisfied that his fangs were in properly, Virgil's attention shifted suddenly to the cold, wet medallion in his pocket. Right. He was cursed. Despite his interest in the occult and the supernatural, Virgil didn't have much experience with curses. His friends weren't really the type to play around with magic (well, maybe Janus, maybe- maybe Roman) and he wasn't the kind of guy who made enemies. No one had ever cursed him before. How soon would this one take effect? Should he go home and come back? Should he hop into the bayou, makeup be damned? Did bayous even count as running water?

He was so caught up in his panic spiral that the sudden sensation of hands on his shoulders made him jump. "Fuck!"

To his surprise it was Roman, not Remus, who laughed from somewhere behind him. "What, are Logan and Janus boring you?"

Virgil looked up and flinched again. While Roman looked relatively normal in his glittery Doctor Frank-n-Furter costume, Remus, who was lurking just behind his brother, was a horrorshow of fur and face paint and fake blood. "Um…" He shook himself and noticed Patton standing a ways off, peering at Remus. Distracted, he went to introduce Patton to Remus and Janus only to learn that he and Roman had run into Remus on their way over and rescued him from a brigade of shouty young mothers.

"He's Macavity," Patton said in a tone like he was pronouncing the death of the family goldfish.

"The other Napoleon of Crime," Janus agreed. "And you are?"

"Patton Haydel!"

A pause. "I gathered that. " Janus gestured at Patton's costume, which he had also kept a secret. Virgil had been staring at it as well, trying to figure it out. Patton was wearing what appeared to be a headless bear costume, round glasses, and what might have been a cowboy hat, though Virgil wasn't 100% sure. "What are you?"

"You have to guess!" Patton said, extending his arms and backing up so everyone could get a good look at him.

Virgil stared at him, running his tongue over the edges of his plastic fangs. "I got nothin'."

Logan took a sideways step and tapped Virgil's hand. Virgil nodded, and Logan interlaced their fingers as casually as he might clock in for work. "He's Teddy Bear Roosevelt."

They all groaned. "Good work, Pat," Virgil said begrudgingly.

"You have a big wet spot on your crotch," Remus pronounced, pointing at Virgil.

Janus raised his eyebrows, turning to Virgil with undisguised schadenfreude, but Logan stepped in before anyone could say anything. "It's water. He dropped his necklace in the reflecting pool."

"Well," said Patton, "that's not good."

"You dropped something in the reflecting pool and didn't immediately run for the nearest source of running water?" Janus asked. He looked from Virgil to Logan, then to their intertwined fingers and grinned. "Ah. More pressing matters at hand?"

"Maybe it's not too late," Roman said, drumming his acrylic nails against his thigh. "We can still dump him in the bayou."

"There's alligators in there!" Virgil said. "Fuck that. You know my house is plastered with wards. I'm sure I can make it through one evening."

"Your funeral," said Remus, leering. "Let me know if your dick falls

off.

 -

Despite his friends' concern, Virgil had a wonderful evening. Logan stuck close the whole night through, and they even snuck a few kisses here and there like infatuated teenagers. Each one sent a lightning thrill down Virgil's spine and made him want a dozen more. His friends noticed in turns and either teased or cooed, but each reaction was encouraging.

Logan kissed him goodbye at the end of the night and he practically floated back to his moped. He was so caught up in his daydreams that he only remembered the curse when he caught sight of the nazar hanging on his kitchen wall. Cursing under his breath, Virgil went to his bookshelf and began to compile a few methods of curse-breaking. Did a shower count as running water? God help him, he was not getting in the bayou. Maybe he could combine methods.

A few moments later, Virgil had everything set up in the bathroom. He lit the last candle, tightened the herb sachet around his neck, and stepped into the shower. Okay, time to focus. He was washing himself free of the curse and wouldn't it be nice if Logan were here? Logan didn't believe in magic and his clear-headed confidence would undoubtedly make Virgil feel better, too-- Focus! Wash away the curse. Logan would probably help him if he asked, helping Virgil set up the crystals and making sure his candles stayed lit-- Virgil! The curse! Wash away the curse.

The bathroom smelled of candles, incense, and herbs. Almost like Virgil's workplace, except that Virgil was using lavender and his boss preferred nag champa.

He stepped out of the shower and inhaled deeply, letting the mixture of scents relax him and draw him toward sleep.

[yzkhr]

Third installment of the Love Language Miniseries

It might be OOC so please bear with me

Dedicated to the one who gave me this wonderful yet painful series idea @meitanteisachi!

-

Words of Affirmation- You get a thrill from receiving compliments and unexpected praise. You like it when others say they care about you or appreciate having you in their lives. You love feeling understood and receiving recognition for a job well done.

Shinichi trusts Ran a lot. But having a recent 'misunderstanding' along with being busy with his detective work and texting an apology yet receiving a slur of misspelled sentences with only the words 'Sonoko' and the name of a specific bar being decipherable, he can't help but worry and overthink.

(The name 'Kazuha' was readable as well and it did lessen his panic, but the reassurance he felt was nothing compared to Sonoko and her constant tricks that worsened when they became adults.)

Reaching the said bar on Rans' text message, he rushes inside and immediately dislikes the smell of mixed alcohols and smoke everywhere. Face indifferent, he passes through the dancing crowd and went straight to where he deduces his girlfriend to be.

Knowing Ran, she's not someone to go wild in such a tight place, nor does she appreciate the smell of cigarettes all over the dance floor. She would be somewhere comfortable and quiet enough to converse with Sonoko and Kazuha. Shinichi can't think of a better spot than the bartenders' counter.

And he was right.

There she was, in the middle of a familiar drinking blonde on her left and a brown haired woman on her right, reclined in her stool and mouthing words to her left side. Despite her back being the only thing he can see from where he's standing, he recognized it in an instant, having been familiar from the sight since childhood (her iconic hairstyle also helped).

Walking a little closer to be heard and putting his hands into his pockets, he calls out. "Ran."

The girls, save from the gulping heiress who ignores him, turns around and express the same visage upon seeing him. Rans' expression instantly change however, as her wide eyes and agape mouth closes and curls up into a smile.

"Shinichi!"

She stands up from her seat and walks over to him in an odd unbalanced manner. On a closer inspection, Shinichi noticed how her cheeks flushed a rather more healthy red than normal.

Raising an eyebrow, he opens his mouth to scold but his prepared reprimands die on his throat as Ran hugs him instead of just standing in front of him, her slender hands wrapped around his neck slowly, her feet tiptoeing as she concluded she wasn't tall enough to reach Shinichis' height.

He instinctively backs away from the unexpected warmth and weight, flustered and confused. Ran didn't even gave him the time to recover, leaning her head into the crook of his neck and sniffing it as he felt her sigh, successfully making his mind blank.

"You smell nice." she whispers, letting out a giggle as if entertained at her out of nowhere compliment while he stands there, frozen and left with no words to respond. Even after five years of being together, her effect on him stays consistent and powerful, similar to their first meeting.

Fortunately, he was brought out of his reverie by a familiar—not in a good way— smell of rum mixed into her natural sweet odor. From that, everything clicked. Her red face, wobbly walking and unexpected behavior finally made sense to him.

"You're drunk." he deduces as he looks down at his girlfriend who avoided eye contact by looking sideways and pouting, confirming her guilty.

"Sorry Kudo-kun," he redirects his gaze at the source of the voice, finding an apologetic Tooyama Kazuha. " We're the ones that invited her here and as you can see," her eyes went to Ran briefly before going back to him and continues sheepishly, "We kinda got carried away."

He expected the answer. After all, Ran rarely drinks, much less get drunk. She'd only really go all out when there's an important celebration or a really big problem, like a certain misunderstanding that may or may have not happened between the two of them.

"It's fine." he acquits as his eyes looks at anywhere but Kazuhas' green ones, unsure of how to ask. "Umm, did Ran told you anything concerning? Like if there's a huge problem or something?"

The Osakan woman's eyes widened and suspiciously travelled to Ran as if asking for permission, who in return tightened her grip around his neck to bring him down a little. Kazuha now seems to have an answer, glancing back at him.

"Nope, Ran-chan said nothing like that at all." with the way she puts up a tight lipped smile, it was obvious she was lying. "Besides, if there is an issue like that, why don't you ask her? I'm sure she'd tell you."

He wants to disagree, being aware of Rans' nature to he very considerate that she might dismiss the topic. But Shinichi really isn't fond of the idea of pressuring his bestfriends' girlfriend, so he didn't say anything. Besides, Kazuha was right, if there was anyone to ask about what is wrong, it would be his girlfriend.

"Yeah, you're right." he laughs and attempts to change the topic, not wanting to make the atmosphere awkward. "Anyways, it's pretty late. Want me to take you guys home?"

The brunette shakes her head and looks from behind. Shinichi follows her gaze, only to find Sonoko still on the counter and talking to someone on the phone. Her voice is so loud that it can mildly be heard from where they're standing.

"No thanks, it seems Sonoko-chan is already calling Makoto-kun to pick her up."

"It seems so," he now looks back to her. "How about you?"

"No need," she pulls out her phone, showing him her private chat with Hattori. "The ahou already texted he's on his way."

"And besides," Kazuha sends him a teasing look and an amused smile. "Even if we didn't have our boyfriends picking us up, you'll still get your hands full."

As if on cue, Shinichi was reminded of his girlfriend who's still clinging on to him, her constant breathing on his ear enough to make him go red, as if he's the one intoxicated.

He silently agrees to Kazuhas' statement.

-

Ran insists on walking home instead of getting a taxi. He protested but after being presented with the same adorable pleading look she always used on him back when he was Conan;wide eyes, pouty lips, and blushing cheeks, he was really left with no choice.

Now, they tread across the empty streets of Beika with the moon illuminating the area, Shinichi makes sure that his girlfriend doesn't trip from her quivering steps, choosing to carry her on his back, her arms hanging loosely around his neck while his hand secured on her thighs, assuring of no fall. The night serves peaceful, accompanied by a comfortable silence.

Until he decided to break it.

"Hey Ran--" he starts, wanting to ask her about the 'problem' he wasn't sure they're having, but was cut off by her instead.

"Ne, Shinichi?" her voice is a bit slurred but with his proximity, he heard it just fine. She seemed to have timed it when he decided to speak, deliberately avoid the questioning from him, concluding that something is wrong. He wanted to ignore her distraction and push further, but with Rans' current condition, he gives up and lets her get away.

"Hmm?"

"Did it hurt?" he stops walking in confusion at such a sudden question, prompting him to face her as she wears an innocent smile.

"What hurt?" he asks, not getting the point. It took him a few seconds to catch on to what her 'innocent smile' and question means, and he isn't exactly happy at the conclusion he got.

"Please no," he exclaims as she looks at him expectantly, really wanting to continue. he complains. "Isn't this supposed to be the other way around?"

A glare is all it took for him to know she's not giving up. However, Shinichi isn't going to comply so easily either.

"Let me guess, when I fell from heaven?" he teases her, ahead of the supposed pick up line she's about to say.

Instead of being angry however, Rans' smile widens more than before, not looking as innocent. "No."

Eyebrows furrowing in confusion he asks, "What?"

"When you fell for me."

He stares in disbelief. He had never expected such a cheesy pick up line to be even more cheesier than it already is and it honestly impresses him(in a bad way). Meanwhile, Ran looks way too proud of herself, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Okay, you win." he states rather dejectedly and continues walking, wishing his surrender to be the end of her drunk flirting.

If he were to be completely honest, Shinichi somewhat expected Ran to do something crazy and uncharacteristic, since it isn't the first time for her to be this intoxicated. The last time, she sang random songs with the most intangible lyrics he had ever heard, her drunk singing voice comparable to his normal one. This time it's the same, only now it's sappy pick up lines instead of crappy lyrics( he isn't sure which one is worse).

"Shinichi," she starts again, and it was cue for Shinichi to pick up his pace to get home faster, and he did. But Ran is stubborn. She calls his name on repeat way too many times, that he has to stop and finally decides to listen.

"Alright, let's hear it and quickly take you home to your apartment because I'm already tired of this." he yields, defeated and weary. On the other hand, Rans' expression is the complete opposite, too cheerful and energetic like neon lights on a dark room.

"You know why you're tired?"

"Yeah because of your pick up--"

"Because you've been running through my mind all day long." she breaks into a laugh as he stops functioning, wondering how his girlfriend can be so witty and stupid at the same time whenever she drinks a lot more than usual.

He ponders if Kaito has something to do it. After all, there is no one better and worse at flirting with words than he is. Rans' are tolerable but maybe it's because he loves her so much that he does appreciate them, but they're still pretty bad.

He deadpans at her still cackling form just to express his emotions. "You know, other people will call you an idiot if they know you're doing this."

She pauses, her turn to be confused. "Just other people? What will you call me then?"

"My idiot who's doing this."

Her reaction is instantaneous. Her face blossomed a shade of crimson as she coughs, too taken aback while he tilts inwards, smirking at having to get back at her antics.

"That's not fair!" she whines, throwing daggers at him as she cough a little more.

"You started it." he yawns, the night catching on to him.

He really thought it was the end of it, but Ran always proves him wrong as she started once again. "Yeah, being good looking must be sooo tiring."

He really is impressed at how her mind can processed a mundane action and turn into a bad and cheesy pick up line. But he didn't become friends with the worst flirt in the world for nothing. Clearly not accepting defeat, he decides to play along. "Then you must be exhausted."

Her face turns into a blushing mess either from embarrassment or frustration or maybe even from both.

"Shinichi!"

And that's what they did until they got home. He truly was worried that there was something bothering Ran, but from the way she conversed and flirted with him(even though he's sure it's the alcohol talking), he was confident that if there was a problem, it isn't as bad as he expects it to be.

-

After an hour of throwing trashy jokes at each other, they finally made it to her apartment. He grabs the key he got from her earlier and opens the door, going straight to the sofa to put down his girlfriend.

Ran looks tired, eyes constantly blinking as she takes off her shoes, slower than it's supposed to be. She flops down on the couch, ready to doze off. Making sure she won't fall off, he strides into the kitchen to get some water.

Going back in the living room with a glass, he now finds her sitting instead of her laid down position a minute ago. She's dazed, eyes dead set on the table across as her brows intensely furrow as if trying to figure something out.

"Here you go," he sits down beside her, offering the water. He watches her drink it languidly, attentive to her every move. After finishing and putting it back on the table with a thud, Ran stands up, a hand on her throat.

"What's wrong?" he asks as the panic becomes visible on her visage, eyes roaming everywhere.

"I think I'm gonna throw up," as if on signal, she makes a strained sound while Shinichi rushes her inside the bathroom, certain that Ran won't appreciate walking into her living room with vomit all around it.

Upon reaching the toilet, Shinichi lets her bend over it and finally lets out everything she ate and drank that day as he soothes her back, stroking it back and forth. He also holds her hair up just make sure it doesn't get in the way.

"Are you okay?" he tilts his head in confusion as she turns around now done with her task, eyes watering slightly.

"I'm hungry." he sighs, having predicted it. He isn't the best at cooking, but letting his girl cook for herself while still being a bit visually impaired and losing her self balance every now and then sounds like the worst decision he can make in this situation.

"Fine. I'll make you something." hearing such words, Ran wipes her tears and beams at him. He leads her out of the restroom, leaving her on the couch and heading to the kitchen to cook at least a soup just to quench her hunger.

A few minutes passed and he comes back to a yawning Ran, with a hot and steamy soup laying in his hands. She offers him a drowsy smile, and he gives a knowing one in return.

"Here," he places the bowl on the table in front her and Ran takes it leisurely. She takes a chunk of food and blows at it, in the hopes of lessening the heat. Satisfied, she puts it on her mouth and makes a noise, glancing at him.

"It tastes good!" he chuckles and shakes his head in disapproval. "Thanks but, I'm pretty sure it only taste like that because you're drunk."

He leans in the wall as he watches her consume the soup with gusto, making his heart swell. When Ran finally eats half of it, he speaks out.

"Seriously, what made you drink so much like that?" despite the high chance that she won't answer, he still gives it a try.

After hearing no response, the detective sighs and looks away, deciding to let it slide and thinks that he'll just try again tomorrow.

But it looks like that he doesn't have to.

"It's Shinichi's fault." she said it so casually and quietly, but it didn't get pass his ears. Shock at the fact that she replied and at the specific retort, he looks back and stares at her.

"Eh?"

"It was Sonoko's little dare," she finishes the rest of the food without care and continues, "She told me how you're always so indifferent and said to make you blush or whatever. But, you you were so busy with the case that I didn't even had the chance and just gave up."

He was left dumbfounded. The events three days ago went back to him in a flash. All of Ran's little glances, her stuttering words, and even her hold on him before he left after taking her home finally made sense.

'That Sonoko!' he twitches his eyebrow in annoyance. He really should've seen that coming. If there was anyone this world who could think such an idea, it would be none other than their childhood friend.

He attempts to talk, but she beats him to it.

"But, now that I think about it, I really dont mind Shinichi being busy like that," she's now looking at him, a smile plastered on her blushing face, sign of still being under the influence of the alcohol. "After all, I really love Shinichi's face whenever he solves a case. Shinichi's eyes always lights up, like it's alive and burning. As if seeing a world no one else knows."

"Whenever Shinichi solves a case, he helps a lot of people. And it's amazing to know, that tons of people are alive right now—because of Shinichi." she rambles on, calling his name too many times as if she's only talking to herself, like he isn't standing right there at all to listen.

Her voice, despite being slurred holds honesty in them that didn't make the current condition of his heart any better as he's hearing her compliment him.

"I guess that just means, that I really love Shinichi." she laughs at her own words, finding such a revelation amusing.

Meanwhile, Shinichi stands there having only two things in his mind; that Ran is really drunk, and that he's just glad the dare is over. Because if it wasn't, with the way he feels his face burning right now, he was sure Ran would've absolutely won it.

[little-kat07]

The Perfect Cake

[OH MY GOD GUYS LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!! 

A couple days ago, i suddenly remembered that I HAVE AN AO3 ACCOUNT. I completely forgot I had one. So I went back and looked at my works and holy hell guys, I had a ONESHOT BOOK! BUT I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT ONESHOTS WERE SO I CALLED THEM ‘Sanders Stories’, BECAUSE THEY WERE SANDERS SIDES. THEY’RE KIND OF CRAPPY BUT ALSO REALLY NOSTALGIC AND I’M SO HAPPY I FOUND THEM!!!!

This one particular one is called “The Perfect Cake,” and i’m actually kind of proud of past me for it, even though it’s not that good. It’s fluffy Logicality with a gallon of Patton angst because that is literally all I’m good at writing.

So I’m going to leave this here, as well as a link to the book! GUYS I’M JUST SO HAPPY!]

[In case you’re confused, the link I send will be to the whole book so the first chapter isn’t the one that I’m pasting here. This chapter, The Perfect Cake, is the second oneshot and the first one is prinxiety]

Link to book

---

Pairings: Logicality

TW: Baking, feelings of worthlessness, crying, birthday, breakdown

Summary: It’s Logan’s birthday tomorrow, and Patton is determined to bake the PERFECT cake for it (Even if he hasn’t baked that much before.) He’s trying his best, but he can’t do it alone.

---

Patton stood in the center of the kitchen.

He often had the same feeling in his stomach before he cooked something big; He had to mentally prepare himself for hours of work.

Logan's Birthday was tomorrow, and Patton had to make it the best possible birthday! This was the anniversary of the first day Thomas went to preschool- the day Logan was formed.

Patton remembered that day like it was yesterday. He remembered a small toddler with an intelligent sparkle in his eye knocking on the door of the commons, he remembered how he swore Patton's hugs might suffocate someone. He remembered growing up with him, and slowly falling in love, and-

Shoot. No. These emotions weren't logical, it was impossible for Logan to like Patton back. He had to stop thinking like that.

Illogical feelings or not, tomorrow was Logan's day to shine, and it had to be perfect. Patton had to bake the most amazing, most beautiful, most delicious cake ever to grace the Mind-scape.

Patton took a deep breath and got to work.

After a few hours, Patton had been worked to death. He had been trying and trying to make the perfect cake, but it was always just wrong, or the product of a mistake. His pink apron was wrinkled and dirty, and he had streaks of batter all over his face. He had started at 6 am, and it was now 8. He sighed and rubbed his face, grateful that he still had his optimism.

"Patton? You ok, Padre?"

Patton turned to find Roman standing in the kitchen doorway, eyes sparking with worry.

Patton smiled. "Oh, I'm alright, kiddo. Just trying to bake a cake for Logan. I can't seem to get it right."

Roman smirked and came in. "Want some help? I've never baked before, but I'll help if it's bothering you."

Patton grinned and gave the Prince a huge hug. "Thank you so much, kiddo! I'm sure you will be a great help!"

Oh, how wrong Patton had been.

Virgil had often joked about how Roman wouldn't stop singing to save his life, and Patton was pretty sure that was true. Every 5 minutes, just as they started to get some work done, the prince would start belting out lyrics to disney songs or dancing around the kitchen. They got as far as perfectly mixing the batter before Patton had to stop him.

"Look, kiddo..." Patton started, rubbing his hands together and trying to find a way to put this nicely. "You helped me make the perfect batter, and I am so proud of you for that, but I think maybe you should clock out? You have been a great help, but you... Um... Sing a lot." Patton winced, afraid Roman was going to be offended.

Roman nodded in understanding and put a hand on patton's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. I know I can be distracting. Do you want me to go see if Virgil will help you?"

Patton nodded, thankful. "That would be great!"

Roman left the kitchen yelling "HOT TOPIC! PAT WANTS YOU!"

Patton watched him go with a proud smile, and then turned to clean up the kitchen.

Just as he was halfway through cleaning, Virgil came into the kitchen with his hood up. "Sup', Pop star?"

Patton grinned and gave Virgil a big hug, which the emo reluctantly returned. "My dark, strange son! I am baking a cake for Logan’s birthday, and I need your help!" Patton pulled away from Virgil, smiling. "Roman already helped me make the batter, but he can be a bit much in the kitchen. Would you mind helping out for the rest of the process?"

Virgil shrugged. "I have nothing better to do."

Patton knew that that was Virgil's way of saying "I would love to."

Virgil was very helpful cleaning up the kitchen. He had a sort of efficient way of doing things, just one after the other, not saying a word. It was kind of satisfying to watch.

It got a bit hectic after that, though. Once they were done cleaning, they had to pour the batter into the pans. It was going to be a big cake, like, "Corpse Bride" big. So they had to use multiple pans and lots of batter. Virgil had violently shaky hands, and had lots of trouble pouring the batter in. In the end, Patton had to pour all the batter himself, and the kitchen ended up very messy.

Virgil's eyeshadow was darker than when he had initially come in. "I-im sorry... I didn't mean to mess up, I just-"

Patton smiled at him and pulled him into a hug. "No no, you didn't do anything wrong, kiddo! You just had a little trouble with steadying your hands. I'm very proud of you for helping me clean up, but maybe we should get someone else to help us here? Maybe Jan?"

Virgil smirked sadly. "I think maybe i'll duck out for now, but I'll tell Janus you want his help."

"Thanks, son!"

Virgil stepped out of the kitchen yelling "HEY SNAKE BOY!"

Patton sighed. This was not going the way he had wanted it to. He did realize that if Janus ended up being bad at this, his last choice was Remus, and he was terrified of going down that road.

He had just cleaned the batter from the stovetop when Janus walked into the kitchen. "Hey Pat, did you need something?"

Pat smiled tiredly. "Hey, Janjan. I was going to bake a cake for Logan, but i'm having some trouble. Roman and Virge weren't so good at it, so I wanted to see if you would help?"

Jan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm tooooootally not disappointed that you worked with Emo and Sir Singalot before you thought about the second smartest person here," He said sarcastically.

"Mm-hm!" Patton managed to say before taking a deep breath to control himself.

Janus helped Patton bake the cake and even out the tops with a bread knife. The next thing they had to do was spread the buttercream filling on the layers so they could be stacked.

Jan looked in the fridge like Patton told him to. "I don't see the buttercream."

Patton walked over and scanned the fridge. It was gone.

He took a few deep breaths and ran a hand through his hair. "Where the heck is it? If I have to make more, I swear I will-"

"Make more of what?" Remus poked his head into the kitchen curiously.

"The buttercream filling for Logan's cake is gone."

Remus cocked his head. "Buttercream? Hmmm... OH! Yeah, I ate that."

Patton's eyes widened. "You did WHAT?" Remus smiled fearfully while Patton yelled. "THE ONE THING YOU EAT THAT IS ACTUAL FOOD, AND IT HAS TO BE THE BUTTERCREAM?"

For once, Janus looked worried. "Patton, are you ok? You aren't acting like yourself..."

The dad side breathed in and out rapidly, his hands running through his hair. He tried to calm himself down- He was the happy side, not the angry side. He could get through this. "I'm fine. I'm calm. I can do this."

"Gee, I'm sorry, Pat," Said Remus. He suddenly grinned. "I can throw it up for you, if you want!"

"NO! No, no. I think we will be ok," Janus said, pushing Remus out of the room. He turned to face Pat. "Patpat, are you ok?"

Janus sometimes called Patton Patpat, mostly as payback for Patton calling him Janjan. But when the two became good friends, they used them as nicknames instead.

"I'm fine, Janjan. I'm just having some feelings. Feelings are okay though! I'm ok."

Janus sighed. "If you say so."

They worked together to make a new batch of buttercream, allowing the cake to cool. The original buttercream had been baby blue, but Patton had no more baby blue dye, so they used indigo instead. They layered and stacked the cake with the buttercream, used support sticks to keep the cake from falling over, and then started to layer it with dark blue fondant.

Patton looked over at Janus. "Would you mind taking off the gloves? Sorry, but this is very delicate and I think you should use your bare hands."

Janus frowned. "I shouldn't. I have scales on my left hand, if I use it, it will leave a scale imprint on the fondant."

Patton blinked sadly at him. "Oh, ok."

Patton handled the fondant, and as he fit it into place, he thought the cake looked beautiful. "Only one thing left to do: DECORATE!!!"

Patton was an amazing decorator.

After years of theming cookies and cupcakes to each side, baking birthday cakes, and writing messages in crofters jelly for a scavenger hunt, Patton had a handle on how to make things look presentable. Right now, It was a giant 3-layer cake with blue fondant covering, but soon, it would be a masterpiece.

Janus coughed uncomfortably behind Patton. "Um... Since i'm not very good at this stuff... Can I go? I have my own present I wanted to work on."

Patton smiled at him. "Sure! Don't spoil anything to Lolo, ok?"

Deceit nodded and almost left the kitchen before turning back and saying, "Uh, hey, Patpat? Don't stress yourself out too much, 'Kay?"

Patton nodded back. "Of course."

Janus smiled, relieved, and left.

---

---

Patton was SO TIRED.

It was 8 in the morning on Logan's Birthday. Patton had worked all night on that cake and when he had finally finished it, he went right to bed without doing anything in between. He had just woken up, feeling groggy and confused, but he made himself get out of bed because it was Logan's special day.

Logan woke up that day happy. He knew that a birthday was pointless, it was a celebration of one year passing in an entities life, it made no logical sense. But if the other sides wanted to shower him with attention once per fricking year, he did not want to miss this chance.

Patton got out of bed the last out of all the others. Logan had woken up to the other four sides, Janus, Remus, Roman, and Virgil ready for him in the living room with gifts and treats. Logan had thought that Patton would be the first there, energized and grinning, the way he always was. But Patton was nowhere in sight.

When Patton did come out, he put on his best happy face and gave Logan the biggest hug he could muster. Logan smiled a little. "To this day, I swear, your hugs might suffocate someone!"

Patton laughed and grinned at him, just happy he had gotten through yesterday.

First, they made breakfast. Jan made waffles with crofters jelly and eggs, and they all sat around the table reminiscing about the past. They talked about when logan first got his glasses, when he had a stutter, and everything else that Patton could remember. Which was everything, since Patton kept every memory stored in his room.

Next, they had gifts. Roman gave him a lab in the imagination; with chemistry sets, a telescope, and books upon books upon books. It was his own little area in Roman's realm so Logan could enjoy himself every now and then. Virgil gave him a dictionary of every word in the world, in every language. Janus gave him a replica of the Library of Alexandria, with all of the scrolls and books still there. "The original one was burned down with all of it's knowledge," he said, "So here is-" "OH MY GOD I LOVE IT THANK YOU!" Remus gave Logan an animal to dissect. But it wasn't a real animal, it was something Remus had made to give Logan something to do.

Patton promised Logan that his gift would come after dinner. He felt as though his cake paled in comparison to all of the gifts his friends had given. I mean, the Library of Alexandria? Patton sunk lower in his chair.

After gifts, they had lunch in a beautiful field that Roman had created, where the flies ate grass instead of your food, and every bird was adorned with beautiful shimmering colors and tail feathers. They had PB&J sandwiches (with crofters, of course), Goldfish, and apples. They talked for hours about nothing in particular, every now and then asking Roman about the creatures that walked by.

Logan was having a great time, but something seemed off. He looked around at the group and his eyes settled on Patton. The more he looked at him, the more tired he seemed. Logan noticed shadows under Patton's eyes for the first time, and saw that his smile was beginning to look more and more forced. Logan began to worry that one of them had done something wrong. The usual bundle of joy and energy that was Patton looked a lot more docile and tired than before.

Once it started to get dark (because Roman had set a day-night cycle in the imagination just so they would know when to go) they went back to the commons for dinner. Janus cooked some brown sugared ham with peas and rice, while Patton left to get the cake ready.

As Patton walked into the kitchen, he took a look at the cake on the pedestal. Dark fondant with baby blue frosting in swirls, and a little fondant necktie decoration on the second tear to tease about Logan's necktie. The name "Logan" was scribbled in white frosting on top.

He remembered the tall pillars in the Library of Alexandria Jan had made, he remembered the sparkling equipment Roman had conjured. He remembered the giant dictionary, the animal-

Patton looked at the cake and sighed. He honestly didn't know what he was thinking. But this was what he had done. He would just have to work with it, and maybe make up for it with a different gift later.

He picked up the large cake in his arms. It was very heavy, and there was one whole room between the kitchen and the dining room; the living area. Patton just had to bring it over.

He left the kitchen with the cake, and he was doing well with it considering he couldn't see his feet, and then he tripped.

...and then he tripped.

His foot caught against something on the ground and he stumbled, causing the cake to drop out of his arms and onto the floor. It fell sideways, and broke upon impact, and the cake broke up on the floor. Bits and pieces everywhere. Patton had fallen, and he had scraped his elbow, but he didn't care. He didn't care anymore.

He had spent a whole god-forsaken day trying to get this right. He remembered Roman's singing, Virgil's shaky hands, Remus's eating habits, Janus' scales, and he could feel himself sinking into the ground. He just wanted this to be perfect. Logan deserved something perfect.

The cake was broken, and the world was quiet, and Patton wondered for a moment if he had gone deaf. The Mindscape was silent. He felt the tears on his cheeks, but he didn't cry. Patton was the joyful and happy side, so he didn't cry. Water fell from his eyes in waterfalls and rivers across his skin, but he wasn't crying, that's not how he worked. Even when sobs racked his body and made his chest hurt. He wasn't crying.

It was just a god forsaken cake, why the heck was he crying? It was just a cake. It was just a cake.

Shoot, this isn't ABOUT THE CAKE.

Logan and all the other sides sat in the dining room, talking happily about whatever came to mind. Patton had left to get the cake, but he hadn't come back yet. Logan had eaten his dinner and was now staring at the door. He tried to focus on the conversation, but he thought Patton seemed a little late.

"Hey, Nerd, whatcha' looking at?" Roman asked, walking up behind his chair, bending down, and following Logan's line of sight.

Logan didn't turn his gaze from the door. "I feel like Pat should have been back by now. Actually, Roman, maybe you could check on him?"

Behind Logan's back, Roman and Virgil exchanged a glance, and Roman understood immediately.

"Actually, Lo, maybe you should go check on him? It is your cake after all."

Logan stood up from his chair and walked out of the dining room. "I suppose so."

Virgil snickered. "Oh my god, he is so oblivious. I ship them so badly..."

Logan walked out of the dining room and almost choked.

Patton was on the floor, with his hands in his face. Was he crying? Patton didn't cry. He was too happy to cry. He was too fricking perfect to cry. WHO THE HECK MADE PAT CRY?

Then logan saw the floor. The cake, he realized, was broken up and smashed to bits on the ground. The fondant was ripped apart, save for a small black fondant necktie. Patton must have dropped the cake. It looked like it had been big.

Logan didn't hesitate for a second. He kneeled down beside Patton, wrapping his arms around him and quietly letting him sob.

Patton felt someone's arms around him, and they had glasses, he knew, because the glasses were pressed against his temple. But that meant it was Logan. Logan was here, and he can see the cake, and he is probably so mad. Patton wrapped his arms around Logan and cried into his shoulder. He didn't like Logan to be angry. Hugs fixed that. Right?

"Pat? Patton, don't cry, what's wrong?"

Patton could barely find the breath to speak.

"I-I dropped it. The thing... I-I mess-Messed up... It's all g-gone..."

"Shhhh. Shhh, it's not your fault, don't worry. Patton, I love the cake. It's looks like it was beautiful, thank you."

Patton just kept sobbing, his glasses getting foggy. Logan knew the side was emotional, but really, it was just a cake, and Logan wasn't even mad at Patton. In fact, Logan didn't think he was capable of being mad at Patton.

Patton was sad about the cake. Of course, it was horribly destroyed, and he had spent a long, tiresome day making it perfect. And now it was all gone, and Patton had no gift to give.

To Pat, this was bigger than that though. Logan was supposed to have the perfect birthday, but Patton had messed all of that up. He had nothing to give logan. Every day of his life, his goal was to give something, to be helpful, and to care for others. He had messed up today.

"I-i don't know wh-what to do. I just... I just wanted-d to g-give you something. I-It's a-all gone n-now. Th-the d-day is ruined."

Logan frowned. What would someone with a better sense of emotions say? Seeing Patton like this made him so sad, what could he do?

He remembered something Pat had said to him a long time ago, when he was getting used to emotions. 'When someone is feeling down, speak from the heart! The best thing you can do is tell them the truth, and if they don't like it, then they have a right to feel a little sad. But you should still try!'

"Pat, I know you are sad. I understand that you wanted to make this a good day, but it WAS a good day. I enjoyed every moment of today. Sure, the cake is messed up, but it's the thought that counts, and you are already the best gift I could ask for."

Patton looked up in confusion. "Me?"

Logan was usually really bad at emotions, but right now, emotions seemed to be all he could muster. "You are so caring and joyful. And sweet. And kind. And I don't care about the cake, or any gift you give me, the fact that you are so set on making me feel cared for is enough. I'm just happy you're here, ok?"

Logan brushed a tear from Patton's eye and smiled. "I'm just happy you're here."

[ceealaina]

Title: Mind Control Collaborator Name: ceealaina Card: 4008 Link: AO3 Square Filled: S1 - Technopathy Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Teen Major Tags: Technopathy, MIT Era, Fluff and Humor, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting Summary: Rhodey always knew that Tony was special. He just hadn't realized how special. Word Count: 2749

Rhodey had always known there was something different about Tony, something special — something beyond being heir to one of the biggest fortunes in the world. Despite all his bravado when they’d first met, it had been clear what a genuinely good person Tony was. He was unfailingly kind, generous to a fault. He was special.

But for all his observations, it was almost two years of calling Tony his best friend (and six months of calling him his boyfriend) before Rhodey had realized just how special. 

They’d moved in together after their first year, deciding that dorm life was not for them. The apartment was tiny and crappy, but it was theirs. And sure, they could have had top of the line everything with Tony’s trust fund, but millions or no, Rhodey insisted on paying his own way. (It was, Tony had declared one night when they were drunkenly celebrating the end of the semester, one of the things he loved best about Rhodey.) 

Which was how they ended up with the world’s most temperamental television set, some old thing that Rhodey had found on the side of the road, lugged home and bullied into working. Tony may have been the tech genius, but Rhodey was no slouch when it came to electronics himself, and this was his baby, his responsibility to take care of when she broke — which happened once every couple weeks. 

So when she finally broke to the point that even Rhodey had to admit defeat, to classify her as unrepairable, it hurt him more than he liked to admit. He knew it was foolish, but he couldn’t help giving her a quiet little goodbye, patting her on the top of her box and thanking her for all her hard work. 

Which, of course, was exactly when Tony had walked into the room. 

“Ummm.” Tony had his lips pressed tightly together, fighting back a smile, but Rhodey could see it curling at the corners of his mouth anyway. “Everything okay there, bud?”

Rhodey didn’t even try to pretend he wasn’t upset, just sighed heavily. “Betsy finally kicked it.”

“Betsy?” Tony repeated with an arched brow. “Sounds like somebody Captain America would have dated.” But he dropped his bag in the doorway, making his way over to the television in question. “Want me to take a look?” 

Rhodey gave a half-hearted, forlorn shrug, and Tony didn’t even have the grace to pretend he wasn’t laughing at him as he pulled the TV out, poking at the back of it. 

“Come on baby,” he purred, manipulating the wires. “Tell me what’s going on, yeah?” He talked away to the TV as he worked, pausing for breaks like it was a conversation, and Rhodey quirked his head as he watched him. There was something odd about the way Tony was working, something he couldn’t quite figure out. Rhodey had a tendency to talk out loud while he worked too, but this was different, like Tony was actually listening to a response. And then, after a few moments, Tony gave out a “Ha! There you are,” fiddled with something, and Betsy sparked to life again. 

“Holy shit,” Rhodey said, because he’d been working on the TV set for hours, and he hadn’t the idea of writing her off lightly. “How did you do that?” 

Tony shrugged, but he looked pleased as he rocked back onto his feet, wiping at a spot of grease on the side of his thumb. “I just listened to her, you know?” 

Rhodey just arched an eyebrow, because no, he didn’t really know. “Uh… Sure?” 

Tony just grinned wide and grabbed his bag to dump in his room. “Pizza tonight?” 

***

That might have been it, except that Rhodey kept noticing it after that. He’d always thought Tony talked to the coffeemaker like that because he loved coffee so much, but then the coffee always somehow tasted ninety times better when Tony made it. And he seemed to have uncanny luck when it came to traffic lights. Like in a way that Rhodey was pretty sure actually defied the laws of probability. And somehow their highly temperamental oven never seemed to burn the frozen pizzas that Tony put in, even though he could barely cook to save his life, and Rhodey -- who actually could cook, thank you very much -- always managed to burn his pizzas to a crisp. 

And then there was the ROTC Christmas party. The ROTC Christmas party always turned into a drunk fest, and Rhodey was no exception to the rule. He’d been looking forward to it since his second week of classes. Tony had been finishing up his final project for one of his classes anyway, so he’d promised to pick Rhodey up after, saving him from having to drunkenly stumble his way home. But he’d been late, and Rhodey had been waiting outside for nearly twenty minutes, distracted by the lightly falling snow, before Tony rolled up in his car. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Tony called, leaving the car running as he jumped out of the driver’s seat and hurried over to help Rhodey through the snow. “I couldn’t find my goddamn keys.” 

“I’m not so drunk I can’t walk,” Rhodey protested, unable to help the way his words all rolled together. “You don’t have to help me.” Tony’s hand on his arm was warm and comforting though, and he made no effort to pull it away. 

Tony just grinned at him and then reached up, brushing off the snow that had gathered on Rhodey’s bare head. “Why didn’t you wait inside, dumbass?” he asked.

Rhodey shrugged as Tony helped him into the car, pushing his head down so he wouldn’t smack it into the doorframe. “Got distracted by the snowflakes.” The fond smile that Tony gave him in return made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside and he snuggled into the cushy leather, watching Tony through the windshield as he hurried back around to the driver’s side and climbed in after him. 

“Here,” Tony said, turning the heat up until it was full blast. “You’re gonna freeze to death.” 

“I’m fine,” Rhodey protested. “I’m not even cold.” 

“You’re frozen,” Tony told him, grabbing his hands and rubbing them between his own hot ones. “You’re just too drunk to realize it.” 

Rhodey was pretty sure that wasn’t true, but the heat did feel nice, making him drowsy and lazy as Tony headed back toward the apartment. His eyes were getting heavy, now that the party was over, and he fell asleep not long after. 

But when he thought about it later, he could have sworn that there hadn’t been any keys in the ignition when his eyes had closed. 

Still, he probably could have written all of that off (maybe Tony had panicked when he couldn’t find his keys and hotwired his own car. That was totally something he would do) until the incident with the music. 

Rhodey had had a very long day, and felt like his head was splitting apart with a headache. All he had wanted was to go home and sleep for the next twenty-four hours, but he’d had to stop by Tony’s lab and tell him something that had seemed important at the time. Of course when he’d walked in there was music playing at an excruciatingly loud decibel, and no sign of Tony among all the bits of machinery. It was too loud for him to even hear himself think, let alone for Tony to hear if he called his name, and not in the mood to play hide and go seek, he’d headed over to the top-of-the-line stereo system and hit the pause button. 

The music kept playing

“What the fuck,” Rhodey grumbled, blinking down at it as he tried to will his brain to work. He hit the button again, wondering if he’d hit the wrong one or something, headache making him stupid, but still the music continued to blare out through the speakers. 

Of course, Tony was constantly taking things apart and putting them back together when he was trying to problem solve. He’d probably rewired it so that off was on and vice versa. Rhodey was too tired to try and figure out what button went where, so he just reached around back and pulled the cord right out of the socket on the wall. 

And the music kept playing. 

“What the fuck?” he shrieked, suddenly wide awake as he jumped back with the cord still in his hand. He pulled a little too hard, and the entire system fell to the floor with a loud crash, but the music still didn’t stop. 

And then: “Rhodey?” 

Rhodey just barely heard Tony’s voice over all the noise, but he whirled around to see Tony standing there with his arms full of spare parts, eyes wide and distressed. Abruptly the music cut off, the room going suddenly, eerily quiet. Rhodey blinked back at Tony, down at the stereo and the cord still in his hand, and then back at Tony. 

“Was this you?” 

“Listen,” Tony nearly tripped over his own feet as he stumbled over to the counter to set the things in his arms down, moving over to Rhodey with his hands held up in a placating motion, like he was terrified that Rhodey was going to run away in fear. “Rhodey, I can explain, I swear. It’s not what it looks like.” 

“Can you control electronics with your mind?” 

Tony’s face fell, and he winced. “Okay, maybe it is kinda what it looks like,” he muttered, staring down at his feet, and for the life of him Rhodey couldn’t figure out why he looked so dejected. 

“Holy shit, Tones,” he breathed, looking around the room with a new appreciation for everything Tony had in there. He grabbed Tony by the forearms. “This is awesome.” 

Tony’s head shot back up, staring at Rhodey with a startled expression. “Awesome?” he repeated, incredulously. The hint of a nervous smile twitched at his lips, like he didn’t want to get his hopes up. “You really think so?” 

Rhodey’s eyes narrowed slightly; he’d known Tony long enough to be all too familiar with the symptoms of Howard Stark’s A+ parenting. “Tony, let me say it again. You can control electronics with your mind. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of! In the first place, I'm pretty sure this qualifies you as a bona fide superhero. And even as far as superpowers go, this is waaaay up there in coolness factor. You could have something lame like cheese manipulation--”

“Cheese manipulation?” Tony repeated, looking confused.  

“But let me say it again. You can control electronics with your mind.”

Tony snorted, but he was grinning now, shy and pleased. “I don’t know about superhero,” he protested. “But thanks. I guess. Although I feel like I should point out, it’s not like I actually did anything.” 

Rhodey ignored that. “How long has this been going on?” he asked instead, finally letting go of Tony’s arms. “Have you always known you could do this? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner.” 

“I mean…” Tony shrugged, rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. “Yeah? But when I was a kid I just thought it was normal. It wasn’t like I was around a whole lot of people, I just figured everyone could turn the lights on by thinking about it. And then when I was like five, Howard had a whole entire day where he actually remembered he was actually my dad, and he was showing me something in his lab, and I was so excited to be working with him that my dumb ass said something about being able to hear the electronics and, well… You know Howard.” He shrugged a little, seeming to shrink in on himself. “He looked at me like I was nuts -- like really nuts -- and made me leave, and then later that night I couldn’t sleep and I snuck out of bed to find Jarvis and I heard him whispering to Mom about psychiatrists and mental hospitals and sending me away. Obviously that didn’t happen, and when I didn’t bring it up again they forgot about it, but I guess after that I was scared to ever mention it to anyone.” 

Rhodey blanched. He’d seen the pictures of Tony as a little kid, heard the stories from Jarvis. He couldn’t imagine even considering sending away that sweet little thing to a mental hospital for something as innocuous as telling his father he could ‘hear’ the television. Not for the first time, Rhodey wondered what in the actual fuck was wrong with Howard Stark. He managed a smile for Tony though. 

“Guess I’m just special then, huh?” 

Tony huffed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help his little smile. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

Rhodey huffed right back at him. “Jesus Christ, quit looking so pathetic, you’re breaking my heart.” He wrapped his arms around Tony’s back, smiling to himself at the way Tony immediately melted into it, wrapping his arms around Rhodey’s waist in turn and leaning into his chest, despite the minimal height difference between them. “Listen, Tones. I know your dad’s got money, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a fucking moron. Howard sucks. This is literally the coolest thing to ever happen to me, and it’s not even happening to me.” 

There was a little giggle against his chest before Tony pulled back again. “Yeah?” he asked, smiling but still looking awkward. He let go of Rhodey’s waist and gave a little shrug. “I don’t know, I guess maybe I also kind of always felt like I’m cheating?” 

“Cheating?” Rhodey stared blankly back at him. “I don’t get it.” 

Tony shrugged again, somehow looking even more awkward. “Well you know. People give me all this credit for being smart, and good with tech and--,” 

“Nope,” Rhodey hollered as he figured out exactly where Tony was going with this. “Let’s just shut that shit down right now. You're using your natural talents to the best of your abilities. Would you consider…” 

He trailed off, trying to think of a good example, and Tony arched an eyebrow at him. 

“Captain America having the ‘ability’ to take on a tank cheating?” he offered with a wry grin. “Yeah, I absolutely would.” 

“Nope,” Rhodey said again. “Not the same at all.” 

“You’re the one who literally just compared me to a superhero,” Tony grumbled, but his smile looked a little more genuine now. 

“Still, not the same,” Rhodey insisted. “You were born with this, it’s not something you injected into your eyeballs.” 

“I don’t think…” Tony started, but stopped at the look on Rhodey’s face. 

“You’re not cheating any more than... Stephen Hawking is cheating,” Rhodey decided on finally. “He uses his brain to the best of its ability, and so do you. Besides, lotsa people have natural talent without a clue what to do with it. You’ve got both, so… Not a cheater.” 

“That’s a terrible conclusion. Not a bit of proof. It’s a hypothesis at best.” Tony was grinning though, that shy little smile that he got when he didn’t want Rhodey to know exactly how pleased he was. 

“I’m serious, Tones,” Rhodey insisted, because the best way to get Tony to really relax was to bully him into it. “This? Is cool. Think about all the things we can do with this!” 

“‘We?’” Tony repeated, voice dry. 

Rhodey ignored him. “You can fix my car for me... I’m never going to have to change a lightbulb again...” 

“You’re definitely still going to have to do that, that’s not how electricity works.” 

“You can get revenge on that asshole at the coffee shop who always makes my coffee wrong. Swear he does it on purpose,” Rhodey continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Hey! Can you do that thing in the movies, when you make money shoot out of the ATM?” 

Tony snorted, but he was fully beaming now, concerns apparently forgotten. “This all sounds like a whole lot of me doing the work while you get the benefit. What’s in it for me?” 

“Tony, baby.” Rhodey threw his arm over Tony’s shoulder and gave him his most obnoxious wink. “That’s what friends are for.” 

He waggled his eyebrows at him and headed for the door, busting up laughing when all he got was an indignant, “We’re boyfriends, asshole,” from behind him.

@tonystarkbingo  

[demonwifey]

Beetlejuice + Phones📱: Part 2

WHEW, so this is here. Yesterday I posted some headcanons Beetlejuice using phones. Now this is a part 2 and it’s ENTIRELY NSFW. IF YOU’RE NOT 18+, DO NOT READ. Hope the rest of you enjoy!💜🖤💚

Warning: Cursing, recording/pictures with sex, rough sex mentions

-  You already knew a plethora of nudes were coming when you showed Beetlejuice how to use the camera on your phone. At first it was funny. 

- You guys would be cuddling in your bed with him passed out on your chest. You’re checking some social media when something in your gut tells you to look at your photos. 

- There are at least 3-4 rows of dick pictures. You would’ve bust out laughing but you didn’t want to wake him up. 

- When you get him his own phone, you pay him back the favor. 

- But you are light years ahead of Beej when it comes to nudes. You turn nudes and teasing into a whole new art form. You’ve got filters and special effects on your side. 

- You basically steal his phone while he’s sleeping/napping. That’s the only time you can take it because every other time it’s practically glued to his hands. You’ll sneak away for a few minutes to take some pictures in a different room. Your favorite thing to do is put Snapchat stickers over the parts you know he wants to see.  

- Bro. In the morning, you’re in the shower, right? That’s when you hear a loud bang coming from outside the door. You poke your head out of the shower curtain looking like ‘wtf?’. 

- Then Beetlejuice busts through the door, practically sweating and looking like a feral dog. His hair is beaming pink like the first time you guys had sex. You get a glance at the phone in his hand and you already knew. 

- You tried to make a teasing remark but before you could open your mouth, Beetlejuice’s suit had disappeared into thin air and the phone was dropped to the floor. In two seconds flat, he was smashing your mouths together and moving his hands to grab those parts you hid in the photos. 

- “You’re such a fucking tease.” He groans. Your back is against the wall while his body blocks some of the water. He’s biting your neck heavily. 

- He’d gotten ruthless with the hickies and bruises on you since quarantine started. Since you weren’t leaving the house, there was no reason to hide the marks that showed you were his. Yeah, it was only you two in that would see them. But he loved when you walked around the house wearing a loose shirt that showed the deep red mark on your neck. 

- “Mm, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You faked innocence with a cheeky smirk. And that was it for him.

- Beej turned you so that your front was facing the wall. You were way too excited as you felt his dick press against your opening. You responded with a filthy moan as he pushed all the way in, not holding anything back as he fucked you roughly from behind. 

- It wasn’t so much a game that you two played from then on. It was more of you sending/taking sexy pictures on Beej’s phone and riling him up to the point of no return. 

- Thank God he wasn’t going anywhere. Just like your contact name, he changes his screensavers of you ALL. THE. TIME. There is never a time when his screensaver isn’t a picture of you.

- The first lock screen picture was a cute one you two took while sitting on the couch. Then one day you picked up his phone to put it on the charger. Once it was plugged in and the screen lit up, all you saw was your nipples out, clear as day. 

- The next one was that ass shot it took you damn near 10 minutes to take. You were trying to get a good angle, geez. 

- The one that really takes the cake, was the one of you bent over in front your bedroom mirror. One hand pulling and squeezing one ass cheek to show everything between your legs. Everything. 

- Then you started thinking about using his phone for videos. 

- It was just like before. Videos you took while he was asleep or distracted. Touching yourself, moaning, and everything in between. 

- That’s when Beetlejuice, unintentionally, changed everything. 

- It was one night after sex. You had just cum and Beej wasn’t far behind. He quickly pulled out of you and released himself on your stomach. Nothing new, it was pretty normal. So after you got your breathing under control, you went to grab a tissue to clean yourself up. But he stopped you. 

- “Hold on one sec, babycakes.” 

- You looked confused as he hurried to grab his phone off the bedside table. Without warning, you saw the camera flash at the mess on your stomach. 

- “B, what’re you doing?” 

- “I gotta save that for later, babes. It’s too much of a masterpiece.” 

- You could’ve come 5 more times just at the loving and lustful look on his face. But the way you felt while he was holding the camera on you, made you have the biggest epiphany ever. ...Well, more like a new kink realization.

- You never filmed yourself having sex. Your friend always talked about how they would film sometimes with their boyfriends and girlfriends. You dated in college but it was nothing ever serious. But you loved Beej. And this was something you definitely wanted to try with him. 

- Now, you finished your classes, passed everything, and now it was summer break. No more work to worry about. All your focus was on Beetlejuice. 

- You brought it up to him one day while you were watching TV. You guys’ had set up blankets and pillows all over the floor and were watching some crappy horror movie. 

- You both were laying on your stomachs, mostly talking, not really watching the movie. And you brought it up. 

- “So, B. I was thinking.” While you used one hand to comb through his green locks. 

- “A dangerous scenario.” You pushed his head gently as he laughed. 

- “Anyway. Like I was saying, remember a few nights ago when you took that picture after we finished having sex?” 

- A few strands of pink appeared in his hair and his grin was something sinister. “Ooooh I remember very well, babes.”

- “Weeelll, I was thinking that maybe we could do that again...but record ourselves throughout the whole thing.” You weren’t sure when he jumped on top of you but he was.

- “Babes, you gotta be very clear with what you're telling me right now. Because you know I’m game for everything.” His eyes have that feral glint in them again. You thought you’d be more excited than him, but apparently not. 

- “I want to record us having sex. Whatever we do, I want the camera on us.” And you gave him a long sensual kiss. 

- And boy did he give you what you wanted. 

- Almost every time you guys went at it, his phone was on you. It was safer that you used his phone. He didn’t have any other contacts or social media. So there was less chance of a video getting accidentally sent to the wrong person. 

- His phone is FLOODED with videos. This is the type of content porn sites would pay for. 

- And everything was enhanced by 10 because Beej was a demon.

- His multiple limbs would make everything more exciting. You’ve got one hand playing with your nipples. One hand tight around your neck. One arm is wrapped around your front, playing with your clit while he pounds into you. 

- And the phone is there to get it all. Either you or him was holding the phone, or you’d set it down to position perfectly. 

- Beej was never sure about which was his favorite video. They were all too good to choose a favorite. You sounded so sexy in all of them. Especially when you’re moaning his name with so much desperation, begging for more harder and faster.  

- Just like emojis, why did you teach him how to connect his phone to your bluetooth speaker? 

-Are you trying to cook dinner with some music playing in the background? Too bad. 

- You’re cutting some vegetables and suddenly you hear yourself moaning, the sound echoing and bouncing off the walls. 

- “Aah~ Beej~ Please, baby! Harder!” 

- “You want it, doll? Ugh, fuck~ You’re so tight.” 

- “Beetlejuice! Turn that down! My neighbors will hear!”

- “That’s the whole point, babes!”

- Even though he didn’t make it easy for you, you never regretted getting him that phone.

This is lowkey self-inserting because I find myself becoming more and more interested in taking sexy pictures and videos. If you’re a horny bitch like me, you probably enjoyed. Anyway, thanks for reading!💜🖤💚

[theormostat-terminator]

The essey I promised about the first chapter of book 2 of TAOB

@hella1975 here you fucking go;

Firstly, I wasn't expecting it to start off pretty much where it left off with Zuko. (just a thought, not part of the actual thing, just wanted that out there) 

You can just feel from the way how he's losing hope and as he said that "in the beginning he thought he could escape" like,, first he probably thought he could take the guards and blue spirit his ass out of there, and later when he knew that wasn’t possible he probably wasn’t sure the SWT gang would come to save him, since crappy self-esteem and self-worth, but he was hoping, maybe for weeks, that the others would come save him. 

I can just imagine the first time he thought he saw Hakoda, in his sleep deprived, starved, depressed state, he was probably so happy and relieved but then when he realized it wasn’t real... that’s probably around the time he realized no one was coming to save him. That in itself just breaks my heart.

Also I just love how he just takes Zi Se under his wing immediately. How he tries to protect him is just *chef’s kiss* but then also realizes that, even though Zi Se is small and LITERALLY FIVE (i thought he was gonna be older,, like 7 or sumn) he already has had to learn how to survive in literal prison. 

That fact also kinda makes me imagine how even though Zuko is an awkward little turtleduck, he woulda tried to make it easier for Zi Se. Like, if someone died or got taken and is getting beat up, he would just sing or hum to Zi Se to help him sleep or to keep him distracted from the noises and maybe try to play a game quietly to keep him from seeing unnecessarily traumatizing things, (bodies, bad wounds, I can imagine Chan eating another dead cellmate as well *shudder*) and he would like, teach him games or sumn. Trying to give him a chance to be a kid cuz for all Zuko knows, they could be dead the next day.

AND THEN HE WENT AND MENTIONED UNCLE IROH! He better get those swords from Iroh when they meet up again!!

But whenever there’s sumn bad that happened and the people who are currently in said bad situation start talking about happy plans or sumn that was supposed to happen before shit hit the fan... it always makes me sad.

AND THE FUCKING LOTUS TILE MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM AND BAWL MY EYES OUT OML-

Them the OTHER THING that broke me; Zi Se asking Zuko to teach him how to meditate and then him thinking of Nanook and Tomkin and how hard he’s trying to block out the memories because they hurt too much im- IM IN SHAMBLES

“It was almost impressive, how quickly they’d taught Zuko to fear fire.”

THAT LINE! Because it probably took a long time to get over his fear of fire the first time he got burnt. And now he would have to relearn to now fear his own element. I’m imagining again how when he reunites with the SWT gang and meets with the Gaang how they all know him as very eager to bend fire etc. But now he refuses to use firebending unless it’s the only option and how he’d only use his swords to fight and I’m just... I break my very own heart with these headcanons and thoughts of what could happen. 

AND NOW TO THE SWT 

 I LOVE HOW HAKODA IS LIKE “BRO WTF, YALL ARE KIDS WHAT YA DOING FIGHTING A WAR THAT SHOULDN’T BE YOURS TO BEGIN WITH?!” 

Also just the shock of the “last time i saw my kids they were small and Sokka was so scrawny and katara barely could make small waves. And now they’re soldiers in this damned war.” 

Also I don’t know what I was expecting but how quick the it went from, “yeet, to the north pole” to “DAMN BA SING SE FUCKING FELL WTF-” was not it.

And I can just feel the pain Hakoda feels from being separated from his kids again so fast.

And like, I gET IT, we’re supposed to like Bato and he didn’t have a chance to be emotionally attached to Zuko. BUT WHY IS HE MAKING ME SO ANGRY LIKE AJOJLKJALFJOPWJPAOJFOIHOF. GO KILL FONG IDC BATO DON’T STOP THEM ISTFG!!!! 

And when it switched back to Zuko I was lowkey waiting for Fong to be like. “Look at this prison we have. Look how secure it is. Look how hopeless we’ve got these criminals to be.” And then they like line the prisoners in the courtyard and Zuko’s like holding Zi Se and ready to whisk him away from danger and like he’d be looking at the ground cuz they weren’t allowed to look the warden/guards in the eyes without getting beat up and he doesn’t wanna put Zi Se in danger and then he doesn’t relaize Hakoda and the others are there and when he hears his voice he’s either like “this shit is another hallucination” or whips his head up and sees them and the SWT STILL HAS TO BE LIKE COMPOSED AND NOT CAUSE A FIGHT BUT ZUKO’S RRIGHT THERE AND-  okay i’m getting carried away with what i thought was gonna happen. 

AND I KNOW IT’S SAD AND ALL BUT IT JUST MAKES ME HAPPY ZUKO HAS FINALLY FINALIZED HIS THOUGHT ABOUT OZAI AND HOW shITTY HE IS YES!

AND THE THING ABOYT HOW HE USED TO SCREAM HIS THORAT RAW WHEN BEING BEAT UP/BURNED BUT NOW HE DIDn’T JSUT TELLS VOLUMES, LIKE HOW OGFTEN DID THIS HAPPEN FOR HIM TO GET USED TO IT MY POOr BABY!!!!

The whole pendant thing was so sweet, in the middle of all that, JUST SO SWEET THANK YOU.

And it makes me sad how they have to fight for food and how Zuko is mostly doing it for Zi Se... HE IS SO SWEET BUT THIS IS SO SAD!!!??!?!?!?!

anD LASTLY THE FUCKING AUTOGRAPH THING.

THat was what finally broke me and made me cry cuz like. They were lowkey fighting(not really but kinda) and then he went to buy it but never got to give it and now he’s keeping it there and I can just feel how he’s like, regretting getting mad over something so trivial and now he won’t get to give the apology autograph (i honestly have bad memory so i don’t remmember if they made up or not so Hella if you could clarify that, then yey)

And like i’m just... There’s just so many emotions.

Your writing is amazing and really makes me feel things. I missed this so much and I’m glad you’re continuing it after THREE FUCKING WEEKS!!! I hope you don’t get tired of writing it and abandon the work, that’s my big fear when it comes to long fics that are good and unfinished, that the author doesn’t want to continue it anymore. :(

But yes, this is the end of this essey, sorry it was so long and uninteresting lmao. either way, Love your work, you have an amazing talent with writing, LOVE YOU OMFG.

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 26 already! I can’t believe we’re about halfway through... This episode seems to be end point for the current “arc,” or “mini arc,” maybe?? I’m not sorry to see it go but overall, this episode was pretty eh... Not bad, just kind of... I don’t get why we needed it. A fair few REALLY important things do happen! Those are awesome! I just think we could have got them in a more... interesting... way? xD Like, I didn’t hate watching it or anything, it just kind of felt like, with all the important stuff going on, shouldn’t there be more... oomph? (And I know we had a ton of oomph lately, it’s about time to wind down for a while... but then why pick now to spring certain things on us... anyway...)

Pic of the day!

generic group shot that captures each Chosen’s individual fighting spirit!

Koushirou: *intent focus*

Sora: *look of concern*

Jou: *I must have learned something in school that will be useful here*

Mimi: *Jou thinking always makes me nervous and a little grossed out*

Recap below!

So last week I’m pretty sure I vowed to violently murder someone in a back alley (or something like that) if we didn’t get to see the gang eat some FOOD this episode.

Well, looks like y’all are safe from me for now. Though I gotta say, I’m mildly concerned that they are eating Digi-eggs. Don’t those look like Digi-eggs? Other than the random very normal looking grapes...

Thank HEAVENS they are taking a BREAK.

Taichi uses his telescope to remark that Cloud Continent is not only a continent in the clouds, but it sure looks small from down here. Leomon admits he’s not really sure what’s going on anymore either xD

Leomon’s mainly weirded out by Patamon, who... I suppose just doesn’t fit the bill for what he expected the holy Digimon to be like :P lol

Ok so quick aside... I’m honestly kinda peeved that we’re still with Leomon’s silly group of clowns. I know that sounds harsh! And I love Leomon! But his army is... uh... well, he definitely made sure he’d be the coolest one around at all times xD It makes sense that he’d be hanging around because after all, getting to the Holy Digimon was one of his goals as well, but honestly he and his team just feel like replacement back-up for the other Chosen Children who are in the real world atm. AND FIZZ IS NOT INTO THAT. At this point I really do NOT understand why the kids had to split up and send some to the real world at all. I suppose it may be explained in the future but I also won’t be surprised if the answer is “It’s exactly like you saw, Devimon tried to separate them.” I would much rather have had the whole team together. I mean, if this was an excuse for Taichi and Yamato to get close... it really didn’t feel like that. At least not to a point where they couldn’t have gotten with the others around too.

Anyway, break time’s over, because there’s an actual monster fight going on. It must be cool to watch - the way Ebidramon shakes Seadramon reminds me of the T-rex vs stegosaurus battle in Fantasia xD But then Seadramon has the last laugh and EATS EBIDRAMON’S DATA, enabling it to evolve to WarSeadramon. That must have been an epic meal

Meanwhile in the real world, important things are happening, Koushirou’s using lots of Big Words with Kanji and Mimi is happy to get back at Jou for one-upping her last episode by correctly recognizing the roman letters this time. They are still sitting on the same bench where they’ve been for SIX episodes now. My butt hurts just thinking about it.

Patamon is very informative.

Patamon: We’re all gonna die!!

Thank you Patamon. You are so cute.

WarSeadramon decides Takeru and Patamon look like a yummy dessert after his meal, so he attacks them, only to be feigned off by our heroes. WarSeadramon gets pissy and says “Two on one is no fair! I have friends too!” and calls MetalSeadramon to join him. Apparently, MetalSeadramon can move on land :O This was one of the freakier things, I was actually like GAAH

Taichi tells Yamato to take Takeru somewhere safe. Since he is clearly very tasty to Seadramons. Yamato doesn’t bother arguing xD

Takeru: Hey! I’m your brother not a bag of beans!

However they are both cut off! Stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Meanwhile, Koushirou is literally a bad ass. He’s managing to reroute the rogue ships whose GPS have gone haywire by sending a signal from a second satellite, which the ships then pass on to the other ships.

Thus helping them get back on course and not collide with each other.

I mean this kid is in fourth grade. HOW HAS HE NOT BEEN SNAPPED UP BY THE GOVERNMENT AND TRAINED INTO SOME CHILD SUPER SPY???

no seriously... I’d actually kind of LOVE it if that were a thing x’D Like the government goes to Koushirou’s house and tries to get him to come but his parents are like “Um no he is a child and he needs a childhood” and protect him :’< When will this show realize WE ALL LOVE KOUSHIROU

Mimi: HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!

Mimi: H... Hikari... you were still here...? Ehehe.... um... *whisper* hurry up!!

so yeah Hikari is still here! Standing! Staring! Really creepy! I get that the others are very distracted atm but it seems like someone should be like “do you need help? are you lost? do you need a doctor since you seem to have gone catatonic??” Only Koushirou is actively doing anything, I think someone could be spared to at least let her sit on their lap!

Back in the digital world, Garurumon is so distracted by the fight happening in front of him that he fails to notice the attack from behind, and Professional Self-Sacrificing Idiots Taichi and Greymon save the day.

They predictably fall off the cliff wheeeeeeeeeeee

It’s raining men, hallelujah

Under water, Greymon gets his assed kicked until Taichi manages to swim to him

which seems to give him renewed focus, I suppose, and he’s able to get away from the two Seadramon pals and get some air.

However they almost immediately drag him back down. You would think Greymon would be REALLY bad in a water battle and at least need to evolve to be any use (especially given that both evolved Seadramons are perfect levels), but both Greymon and Garurumon never evolve this episode, so I think we’re supposed to assume that even after eating they’re just not recovered enough for that yet. GOOD

Yeah but here’s what confuses me. Yamato does not do anything to help. Well, I shouldn’t say anything - whenever an enemy comes out of the water, he and Leomon’s team attack it from afar. But I mean, Taichi is in the water, being attacked by two Digimon who are both a level higher. WHY DOESN’T YAMATO GO IN TO HELP?!?!

We can’t even give him the excuse of needing to protect Takeru because 1) Takeru has Leomon’s entire team to protect him and 2) Takeru is fighting!!!!!!

I’m sorry but Yamato should be in the water. This is just crappy writing. He’s shouted “Taichi!” three times in the exact same way this episode and has very few other lines, so I actually sort of suspect that Namikawa Daisuke might not have been available to voice him this episode?? Maybe? So they just couldn’t give him too much to do for that reason. That’s totally speculation, I just don’t understand why Yamato does so little here.

Back with Koushirou, his plan has worked and all the ships are successfully changing course woot

Aww looks like a Christmas tree

The way Garudamon carries Zudomon is A++

The partners inform them that the Zurumon are on the move...

Jou theorizes that they’re off to gobble up more data somewhere else. Mimi’s like “ew?”

They decide they really need to get back to the digital world now. They’re finally worried about Yamato and Taichi and figure they’ll be more useful over there. I really can’t think of a reason why Koushirou could not have saved all these ships from the digital world so YEAH HARD AGREE. What even was this interlude?? Show us how cool a hacker Koushirou is?? We already KNEW that, he can do it from the digital world too, and watching the kids sit on a bench for six episodes was NO GOOD. Grrr. At least I needed them to do something really cool to justify all this but... nope! Can’t say it was necessary for Taichi and Yamato’s sake either!

There is one awesome thing that comes out of the separation...

Hikari: Oh you want to go back to the digital world? Why didn’t you say so?

ZIP!

Aaaaand they’re gone! Hikari included! :O

I kind of guessed this was gonna happen when Hikari first showed up, but I also sort of thought, it seems so early to have her join... I know this season is Doing It Different but we JUST got Takeru, I figured we’d spend more time on his story first. Also figured the lead in to Hikari joining would be more... Idk... this was just kind of anticlimactic, y’know? But whatev.

Now the only thing is... there’s no reason they had to go back to the human world for this. Hikari could have just come on her own. “It’s calling,” she says. Well, it could have called her regardless. So we really didn’t need this for Hikari’s sake. Bleh.

Curly

Ok so injuries really are a thing now. I’m down. We don’t get blood but we get to see lots of sparkly data leakage.

Still best boy, warts and all

What I DO really like... that i think we saw this ep as well as the episode before last in particular, is how important the kids are to their partners this season. Greymon loses it when Taichi’s KO’d in the Devimon battle, and this time, when they were separated under water Greymon started to panic until Taichi arrived. That alone seemed to restore his confidence. And even though he can’t evolve further, Taichi’s still able to give him a power boost. That was the one thing in 99 Adventure - the idea that the partners were connected with their human partners and needed their help to reach the next level was always fun, but mostly left the kids just running around unhelpfully much of the time. Tamers added on to it with the card game boosts (which were just to sell toys to kids BUT I still thought was cool lol). And then Frontier just did away with the partners all together and made the kids the monsters which I did NOT like personally. (YMMV although that one ep where Takuya has a crisis and becomes Flamemon was a cool effect.) This season has found a good balance, I think, between keeping the kids involved and preventing them from being too involved, if that makes sense. Of course it still means they’ve got suction cups on their shoes and can hold their breath underwater for unusual lengths of time...

Yay we won!!

... Never mind, now there are four of them xP

(but really, did he think he’d beaten two Perfect levels just like that? A level below, under water, and two-on-one? Taichiiii)

Yamato’s still just shouting Taichi’s name like the girl in Forrest Gump. “Run Taichi run!”

Then... Taichi hears a lovelier voice than Yamato’s!

Taichi: Zudomon!! Why do you sound like my little sister?

Bang bang Zudomon’s silver hammer came down upon his head

Bang bang Zudomon’s silver hammer made sure that he was dead

The whole gang is back!!! YAAAAAYYYY the one reason to love this episode!

So nice to see someone other than Greymon and Garurumon be a badass xP

And then this!! Anticlimactic though it was, I’m really excited to have Hikari on the team. She’s joining about halfway through which is kinda similar to how it was in 99 Adventure, but 99 Adventure had a much better lead in... however this season still has lots of storytelling to do.

Taichi is pretty amazed but not freaked, at least not yet.

Hikari’s just like “I was called here” and yes she’s as freaky as ever. If anything she’s even more freaky. I’m down as long as she gets a bit of personality beyond “mysterious” and “adores her brother”

I mean Takeru’s had plenty of opportunities to be a baby BAMF so far, so Hikari deserves some too. I wonder how long she’ll go without a partner?

Next week! It’s our first Takari shot!

Also... ooooohh??

The group will go to a new continent. Exciting exciting. Though I ragged on this episode, I’m still overall enjoying this season. But yeah I’m so GLAD the team is back together and unless something happens to change my mind, I def think they never should have been separated from the beginning. Or at least it should have been a much shorter separation. Anyway they’re together again so fingers crossed for more good stuff to come.

[monaisme]

Day 2: “I can’t take this anymore.”

Day 2: “I can’t take this anymore.”

“Dude? Are you sure you’re okay? Ned asked for the millionth time. “Maybe you should call Mr. Stark?”

Peter refrained from rolling his eyes, wholly aware that it would definitely aggravate the headache that hadn’t dulled since, well... Flash. He pulled his binder and Spanish textbook out of his locker. “Ned, seriously, I’m—”

“...Still a loser! Isn’t that right, Penis?”

Peter barely had a chance to brace himself before Flash was slinging his arm and the entirety of his body weight over Peter’s shoulder and laughing. “I still can’t believe you didn’t see that soccer ball coming!”

Peter shoved Flash’s arm off. “Shut up, Flash.” Peter growled. “It’s sort of hard to see something coming when it’s behind you.”

Ned’s eyes widened. “But Pete?” he started, “Your Peter tin—”

How Ned had managed to keep Peter’s identity a secret so far was a mystery. “Yes! Ned!” Peter interrupted. “My Peter tinnitus!”

Ned floundered.

“Yeah, it totally sucks!” Peter’s eyes widened with panic. He definitely wasn’t getting any help from Ned. “It really only flares up when,” he lowered his voice and stared at Flash, “I’m shmucked in the head by uncoordinated teammates.”

“Who are you calling uncoordinated, loser?! That was precision at its finest. In fact, I should totally get someone to hack the school’s security system and get a copy for me! Imagine all the views on my TikTok! Oh! I know—I can loop it! The world will see your idiot face over and over and over... AND over!” Flash finally trailed off with dreams of viral video fame, then looked Peter dead in the eye. “You, Penis Parker, are the best target EVER! I don’t know why I bother with the others.”

Peter’s headache pulsed and he had to bite back a groan. “Look, can we save this for another time, Flash. I’m not in the mood.”

Flash stared at him for a second, blank faced, then quirked an eyebrow. “Okay, Parker, another time? Done. Let’s see how you feel after school, if that’s how you’re gonna be.”

“What? No way—”

“Stuff it, Penis.” Flash got up in his face. ”You’re about to be my new after school ‘appointment.’ Lucky for that foreign exchange student, huh?” With that declaration, Flash flicked Peter between the eyes and headed down the hall towards his own locker and out of sight.

Peter let himself fall back into the lockers and rubbed at his forehead with a defeated sigh.

“Peter?” Ned spoke quietly. “If you want, I can call Mr. Hogan for you. Mr. Stark gave me his phone number for emergencies and if this isn’t one then...”

“Ned, please stop.” Peter begged. “We have one more class and then I can head to the tower, take some painkillers, and forget about Flash and this crappy day.”

“But Flash said—”

“Ned, I know what he said!” Peter snapped, then took a hopefully calming breath. “Let me worry about it, alright? Flash is obviously having one of those days and you know it’s better me than someone else when he gets like this.”

Ned shook his head in disagreement. “Dude, no. Not today. You already feel like shit.”

“Well then, you can go and tell Raveed that Flash is looking for some after school entertainment!”

“Maybe if you talked to Morita...?”

“Seriously, man? Flash has the school admins by the gonads and you know it!” Peter pressed his fingers to his eyes trying to counter the pressure. “Do the iPads in the library generously donated by Harrison Thompson ring a bell?”

Ned snorted. “How someone named Harrison could CHOOSE to name their kid Eugene, I’ll never get it.”

Peter offered a fake chuckle in return as the warning bell rang. “Ugh, have fun in Comp Sci, man.” Peter moved into their handshake. “Meet you back here after class?”

“Naw, Pete, remember?” Ned’s hands followed Peter’s lead. “I’m getting picked up early. Dentist appointment.”

“Well, shit.” Peter huffed. “Wish me luck then.”

Ned bundled Peter in a hug, “Hello? Dentist?! You wish me luck!” Ned teased.”Besides, you don’t need luck, Pete. You’re Spider-Man.” And Ned left Peter standing alone in the hallway.

With no one to fool, Peter deflated.  He mumbled a ‘mierda’ and shuffled off to Spanish class.

* * * * * *

Regret.

That was all Peter could focus on as the clock ticked down through the last 20 minutes of class. He regretted not letting Ned call Happy and he definitely regretted leaving his phone in his locker. Now if he wanted to contact anyone, it was with his Starkwatch and that was not something he wanted to deal with. A text saying ‘Hey. Killer headache. Need drugs’ was one thing. Any message sent via the watch was forwarded to ALL of the Avengers—even the newly pardoned ones.

... And he sure as heck wasn’t dealing with them.

He should have listened to Ned.

Or called someone himself.

Or just drowned himself in the boys’ washroom sink to put himself out of his misery.

... And he still had to deal with Flash.

Crap.

Yup. So much regret.

10 minutes—5 minutes—2 minutes...

Time slowed to the point where he wondered if the Time Stone was in play. It was just a fleeting, silly thought, but still too soon. His stomach clenched as he thought back on the time when—

Peter jumped as the final bell of the day rang through the room.

Crap.

He swallowed back saliva, the nausea distracting from his headache for a moment. That is until Flash strutted past Peter’s desk, cuffing him across the back of the head, brightening his pain once again.

“Don’t keep me waiting, Parker!” Flash sang out as he exited the classroom.

Double crap.

He tried to drag it out, slowly packing away his school items with unnecessary care. He’d have taken forever if he could, but that dream died with Senora Ramirez’s, “Vamos, Peter! Rapido por favour!”

Smiling back weakly, he replied, “Si, Senora Ramirez. Adios.” And he skulked out the door.

The hallway was almost empty by the time Peter made it to his locker, thank goodness. While his enhanced healing had barely started to touch his headache, the exhaustion of his metabolism trying and tentative hunger battling with his queasiness were real and uncomfortable. The quiet was good.

He took some deep breaths. “Okay,” he thought, “No thinking about the stones at school.”

More focussed, Peter managed to open his locker and grab his phone as it buzzed with a new text but his attempt to read it was interrupted by a rough shove; Peter’s shoulder connecting painfully with the locker’s frame.

“What part of ‘Don’t keep me waiting’ did you not understand, Penis?” Flash grabbed Peter by the shoulder and spun him around. “This is a smart school, ya’ know. Or maybe Mr. Scholarship doesn’t understand, huh?”

Peter flushed in embarrassment. “I’m smart.” Peter whispered.

“Well, if you’re so smart, you wouldn’t have made me have to come back into the school. Or are you deaf, too?” Flash shoved Peter back into the lockers.

Peter remained silent.

Flash slammed Peter back again, his head snapping back, too. “Dammit, Parker! Why do you make me so angry?”

How could anyone answer that question?

Again, Peter impacted the lockers. “You’re so pathetic, Penis. Standing in the gym, begging me to make you suffer.” Peter slammed again. “It’s so satisfying,” Flash hissed. “You’re practically asking for this.” With that, Flash reared back his fist and slammed it into Peter’s cheek. Spider-Man or not, it hurt, and the white bursts of light behind his eyelids spoke to that.

Was he begging for it?

Peter’s thoughts wandered to the time, in that moment when he slid down the wall to the floor. Had Raveed managed to catch his bus? Was he running late? Maybe his host family had picked him up.

A rough kick to his side pulled him from his thoughts. “There. That’ll keep me going ‘til tomorrow.” Flash grinned and stepped away.

Peter exhaled in relief.

“Nah,” Flash landed another kick to his thigh. “I lied. THAT will keep me going ‘til tomorrow.” Flash turned and jogged down the hall. “See you then, loser!” He turned the corner and was gone.

Peter closed his eyes and tentatively rested his head against the locker. Okay. It was done. He was okay. Peter picked up the phone that had landed on the floor beside him—Raveed had to be gone by now.

His phone buzzed again.

3:04pm

TonyBaloney: Hey! Got Rogues in house for meetings. :(

3:07pm

TonyBaloney: Reschedule?

Peter closed his eyes and inhaled. 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... and held the breath, only to lose his focus when his phone buzzed a third and fourth time.

3:08pm

TonyBaloney: Use that credit card. Buy some Thai for you and Aunt Hottie!

3:08pm

TonyBaloney: But don’t tell her I called her that!

3:08pm

TonyBaloney: Seriously, she’ll kill me.

Peter huffed out a real laugh at that. Aunt May would geld Mr. Stark if she ever found out his nickname for her. Not that he could tell her. But what was he going to do about the weekend? When Mr. Stark had invited him for the weekend, Peter was relieved. May was going away for some training conference in New Jersey and had told Peter to ask Mr. Stark to play babysitter. The spontaneous invite had kept Peter from looking like a kid and May got her wish. Win-win.

... and now none of that mattered.

3:10pm

PBWanKenobi: Np, Mr. STart. See you Tuesday?

3:10pm

PBWanKenobi: *Stark

His phone didn’t buzz again, and Peter didn’t expect it to. The Rogues tended to keep Mr. Stark pretty distracted. Besides, even feeling like hot garbage, Peter could still get excited about a suddenly free night of Spider-Manning. And really, how much energy would he expend helping little old ladies crossing the street?

* * * * * *

Hours later, Peter could ignore that deep ache across his shoulders and back and even the occasional tug as his mask stuck to the healing cut on his cheek. The headache was still a little much (read that as borderline unbearable), but he’d call the evening a win.

He was swinging and considering stopping at that new Mexican place across from the Dunkin’ Donuts for a burrito or two when his Spidey-senses flared and Spider-Man was twisting away from his original course toward an alley about a three blocks down the street.

His senses blared now. “Karen, call 9-1-1.”

“Peter, if I call now, you run the risk—”

“Don’t care.” His neck almost burned from the intensity. “Call now.”

A woman screamed in obvious pain.

“And tell them to send an ambulance.”

“Calling...” Karen responded and left Spider-Man to do what he did best. Save the day.

Spider-Man took no time to assess the situation and react: A man and a woman in a physical altercation- well, more like a behemoth of a man beating the shit out of this poor lady, oblivious to the fact that someone had joined the party.

She’d fallen unconscious, only held up by her hair grasped in his one hand as he pulled his fist back to punch her again with the other. A thwip of webbing and the man’s fist stopped in its path.

“Wha-?”

“Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?!” Spider-Man called out as he gave the webbing a yank and pulled the man away from his victim while blasting a cushion of webbing onto the concrete beneath the woman’s head.

The man’s initial confusion had passed quickly enough. He tried to remove the webbing from his right hand, but when that failed, simply went after Spider-Man with his left. “You got no business, here, ya’ freak!” He raged as he swung and missed. “She’s my woman! You got no say!” He swung and missed again.

“Dude,”Spider-Man jumped back, “Women have had the vote for, like, a hundred years! I’m pretty sure that she’s,” He jumped back again, “not your property, man!”

“She’s mine, ya’ bastard! And she knows what she did!” he raged, “She deserves everything she gets.” The man lunged one last time, going full bore on the young vigilante—and playing right into the trap. His fist came down as Spider-Man jumped up onto the alley wall. The crunch was nauseating and Peter was sure the man had to have broken at least three knuckle bones, if not several bones in his hand proper. He dropped his knees and cradled his injury, whimpering.

Spider-Man took advantage, securing the man to the ground with more webbing. He wasn’t going anywhere.

That taken care of, he rushed to the still unconscious woman on the ground. Now that he’d taken care of that dude, he could focus. “Karen, ETA on the ambulance?” He kneeled beside her prone body, better taking in her injuries.

“Two minutes, Peter.”

Okay, he could do two minutes. Her breathing was a little rough, and both of her eyes were swollen shut. He looked away, focused on the ground beside her and—were those teeth? This wasn’t the first beaten woman he’d helped, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that this one was different. He pulled in deep breath, and shook his head to try and clear it... but then this damned headache. No. Help would be here soon and she’d be okay. Yeah, she’d be okay. He was sure of it. He grabbed her hand, “You’ll be fine, lady. Help is coming.”

He pulled in a breath. He was okay.

The man in the webs sneered. “Awww, you’re so cute. Thinking that this is the last of it.” Spider-Man glared back him. The man gave a chin nod in her direction. “Who do you think is gonna bail me out?”

“No one deserves this, man! Why’d you do it? You could’ve killed her?” Spider-Man yelled. “Why?”

The man laughed, ugly and low. “You wanna know why?”

Spider-Man stared back at him.

"I’ll tell you why. ‘Cuz she’s so stupid, the bitch practically begs me to hit her. She needs to remember her place, that she’s nothin’ without me.” The man sneered, “and sometimes, it just feels so damn good.”

Flash’s words from earlier in the day suddenly echoed through Peter’s head. Yeah, Spider-Man was done for the day and Peter had a lot to think about.

“Karen, ETA?”

“Arrival is imminent. Might I suggest taking refuge on a rooftop to avoid detection by the local authorities?”

Peter looked at the bruised and swollen woman on the ground, gently placed her hand at her side, and then Spider-Man plastered a patch of webbing across the woman beater’s mouth. Peter didn’t want to listen to him anymore.

The ambulance and patrol car skidded to a halt in front of the alleyway almost simultaneously. A police officer exited his vehicle with weapon drawn and preparing to clear the alley for the EMTs to come down with their equipment .

“Peter?” Karen inquired.

“Yeah, I know. That’s my cue to leave.” And with the flick of a wrist, Spider-Man was off and away from the scene.

* * * * * *

It was past his curfew, and save for the fact that he was pretty sure he’d saved the life of that woman in the alley, stopped several muggings, a car accident, and finally caught that pickpocket that’d been targeting tourists for weeks—well, he’d regretted every decision he’d made since getting off of the subway after school.

He’d planned to stop after that man, but an inexplicable need to atone for his very existence ate at him and within minutes of stopping on that first rooftop, he was off and at it again.

And now his face still bled, his head pounded, and he wondered if his shoulder had dislocated and then corrected itself at some point in the evening. His ribs ached, his bruises throbbed, and something... something gnawed at his gut. No. Not something. Everything gnawed at his gut and thoughts were swirling around in his brain and he kept wondering why and how and if...”

“Incoming call from Tony Stark.”

Peter closed his eyes and drew in a calming breath.

“Peter?” Mr. Stark’s deceptively calm voice came over the comm. “Care to explain to me why I’m having to give the Spider-Baby a call at 1:27 on a Saturday morning when your curfew is midnight on the weekend?”

He didn’t know what to say, so he stuck to the truth, “I’m just thinking, Mr. Stark. I promise.”

“And you can’t do that from the comfort of your own home?”

Peter closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure that was the best plan, being alone in that exact moment.

“Pete? Are you going to answer me, ‘cuz Karen and FRI are both works of AI genius and I know this call hasn’t dropped.”

Peter inhaled again. That realization made it all too much. He wanted to...

“Pete?” Mr. Stark was alert now. “Pete? What’s going on?”

“I’m...” a sob fought its way free. What was Peter supposed to say? He wanted so badly to say he was good—that he was great and just taking in the cityscape before heading back to the apartment. He wanted to talk about the hot dog vendor who gives him extra sauerkraut on his hot dogs, ‘cuz it’ll put hair on his chest. Heck, he’d have settled for a story about free churros...

But he just felt so heavy.

“Peter, I’m calling up a suit now. I can be to you in two minutes.”

Two minutes? He had two minutes, and then Mr. Stark would know that Spider-Man wasn’t a superhero—he was a distraction, a target, a victim. That he existed solely for the universe to pour all of its hate and misfortune onto him for the benefit of others. That no matter how hard he tried, it would never be enough. That maybe Flash and Toomes and every punch and kick and stab were karma for Ben? His parents? That maybe if he wasn’t here...” Peter sobbed again. How could he say that all in two minutes?  

Instead, Peter whispered, “Mr. Stark? I can’t take this anymore.”

There was a silence, then, and Peter panicked at the thought he’d said too much.

“I mean—it’s okay, I just...”

“Pete. Hang on just thirty more seconds, okay? I’m coming to you, right now. Do you hear me?”

Peter nodded.

Mr. Stark chuckled, “I can’t hear you nod, kid.”

“I hear you,” he breathed.

“Okay, ‘cuz I bet there’s a lot of stuff goin’ on in that head of yours that needs some revisiting and I imagine it’s not processing quite right just now, what with the concussion you’ve been dealing with,” Mr. Stark cussed under his breath. “Kid, Karen is telling FRI that you already had that concussion when the suit went on?”

Peter huffed a laugh and looked out onto the city. “Um,” his voice warbled as he answered, “It’s been a pretty shitty day.” He could see Iron Man in the distance.

“Definitely sounds like there’s a story there, kid.” Mr. Stark landed a few feet away then moved towards him, faceplate flipping up to reveal a look of concern. “I want to hear it but first, I think you need this first.” The Iron Man armour melted away and Mr. Stark pulled Peter into his arms.

Peter tensed. The hugging thing wasn’t new for them, but Peter was convinced that he didn’t deserve this—any of this and he couldn’t... couldn’t...”

“Hey, kid, you’re safe here.” Mr. Stark soothed. “I’ve got you.”

Peter burrowed himself into Mr. Stark’s chest, then shook his head ‘no.’

His head hurt so bad and he couldn’t stop crying.

“Hey, FRI? Can he take the mask off?”

A voice spoke out from the watch resting by his ear. “I’m afraid not, Boss. There are several CCTV cameras set for specific ongoing undercover operations. This would disrupt four active stake outs and potential chain of evidence.”

“Damn.” Tony thought for a second. “Hey, buddy,” leaned to talk quietly into Peter’s ear. “I’m gonna give you a lift, ‘kay? We’ll hang out at the tower, just like we planned and have a bit of a staycation this weekend, sound good?”

Peter’s energy level was ebbing but, even still, he remembered, “No, don’t want the Avengers to see me like this.” He pleaded.

“Yeah, they flaked after the last meeting wrapped up, bud. The tower’s free and clear. It’d be you and me and bad 80s sci-fi. What do you say?”

Peter shrugged. It was all he could give.

And Mr. Stark took it. “Okay, kiddo, I’m gonna let of you now so I can get back into my suit, okay? And then I’m gonna pick you up so we can get this party started... whenever you’re ready.”

Peter hesitated, and then pulled himself out of Mr. Stark’s arms. Peter stepped back, looking unsure of himself.

With the tap of a button, the suit completely encased the man in seconds. “Alrighty, then. How do you want to do this, Pete? Piggy-back? Bridal-style?”

Peter was paralyzed with indecision. “I... I... um...”

The faceplate flipped up again and Tony took in the boy’s state, “How’s about dealer’s choice, hey?”

Peter nodded in relief and managed to not squeak when Iron Man scooped him up into his metal arms. “Why don’t you just relax. I’ve got ya’.” And with that, Iron Man rocketed off the rooftop and towards Avengers Tower.

It seemed that Mr. Stark didn’t feel as much urgency returning to the tower as he had when he’d headed over to Peter on the roof.

It was nice.

“Hey, Pete?” Mr. Stark interrupted the quiet, “I’m lookin’ at the injury report that Karen sent FRIDAY. I know you can’t be feeling great, so how’s about we make a quick pit stop at the medbay and get you checked out, huh?”

“I’m fine.” The words left his mouth before he could process it.

Mr. Stark was quiet for a minute, and then, “You know, Pete, just because you can deal with feeling bad or are even used to feeling bad, it doesn’t mean you have to settle for it.”

Peter remained silent.

“You don’t deserve to be in pain, bud.”

How could Peter reply to that? He lowered his head into the Iron Man’s chest and they continued onward.

Within moments, they were touching down on the landing pad outside of the Stark penthouse. Peter waited to be put down, but Mr. Stark walked forward, the suit dismantling around him until it was simply Mr. Stark carrying him.

“Mr. Stark?”

“Hang on, kid. Almost there.” He grunted in exertion.

They made their way to the couch where Tony gently placed Peter, sitting him down on the couch before planting himself on the coffee table in front of it.

“Okay, first things first,” Tony announced and reached forward to carefully remove the Spider-Man mask.

Peter allowed it, but kept his eyes lowered.

But Mr. Stark wouldn’t allow that. Mr. Stark cupped Peter’s cheek and guided Peter’s face upward. Peter tried to look away, but Mr. Stark refused to allow it.

“Peter Parker, you look me in the eye right now, please.”

His tears welled up again, but he did it.

“Good job, kid. Now I need you listen to me, and you listen to me good.”

Peter couldn’t look away.

“You do not need to be okay with feeling bad.”

Peter shook his head to disagree.

Tony continued. “You do not deserve to feel bad,” Tony wiped away Peter’s tears. “And you sure as hell do not need to hide from any of the people that love you that you feel bad.”

Mr. Stark moved his calloused hand from Peter’s face to brush a curl from his forehead. “If you need a list of people who love you, they include, but are not exclusive to: Your Aunt May, Ned, MJ, Rhodey—who still wants you to call him Uncle Rhodey, by the way.”

Peter chuckled.

Mr. Stark beamed, “Now where was I? Oh, yeah! Happy—just don’t tell him I told you,” Mr. Stark gave a conspiratorial wink at that one. “Pepper! And Brucie! Do I need to keep going? ‘Cuz I will. Hell, I bet that guy that makes your sandwiches loves you, kid.”

Peter didn’t know what to say.

“I’m at the top of that list, Peter.” Peter could hear the affection in Mr. Stark’s voice.

“You, Mister Peter Park, are allowed to not be okay. Sometimes life is shit, but half the fun is in getting through this together. You got me?”

Peter managed a timid nod.

“Good, so do you wanna go to the medbay and see if we have something for the killer headache you’ve got to have?”

“Please,” Peter replied.

“You’re feeling pretty bad?”

“Yeah, and, uh...” Peter didn’t quite know how to say it. “Um, I’m not okay.”

Tony shuffled closer, pulled Peter into an all-encompassing hug, and whispered, “I hear you, Peter, but we’re gonna get you there.”

@febuwhump

[scornedlove]

Chapter Twenty-Nine

ROBYN

I called Mel to blow off some steam, but her phone was going straight to voicemail. To say I was boiling was an understatement. Half an hour later, I found myself asking for a shot of whiskey at the nearest bar. Some place that probably hadn’t had a new customer in weeks. 

“I’ll take a water with lemon” John stated, his eyes roaming the dark room. The place was small, yet cold and unfamiliar. There wasn’t many people here, but you could tell the few present were regulars.  

“Thanks for coming in with me, I know this ain’t in ya job description” I sighed, trying my hardest not to dump all my problems on him.

“I’m just glad you got up out the house. I was beginning to think you replaced me” 

“You know better than that! You ain’t getting rid of me that easy” I chuckled in surprise. I tossed back my shot and motioned for the bartender to refill me, wasting no time to toss that one back too.

“This whiskey’s not gonna have you trying to throw bottles upside my head again is it?”

“I promise I’ll behave myself” I crossed my heart with my right hand. “Sometimes, I get so worked up and I just need to take the edge off. Whiskey helps.”

“Don’t let this shit be your go to” he advised, glancing over his shoulder to see who walked in when the door opened.

“Shopping is my go to, Mary Jane is definitely the runner up, but this shit easily takes third place.” I admitted, nonchalantly. “Everybody needs an outlet”  

“You gonna have to find some better outlets. I know it’s hard, but I’ve been where you are before and it ain’t a pretty place. I’m not going to sit back and watch you spiral downhill.”

“Eh, to each their own. I’m sure you got your outlets.” I shrugged, before requesting another refill and quickly gulping it down. John just shook his head and looked back at the door as a couple of people walked out. I loved how alert he always was, it made me feel safe. Safe enough, to order another shot.

“Can you at least slow down?” he demanded rather than asked. “Ain’t no way yo tolerance that high.”

“Boy please! I am Bajan, we can hold our liquor.” I teased, starting to feel myself. The whiskey had my temperature rising, so I slid my jacket down on to the stool. The bartender placed my refill in front of me, this time flashing his dingy smile while his eyes burned a hole in my chest. 

“Thanks, we’ll let you know if we need anything else” John practically yelled to snap him from his daze.

“Sorry man. We don’t get models in here often” he apologized before tending to the other couple at the bar.

“Bullshit” I blurted before falling into giggles. “I know I look like shit today, but that was a good save”

“You ready? Cause I’m ready to get up outta here.” John stood, with his mind made up. He’s never bossed me around before and oddly enough, it was turning me on.

“Wait, just let me get-”

“You’ve had enough, let’s go.” he ordered, looking down at me. I was beginning to imagine his dark skin on mine and realized he was right. It had to be the liquor taking over, so I shook the thought away and stood like he requested. 

 "Yeah, you’re right, I uh, need to do some shopping anyway.” I stammered, leaving a few twenty's on the counter before leading the way out. 

The ride to the mall was awkward. I rolled and smoked an entire blunt to myself on the way. I could tell John was pissed, but I didn’t understand why or even cared to ask. I’m sick of people trying to give me advice I didn’t ask for. I’m grown as hell and if I want to get fucked up in the middle of the day on a Monday, then that’s what I’ll do. 

“I know how long these trips can be and I don’t want you to feel rushed, just give me a call when you’re ready” he stated, once we reached the mall entrance.

“Don’t even worry about it. Thanks for the ride, enjoy the rest of your day” I added, jumping out the back seat before he’d even come to a complete stop. I didn’t want to be around his bad energy, that shit was contagious. I’ll just have to take a cab home. I’d much rather ride with a stranger than be judged.

Turns out John was right. I spent much more time shopping than I expected. There wasn’t much traffic and I enjoyed not having to wait in lines.  I treated myself to new clothes, shoes, earrings, and a new purse. Everything I wanted was in stock and I had many of the stores to myself. Apparently I picked a good day to splurge because I spent well over forty grand.

After shopping, I ordered some Chinese food and found a little corner to myself in the food court. I was so happy about the leopard print Louboutin booties I found, I had to put them on before I even touched my food. Something about leopard print made me feel sexy and I needed that feeling now.

I slipped my flats off and smiled as the softness of the booties welcomed my feet. They made me feel so good, I forgot about my bad day. I started to devour my food as if all the appetite I was missing all week suddenly appeared from nowhere. When I was done, I wasted no time getting in line at the ice cream shoppe. 

I sat down again, taking my time and enjoying my chocolate chip, double dip cone a little too much. I was in heaven, oblivious to my surroundings. A weird feeling crept over me and I felt like I was being watched. My eyes shot up for a quick scan and immediately locked on the culprit. Christopher fucking Brown.

I stared back for what seemed like forever, but he wasn’t letting up so I decided to show out. If he thought he couldn’t stop looking before, he wouldn’t know what to do when I made him wish he were the ice cream. 

“I knew my eyes weren’t deceiving me” a smooth baritone caught me off guard in the middle of my act. I sighed deeply before locking eyes with the one night stand I was supposed to never see again. 

“Today has got to be my lucky day” he grinned.

“Hey Stranger” I smirked, swallowing the big ass frog in my throat. I should’ve put my ice cream down, but I couldn’t. I just took bites instead of licks while he eyeballed my lips.

“Nah, call me Rocky” he pleaded, his eyes roaming with no shame. Fuck I thought to myself, realizing I left my favorite black leather jacket at the bar. My nipples were at full attention and an apparent distraction, so I crossed my arms. 

“I thought we agree-”

“You really want me to treat you like a stranger after the way I had your body feeling the last time you saw me?” he asked, inviting himself to sit in front of me. 

“We agreed to no names”

“Who are you shopping with, if you don’t mind me asking?” he quizzed, checking out my table full of bags.

“Damn you nosy” I frowned, shaking my head. “Who you here with?”

“Shit, I’m here with you. I just wanna know who about to be pissed when your plans change up.”

“How my plans change up?” I giggled, loving his persistence.

“I got somewhere I wanna take you”

“Boy you don’t even know me”

“I know what you taste like. You gonna let me taste you again?” he asked wetting his lips before biting the bottom one and slowly letting it out. Flashbacks of his lips on my body sent shivers down my spine. Before I could even respond, I could see Chris approaching at record speed with Nicki on his tail. 

CHRIS

“Thank you for getting me out the house today” Nicki smiled, taking a bite from her huge, soft pretzel. “This is exactly what I needed!”

“Me too” I mumbled between bites of my pretzel dog. I was glad I was feeling better than I had the day before, but I still felt crappy. Yesterday I laid around with a hang over from hell, but when Nicki called today I had to pull my shit together. 

“I’m so glad Sam will be home for good today. All I can ever think about is what if he misses our baby’s birth”

“Aren’t you due next month?”

“Yeah, but look how fat I am! There’s no way I can hold this baby for another month!” she stood up and turned sideways for me to see her silhouette. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be back to yourself in no time. You’re having a healthy baby. That’s the important part.” I stressed and her face immediately dropped in shame.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“Sorry for what?”

“Complaining. I’m grateful for this entire experience. I just wish Sam could’ve found a closer job sooner, but it’s done now and I’m soooo grateful” she beamed as her phone vibrated on the table. “Speak of the devil.”

“Tell him I said what up” I laughed at her girlish demeanor while she spoke with her husband. Somehow they pulled through their long distance relationship, even with the hormone roller coaster. I was happy for them.

“So are you spending Thanksgiving in Texas with Tae now that Mama got her own thing going on?” Nicki quizzed after hanging up with Sam. I hadn’t told her it was over with me and Tae yet, I was hoping to avoid this conversation altogether.

“Nah. You know me, I like to make my rounds. Are you cooking? I’m tryna come get one of your plates!”

“Noooo Chris! Holidays show a girl how serious you are about her. You gotta at least try to go see her, it’s important!”

“Well, sh-”

“Robyn”

“No, it’s not about Rob-”

“No, I was saying, is that Robyn?” she nodded across the food court towards the ice cream shoppe. Sure enough, Robyn was standing in line with three bags on one arm and her wallet in hand as she waited to order.

“Damn, she looks good” I blurted under my breath. I didn’t know where we stood since the last time we spoke, so I definitely wasn’t going over there.

“That hair looks so good on her. When’s the last time ya’ll talked?” 

“Not long ago, and it wasn’t pleasant” I answered honestly, unable to take my eyes from her as she paid and grabbed her ice cream from the cashier. She quickly found an empty table, set her things down, and began to devour her ice cream in the most seductive way. On top of that, the dress she wore revealed every curve and way too much skin. 

When she sat down, her eyes met mine. She refused to break eye contact and began to lick her ice cream with a flat tongue, curving it around the top. She winked at me, then opened her mouth wide before sucking her ice cream from the top, clearly giving me a show.

“So ya’ll cool or not?” Nicki’s voice snatched me back to attention. My head snapped in her direction to see if she was seeing what I was but she was preoccupied with her phone. When I looked back at Robyn, there was someone else sitting in front of her, blocking my view. 

This guy must’ve been enjoying the same show I was, too bad he didn’t stand a chance. Rob’s the kind of girl that doesn’t even give a guy two seconds if he’s not worth it, which made me wonder why this guy was still sitting there. 

“I don’t know. Let’s go say wassup” I suggested as Nicki tossed the last of her food in her mouth, then followed me towards Robyn.

As we approached her, a huge smile spread across her face and she waved in our direction. I wasn’t sure what to expect but my nerves relaxed a bit. 

“Oh my God! Look at you!” Robyn shrieked, jumping up to hug Nicki.

“No bitch, look at you! I was just telling Chris how bomb this haircut is on you!” Nicki returned the love. I tried to get a word in, but Robyn turned her back to me and proceeded to talk to Nic like I wasn’t even there.

“I can’t believe you almost done cooking the munchkin already!” She squealed, rubbing Nicki’s belly. 

“Yes girl, exactly 28 more days!”

“Boy or girl?”

“We don’t know yet, we wanted a surprise”. They went back and forth for what seemed like forever, paying me no mind. I waited patiently until Robyn attempted to leave with the random guy without speaking to me. She tried to walk by me so I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me, catching her off guard.

“So you just gonna ignore me?” I asked, glaring into her shocked expression. It took a second of thought but to my surprise, she shook her head no, so I wasted no time leading the way to an empty table for a little privacy.

“How you been?” I began, instantly pissing her off.

“What you mean How I been?” she mimicked rolling her eyes. “What do you want Christopher?”

“I ran into Rayven last night..you wanna tell me what’s going on?”

"Wow, you pulled me to the side to ask about Rayven?” she asked, with slanted eyes. 

“No, that’s not wh-”

“Fuck you Christopher. I should beat your ass like I did her” she frowned, attempting to walk off. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me again, with a little more force this time.

“Have you been drinking?” I asked, trying to smell it on her breath but only smelling the ice cream. “Who’s this guy your with? Do you know him?”

“Mind the business you chose over me. I ain’t yo woman.” she spat, before returning to the lucky punk waiting for her. Those words hurt like daggers but I was more embarrassed than anything.  

“I guess it’s safe to say ya’ll not cool” Nicki spoke, breaking the silence on the ride home.

“I don’t know Nic, I think I really messed up this time”

“Ah hell, what you do now?” she shook her head in frustration as I caught her up on my cursed love life. 

“Can I be brutally honest with you?” she asked, raising her brow as she stared me in the face.

“That’s all I’m asking”

“You sound confused as fuck! At the end of the day, who do you love?

“I can’t even lie. I love them both”

“Who do you want to be with....like forever”

“I don’t know”

“Well that’s your problem. You gotta figure out what you want” she shook her head in disbelief.

“It’s not that easy. See with Tae I have this clean slate, well almost clean. Distance is the only problem. “

“Which is a pretty big problem” she pointed out. 

“But with Rob there’s so much chemistry, history, love... it would be hard to come back from what we been through”

“Well if you put it like that, do you want hard as shit or hard as fuck?” she teased, cracking herself up. 

“Thanks for the lovely advice”

“I can’t help you bro, you on your own!”

“I can see that!”

“Nah, but for real, every time I’ve seen you and Tae together you seem happy as hell. I mean head over heels, you stay cheesing like a damn girl, and treating her like a princess. But when you talk about Robyn you seem unsure and even kind of depressed. I’m sure it’s because of the accident, and everything else that happened but aren’t you ready to put all of that behind you?”

“Put Robyn behind me? “I sighed, giving it deep thought. It wasn’t like she was fucking with me anyhow. After seeing her today I was even more confused than before. 

“That situation is out of your hands at this point. I’m sorry, but it’s clear to me that Rob ain’t fucking with you bro. I can tell you’re not really taking Tae serious because you’re hoping Rob comes around. That’s bullshit and you definitely owe Tae an apology. Start there and just see where everything else goes.” she suggested, as she kicked her shoes off and kicked her feet up on the dash.

“That girl don’t want to talk to me”

“Of course not, you gotta go bigger than a phone call”

“Like what?”

“Like go see her. Go spend Thanksgiving with her! Have you ever been to her place? She’s been to your crib, your galleries, and met all your people. Ya’ll been together long enough, it’s time for you to meet the family. Matter of fact, you should pop up on her!”

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” I grinned, realizing how right she was. It was obvious I hadn’t been putting in much effort and that’s probably why she keeps one foot in the door and the other out. She just needs a grand gesture to know how important she is to me.

With Nic’s help, I came up with the perfect plan to get us back on track. Thanksgiving was less than a week away, so I wasted no time booking my flight and a room near her salon. All I had to do was show up and speak my peace. How hard could that be?

[jisungsmochi]

stay - mark lee

mark and reader - best friend to lovers trope oops ft. supportive friend donghyuck (who is the mvp in this entire thing tbh) 

inspired by the friendship of caroline and stefan during seasons 5 and 6 of the vampire diaries. i hope my fellow tvd fans can see where i was going with this! 

n e wayz, this is pretty angsty and could be triggering so warnings: death mentioned, lots of grief and mentions of a car accident. 

word count: 4.8k 

without further ado, please enjoy and tell me what you think hehe 

a/n: anyone else love kick it era mark? oop 

//

“i’m so sorry for your loss” you heard the doctors speak to your parents. you hid behind the walls of your brother’s hospital room, eavesdropping on the conversation. your heart immediately stopped; this wasn’t possible. you had just seen him today. jisung wasn’t gone.

your parents were sobbing, you could hear the heartbroken cries from your mother. the doctors were equally distraught,

“i understand this is a very difficult time. please grieve with your family, again, my sincerest apologies” you dropped the bottle of water you were holding and bolted out of the room. you slammed yourself against the nearest wall and cried. you cried until your body ached, until your lungs were begging for more air. he wasn’t gone. jisung wasn’t gone. he was a fighter. you kept chanting in your head.

“y/n! what are you doing?” you heard donghyuck exclaim, instantly dropping to the ground with you.

“he’s gone, hyuck. he’s gone!” you wail, digging your nails into your palms.

donghyuck just held you in his arms, like nothing else truly mattered. he kept repeating “i’m sorry” to you, but he didn’t have anything to be sorry about. it wasn’t his fault.

“how’s mark?” you had the courage to finally speak.

“he’s...recovering. he’s refused to see the rest of us. i actually came to see if you were still around, maybe you could talk to him” donghyuck sighed, still brushing fingers through your hair. mark was your best friend. you would do anything for him. he was always there for you when you needed him to be. he always gave you crappy advice, which, 40% of the time actually worked. he drove you to school almost every day....your mind started drifting away,

driving.

a wreckless mistake can cause so much damage.

few hours ago

mark and jisung were driving home from basketball practice, as they had both recently started training together for a local team. it was fairly dark out, and mark didn’t want jisung to skate back home.

“just get in the car, jisung! there aren’t any girls to impress with your little skateboard” mark teased, watching as the younger boy just rolled his eyes and got into the car.

“i’m not trying to impress any girls” jisung huffs, putting on his seatbelt.

“you mean, one girl” mark smirked, knowing of his little crush on a girl in his maths class.

“shut up!” jisung blushed, turning on the radio to listen to some music.

“is it okay if we drive around for a bit longer? things at home aren’t so, well calm, i guess you can say” jisung mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

“oh okay, but are you sure you don’t want to go home? whatever it is, it can’t be too bad” mark just gulped, his thoughts wandering to you. were you okay?

“i’m sure, my parents are just arguing and well y/n doesn’t get to hear much of it because she’s always at the library or work or hanging with you guys! it’s hard just being at home, alone” jisung confides in the older boy, which led mark to have a warm feeling inside.

“thank you for trusting me, jisung! of course we can drive around, as long as you pick the songs!” mark tried to make jisung smile, even if it was the tiniest bit.  jisung nodded along, turning up the volume.

they were driving along the highway, which wasn’t as busy as it usually was. the boys were laughing, telling stories of their random experiences from school. mark swore his eyes were off the road for a second, when suddenly, another car’s headlights blinded the two boys. mark tried to swerve to the side of the road, but it was too late, the other car crashed into the passenger side, causing his car to spiral.

mark reached for the younger boy’s hand, before his vision become blurry, knocking him out.

now he laid, staring at the ceiling of the hospital room. reliving that moment over and over. replaying it. how he could have saved him. how it should have been him.

mark lee was always seen as a protector to his friends. he was a natural leader. the one who always stood up for others. but right now, in this moment, he felt like a failure. he was ashamed. he couldn’t face you. no matter how many times the rest of the boys came over, telling him how distraught you were. mark refused to see you. every time he heard your voice behind the curtain, he moved to his side and pretended he was asleep.

one night, you snuck into his room, without warning him. you stared at his injuries, he looked miserable. he was in pain. your heart broke.

“mark” you whispered. the boy had his eyes closed and laid to his side again. you sighed, taking a seat next to his bed.

“i don’t know if you’re pretending or not. but i don’t like how you’ve been ignoring me. jisung is gone. i miss him. i miss you. i want to talk to you. mark, you’re the only person i need right now. please talk to me. i will wait for you. just please” you sobbed into your hands. mark’s heart ached to hear you cry. he hated when you cried. but he couldn’t get himself to just turn around and look at you.

“goodbye mark, i’ll see you soon” you whispered, giving up at that point. you stumbled out of the room, and walked towards the exit. you passed the room, jisung was in. and your eyes immediately teared up.

a few months went by, you were trying to get yourself back on track. it was graduation soon. you and your friends were beyond excited. you all needed something good to distract from the events.

“guys we made it!” jeno smiled, as they all huddled in a circle.

“i can’t believe jaemin was able to pass bio” renjun smirked, nudging the boy.

“i can’t believe it either mate” jaemin chuckled, along with everyone else. how you’d wish mark was here to see you graduate. he was always there. no matter what. you were all aware that mark had been discharged from the hospital. after that last night, you tried to see him again, but you saw someone else occupying his room. you heart sank, at the thought that mark had yet to speak one word to you in months. not even a message or call. nothing.

“anything you wanna say, y/n?” donghyuck pulls you closer to him, sending you had zoned out.

“i’m so proud of us, we got through some tough times together. thank you all, so so much” you felt a tear threaten to leave your eye,

“oh please don’t cry! it makes me wanna cry” jaemin pouted,

“group hug you losers!” renjun yelled as you all embraced eachother.

after graduation, things settled down. you, donghyuck and renjun were packing to move out of town for college, while jaemin and jeno were staying behind to take a gap year. things were finally going back to being normal, except, you hadn’t heard from mark since the accident.

you all were hanging out at donghyuck’s house, chatting away about your future plans and what you all wanted to achieve by this time next year.

“jaemin and i wanna start our own sports club! something fun to do during summers and we get to teach kids!” jeno excitedly explained,

“suits you guys so well! i’m so happy for you” you smile at him before getting ready to share your plans.

“this time next year i’d hope to have survived first year college stress and also, not be so sad anymore” your smile faded, as the boys solemnly looked at you.

“i miss him guys” you mutter, your words becoming softer.

“we miss both of them” donghyuck puts his arm around you. you both looked up and saw the other boys fidgeting. they looked uneasy.

“what’s up you guys?” you wipe away a small tear that stained your cheek. you prepared yourself for what they had to say,

“i don’t know how else to tell you but i spoke to mark, well the three of us did” renjun began talking, your eyes widened at his words.

“what do you mean you guys talked to him? where the fuck is he? why didn’t he come see all of us?” you screwed, visibly distraught at what you had heard. donghyuck held you back, knowing you weren’t truly angry at the boys.

“he came by one day when we were shooting hoops. he told us he was leaving town. he didn’t say where he was going” jaemin continued, the three boys sitting across from you had the most sympathetic expressions on their faces, you couldn’t be mad at them.

“he didn’t say anything about me?” you barely spoke above a whisper, watching as the three shook their heads simultaneously.

“that dick” donghyuck exclaims, letting go of your figure. he stood up and began pacing.

“he just left her. he left y/n, alone. he’s known her longer than any of us and just left. he’s a dick” the boy balled his fists.

“we know, we too, don’t understand why he’s gone. but what else can we do? he’s pretty much dropped off the face of the earth” jeno sighed, holding his head in his hands.

“i hate him” you raise your voice, everyone immediately draws their eyes to you and goes silent.

“y/n, no you don’t. you don’t hate mark” renjun muttered, trying to not let this escalate.

“i hate him! i hate him so much! i hate him for leaving me. i hate him for ignoring me. i hate him for letting me fall inlove with him”  you whimper at the last few words. holding your hands over your chest, tears staining your cheeks.

the boys knew of how you felt about mark. it wasn’t so discrete. you thought of him as more than a friend, but you never thought you stood a chance. he was seen as a brother to you. but you already had a brother. you wanted mark, you wanted him to hold you when you were upset. you wanted him to be the one to comfort you during dark times. you wanted him to wake you up in the mornings with small kisses. but you would never get that. because mark lee was selfish. he was a coward. he just left.

you swore to yourself you wouldn’t contact him. but when you looked all around your room, pictures of you and mark and your silly adventures were plastered everywhere. you wanted to take them down, but some photos had jisung in them, you didn’t have the guts to remove any photos, it would have hurt too much.

you broke your promise to yourself, you continued to send mark voicemails every single day for a month. you wished him well, and that he was safe and happy. you hoped that he had found new friends and was living a great new life. you spoke about your days, and what you did. knowing that he may not even have the same phone or number. speaking out your thoughts still helped in a way. even if the other end was completely radio silent.

you were scribbling down the last sentences of your notes for class the next day, when you hear your phone ringing.

“yes, hyuck?” you answer, closing up your notebook and placing your stationery back in its usual place.

“i know this sounds crazy, but i think i know where mark is” he blurts out. you stop completely in your tracks, unsure of where he was going with this.

“how did you- when? what?” was all you could say.

“some of my second year friends, kept mentioning, a new kid named mark that has been hanging around at their parties. they aren’t sure if he goes to the same college as us, but he’s definitely a lot closer than we thought” donghyuck explains to you over the phone, you were stringing along with every word.

“where is he then?” you started biting at your nails, feeling a wave of anxiousness wash over you.

“he’s roommates with a guy named lucas, we can go there on the weekend if you want. i got their address” donghyuck waited for you to respond, but you were just in shock. not only did you think you would never see mark again, he was only staying a few towns away. that broke you down even more.

you decided to send one last voicemail to mark that night.

“i still don’t know if you even listen to these. but i’m coming to see you mark. you’ve hurt me so much, and you’re not even physically here to do it. you know how fucked up that is? i can’t wait to see what excuses you have for me, but i will not hold back”

saturday morning rolled around and donghyuck was at the front of your house, waiting in his car. you rushed out, bidding a goodbye to your parents and jumped into his car.

“ready for the road?” donghyuck flashed you a smile, waiting as you nodded, before starting the engine and driving off to the mysterious destination.

the whole drive there, you felt sick to your stomach. you weren’t sure what you would say to mark. you weren’t sure if you would even be able to speak. you might have just cried the moment he opened the door.

“we’re here” donghyuck cut out your thoughts. you both exited the car and made your way to the apartment. your nerves were going through the roof, you hoped mark was there, you really did.

donghyuck sensed your nerves, he gave you a tight hug before knocking on the door himself.

it took a few seconds before you heard footsteps. the door swung open and you were greeted by a tall boy with tanned skin and light brown hair. he was wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts, you assumed it was lucas.

“may i help you guys?” he asks kindly,

“we’re...friends, uh of mark” you spoke, watching as he nodded.

“i didn’t know he had friends coming over! i was just heading out, he’s in his room right now, feel free to come in! i’ll call him” lucas smiled widely, opening the door wider. you felt your heart pound in your chest. you were about to face the boy who brought you so much pain in the past few months.

“markie! you got some friends here for ya!” lucas yelled while pretty much slamming on his door.

“what do you mean friends?” you heard the familiar voice ring through your ears. you watched as the same boy, walked into the living area. his hair was now raven black, compared to his chestnut brown colour, you were far too familiar with. his face immediately became pale. lucas stares between the two of you, raising his eyebrows in confusion,

“this is kinda awkward, i’m gonna go now, see you guys, have fun catching up”

mark just gave him a small wave before walking towards you. donghyuck stood behind you, ready in case you couldn’t handle your emotions.

“what are you doing here?” his voice was so cold. he was so straight forward. you wanted nothing more but for him to hold you and say he’s sorry.

“really?” was all you could choke out at that moment. you saw his eyes shift around the room, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

“i’m gonna leave you two to talk” donghyuck states as he moves to the kitchen, mark leads you to his room, closing the door behind you both.

“i can’t believe you” you stutter, crossing your arms, watching as he sits on his bed.

“what? y/n? you can’t believe what? that i actually have a good life right now?” mark groans at you. this may have been the first time you’ve seen him so distraught.

“what happened to you? did you not get my messages? my voicemails?” you whimper, he refused to even look at you.

“i couldn’t listen to them. you know that” mark muttered, turning his head to look at you.

“why did you leave?” you sighed, moving to sit next to him, leaving a fair space between you two.

“i couldn’t stay. i couldn’t stay in that town when everything bad that happened to all of us, was my fault” mark’s voice was unsteady. he couldn’t control the sobs that wanted to escape.

“what do you mean?” you wanted to hold his hand, touch him in any way you could.

“i killed him, y/n. how can you forgive me? how can you still care for me?” mark looked right into your eyes, his were glossed over in tears. the dark circles under his eyes and his messy hair, didn’t indicate he was living his best life.

“you did not kill, jisung. you got hurt too” you move to sit right against him, your shoulders touching.

“i did though. i’m the one to blame. jisung didn’t want to go home that night because your parents were fighting. he wanted an escape. i should have still taken him home. i shouldn’t have gone on that route through town. it was all my fault” mark whimpered, tears flowing out of his eyes. you placed your hand over his. your eyes beginning to stream tears of your own.

“oh mark lee, you could have never predicted that something that terrible could have happened. no body blames you” you held his head to your chest, letting his tears trickle down your shirt.

“i didn’t want to leave you, you know” he sniffled. you nodded, even though he couldn’t see you.

“but you still did. you hurt me, mark. real bad. i hated you at one point. i thought we were stronger than that” you sighed, brushing your fingers through his hair. he pulled himself up to look at you.

“i’m sorry” he mumbled, pulling his face closer to yours.

“it’s okay” you were speechless, you had never been so close to him. he stared into your eyes, flickering down to your lips.

“i’m inlove with you” you mumble, ready to press your lips together. mark stopped you, pulling himself back.

“i- i can’t” he stood up and turned his back to you.

“what?” you grabbed his shoulder, turning him to face you again. he got slightly taller, or maybe it was because you hadn’t seen him in so long.

“i can’t love you like that. i’ve hurt you too much. you deserve better than me. i can’t” mark runs his fingers through his hair. you were more frustrated than ever,

“you’re right, i do deserve better than you. go fuck yourself” you grit through your teeth, before landing a loud smack to his face. he tried to chase after you, but you were already out the door. donghyuck was about to follow you when he bumped into mark.

“look here buddy, you fucked with her heart so bad. i don’t care what you said to her, but she would die for you. she would have done anything for you. she cried almost every day for a month after graduation, because she wanted you there for her” donghyuck shoved the older boy, so that his back hit the nearest wall.

“you don’t know how much pain she’s been through, and all she wanted was for her best friend, to be there for her. and you couldn’t even do that. you’re a coward mark lee. she’s inlove with you. and i know you are too. i know you want to protect her, but she’s desperate for your love again. so cut this act and be a decent human. for her sake. please” donghyuck finishes, not waiting for mark to respond before chasing you to his car. you had already sat in the passenger seat and began crying hysterically.

“it’s okay sweets, he will come to his senses soon” donghyuck pulls you in for a quick side hug, before starting the car.

you were too broken. and you weren’t sure if anything could fix you.

a week had passed since that dreaded day. you had barely left your house. it was exactly like the week after jisung passed, all over again. your parents weren’t sure if they should push you to tell them what was wrong. you were glad they thought that, it kept you from talking about your feelings for mark. even if he was a complete ass to you, you couldn’t get rid of years of emotions.

you were laying in your bed, rewatching the vampire diaries for the thousandth time, finally getting up to parts where stefan and caroline were almost in the same situation as you and mark. you groaned at how painful it was to watch. you shut your laptop, and sighed, you hadn’t showered in a while. as you were getting ready, you heard a faint knock on your door. you assumed it was one of your parent’s, checking up on you.

“come in!” you yell, grabbing your stuff in your arms. the door opened slowly, you heard the person cough slightly, knowing it wasn’t your parents, you froze.

“uh hey” mark’s voice echoed through your room. you glared at him, ready to shove past him and tell him to leave. but as you approached him, he grabbed your wrist. you groaned, tears ready to stream. you started banging his chest, mumbling hurtful words to him. he knew you that what you were saying was true. he didn’t deny anything. he held both your wrists, not wanting you to punch him anymore. you just balled your fists, pushing your head into his chest. he let go of your wrist and pulled you into his chest completely. he stroked your hair gently, mumbling “i’m so sorry baby” over and over again. you felt your arms wrap around his torso. you weren’t sure what you were feeling at that moment, but it wasn’t complete hatred or anger for him. he was always going to be your mark lee.

“i’m sorry baby” he muttered, before you looked up at him. his eyes were red, indicating he was crying before he even entered your room.

“baby?” you mumble. not once in your entire friendship, sort of not friendship, did he call you baby.

“yes. i’m a little too late but, i’m inlove with you, y/n. i know i pushed you away, i didn’t want to. i hope you trust me on that. i didn’t want to hurt you, but i did it anyway. i didn’t want you to think about me anymore. you could have been happier without me. you could have made new friends! gotten new interests, become a new you. i didn’t know that you needed me that much” he stuttered over his words, holding both your hands in his.

“i don’t know what to say” you shake your head, holding onto his hands tightly, as if he was going to just leave again.

“can i kiss you?” he pressed his forehead onto yours. your heart didn’t hurt so much anymore. you weren’t sure how you were feeling, but you weren’t opposed to the proposition. you nodded slowly, watching as mark pulled your chin up with his finger and pressed his cold lips onto yours. this wasn’t how you imagined your first kiss with mark. you dreamt of it being in his car, while you two were watching the city lights and stats like you would always do. but this feeling, was something you couldn’t stop.

you held onto his shoulder and he moved his hand to cup your cheek. he pulled away, pressing his forehead onto yours again,

“you don’t need to forgive me, ever really. i just needed to do that before anything else happened. y/n, i would do anything for you. even if that meant pushing you away so you could be happier. i’m happier with you. i am a better person with you. and if it takes me forever to prove that to you, i’ll do it, because being with you, feels like forever” mark muttered before pressing another kiss to your lips. you didn’t respond with words, instead you pulled him in by his shirt and continued to kiss him repeatedly. he led you to your bed, your back pressed against your mattress, with mark on top of you. he tried to pull away to speak but you continued to kiss him more. eventually he started chuckling,

“why are you laughing?” you smiled, still holding onto his shoulders.

“you just want to kiss! how about tell me how you feel!” he chuckled once more, causing you to roll your eyes. you pushed him back, sitting cross legged from him.

“i don’t forgive you yet, you have a lot of making up to do. but i just want you to promise me one thing” you sigh, taking his hand in yours.

“anything” he assured you, squeezing your hand in his.

“promise you won’t leave again. please. stay with me” your voice cracked, thoughts of him hurting you, coming back,

“i’m not leaving anymore baby, i’m not going to run away from my problems. i’m done with that. i’m focusing on us now” you felt more tears prickle in your eyes,

“oh no why are you crying?” he pouted, wiping away your tears.

“fuck you, you’re too fucking cute” you manage to smile, letting him know you weren’t upset.

“you’re cuter” he mutters into your temple.

“i love you, mark” you run your fingers around the palm of his hand.

“i love you too, y/n” he stroked your hair gently as you both cuddled up in your bed.

mark lee. the only boy who was your weakness. but also made you strong. he loved you like no one had ever before. he wanted to protect you from any danger that came towards your way. he needed you close, as did you. he will always be the one for you, no matter what happens.

a/n: apologies for any mistakes! mark lee got me feeling things *sigh* 

[ice-cream-nekogirl]

Descent into Love (Kirishima Eijirou x Reader)

I thought I posted this a long time ago but... apparently not? Weird but... i’m gonna post this again!! Hehe... it’s perfect cuz it’s April Fools day.

And... consider THIS like a sequel to the original fic~: https://ice-cream-kitsunegirl.tumblr.com/post/183939426324/april-fools-and-a-red-jockstrap-kirishima-eijirou#notes

You’re a tsundere in this one again~ And... a bit of a meanie... it’s OKAY to have the reader be a meanie btw, we don’t always have to be nice XD I know I’m not that nice... I mean I’m pretty nice but I like to tease every now and then too haha...

Yes I referenced one of my favorite horror movies of all time but it’s a REALLY good movie! Genuinely scary lolol and yes the title is partially from the actual movie ‘The Descent’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSYg7Z1KS_I

BTW SORRY FOR ANY OOC-NESS!!

Featuring: Best Boy Kirishima!

Sigh

As you sat on the couch in the common room you rested your chin on your palm, sighing for the 10th time this afternoon. You were beyond bored. It was one of the few break-days and yet nothing interesting was happening, you stared at your classmates, some of them were just chatting, conversations about training, the cooler heroes or about how much stronger they had gotten. Although you only heard ‘blah blah blah’ every time one of them opened their mouths.

“Hey (Y/N)!” However, you heard one person, and just hearing his voice made you smile as you perked up from your palm with a rosey red blush blossoming on your face.

“Hee… oh Kirishima, hey there dude.” You greeted him, adoring the way he grinned at you with those shark-like teeth of his. Which you actually found really endearing, and when he began talking to you, you felt yourself getting lost in his eyes as his words trailed off as you got distracted by his cherry red orbs. They might have been red, but they were some of the prettiest, sweetest pairs of eyes you had ever seen. Kirishima was an enthusiastic and energetic guy, and yet he was so gentle too, each trait was only some of the million reasons why you loved him.

“You know Kirishima… now that I get a good look at you… I rather like your pointy teeth. I always have in fact…” You suddenly said, pointing right at his mouth as he blinked a bit and nervously grinned, feeling oddly flattered as a smidge of pink tinted his cheeks.

“Oh ya do huh? Thanks! I’ve always been a little unsure about em ya know? Not everyone finds sharp teeth very approachable.” He admitted, since despite his personality, some people have found him a little intimidating once they got a look at his teeth. However, you weren’t put off by his teeth at all. If anything, you found them cool.

“Yeah… I wish I had your teeth.” He started to blush at how much you were complimenting him, he’d never really heard this much positivity about his teeth before. “I mean, if a villain were to show up, I’d just bare those pointy things and growl at them. And when I REALLY have to play dirty, I’ll sink em into their jugulars and tear a piece of their flesh off!” You suddenly exclaimed with a slightly crazed look in your eye that made Kirishima perk up and flinch a bit, now feeling slightly dejected since you wanted teeth like his for such brutal reasons.

“Ha… you know I never even considered using my teeth as a weapon before.” He pondered, even though he wasn’t the type to play dirty at all. It wasn’t really something he considered ‘manly’, although he wouldn’t judge you for that, and in a strange way, he considered you fairly manly in your own way and he respected the hell out of you for that. Even if you kinda scared him sometimes.

“You should. If it were me, I’d go ‘Brienne of Tarth’ on a villains’ ass and tear their fucking ear off!” You added, giving Kirishima a very vivid idea of what you meant as he nervously smiled. You reminded him of Bakugou in many ways, except you were a little bit nicer and not so angry like he was.

“Wow (Y/N) I definitely never want to get on your bad side.” He said nicely, and that’s what you loved about Kirishima. He never judged you, always said something nice about you even though you were weird and just a little bit of a trouble-maker most of the time. And he never avoided your or pushed you away no matter how many times you would tease him.

“You could never get on my bad side Kiri…” You said in a softer tone, contrasting with your energetic one you used seconds ago as you blushed upon admitting that and when you saw Kirishima’s contagious smile as his blush deepened. “Awww…”

Why couldn’t this boy see that you absolutely adored him? You wondered. You were sure that the teasing and the jockstrap you gave him should have made him wonder or think that maybe you had a thing for him despite the way you played around with him. It made you pout a little bit because you really wanted to get closer to Kirishima, hug him, kiss him and hug him again til he couldn’t breathe. And maybe slap him a little bit after because he made you feel this way and it was eating you up like some sort of disgusting lovey-dovey parasite. Every time he smiled at you; you would melt a little bit every single time.

You were a human infected with this parasite people call ‘love’, it felt so gross yet so wonderful, he was so wonderful…

It was driving you mad!

But you were so mad for him…

How you hated it!

And how you loved him…

A part of you wished that this could all just be some movie, where Kirishima would be the right guy for you, and you would be the best friend and then he would fall in love with you in the end. The two of you be happily ever after or however those crappy rom-coms ended, but if it meant finally being with Kirishima you would gladly let that all happen and just be with him for the rest of your life with that lovey-dovey song playing at the end credits.

Damn you had it bad…

But at that moment it hit you. All this talk about pointy teeth combined with your raging flurry of feelings for Kirishima and thinking about movies gave you a brilliant and somewhat evil idea just to get your beloved redhead closer to you and to get back at him too for giving you this crush. A devious smile spreading across your lips that Kirishima didn’t seem to think much of. Poor sweet boy, you thought.

“Hey you know what we should do? We should watch a movie together. All together as a class.” You suddenly proposed, which kind of surprised him but just the thought of spending time with the whole class made him grin wide.

“All together? That actually WOULD be a great idea! Yeah… it’s been so busy lately, I think we could use the break. I’m up for it (Y/N)!” He gave you an energetic thumbs-up, looking like he was pretty amped for the idea. Kirishima was always one for palling around with his classmates.

“Great! Cuz I had a GREAT idea for a movie…” You smiled happily when he agreed to the idea, clapping your hands excitedly, but then you made your claps nice and loud to catch everyone’s attention.

“Everyone~! Everyone! I have an announcement and a proposal!”

“(L/N)! As the class rep making announcements is my job.” Iida reminded you, but you paid him no mind.

“Shut up Iida!” You suddenly screeched at him, ignoring the shocked, indignant look on his face as well as some of the other shocked looks from your other classmates because of how loud you could be. Iida attempted to scold you, but you didn’t let him get a word in. “We’re too busy! I say we all take a break since we got the day off, and instead of training, let’s all watch a movie together!” You quickly took on a cheerful tone, which made only the smarter ones a little wary.

“And NO! You can’t back away from this, spend some time with us! Cuz if you don’t I’m gonna kick your butt!” You then declared somewhat angrily, and of course, only Bakugou challenged you.

“Tch, forget it you pathetic excuse for a glowstick!”

“You’re just jealous cuz my light shines brighter than yo’ weak-ass explosions.” You brushed that off, and you laughed and pointed when Kirishima and Kaminari held him back from trying to attack you for the 4th time today.

“Anyhoo… I’d better see you at movie night biatch~.” You smiled smugly at the growling teen, who WANTED to just blow you up but he knew Kirishima had a thing for you. This would be the only nice thing he’d do for him for a while…

Speaking of which, Kirishima looked pretty damn happy about the idea of a movie night with the class, “So (Y/N)… what kinda movie did ya have in plan?” He asked politely, the same question everyone else had been wondering since it was your idea.

However, the others noticed your smile quickly turning into a smirk. “Let’s watch a good old-fashioned horror flick tonight… I have this one REALLY good one that I’ve been meaning to bust out to show my best friends so… yeah…” That little suggestion made a few heads turn, and a few eyes widened which made your smirk widen, especially when you saw Kirishima’s nervous look.

“A horror movie…?”

“Yeah! Nothing says togetherness like watching a movie so scary you might piss yourself and cry your fucking eyes out…” You clasped your hands together, your smirk turning darker as most of your other classmates looked hesitant, save a few who looked interested.

“That could be fun! I love scary movies! They’re so exciting don’t you guys think?!” Hagakure, your partner-in-crime had excitedly agreed with you and backed up your decision. And if she was being honest, these movies were fun for her because her invisibility allowed her to indulge in a little fun when she would prank some people when they were scared out of their wits.

“I enjoy those kind of movies. They tend to have some interesting story-lines, so I’m okay with watching a horror movie.” Tsuyu said, despite her blank expression she was up for it.

“I agree. I would watch one of those.” Tokoyami was quick to agree with her since he was very much an avid horror movie fan, befitting how much of a goth he was. “You may or may not have seen the movie I have in mind before.” You pointed out, since if there’s one thing you and Tokoyami got along with it was your fondness for horror movies.

“Surprise me.” He almost challenged you, which just made your grin grow, especially when you saw the other looks on your classmates’ faces, especially poor sweet Izuku and your dear Kirishima…

“I’m in! I ain’t afraid of no scary movie!” Kaminari claimed, since scary movies didn’t exactly bother him as much as it did for others, but not many of his classmates looked like they believed him. “Me neither!” However, he started a bit of a trend when Mina shared his sentiments, and now many of them started to feel the need to prove their bravery, and to just see how ‘scary’ this movie was…

“H-Hey now! Look if anyone’s not a fan of scary movies then maybe… you guys don’t have to watch it.” Kirishima wanted to be nice though, and make sure no one felt pressured to watch the movie, even though you could just tell what his ulterior motive was: He didn’t like scary movies.

“Heh… let em watch it Kirishima, it’ll give them a lesson in bravery… I mean… what are you really playing at bro? Are you chicken?” You smirked and crossed your arms, satisfied when Kirishima flinched at such a very ‘unmanly’ accusation.

“No! I’m no chicken! I’m just giving them a choice that’s all!”

“It’s okay if you’re chicken, I mean Tokoyami’s the bird here but I guess we just didn’t notice you wearing your chicken hat until now. Though I guess your hair looks chicken-esque enough.” You said, sadistically smirking at the poor guy, whose face was turning as red as his hair.

“H-Hey! Don’t call my hair chicken! This is peer pressure! Come on that’s such an unmanly thing to do!”

“You’re just saying that cuz you’re a big, FAT, chicken!”

“(Y/N)! This is so not cool! Stop saying that!” Kirishima’s blush darkened as you didn’t stop your taunting.

“Chicken~.” You sang-songed, poking him on the forehead to add to your teasing, even when he backed away, “Stop it!”

“Chicken!” You didn’t stop, you were loving how embarrassed he was getting when you started to poke at his hair and even pull a strand out purely for the hell of it.

“OW! I’m NOT a chicken!!” He cringed as soon as he felt that little strand plucked out as he gave you a rare look of mild annoyance which looked beautiful with his flushed cheeks. You almost felt guilty for being so mean to him, but the tsundere in you was telling you that he deserved it for making you love him so much.

But the guilt was winning as you took it down a notch, “Okay Kiri… I believe you…” Your voice softened a bit, and Kirishima wasn’t sure whether to feel comfortable or nervous since he’s learned to predict how unpredictable you could be. It didn’t help when you put your hand on his shoulder, “I suppose you’re only a chicken if you can’t fight against villains like you have… so… okay… you’re not a chicken… and you don’t HAVE to watch the movie if you don’t want to… and I’ll just make fun of you in private to the girls in the locker room.” You sounded a little bit gentle, and you smiled when you saw Kirishima perk up a bit when you took back the ‘chicken’ insult, but instantly he pouted at the last thing you said.

You always did this. But it’s not like he hated it, he actually liked the attention you gave him and you were nice to him at times, which he really liked because it proved what he thought about you. That you were actually pretty cool and that you had a heart underneath all the jokes. But, he couldn’t quite let you win, or get away with calling him chicken.

“Heh. There won’t be any need for that, I’ll prove that I’m no chicken! Scary movies are nothing! I mean… a real man isn’t afraid of a little movie… I’m man enough to watch this!” He was up for this challenge, well… not really, but he’d prove that he could be manly and take a scary movie! It was just a movie! Nothing in them were real… and he knew it!

But you couldn’t help but smirk when he was finally on board, and disregarded the fact that a few of your other classmates… particularly Izuku, Uraraka, Kouda, Jirou and Mineta weren’t really on board. And Sero and Kaminari finally succeeded in getting Bakugou to very reluctantly agree just so they would stop bugging him.

“Perfection…” You resisted the urge to do a ‘villain laugh’ as soon as it was all set in stone for tonight…

4 HOURS LATER at 7 pm…

“Okay…” You were getting the movie ready as you clicked on the remote, “I’m telling you guys right now. That this movie inspired me to pretty much NEVER go anywhere where there’s mountains in my life… after this, you’ll understand why I’m never going anywhere that’s too dark again.” You were kind of exaggerating, but at the same time you kind of meant what you were saying since… the movie kinda traumatized you when you were younger.

Only a few of your classmates took your warning seriously, but Bakugou thought you were being stupid as he scoffed. However, Kirishima sat beside him and he was already looking very nervous and appeared to believe every word you were saying…

What in the world was in this movie to make you stay away from dark places and mountains…?

“There can be revelry in the dark you know?” Tokoyami asked you, but you just chuckled a little bit, “Maybe for you… because the dark is your advantage but… I ain’t never stepping foot into a pitch black place again… not after this movie…” You gave your cryptic explanation, which did nothing to ease your more nervous friends.

“I-It’s that bad…?” Uraraka sounded concerned, and she was just as scared as Izuku and Kirishima was. While horror movies didn’t freak her out that bad, some of them still scared her. And you nodded as you turned the lights off, “Oh… it’s bad…”

Kirishima put his brave face on, even though everything you said wasn’t making him feel any less nervous, “I’m sure it’s not that bad… we can handle anything! Nothing’s too scary for heroes!” He declared optimistically, and you couldn’t help but smile, he was so sweet it was perfect that you chose this movie to scare the Mr. Bojangles out of him…

“Yeah, yeah just start the fucking thing already!” Bakugou was getting impatient though, and demanded that you start the damn thing as you scoffed and just started the movie, “All right already! Keep your panties on…” You muttered under your breath, but that didn’t escape Bakugou’s surprisingly sharp hearing.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

You had to cover your mouth to quell your snickers as Kirishima managed to calm down the blonde to get him to shut up when the movie started…

50 MINUTES LATER…

The claustrophobic setting was enough to unnerve your classmates as they watched rather intently and felt nervous for the women in the film.

Mineta at first was excited because there was mostly women in the movie, but as soon as thing were getting intense he was shaking like a leaf, and he practically fainted as soon as Holly broke her leg in a rather graphic manner.

But Aoyama actually fainted as soon as he saw Holly’s leg bone sticking out after falling and breaking it, which urged a rather frantic Iida to quickly to lie the boy down with his head on a pillow until he woke up. Similarly, Jirou had to look away as the graphic sight alone made her feel nauseous, and neither Sero or Ojiro fared much better as Sero covered his mouth and averted his gaze from the scene, and Ojiro nearly gagged the more he focused on the bone and blood…

Much to your immense amusement, even if you did feel bad for Aoyama. You certainly didn’t expect anyone to faint. Sick at best, but not enough to faint…

“Oh that’s nasty…” Kaminari didn’t feel as sick as Jirou or Ojiro did but it was clear he couldn’t look at it either, “Eek!” Mina had squealed and closed her eyes once that part came on and practically held a disgusted and mildly frightened Yaoyorozu, “I-It’s okay Ashido… it’s not real…” She tried to comfort the girl, and kind of felt really horrible for Holly even if she was just a fictional character. The injury looked horrible…

Izuku, shockingly wasn’t the most horrified since he’s suffered injuries not unlike that before, but seeing it on someone else was still alarming and frightening to look at. And Uraraka gasped and involuntarily hid her face in Izuku’s shoulder. But then they both gasped heavily at the sudden close contact and pulled away, averting each other’s gazes and blushing darkly. Beside them Todoroki didn’t seem disinterested, if anything he seemed pretty focused on the movie even if that injury was a little bit hard to look at.

“That’s inaccurate. You’re supposed to set the bone once before you splint it in place.” He stated what he knew about injuries based on his own training and what his shitty old man had taught him. “You’re never ever try to reinsert a protruding bone from an open fracture like that.” Yaoyorozu backed up his claim, which made you kinda giggle at how much these two knew.

“Heh… the least movies can do is use correct medical knowledge eh?” You wondered after listening to them, but you were distracted when you saw Kirishima shivering as he tried to not focus so much on how graphic that injury as he gulped hard and resisted any part of him that felt nauseous or sick after seeing… bone… blood… and Holly screaming when they tried to reset the bone…

He swallowed whatever was in his throat and tried rising back up, gagging quietly as you tried your hardest not to snicker at the poor thing. He was so freaked out…

And this wasn’t even the best part.

You heard a sharp gasp though from Kirishima as soon as Sarah saw some kind of creature in the cave, and he was trembling all over again. He knew what that meant, and he wasn’t looking forward to what was happening next, he knew a jump scare was coming soon.

“Y-You all saw that right…?” He asked nervously as many of his classmates made little mumbles of acknowledgement, “Who couldn’t have seen that idiot?” Bakugou rolled his eyes at how clearly scared his friend was, even if he wouldn’t admit that this movie was… surprisingly hardcore, the injury looked pretty real, so real it actually made him cringe the first time he saw it…

“Hehe… don’t worry Kirishima…” You smiled and placed your hand on the redhead’s shoulder, scooting closer to him even when he tried to stop shaking so badly and gulped hard. Was this your plan? To scare him? He was starting to wonder. He wanted to avoid watching any of the more unnerving parts, but he couldn’t since you were right next to him, and making sure he WAS watching it…

And you resisted the urge to snicker like a maniac when you saw that Kirishima wasn’t the only one trying to not watch the movie. Shoji averted his eyes every now and then whenever something disturbing showed up, he didn’t dare look at Holly’s broken leg and Satou was too frightened to eat the sweets he had in preparation for this movie. While Kouda was covering his ears and had his eyes closed as he trembled where he sat next to a rather calm, collected Tokoyami, who was clearly enthralled by the movie.

“How have I never seen this movie? The dark, suffocating atmosphere is frighteningly realistic in that setting…” He thought outloud, obviously approving of your movie choice as you giggled a little bit, “It’s different from other horror movies I’ve seen, but in a good way. It’s not cliché at all.” Tsuyu agreed with Tokoyami and looked just as interested as she did, and you couldn’t help but smile proudly. “Told ya it was good. And this ain’t even the best part.” That piqued some of your classmates interest and dread.

“W-What’s the best part…?” Kirishima asked you nervously, his form quivering as you gave him that insidious grin you were infamous for. “If I told you it’d take away from it Kiri…” You used a cutesy voice even though Kirishima knew better, especially at this moment where he figured out your evil plan…

He shouldn’t have been watching, he should have actually just said ‘no’ to this movie instead of pretending to not be scared. Even though he thought ‘what kind of man is too scared to watch a movie?’. It was conflicting and embarrassing, especially now that you were seeing him all freaked out over a little movie…

You almost felt bad when you saw how scared he was getting, but after 5 more minutes in you noticed just how dark the room was, thanks to the sun setting and making the room nearly black and only the light on the TV allowed you to see most of your classmates getting nervous as they focused on the scene involving the dead animal bones…

A wide grin found its way on your lips as the ‘best part’ came up…

At least 10 of your classmates let out shrieks of terror as soon as the ugly cave monster showed up, and a few had jumped out of their seats from fear.

“AAAAAHHH!”

“IT’S IN THE CAVE!!”

“RUN OUT OF THERE!!

“EEEEEEK!”

“WHERE’D IT GO?!”

“OH MY GOD!!”

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!”

“OH SHIT!!”

You laughed outloud as your classmates all shouted almost as if they were in the movie and as if the women could actually hear them, and identified Mina and Kirishima as the loudest screamers when you saw Mina practically hiding behind the couch and Kirishima was shaking in his seat and you swore you saw tears in his eyes. The poor thing did not exactly have what you would call a manly scream and you were loving it. Sadistic as it was, you felt successful in ‘getting back at him’ for making you love him, and at the same time you felt kind of horrible…

“Are you okay…?” This time, you didn’t sound like you were teasing him, you were concerned since he looked pretty scared.

“I-I… I think I peed a little bit…” He said in a somewhat shaky voice, and you tried your hardest to not snicker in amusement as you tried to soothe his nerves and rub his back gently, “Don’t worry buddy it’s all a movie…” As much as you loved how this turned out, you were starting to feel a little worse by the moment.

“I nearly wet my pants…” Sero then spoke up as he trembled where he sat, and Kaminari promptly scooted away from him. “I guess… I wouldn’t blame you…” However, he was just as terrified as his friend was. If he were in that situation, he would have freaked out just like the women did.

But before anyone could relax, the creature showed up yet again and everyone was on edge yet again now that the monsters were there to make the movie all the more horrifying.

Aoyama finally came to from where he lied, sitting up and rubbing his head with a low groan, “W-What did I miss…?” He asked, and as soon as he saw the screen featuring Holly getting her throat torn and ripped apart, he fainted yet again much to Iida’s distress as he jumped a little bit at the scene himself.

Wow, it was that scary to everyone?

Well, Tsuyu, Tokoyami and Bakugou still looked pretty entertained. In fact, the latter was smirking and legitimately entertained as soon as Juno began fighting that ugly fucker.

Of course you expected those three to be comfortable watching a horror movie, but everyone else, especially Izuku, Uraraka and Kirishima looked like they weren’t going to get any sleep tonight. And it got worse as soon as Sarah was forced to watch the monsters eat Holly’s corpse in all it’s gory glory complete with the sickening sounds of flesh being torn and stripped by the creature’s sharp teeth.

Uraraka and Izuku practically squealed in unison as they trembled and turned away with their eyes shut, wondering why did they actually stay and watch this with everyone. Kirishima held back the scream creeping in his throat, at least until he thought bile was rising up and he gagged a little bit. You should have been amused but you weren’t…

‘Aww man… I can’t be happy when he’s like this…’

You thought guiltily as you sighed and put your hand on the redhead’s shoulder, which made him gasp sharply due to that sudden touch startling him, “(Y-Y/N…?”

“Dude… if it’s too much you don’t have to watch… I promise not to mock you behind your back if you do…” You weren’t playing or anything, and Kirishima could tell, “What…? Hehe… I-I’m all right really… it’s like you said it’s just a movie…” He nervously forced a small laugh and crooked grin, “I’m not a chicken after all…”

Kirishima claimed and tried to look brave… for about 5 seconds until he saw Sam and Rebecca get ambushed by one of the monsters in a jump scare that made him jump in his seat and let out a scream, “O-Okay fine I’m a chicken!” This time, he did turn away with his eyes downcast and looking miserable as he started mentally beating himself up and calling himself a coward for letting a little movie scare him. Part of him wanted to cry, but he refused, no way he’d look even more like a wuss in front of you. 

He was such a loser. This was so unmanly in every way possible, and on top of that you were there to see him act like such a wuss. Kirishima always knew he was a bit of a wuss when it came to these kind of things, but he thought he could brave it, he really did…

‘What have I done?! Oh Kirishima… no matter what I do I can’t shake these feelings off, and now I feel horrible!’

“Eijiro.”

Kirishima perked up as soon as he heard you say his name, and your heart was beating at what you were about to do next, but you couldn’t stand to see him like this. “C’mere you doofus…” Quietly and discreetly you placed your lips on his forehead which made him perk up and freeze, his cheeks turning as red as his hair as he stared at you wide-eyed in extreme surprise.

“W-Wha… w-wha-what… w-was…?” He didn’t mean to stutter, but he definitely did not expect you to do that as you pouted and blushed heavily. “I’m sorry okay? I didn’t think this movie would freak you out that much…” You muttered and he blushed even more, looking away in shame as you put your hand on his face to make him look at you.

“Admitting you’re chicken is manly though… don’t feel so bad just because you find it scary. I’m still afraid of the freaking dark because of this movie… the only reason I’m not scared is because I’m so close to you…” That sounded kinda sappy, but you meant what you said as you tried not to smile when you saw Kirishima’s look of surprise.

He was touched though, and felt a beam of happiness beginning to blossom in his heart as he smiled wide, “You… you mean that?” He asked somewhat bashfully, and you rolled your eyes a little bit.

“Yes you mook… I really do. And the truth is… argh… dammit… I like you stupid…!” You whispered to him as your whole face burned, and your heart beating out of your chest now that you finally admitted it. Kirishima somehow looked even more surprised, part of him always thought that maybe you had a thing for him, but now this was confirmation that you definitely did…

And he couldn’t help the grin rising on his lips as he pulled you in for a hug, smiling that smile that you fell in love with, “Hahaha! W-Wow um... I... you know I have to be honest I... I like you too (Y/N)! I think you’re pretty awesome…. And seriously manly… to be able to watch a movie like this… and for other reasons too but… yeah I… I like you too…” He blushed and sounded a little shyer when he said the ‘L’ word to you, as he truly did return your feelings and you were just… so happy…

You almost completely forgot about the movie as you smiled warmly and hugged him back. “Good… that is exactly how I feel about you too… you’re the manliest guy I’ve ever met you know that?” Deciding to go soft, you smiled when you saw his smile brightening, but before he could squeeze you affectionately, he made the mistake of looking at the movie when a loud monster screech startled him and made him and his classmates nearly all scream and he did squeeze you… out of terror and he practically clung to you like a sloth to a tree.

At first you were shocked, but then you quickly snickered at his reaction and loved how his arms felt around you as you patted him on the head, kinda stroking the spikes a little bit. “(Y/N)’s got you…” A little condescendingly you spoke to him a soft tone, which made him kinda pout as he made sure to avoid watching the scarier parts while everyone was trembling in terror.

“A-Are you okay Ashido…?” Yaoyorozu asked Mina, who nodded despite her fear, “Y-Yeah… why…?”

“W-We heard you scream just now…” Jirou replied shortly afterwards, but was surprised at Mina’s confused look, “That wasn’t me…” Mina, for once didn’t scream at that last part since she had gotten used to the atmosphere. But everyone knew what Jirou was saying, because after seeing the jump scare featuring Rebecca getting her stomach torn and eaten alive by the monsters they heard someone shriek…

Very femininely and high-pitched…

“Huh? Then who screamed? Uraraka?” Kaminari looked to see the girls, but all of them were shaking their heads because they had held their tongues to avoid embarrassing themselves. “It was very girly sounding…” Despite not getting an answer, Kaminari just snickered a bit and everyone didn’t see Todoroki staring down at his lap and silently blushing as he made sure to avoid seeing anymore of the movie.

You saw. Because it was your job to make sure everyone was watching the movie, and you didn’t expect Todoroki Shouto to scream like a little girl, or Kirishima, the love of your life to hold you so tightly as his grip on you didn’t loosen in the slightest as you held him close and practically cuddled him. 

Boy this night was turning out better than you thought…

25 MINUTES LATER…

The ending credits came on and you were a mix of amused, ecstatic and enamored as you didn’t let go of Kirishima, just in love with how soft yet firm he felt thanks to all those muscles on him that you found ridiculously attractive and tempting to just touch, and now you were feeling them up so close. It was like a muscular teddy bear you just wanted to sleep with in bed and never let go. And you had seen what he looked like under the clothes

However, his grip on you slowly loosened now that the movie was over but he still looked a little unnerved after everything he had to see.

“Soooooo… what did you guys think?!” You excitedly asked your friends and classmates, but many of them were rather… shell-shocked, with only Tokoyami, Tsuyu and Bakugou appearing the most entertained.

“That actually wasn’t a shitty movie after all.” Bakugou looked surprisingly calm as he approved of your movie choice, and you actually smiled. “Yeah I liked it a lot. It was one of the better horror movies I’ve seen in a while.” Tsuyu was next to say how much she enjoyed the movie and Tokoyami nodded besides her. “That was brilliant. I enjoyed every moment of it. I agree with Asui, it’s a lot better compared to the more modern horror movies.”

Their approval made you start to smile a little more smugly than you wanted to, “Hehe… why thanks~.” You giggled a little bit, but everyone else…

“T-That… t-hat… w-w-a-was… horrifying…” Izuku barely managed to get his words out as he and Uraraka were still trembling on the couch they were on. “I don’t want to go visit the mountains anymore…”

“I-It’s only a movie! It’s fictitious and there is no such thing as cave monsters!” Iida tried to make his friends feel better, but you just smiled at him.

“You don’t know that Iida… I mean not all caves are explored… who knows what’s in there? There just might be a cave monster somewhere around the world.” You didn’t help at all and added to the fear as many of the others started to tremble.

“She has a point…” Todoroki didn’t want to believe it, but this movie was… surprisingly and legitimately frightening. He didn’t want to imagine getting stuck in a mountain and suffocating from the lack of oxygen while something is potentially lurking in the dark.

“I-I’m sleeping with my lights on tonight…” Aoyama said what the rest of the Dekusquad was thinking, now that they had the wits scared out of them.

“Momo… can you please make me a night light…?” Mina asked Yaoyorozu because that movie seriously freaked her out, “M-Me too…?” Kaminari quickly asked right after Mina did, but the sweet Yaoyorozu did agree to make them some lights for tonight…

You didn’t know whether to be amused or kinda guilty. “Um… you don’t think this movie’s gonna scar anyone for life do you…?” You asked a shaky Kirishima, “I… I don’t think so…” He didn’t sound confident at all as you nervously smiled…

“BOO!”

Kirishima suddenly screamed and many of his classmates followed short when they heard him, and he jumped fearfully. But you had no idea who did that… at least until you heard your friend laughing.

“Hee-hee-hee! Sorry! I couldn’t really resist…” Hagakure was giggling, but nobody could see her so that definitely means she had stripped to be completely invisible. “Ahahaha! Nice one…” You approved of her little joke even when a few of your classmates were shouting at you for starting them, and Kirishima was trembling where he stood.

Smiling, you went over to him and held his hand to take him to his dorm-room, “C’mon…”

Kirishima let you lead him because he was honestly really scared now that he saw everything from that movie and some of the images and scenes weren’t going to leave his head for a while. He couldn’t stop thinking about it now… the blood, the cave-in, the monsters, the women screaming…

Even when it was time for him to go to bed he couldn’t really get them out of his head, and you knew this. So that’s why you were staying with him even when he got in his pajamas and lied in his bed, unwilling to turn the lights off and he almost freaked out when you were about to.

“Don’t!” He suddenly yelled, and you were honestly surprised…

Was he that scared?

Now you really felt bad. “Oh Kiri… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” You smiled a little sadly, turning off the light as he gasped and tried his hardest not to look so alarmed as you made your way over to him on his bed. “I’m sorry for calling you chicken…” You patted him gently on the back, and he blushed a little bit at how close you were but your comfort was making him feel a little bit better.

“Nah… it’s okay… you weren’t wrong, I should have just owned up to being a chicken…” Kirishima admitted to that, and felt bad for lying about since lying was not a manly thing to do at all. “You’re the cutest chicken ever. And besides… you’re not chicken at all where it counts.” You kissed him on the cheek, reminding him of the villains he’s fought against, and his bravery when he and Izuku went to go rescue Bakugou.

And Kirishima couldn’t help but grin shyly with a pink blush on his cheeks, “Awww… thanks!” He beamed as he actually kissed you on the forehead in return, which made you freeze and blush heavily as you let out a rather dorky, giddy little giggle…

“Uh… this might sound kinda lame but… do you mind… staying the night?” Kirishima then sounded shy upon asking you that, and you were still in a bit of shock from the kiss, but you nonetheless grinned and happily nodded. “I don’t mind at all~!” You said happily as the two of you exchanged big smiles and an equally big hug.

It took a while for him to actually go to sleep, but you were next to him in bed and the dark felt a little less scary.

You on the other hand, weren’t scared at all. You succeeded in getting the boy you loved close to you. Sure, you might have had to scare the pants off of him, but he was all yours now.

BONUS ENDING…

“Good morning cla-…”

Aizawa didn’t expect to walk into his classroom to see almost all of his students asleep on their desks. The ones who were awake looked a mix of exhausted and terrified with their eyes wide, droopy and bloodshot. And the only ones who were awake at all were you, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Tsuyu and Bakugou.

His eyebrow twitched ever so slightly in irritation when he picked up on what could have happened, “That’s it… no more horror movies on a school night…”

Little did you know, Aizawa planned on finding that movie of yours and confiscating it, as to spare his students from being traumatized any further…

You wouldn’t mind. You were finally with the boy you loved.

HAPPY APRIL FOOLS TUMBLR~!!!!!! :D <3 :3 

[captainmarvels]

hesitate | steve harrington

Summary: Steve’s struggle with love has held him back from saying those three little words to you. But can you show him your love for each other is what he needs to save himself?

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!Reader

Word Count: 1445

A/N: Inspired by steve weekend, and ‘hesitate’ by the jonas brothers, enjoy this sad but sweet fic for our ice cream boy :’) 

masterlist | tag list

When they talk about love, they talk about the laughs that are shared; the contagious smiles that seem to never go away; and the never ending elated feeling your heart gets every time you bask in the warmth of their arms.

What they don’t talk about are the hard times; the moments where you don’t seem to listen to one another; where words come across in different meanings, and with different intentions; and the times where the love… is more pretending than real. 

For Steve, love had become tainted.

Ruined, if he was being honest.

Ever since Nancy, he’s found it harder to say those three little words; to even think about the idea of it. It wasn’t as easy as before - not that ever was easy, but he… well, he felt it once before, but now he just wasn’t so sure his heart could ever do it again.

Every part of him seemed to struggle with the awful weight of doubt that fell upon him in the months after the break-up. It was like being pulled underwater, his head never quite able to reach the surface for a sliver of air.

The idea of those words rolling off his tongue brought a sour taste to his mouth, his throat running dry as the thought even breached his mind. 

But how could he still feel this way - carry this heavy, heart wrenching pain crushing his heart when he has you? 

You.

The moment you came into his life, he was lifted from the waters pulling him back; the breaths of air he had been chasing after for so long filled his lungs, liberating him from his pain; his misery. 

Almost.

Even though everything was easy and right with you, more right than anything ever before; there was no way he was putting his heart on the line like that again.

He couldn’t face the pain again; the never ending ache in his heart, the numbness of his mind. It was dark, painful hole he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy - and Billy definitely deserved it, sometimes.

Steve just couldn’t do it. The doubt, the fear, the never ending anxiety; it would be all too consuming, and he wasn’t sure he’d make it out again.

One night, it got to him. 

He never gave those feelings much thought - he always pushed them away, wishing he could just bury all that he was holding and never look back. 

But that day had just been too much.

It had been a crappy start at the ice cream parlor, no thanks to his shitty dad who was trying to ‘teach him a lesson’, and the long line of customers whose orders he just couldn’t seem to get right. After that, he had gotten into an argument with Dustin and Max, and he definitely said some things he didn’t mean. 

The regret and frustration filling up his mind was pushing him to the brink, and Billy did nothing but add to it.

Steve had been walking back to his car in the StarCourt parking lot, when he spotted Billy across the aisles of parked cars.

“Harrington, for the love of god, get rid of that piece of shit!” He shouted, nodding in the direction of Steve’s car. He was lighting up his cigarette as he slowly made his way over to him, his eyes gleaming.

“Did you hear me, pretty boy?” 

“Yeah, Billy, I did, I’m not in the mood to-”

“To what? We’re just talkin’, Harrington, unless you had something else in mind-” As Billy reached his hand out, Steve smacked it away, pushing past Billy to get to the front.

Billy rolled his eyes, put his hand on Steve’s shoulder, and pushed him against the side of the car.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch me, Harrington,” He said, eyes dark with anger as he tightened his grip on Steve.

He knew he shouldn’t have done it, but it was just all too much for him to control his actions at that point. 

Balling up his hands, he hit Billy square in the jaw, causing him to stagger back against the other car. As its alarms started going off, distracting Billy even more, Steve got into his car, locked the doors, and backed out of the parking spot without even glancing back. 

When he found himself pulling into your driveway, he couldn’t help the steady stream of tears falling down his cheeks as he turned his car off. 

He slowly made his way to your front door, his head hung low, and his breath labored as he tried to calm himself down.

But it was no use.

As soon as you opened the door, heard his sniffling, and pulled him into your arms, Steve lost it. Sobs began to rack his body, his arms snaking their way around your waist, gripping the back of your t-shirt as he let it all out.

You slowly walked back into the living room, barely managing to kick the door shut before making it to the couch, where you sat down, and brought Steve with you. 

He curled up next to you, his head on his lap, and his arms still tightly wrapped around you. Slowly combing your fingers through his hair, you took a few deep breaths, trying your best to regain some composure. 

It hurt you so much to see Steve like this - vulnerable, and hurting, with no words to explain how he felt. You knew it was hard for him to open up after Nancy, and you understood why - if you were him, you would never want to trust anyone ever again, no matter what.

But you also knew at some point, you had to know. You couldn’t just sit idly by, never knowing if Steve was ever going to trust you enough; love you enough. 

It was equal parts on you as it was on him to stop hesitating; to stop the doubt and the pain before it became too much.

As you took one last deep breath, you pushed back some stray pieces of hair that had fallen over Steve’s face. His eyes were closed, his crying reduced to broken sobs and sniffles, and his arms still holding onto you desperately.

Letting your hands gently cradle his head, you leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to the top of his forehead. 

“If only I could read your mind,” You whispered, a sad smile appearing as you spoke. “Then I could map out all the ways to make things right. I promise we’ll figure this out, Steve. I know you’re scared, and I get it, I do. But just know, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I’m on your side, no matter what.”

You stifled a sob that was threatening to slip out, hoping you wouldn’t give in just yet.

“Time only heals if we work through it now. So lay it on me - everything you’re holding, everything you’ve been keeping to yourself since the start. I’ll be there to catch you when you fall. Just like right now,” 

A few tears had slipped down your cheeks, landing right on Steve’s nose. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced up at you as you continued to speak.

“I’d do anything for you. God, all I want to do is take this pain, everything that’s been hurting you for so long… I just want to take it all away from you. I will put it on my heart if I have to, for you. No hesitation.” 

When you look down, you see Steve smiling at you, his eyes red and puffy from crying, and a few stray tears falling down his face.

“Oh, Steve,” You mumbled, your tears gracefully falling down your cheeks as you pulled him into your chest. He squeezed you tightly before sitting up, and pulling you into his arms. 

He didn’t know what to say in that moment, so he cupped your face gently and kissed you with every ounce of love he had for you. 

You kissed him back, gently pulling away so you could hug him again. He chuckled softly, rubbing your back as he swallowed his nerves.

“I love you,” He said proudly, his smile growing wide as you sat back and he looked at him in awe. “I love you… so, so damn much. I thank the universe for giving me you, and I don’t know how I will ever thank you for loving me,”

You smiled, wiping away the tears that betrayed the love and joy you were feeling. Resting your hand on his chest, just above his heart, you whispered.

“No need for thanks, Steve. You already have my heart.”

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