#my friends were my life savers they made me feel so good and loved yesterday

[quindolyn]

subby Jamie fluffy (Smut?) where he wakes up in the middle of the night and sucks on the readers titties to drink from her tits because she's lactating after giving birth to their daughter. I don't know if this makes sense but I hope it does!

Lactation Kink || James Potter

A/N: I'm not even sure if I should include "kink" but I will admit that there are some very smutty overtones so read at your own discretion. I tweaked the request a little bit in terms of the circumstances but the bones are still there. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: lactation kink, light sub!James and Dom!reader, not much I don't think, all acts are completely consensual and if they needed a safe word they'd have one

Word Count: 1851

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were life savers. They could only watch their two closest friends creep closer and closer to death for so long before doing something about it.

After giving birth to a beautiful baby boy seven months ago you and James had come to understand a new definition of the word exhaustion. You were absolutely enamoured with your baby boy, James the same way if not worse, always keeping him cradled in his arms, Harry’s little head nestled into the crook of James’ arm.

Regardless, there is no amount of parental love to counteract the complete lack of sleep the two of you have endured. “Sleep when the baby sleeps” they all say, it's excellent in theory if only the baby would actually sleep.

No, instead you and James were subject to months of newborn induced insomnia,

You’d barely understood what Remus and Sirius were saying when they offered to watch your son for a few days, give you and James some time alone. Even though every part of your being screamed for you to take them up on their offer there was that small, annoyingly persistent, voice in the back of your head. The voice of maternal guilt.

Your friends wouldn’t hear any of your arguments, listening as you insisted that Harry was still far too young for you to leave him, you could barely stand a few hours, how were you supposed to survive days?

Despite your insistence that it was far too early to leave Harry with his godfathers for an extended weekend when the following Thursday rolled around you and James were rather unceremoniously kicked out of your own house, told that reservations had been made for you at an expensive spa and resort and that you were not to return home until the following Monday.

They’d even packed your bags for you.

You and James had successfully made it through the first night away from your baby, your quality of your sleep however was not up to par as you tossed and turned, worrying about the little boy you’d left at home.

Even cuddled up to Jamie’s chest your sleep was more like a light sheet over your consciousness giving you a shallow, unsatisfactory, reprieve.

What you needed was for sleep to hit you over the head with a baseball bat, knock you unconscious for hours and give your body time to recover.

After a long, exhausting day of taking advantage of the resort's numerous spa treatments, your wish of deep, meaningful sleep seemed as though it might actually just come true.

Minutes after laying your head down on the pillow, James slipping into bed behind you, you were out cold. Pulling you closer so that he could bury his face in the crook of your neck James was close behind you.

Finally, sleep.

-----

Your tits hurt, they fucking hurt. You were finally getting some quality sleep but the discomfort in your chest became intolerable and you were lulled back into a dreaded state of consciousness.

You’d been so ready for sleep and the peace that it would bring that you’d forgotten to pump your milk before getting into bed. You find yourself regretting that decision now, you shift slightly in James’ hold, just as tight as it had been when you’d fallen asleep. The clock on the bedside table reads three in the morning.

Fuck me, you think, your thoughts still blurry from sleep, carrying a weight in your temples that lures your head back down to the pillow as you fall back into your spot in James’ arms. You’re going to have to get up eventually, that much you understand, but the prospect of getting up and finding the pump, hooking it up, then actually sitting there while you pump sounds nothing short of absolutely dreadful.

You can only lay there for so long, on your back so as not to apply any pressure to your breasts, staring up at the ceiling before your tits go from hurting to feeling like they’re about to explode.

Eventually you’re forced to begin to fuss in James’ arms, trying to find the seal that will let you get up hopefully without waking your husband.

Even asleep James’ grip is insistent, he’s like quick sand, the more you try to maneuver your way out of his arms the tighter his hold gets, the closer he pulls you to him.

“Jamie, you gotta let go,” You murmur, hoping to appeal to the half asleep man.

“Where you going, angel?” His voice is the crashing of a wave against the shore in your ears, low, rumbling, calming. That voice alone is enough to have you considering just climbing back into bed with him, exploding tits be damned.

“Forgot to pump Jamie, m’tits feel like they’re ready to explode.”

He flickers his eyes open, worry etched into his irises, already blanketed in sleep, “Hurting?” Raising his head his eyes drop to your tits, like maybe he’ll be able to see your affliction.

“A little bit,” You nod, your hands combing through his unruly curls before making another attempt to rise from the mattress, “Gonna pump and then I’ll feel all better. I’ll be quick.”

“No,” He whines, god you miss the sound of his whine. His arms are like steel as he pulls you firmly back onto the bed, “M’thirsty anyways.”

Confusion heightens in you before James turns you so you’re fully on your back before slipping under your arm, resting his head on your chest.

Nimble fingers find the neckline of the silk camisole you’d found in the luggage Remus and Sirius had packed for you, sons of bitches also packed every single pair of lacy panties you own.

With little difficulty he slips the thin strap down your shoulder allowing him to tuck the soft material of the top under your breast.

“Miss my girls,” He whispers as he bares your breasts, they’re swollen with milk but the way he’s looking at you you’d think they were something far more precious.

“I’ll be gentle,” His promise comes just as he latches onto your pert nipple, carefully guarding his teeth with his lips, the last thing he would wanna do is hurt you.

It bears little resemblance to the way he used to suck your tits, fervently like they were the only things keeping him grounded, sometimes they had been. Now he proceeds with a new sense of caution but that doesn’t mean it’s any less pleasurable.

“Jamesie, ‘s for Harry, you can’t drink the baby’s milk,” You regrettably push him off your tit, he looks anything but pleased.

“They were mine first,” He whines, throwing you a dirty glance that falls completely flat given the immense adoration that lies just behind it, “And I told you (Y/N), ‘m thirsty, want your milk. Wanna make you feel good.”

Giving you his most convincing puppy dog eyes he leans back in, he latches on efficiently and sucking with an increased vigor you feel a feeling of fullness swell in your breast as your nipple tingles. It’s a feeling you’ve gotten used to but so rarely has it ever turned you on as when James is the cause of it.

He hums in satisfaction as the warm milk seeps into his mouth, it encourages him in his efforts causing him to latch on tighter. A little too tight.

“Easy there baby,” You hiss, “M’tits are sensitive.”’

He complies immediately, loosening his lips around your nipple the sensation becomes pleasurable once more. The pleasure helps distract from the discomfort which, at least in the tit James it latched onto, seems to be dwindling. The other breast is left aching until you feel a similar sensation coming from your nipple.

“You’re leaking.”

Casting your eyes downward you see that he’s right, you’re leaking slightly out of your unattended nipple. It's not unusual for it to happen but usually you just brush it away with a warm washcloth, not wanting to have a sticky mess on your chest.

Carefully, he brushes the pad of his thumb over the over sensitive bud.

“Can’t let it go to waste,” He brings his thumb to his mouth to suck it clean, the visual is almost enough to make your head spin.

You can’t remember the last time you saw James subby, ever since you’ve had Harry it's been sleepy handjobs and once you fully recovered, him pushing you up anywhere he could and taking you right there. It’s like parenthood awoke something far more dominant inside of him but as he latches back onto your tit you’re reminded how beautiful he is when he submits to you.

You wrap your arms around his neck, letting your fingers dance along the nape of his neck as you feel yourself unwinding with every second he sucks at your tit, bringing you relief.

“You full yet?”

He gently lets your tit slide from his mouth before responding, “Does it still hurt?”

The genuine concern in his voice has butterflies erupting in your stomach, you learned a long time ago just how sweet and caring James is but sometimes it hits you harder than you were expecting and you’re left feeling just as giddy as you did in the beginning of your relationship.

James seems to have sucked you dry, or at least to a point where your tit no longer burns with the feeling of an impending explosion.

“No s’all better baby, did such a good job,” You guide his face up towards yours, “Got a little milk on your lips,” You lean in, kissing the milk off his swollen lips.

It’s sweeter than you expected but maybe everything was sweeter coming off his lips.

You take your time admiring his face, hazel eyes that look a little more brown than they did yesterday, lips an impossible pink. Thick, long lashes you remember envying for as long as you’ve known each other cast their shadows along his cheekbones. He’s perfect.

You run the pad of your thumb along his bottom lip before letting him suck it into his mouth, when he couldn’t get to your tits sucking on your fingers always used to help James calm down. For the life of you you can’t remember the last time he’d sucked on your fingers. If it’d been in the last seven months you’d probably just been too tired to remember.

Letting your digit slide from his mouth James hauls himself over you, careful not to brush against your breasts, to lay on your other side. He moves with a surprising grace considering just minutes ago he’d been in the throws of sleep, you’d forgotten how well he moved.

“Other one now,” He murmurs, eyes glued to your tit as his hands move to cup it, giving him better access to your nipple.

“You sure baby? I can just pump this one and you can go back to bed, s’okay.”

“No,” His brows furrow with his empathic response, if he wasn’t already on top of you you’re sure he’d pull you closer in fear that you might escape, “Mine.”

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[mywritingonlyfans]

Angst fic with Damiano David

prompt: a angsty about reader being sad (dami bff) 'cause damiano doesn't feel the same way romantically. ps. there's a lot of victoria de angelis being a angel in this fic, and it's basically about reader going through it.

warnings: none? it's just a bit sad and longer than usual.

 All the soft touches still tingled all over your body. His scent was until now stuck to you, you never thought you’d feel happy to have woody essence along with cigarette smoke on you. 

 Folding the sleeve of his sweater, you put your tea in one of the cups you always use when you were there. His cotton piece was comfortable, making you didn't regret wearing it in the morning; it was cold and wearing your tank top from the night before didn't feel right. The shorts from yesterday, that were making your legs freeze were enough trouble for you to handle. The remnants of your clothes and belongings were collected from the floor of his room and placed carefully on his headboard, you made sure you were being quiet. Damiano has always been a heavy sleeper, but your counscious prevented you from risking disturbing him when he looks so peaceful. You had already spent much time at his place so you memorized where every thing in his kitchen - and others rooms - was; baking eggs and making tea wasn’t a mystery for you. You had even separated a Tylenol tablet for Damiano, so he could have it with his tea when he woke up with a wicked hangover. He wasn't the type to get drunk and forget what he did, nor were you. Since when you were teenagers, you have gone out and been drunk together a lot of times, and although your feelings were already present, nothing never happened. This time, however, alcohol helped injecting a dose of courage on him. Being honest with yourself, you didn't remember who started it; but the kiss in the midst of the loud music, his hand on the back of your neck, the exchanging glances while dancing and the moment he took you home, they were pretty vividly in your mind. You still felt relaxed, as if his sweaty body was still over yours. Minutes with your eyes closed was enough to feel his eyes roaming your body all over again.

“Hi,” he said in a slurred voice, cutting off your line of thoughts. You jumped, briefly scared but soon turned your attention to reality; a tired Damiano scratching his eyes in front of you.

He was dressed, wearing sweatpants and sweatshirt, duly comfortable according to the weather. 

 “Headache?” You knew he was. He was always a good drinker, he put up with it a lot, but he was never one to get rid of the effects of alcohol on the next day. You, on the other hand, got on better with this issue; fortunately from the night before, only the good moments remained with you.

“Yeah, a bit,” he giggled. “What a night, I’d say.” He added, in a lower tone. What was acceptable, you also felt a bit weird to be in front of him.

“I got you some pills,” you pointed it out to him on the counter, trying to maintain a normal behavior; with no shacking voice or sweaty hands. Quite impossible. “I made tea too.”

“Dear God, you’re a life saver!” He smiled at you, eyes crinkled and all of his perfect teeth on display. Contagious.

You grinned, feeling your body getting lighter. “No worries. I’m glad to help.”

“Y’know, when I woke up and saw that you weren't there I thought you were gone. You know? Friendship destroyed and that whole thing. I’m happy to see you; relieved.” He took a sip of his tea, and maybe a bit of your heart with it. You were an explosion of feeling when it comes to him, you always have been. “That sweater looks good on you, you can keep it if you want. You know that’s my fave one.” And, yeah, you knew.

The tension on you was no longer intense, comforting you to let out the breath you were holding. “It’s good to hear that,” Your genuine smile managed to say many things, you wished Damiano had noticed you earlier on other occasions. “Do you remember that one time, when we were younger, that you were a bit crazy about a girl; Alice was his name.” You stopped; in need of air - nervous - and watched Dami's attentive face. “She was the first person to whom you dedicated a song, you played it to her at school break. The cutest thing I had ever seen. I think it was there that I realized, a little jealous—“

“Y/N,” his voice had been almost inaudible, causing no effect. Had he really tried?

“How in love I was with you.”

His face was paler than usual, he was paralyzed; speechless. You had never seen Damiano like this, the men was always all over the place in a sweet talkative mess.

It took a few minutes for you to be able to read his expressions and realize how fucked up you were. The dose of happiness in your blood had been able to manipulate you to believe in what you most wanted to happen.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” your blood had gone up to your ears, all you could pay attention to was the pressure in your head. How had you thought that after one specific night he would suddenly decide that he was in love with you? After all of this time that you were just a good friend for him? “I’m truly sorry but I’m don’t—“

“Feel the same way?” You finished. He nodded, apprehensively. You have never felt so stupid. It was a mixture of shame, fear and insecurity. You were unable to look directly at him, you knew that there was no change in following a friendship after what you just said, much less after the night before. You had never been so screwed.

“I’m the one who should be apologizing, I shouldn’t have said a thing.” You whispered, realizing that the lump in your throat had turned into tears that you didn't even know were running down your face.

“Come here,” he opened his arms, walking towards your emotionless frame. You allowed yourself to melt in his grip. 

 Your tears fell freely; you could even try to hold it back but there was no strength left for you to think about it. Your crying was silent, as was the kitchen room. Your head was full of questions and cursing at yourself. Suddenly you wished Damiano had yelled at you, asked you to get out of there or said he wouldn't never speak to you again. It seemed easier to deal with it in this alternative way than to have him comforting you for loving him. “Shh, it’ll alright. I could never be mad at you.”

He talked about your friendship, but you knew that nothing would end up well. Maybe for him. But for you? It’d not be that easy. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I should have known better, you were so loving with me last night that I thought— Fuck, we slept together. Which I know isn’t your fault because I don’t even remember who—“

“Stop, Y/N. Look at me,” He was being careful. You were making a person like Damiano calculate his words, that made you feel like pure shit. You stopped talking, looking at him was still difficult. He understood that you wouldn’t be doing so. “That’s fine. I don’t feel bad about you liking me in that way, you’re wonderful. I don't regret anything, last night was great, but I just... don't feel the same. I’d never do anything to hurt you. I can't even imagine how hard it’s being for you right now.” His words sounded sweet and sincere. He had tears in his eyes as well. His ability to be so empathetic to everyone was something you loved the most about him. He was probably killing himself on the inside for breaking you.

You nodded, leaning on the counter. You wanted to ask him if he remembered that he was your first kiss at the age of seven or all the times he sent you vinyl records with some message - that he had written himself - inside the cover. How did he not feel the same, shouldn't you be everything he wanted?

“Dami?” You sighed. Your eyes were red, your face probably swollen. You then looked straight at him; that surprisingly wasn’t much better than you. “Have you ever looked at me and seen me in another way? Something more than just your best friend?”

He didn’t say a thing, just look at you standing there. You get it.

“I think I should go,” You broke the silence that had been formed. You thought about taking his sweater off, but since you weren't wearing anything underneath, you thought it was better not; you’d have to go to his room to change, and then pick up your things only to delay your leaving.

“I can drive you home,” he said in a hush, looking for his car keys.

“It’s okay, a walk will be fine.”

“It’s fucking freezing outside, I can't let you walk over there like that.”

You ignored what he said, walking around the house to the front exit. He tried to grab your arm just for you to step back.

“I know you're just trying to help, but I need to be alone right now, without you near me.” You tried to say it in the most normal way possible, you didn't want to be mean, you only wanted to be fair to yourself.

“Sure.” It was the last thing you heard him say before you left, feeling the cold wind on your body. You didn't know if he had entered his house again or if he was watching you hug yourself as walking slowly to somewhere. You wouldn't dare to look back.

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

“C’mon girl, get up here,” Upon hearing the husky, strong voice, you were relieved. 

 Victoria wasn’t wearing her usual jewelry and looked like she had just been woken up by force. You weren’t as close to her as you were with the other boys, however, you had never been so happy to see her.

You got in her car. “Thank you,”

“God, you look terrible. You’re fine?” You looked at your reflection in the rearview mirror and well, fine was definitely something you didn't look like.

“Dami asked you to come and get me?” Your throat was scratching, it was difficult to speak.

“Yeah,” she looked at you quickly, but due to your discomfort she backed off. More tears would come. “He didn't say why though, he just said he needed someone to come to you before you froze to death.” She said it in a way that made you laugh, even with your eyes filled with tears. “Did the two of you have a disagreement? You don't have to answer me if you don't want to.”

“Something similar.” You said shakily; due to your crying and chilly. Inside the car was heated, but your body was so cold that it didn't seem to be enough. You tried to snuggle in the passenger seat, letting your head rest against the window like in a sad film. Maybe that’d help.

“Here,” she handed you a coat, without hesitation you took it. “I brought it to you in case you needed it.”

You nodded slowly. “Thank you, Victoria,”

“You can call me Vic, just like everyone else,” she laughed.

You gave her a half smile. “Okay then, thank you very much, Vic,”

The rest of the day would be crying while you curled up in your bed, you’d let yourself feel at your worst; promising that you would try and change that the next day.

———----------------------------------------------

You expected the first few days to be the hardest, but it seemed to get worse with each passing day. Damiano had tried to call you a few times and in all of them you responded dryly, using short words, pretending it’d be okay. You truly tried, but you needed time to process what happened. You told him that, and then time he gave you.

After completing a month of the incident, you noticed how 'dependent' you had become on him. He was always around since you were kids, any problem you had you would look for him to talk to, now you felt like you had nothing. Your friends were friends of his, too, more of his friends than yours. You missed having Thomas failing on teaching you how to play guitar on your couch and besides you thought about calling him - just to distract yourself - you remembered that he was more a friend of Damiano than yours. It’d be weird. None of them contacted you at that time, not even Thomas. You couldn't figure it out if Dami had told them what happened and they decided to give you space or if they just didn't care about you when you wasn’t around Damiano.

Basically, where Dami was you would be and vice versa. It had always been like that.

When you saw that just time wasn’t solving anything, you programmed yourself to live in a way that you were busy all the time. Your routine became work, home and most of the time taking the work to be done also in your home. You didn't feel energized to make new friends, and going out on dates could help momentarily but it wouldn't be fair to go out with someone in the ‘mood’ you were in; then these ideas were soon discarded. Sleeping was impossible, you spent hours rolling over in bed; both for the flashbacks that plagued your mind, but also for the fact that you missed him. The nights were worse when you visit your mother or when she called and said, "Dami never came to see me again." or something like. “Are you still talking to each other? We don't let someone like Damiano leave our lives.”

Deep down, you knew there was no way you could be in love with him forever and that no matter how much it hurt at that moment it would pass. You started to repeat it to yourself as much as you could, so when the boys got in touch with you again you didn't hesitate to answer. Nothing bad would happen, you just need to pretend to be fine. The first to send you a message was Thomas, with simple questions, he acted like nothing had happened, you liked it. Even though it was obvious that Thomas, as one of his boys, would know this in more detail than you did (which was a lie, but at least he knew how Damiano was feeling about it, which you wouldn't know). He updated you about Dami, who was great as always, and you said you were doing well when he asked. You answering him made Ethan talk to you too, although they were all polite and delicate, they seemed more to be sorry than to miss you. Pity wasn’t something you were expecting.

After five months, you still felt like crap. You had tried to stop counting the days that had passed since you last saw Damiano, but it was almost impossible. You could still remember that night vividly, but you were still trying your best to move on; leave it behind. Mysteriously, you wanted to see him, see how he was doing and find out if he had anything else to say but you were afraid to see him, go back to your place as his best friend just to realize that your feelings for him had not abated at all.

“...I haven't seen you in a while. I wonder if you're alright,” you heard when answering your phone. Your head hurt, your eyes stung. You had slept on spreadsheets that you brought home from your work.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Shit,” she murmured.

You looked at the phone screen. “Sorry Vic, I just woke up I'm still trying to copy.” You laughed to calm her down.

“I thought I didn't have my number,” her voice became softer, as if she was relieved that you had saved it. “I didn't want to wake you up, I'm sorry about that. I just wanted to know how you‘re doing, since I used to see you almost every day, y’know?”

You thought about saying that you saved her number the day Dami called to pick him up at a bar since his phone battery was dead and he was in no condition to drive, but Victoria clearly knew that. “Is Dami with you?”

“No,” her tone matched yours; Dami had told her, now she was being careful with her words. “I saved your number the day Dami needed to call you, in case I needed to call you again.”

“That’s alright, thanks for checking on me then.”

“But he would love to talk to you. He always asks the boys about you or comments on you so that someone can bring you up to the convo. He seems a bit lost when you not ‘round to be honest.”

Somehow hearing that made you happy. Still, the image of discomfort whenever you thought of talking to him scared you. The phone line was filled with silence, until Victoria's husky voice filled the line.

“Anyway, I didn't call you to talk about Damiano. We finally finished the album and decided to have a small celebration at my house,” you giggle at the formality. “We thought you should go, since you were present in more than half of the process. I‘d like you to come. We’d all like you to come.”

———

Your heart accelerated with each step you took as you entered Victoria's house. The rooms had a glow of being calm and the music that was playing helped to make the place cozy. The instrumental of the band reminded you of Fleetwood Mac, and for the little that you knew Vic you would say that the type of sound reminded you of her. 

 Her house wasn’t crowded, there were only a few people around; some you’ve seen before, some you haven’t. You thundered your fingers over some vinyl that were arranged in a corner, pretending to read them. You were looking for familiar faces, honestly even for Damiano, but for some unknown reason you didn't want to make that obvious. Your eyes captured Thomas talking to some girls, and soon you felt relieved to be dressed according to the occasion; or at least according to the girls who were close to Thomas. It didn't take long until he noticed you standing there, you waved and he came to you. He looked surprised, still he didn't wait for you to say anything else, just wrapped you in his arms so tight you had to ask him to let go in between muffled laughter.

“Vic working miracles! Come, I'll take you to the others.” He said in his cute form, holding your hand as guiding you through the house. “So, how's our best girl?”

Your lips parted in a smile. “I’m alright, pretty much the same to be honest,” there was no time for him to ask another question because you soon spotted Ethan and Victoria with their beers in hands. They seemed to be shocked to see you as well; and it was starting to irritate you for reasons you couldn't explain. Thomas put you behind him, hiding you from the two of them as if they hadn't seen you already. He was being such a sweetheart that he had even managed to soften the anxious butterflies in your stomach; but not enough to keep your mind free of worries and Damiano David. Thomas made a funny noise with his hands as Ethan ignored his attempt to be amusing, pulling you into a hug. Who would have thought you would have missed them so much.

“How long without seeing you, I force you not to do that again. Without you we are just another disorganized mess.” You laughed at his nonsense. Your smile was sincere, like it hadn't been for months, still you were forcing yourself a bit more to appear to be actually 'fine'. You’d like to know if they noticed, even though you were appreciating that they didn’t.

“No worries, I‘m not planning on leaving you guys alone.”

 Ethan and Thomas started to discuss about something, Ethan was already under the effect of alcohol, and from time to time they asked for your opinion on how Victoria had been strangely quiet. Atypical of her, but she didn't seem to be out of place or uncomfortable, just quiet.

“Did a cat eat the tongue of my newest attractive friend?”

“Not this time,” she showed you her tongue, and then smirked. Her eyes shone in differently way under your gaze and her make up was making her look more mature. “Are you feelin’ good? Thank you for coming.” Victoria was happy to see you, you could feel that. She might be curious, but pity wasn’t something possible to see in her; different from the other boys. “You must be tired of hearing that question, I'm sorry. It‘ll no longer be asked.”

Her voice was soft, comfortable to hear. “I appreciate that. I really have heard a lot of that, but despite everything, I feel good ‘bout bein’ here.”

“I feel even happier that you came then,” she put her hand gently on your waist. The other two didn't even remember you and Vic were there. “Let's get you something to drink, we bought that red drink Damiano always says you love.”

“No way, it’s bishop cocktail?” You looked at her, a big grin on your face, even though you remembered that this was the drink you were drinking when the universe decided it would be a good idea for you and Dami to have a one-night stand. Just a lovely reminder. “Have you mixed everything up? like the rum with the red wine? or with red drink you just want to say you bought wine?” You asked, ignoring your internal conflicts. Everything would be fine, you ket repeating to yourself.

“In fact, I remember once hearing you comment you didn't mind it being mixed up in a random bottle.”

She pulled a glass bottle out of a bucket full of ice and you couldn't believe she remembered that; given that you could count on your fingers the times that you had actually spoken to her. You didn’t avoid each other, just didn’t have much of the opportunities.

“Oh my god, that’s so fuckin’ lovely.” You whispered. She was quick to pick up a glass and hand it to you, filling it with the so well remembered liquid. You took a sip, and the taste - or alcohol - made your butterflies calmer. “Thanks for that, tastes like heaven.” She took a glass for herself, by her expression she thought it was a waste of rum. “C’mon, it’s not that bad.”

“If you think so, who am I to deny.”

“Don’t be a bummer,” you bumped your shoulder with hers, eliciting a cute sound from her that made you laugh as well.

You wish that sensation had lasted longer, even so when a random girl approached you to ask something, you felt heavy; like a sign. Her hair was golden in perfect waves and her face was angelic in an almost divine way. You might have been overreacting, but she was the type to catch all the attention to herself.

“You’re Y/N, right? I was startin’ to think that I’d never get to know you.” She hugged you tight and you wondered if she really didn't know you. When she released you, you felt your heart breaking right there in front of her. She was wearing Dami's sweater; the same one from that night, the same one that you wore. You wanted to be wrong, but you’d know that sweater from a distance even after years. “He talks so much about you. Can you believe we never met?” She asked, alternating her gaze between you and Victoria. She had been silent, you had forgotten that she was still there. Your head was miles away in thoughts, making you dizzy.

“Hi, Bella,” Victoria said. You remembered that name. Damiano talked about her on a few occasions, anyways he didn't seem to be in love - or you just didn’t want to see that. Maybe you haven’t been able to read him due to your stupid passion. “How’s everything?”

She started talking to Victoria and you couldn't concentrate on listening; all the alcohol in the world would not ease what you were feeling. How long have they been together? What was so special about her that Damiano gives her his favorite sweater? Were they together when you slept together? How did she end up with the same sweater you slept in that day?

She held the cup that was in your hands and handed it to Victoria. “Are you okay, hon’? You look a lil’ unwell. Do you want me to get you some water?”

“No need, I’m alright,” she patted your arm, and then checked your temperature. She was being nice, yet you couldn't pretend to be interested in being there anymore.

Thankfully, Victoria put an arm around your shoulders, asking if you want to join her to have a smoke. “It’ll be good, fresh air will do good to you.”

You agreed. Bella was worried and you felt bad about having to run away from her. She looked like an incredible person, sure Damiano was lucky to have her, that was just too much for you.

“Do this, you will feel better. We can talk later and so you can tell me everything about you and Dami, I’d love to hear you, since you’ve known each other for so long.” You looked for some irony in her voice, but you didn't found it. She was interested in you; after all, you were her boyfriend's best friend. It made sense.

Victoria guided you to the balcony, or at least halfway to it. Midway, someone stopped to talk to her, she tried to dismiss the person, however, as it was a thing related to the album, she would have no way out. “Victoria, it’s fine, I need some time alone.” You whispered to her, patting on her arm. She looked at you reluctantly, but understand. There wouldn't be much she could do for you.

Entering the balcony you felt an absurd urge to cry, your eyes itched and your legs were trembling. Was being in love meant to hurt this much, or was it just a game of chance?

You tried to take a deep breath, ease your heartbeats, telling yourself it was okay. You just needed to calm down. You leaned your body against the wall and watched the place. The plants near the fence - which you didn't know how Victoria had time to take care of them - the streets, and then the sky. Starry and moist, made for good memories that wouldn't come to you. When you felt ready enough to go out and face the party again, you ran into the one you were trying to avoid, Dami. Minutes ago you were anxious with the possibility to see him to know how he was, now you just wanted to run away and wipe these last months out of your mind.

“Y/N,” his body collided with yours while his arms wrapped around you, it was supposed to be a good thing, that you‘d feel safe as the same way you used to feel, except that was uncomfortable now. You couldn't even respond to his hug, for a second you thought you would escape without having to see him. He noticed and gave you space. “I swore that you wouldn't come. My god, it's so good to see you.” He ran his hands through his hair and you remained paralyzed in front of him.

You tried to focus on your breathing so that your voice came out without too many complications. “Yeah... It's good to see you, you look great.” It didn't work, your voice was shaky making your lie sound even worse. He looks great, you didn't lie, he seemed even happier and well rested. You wondered if it was because the album was ready or because now he had Bella.

You forced a smile, but unlike the others, Damiano knew you were acting. He didn’t judge or question, his face became tense, apprehensive. He knew that nothing was right.

“I thought about callin’ you more, goin’ to see you or something. The boys convinced me that it‘d be better not, that it could be even hard for you. I wonder if I shouldn't have done something different to help you because I know I fucked up too.” His hands were undecided between running through his hair and staying inside his pockets. He was nervous, at the same relieved to have spoken to you.

“It wasn't your fault, I’d never blame you for that,” you sighed, smiling slightly. It felt terrible to make him feel that way about it, but there wasn't much you could do. “I'm glad you gave me space when I asked, it's still hard to see you or think about talkin’ to you. It is as if everything that is tormenting me comes all at once.” It was good to say that to him. He nodded and you looked at each other for a while. It wasn't as uncomfortable as you thought it would be.

He was a few feet away from you while you were admiring the night, with your back against the wall. You wanted to leave, maybe go cry in your bed until you fell asleep, still you wanted things to work out with Dami, you wanted that tension and fear of seeing him to get out of your head. Despite that, if it was necessary to suffer in that process, it would not be worth it.

“She’s amazing,” it hurt to say that, but it was the truth. “Bella’s amazing, lucky girl.” You smiled sadly. Saying her name and seeing Dami smiling at that made you thank God for not seeing the two of them together, hugging or kissing. He‘d probably put his hand on her waist while she was talking to one of his friends or giving lightly kisses to her temple, just because he felt like it. Damiano was the cute type, you've seen it before.

“She is, an amazing person. She was all happy to have spoken to you. I told her all about our teenage years and how you always supported the band,” He had told her about you, would he have told her about you being in love with him? You thought to ask, soon giving up. It’d be shameful if so. “If I knew you would be here I’d not have come with her.” It made you think that he had told her.

“What would you do? Would you hide me from her for the rest of your life?” You sighed. it was supposed to sound like a joke, regrettably your voice sounded too cruel for that.

“It’s not like that,” he mumbled. “I was just tryin’ to think of you and—“

“I think I need to go Dami, it’s being too much. I’m sorry.” You needed to get out of there, you couldn't stop the tears anymore and you knew it was a bad idea to talk about her with him.

You took a few steps back just for Damiano to grab at your arm, without putting strength, just like a few months ago, to stop you in front of him. You turned your face away from looking at his eyes, feeling as the tears run down your cheek. You'd never be able to face him, this situation was only proving that to you even more.

“Please, Y/N. Just tell me what I need to do. I will do anything for you to talk to me again. I need you, you know that. The past few weeks have been a mess without you around. Even little my mom misses you. I’d do anything to have you back like before.” He was about to cry, his eyes shone with tears and it was painful to watch. He could do anything for you to stay; except what would make you stay. Unfortunately, it didn't depend only on his good will.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this,” you said in a lack of air, signaling the space around you with your finger. “But this, this is too much. It kills me to have to be close to you or to be close to things or people that remind me of you, seeing someone else with you doesn't help at all. I still think about the fact that we slept together... I can’t just forget it ‘cause it meant so much to me and to you, to you? it was nothing.” You were out of breath, you just wanted to cry in peace, put everything out until there was nothing left. 

 He released his hands of you, his face red and damp. It wasn't going to be easy for either of you. Time wouldn't matter; it wouldn’t change a thing because whenever you looked at him you’d wonder about how things could have been like if he had chosen you.

He whispered one more time that he was sorry, then let you go. He could have stopped you, but it's not like he knew what to do anymore. 

He watched as you walk out without even looking back.

——-

You went through the party walking fast, avoiding acquaintances and questions about why you were like that. Your body was heavy as well as your conscience. Outside the house the street was empty, the streetlights illuminated the sidewalk and along with the silence of the street you felt invited to sit there. You brought your knees close to your body, trying to breathe calmly. Pulling the air in, and then releasing it in a normal way. Your heart was beating so fast that your whole body was agitated. You tried to stay still. You squeezed your eyes shut, feeling a little dizzy when you saw someone walk out the front door of the house. You dropped your knees, trying to look decent, but gave up as soon as the person came closer to you and you saw that it was Victoria. She sat next to you, pulling you into a hug. You were happy that she went to you.

“I’m fine,” you murmured, hugging her waist and hiding your face in the fabric of her shirt.

“Stop saying that you’re fine when you’re far from being fine, I won’t judge you sweetheart,” she comforted you, giving you a extra squeezing. You were far from being alright, but it helped, having someone there helped.

She placed her chin on top of your head, soothing you until your crying softened. She rubbed your back and whispered that it’d be okay.

“Did Damiano send you here?”

“No, darlin’. He said that you had talked, and then you had to leave, he didn't look well, I thought you wouldn't be either.”

“And then you decided to look out for me?” You laughed, still tucked in her warm arms.

“Yep, sounds like you need me, don’t you think?” She laughed too, causing the vibration of her chest next to yours make you feel taken in.

“Why’s love so painful?”

Victoria didn't answer, she was thoughtful for a few minutes, and then she stood up, holding out her hand for you.

“What?”

“I won’t be taking no as an answer, you’ll get in the car with me and we will do something, anything, drink milk shakes, fill up our bellies with pizza ‘til we can't take it anymore, or even rob a bank.” She held you by the waist, lifting you up for her. “Please,”

You didn't see why not to accept. There was nothing worse that could get even worse at the moment, maybe going somewhere would do you good. “Even rob a bank?” She nodded, pointing to where her car was.

A smile spreading across her lovely face as you realized you’d go anywhere she wanted with her. “Yes, even robbing a bank.”

[siren-dragon]

After Eight -- The Cat Returns fanfic:

So... I had a Ghibli movie marathon recently and remembered my old childhood OTP of Haru and the Baron. Then I read a few fanfics by @catsafarithewriter and landed in another fandom abyss, lol. And that later spawned this au one-shot from a prompt I read. Anyway, this is my first time publishing anything for another fandom so hopefully it’s good. Enjoy! ^_^

AO3 story link

Human AU -- “I need to finish my term paper and you’re the only 24-hour internet cafe open. Help me.”

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The front door of their small flat closed with a soft click as Haru shrugged her backpack higher onto her shoulder and soon hurried down the corridor and out onto the streets with a determined step. To be fair, Hiromi and Tsuge did try their best to accommodate her as she stared helplessly at her computer screen within her bedroom while they giggled and chatted on the sofa. And though Haru managed to continue through her term paper despite the late hour; her concentration quickly began to wane while the tell-tale sounds of snogging managed to reach her ears despite the closed bedroom doors. So, she rather quickly decided to pack up her supplies and laptop, stuff them into her school bag, and exit the flat in an attempt to find somewhere quiet.

Of course, she didn’t really consider the fact that a) it was 10 in the evening on a Friday and b) she would need wifi if she were going to try and continue her paper.

“There has to be somewhere open…” she groaned, having passed another bar filled with her fellow college students enjoying the beginning of their weekend. “Why are there so many bars everywhere?!”

After traversing the streets for a good 20 minutes, all the while debating if she could chance stealing the wifi from a late-night McDonalds, the brunette soon found herself pausing to stare at the building her feet seemed to have led her to. It was a rather quaint building, reminiscent of European cafes with it’s white and green paint and black sunshade. Written beside the glass and wooden doors was a simple plaque with the words The Cat Bureau scrawled across in dark lettering. However, it was the petite sticker smacked boldly on the corner of one of the windows with a drawing of a cat on a laptop reading “free wifi” that nearly made Haru weep tears of joy.

“Oh, thank God; an internet café!” she beamed with delight before hurrying inside.

If she thought the outside was charming, the interior was spectacular. Alongside the windows were various tables with off-set white tablecloths and a small flower vase as a centerpiece, while opposite sat a wrap-around wooden bar complete with stools. The entire room was bathed in a warm, golden glow from the hanging antique light fixtures and Haru couldn’t help but be captured by the small café. “Wow, this place is beautiful…”

“You are too kind Miss,” an accented voice chimed, causing her to swivel to the source.

Standing behind the countertop was a man, perhaps a few years older than Haru herself, offering her a kind smile with a rag in hand. Though Haru was practically half-asleep due to exhaustion and the creeping energy withdrawals her last study-snack tried to prevent, even she couldn’t deny how attractive the man was. Slightly tousled tawny locks and vivid green eyes stared back at her with an intensity that caused her face to take a distinct pink tint. His attire was a bit formal, what with the crimson vest and collared shirt with a bowtie- though his black apron and rolled sleeves didn’t undercut the professional appearance.

“Erm, I’m sorry- were you closing soon? I can leave if you want. It’s just that I saw you had free wifi and I needed a space where I could finish my term paper…”

The man gave a gentle laugh, “no worries Miss, this is a 24-hour café; stay as long as you like. The Bureau doesn’t often receive customers on Friday evenings, what with many preferring venues that serve alcohol.”

Haru grinned, “you’re a life saver. And this place, I’ve never seen such an amazing café before.”

“Thank you, and please sit wherever you like. Make yourself at home. Is there anything you would perhaps like to order?”

Taking a spot at one of the tables near the window, Haru immediately glanced at the menu resting upon the table, looking over the pamphlet for something cheap that would keep her awake. She was rather impressed by the modest selection- ranging from teas and beverages to cakes, sandwiches, and even a few pastries. “I’ll just have a cup of the house blend tea, please.”

The man smiled, “as you wish.”

If the food wasn’t going to bring her back here, the charming waiter certainly was- though as quickly as the thought crossed her mind Haru prayed her internal feelings didn’t make themselves known with the reddening of her face.

Quickly pulling out her laptop and research materials, in an attempt to finish her work and not stare at the handsome waiter, Haru set to work on trying to finish her paper. The quiet atmosphere gave a rather calm and ideal setting, allowing the brunette student’s work to continue at a steady pace. On occasion Haru would steal a glance to the waiter as he set about making her order, humming a gentle tune under his breath before returning to her paper. It was only when the cup and teapot was set gently beside her did Haru startle from her concentration while another plate- this one bearing a slice of angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries found it’s place beside her tea cup.

“Oh! Um, but I didn’t order-“

“On the house,” the man smoothly replied. “Besides, nothing goes better with tea than some angel food cake.”

Haru giggled, saving her work before closing the laptop and setting it aside for the meanwhile. “Thank you very much.” Pour a dash of milk into the cup, she raised it for a tentative sip and blinked in surprise. “Woah, that’s got to be the best tea I’ve ever tasted.”

“You flatter me with your kind words, Miss.”

“Wait, did you make this from scratch?”

The waiter laughed, “indeed I did. That’s my own personal blend, though it tends to be a little different each time so I’m afraid I can’t guarantee the taste.”

“Well, it’s certainly better than the school’s local Starbucks.” Haru complimented, making the man grin. “Did you make the cake as well?”

“Unfortunately, no. While I am no stranger to the kitchen, that particular cake was made by our resident chef Muta. He has a penchant for sweets which has earned quite a following from the locals.”

“I don’t blame them, if the cakes are as good as the tea- I don’t think I’ll be able to go anywhere else.”

This time the man gave a teasing smirk, “and here I thought it was the free wifi drawing in customers.”

Haru laughed, “well, it certainly did help. I’d take a quiet café with wonderful tea over my small flat and a roommate making out with her boyfriend any day.”

“Well, that certainly would cause a bit of a distraction to a working student. If that’s the case, feel free to stay as long as you like Miss.”

“Haru,” she answered back. “My name, it’s Haru.”

He gave her a soft smile that made Haru’s stomach do nervous flips as bright green eyes met her own warm caramel irises. “Humbert von Gikkingen, at your service but please; call me Baron.”

Now it was Haru’s turn to give a small smirk. “So, Baron… this teapot looks like there is enough for another cup or two. Maybe, you would like to share it?”

This time it was Baron’s turn to flush the faintest pink before giving a rather delighted grin and retrieving another cup from behind the counter and taking the seat across from her. “I would be honored. After all, nothing makes a cup of tea better than sharing it with a rather fetching young woman.”

If Haru’s face wasn’t red before, it certainly was now- and judging from the slight mirth dancing in Baron’s eyes, the warmth of her face was easy to spot.

 =========================================================

“I didn’t even know we had a 24-hour internet café near the campus.” Hiromi commented in confusion, “must have been nice since you didn’t come back till after midnight.”

“Hey, I was giving you and Tsuge some space so I could work on my paper.”

Hiromi grinned, “uh huh, then why were you frantically typing this morning in an attempt to finish it? Maybe you got distracted on your little night excursion.”

“Yes, by tea and cake.” Haru answered dryly, trying to keep calm and prevent a tell-tale blush to creep up her face. “Trust me Hiromi, you’ll love the place.”

“Alright Haru, I- hey is this the place?”

The two girls stopped in front of the familiar white and green painted café, same black sunshade up though this time there were a few tables set up outside and a few more customers than the previous night. However, this time, a waitress with white-blonde hair and a pink ribbon around her neck was serving customers outside while inside a tall and thin black-haired man clad in the similar formal attire Baron wore yesterday tend to the waiting patrons. Yet she couldn’t hide the small frown at the lack of Baron’s presence, wondering if perhaps he only covered the evening shift.

It was then did she finally hear Hiromi’s laughter, when the chestnut-haired brunette pointed to a sign on the door. “Haru, you did read the sign before you went in this place last night, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

She merely silently pointed to the hours of operation, which clearly stated that the café was only open from 09:00 AM – 10:00 PM, with it opening later in the morning on Sundays. Haru felt her jaw drop slightly as her face turned cherry red while Hiromi merely laughed louder.

Of course, she did get a slight just desserts when the two friends were seated inside and Haru noticed Baron nearly fly out of the kitchen, hastily tying his black apron before catching her gaze. The black-haired waiter was whispering frantically to him while Baron looked to be offering some polite apology. Though when he caught Haru’s eye he couldn’t help the knowing smile on his face while Haru gave a rather sheepish look as he approached the table to take their order.

“Welcome back, Miss Haru. I hope your paper was a success.”

“Yeah, it really was…. Especially after the extra 2 ½ hours I worked on it last night.” She said with an embarrassed groan. “I am so sorry for butting into your café last night. If I knew you were closed I would have left and-“

“Think nothing of it, you needed somewhere to work and I was happy to help.” Baron replied with a kind, though slightly tired smile from the previous evenings unintentional long shift. “Perhaps… I could suggest another cup of our house blend in the name of bygones?”

Haru gave a shy smile, “yes please.”

“Make it two,” Hiromi added. “And whatever pastry you would recommend.”

“Certainly. I shall return momentarily, ladies.”

As Baron returned to the counter, Hiromi waited perhaps 2.1 seconds before whirling upon Haru with a large grin reminiscent of a satisfied shark. “Do you think he’ll write his number on the napkin for you to take home?”

While Haru didn’t make a point of causing scenes in public places, she couldn’t help flicking a sugar cubes at her friend’s laughing face. Though judging from the laughter dancing in Baron’s vibrant emerald eyes and the tint of pink dusting his cheeks, she wouldn’t be complaining if that was the case.

[theobxhummingbird]

THE TWO HARDEST WORDS OF HIS LIFE. -JJ MAYBANK X READER

(GIF CREDITS TO OWNER)

Summary: JJ totally smitten by Y/N.

A/N: Here’s my deleted story :( I tried my best to write what I remembered from the other one. Enjoy it.

 Y/N and JJ were the one power-couple the whole OBX talked about; let alone the Pogues themselves. Everyone knew they were just so in love with each other, that no one could get used to seeing the apart. They walked hand in hand everywhere, even surfed together on a same board. All in all, they were too in love to be taken seriously sometimes; but it was cute for those who didn't have a relationship, like Pope for example. It was another of those coupley days, where the Pogues took the famous HMS Pogue for a ride in the open waters. Kie was the saver, with her big cooler filled with drinks, as well as her bag filled with snacks, since that day was one of OBX's boiling hot days. Sarah cuddled up with a sandwich next to John B, who was sipping his beer. Kie and Pope talked about the littering of the beaches, while Y/N and JJ were too far away from each other. Too far meaning, both on each end of the boat. It was strange for the others, knowing their constant touches and kisses, but shrugged it off, probably thinking they started to feel uncomfortable with always being stuck to each other. Y/N's knees were brought up to her chin, as she enjoyed the small splashes of water on her legs and arms. Her attention was easily caught, when Kie asked the one question, she got an answer faster from Y/N, then poor Pope who didn't have time to even think. -Do you want to come for a swim? -she asked Pope. -He can't come! -Y/N jumped up, almost tripping over the rope and falling in the water, -He can't because----uh----he promised about a science topic talk with me----yesterday, he promised yesterday. -Did I?-Pope furrowed his eyebrows, trying to accept the promise in his head, before refusing Kie's offer. -Yes, yes you did. -she tried to convince him, then turning back to Kie, -JJ---can go with you----uh----he's free. JJ's lifted his head up, to meet her gaze; he knew exactly what she's doing and couldn't go against it because it would be too suspicious to the others. He jumped up in a kneeling position, then up on his feet, taking a grip of Y/N's hand and kissing the back of it, before jumping in the water with Kie. -What's going on? -Sarah muttered but John B was near to hear her. -I don't know, but it's another of Y/N's weird actions of taking Pope away and letting JJ do some activities with Kie, and it's getting me confused. -Let's see what happens next. Y/N wasn't listening to poor Pope who was trying his best to explain detail by detail. She just nodded her head at whatever topic he was talking about, which she forgot about and which she didn't even ask about in the first place. Her eyes shifted between her friend and boyfriend, trying to see if her plan worked, but it seemed that they were just talking, normally, like they would.

After the little science session with Pope, Y/N was again, sat alone on the boat. Sarah and John B, made a small plan about talking to JJ and Y/N and then see if the same reasons match together. So, Sarah unsuspiciously approached Y/N, and John B approached JJ.

-Hey, Y/N!

-Hey, JJ.

-Hi Sarah.

-Hey, dude.

-What's up with you? Why are you alone and not next to JJ?

-What's up with you? Why aren't you next to Y/N and alone here?

-Nothing, I'm just enjoying the water.

-Nothing, I'm just enjoying the water, bro.

-Don't lie to me please Y/N.

-JJ, don't lie to me bro. We're best friends, tell me.

-We're best friends Y/N and you can tell me everything.

Y/N's hands went up to her face, as she tried to keep her tears from falling. Sarah noticed her shaking body and put a hand on her shoulder, as a sign of comfort.

-If I don't tell someone, I'll probably die. -she said and let out a few heavy sighs. -JJ and I are not dating; we're doing this fake dating thing because he wants Kie. It all started when he kissed me at her birthday and we're trying to make her jealous, so they could be together. -Y/N- she was speechless and couldn't process the information all at once. -This---couldn't be true----it's a lie, right? -Sarah---you have no idea how relaxed I feel right now. I've been keeping it inside of me for four months and I can't anymore. -But you seem so in love---Y/N I saw the way you look at each other, that's not fake.

-JJ, I saw the way you look at each other bro, that's not fake---it couldn't be fake. And please don't tell me you want Kie, because it's obvious how in love you are with Y/N. -What can I answer you, John B, you even know how good at lying and acting I am. -Dude, this is different. -It's not, shut up.

-This is different. This is not acting. This is love; real love. -He doesn't want me, okay? He wants Kie and tomorrow our deal's over and I'm leaving the Outer Banks. -What deal?

-We made a deal bro. Four months for Kie to fall for me. Tomorrow's our last day; everything ends. -No dude---this can't be true.

-You're leaving?! H-how Y/N, you have friends here? You have us. -I'm going tomorrow afternoon. I'll apply for college, it's been my dream.

-JJ---I cannot believe you bro, this is too wrong for you. -And Y/N's right for me? -Yes?! Are you kidding, she's perfect.

-I'm so stressed right now, this is like the year's biggest scandal. You convinced me of each other's love, I can't think right now. -said Sarah, sitting down on the boat, -And you're leaving just like that? No, Y/N, this is too wrong for you. -And JJ's right for me. -Yes! You guys are perfect for each other, are you kidding with me?

After the amounts of trials, Sarah and John B did to persuade them that they love each other, the Pogues were back at the Chateau. Y/N went to pick up all the things she had there, from her hair products, perfumes, bandanas, shirts, jeans; everything that could remind them of her, and packing it in her beach bag, to not make it too suspicious to the others. They knew she wanted to leave for college and even talked in front JJ to them about it, with the thought of preparing them earlier. JJ was in his room when she entered to take some of the belongings she had there. -I came to take my shirts. -she said and went to the dresser to quickly shove them in the bag. -You're leaving completely, huh? -Our deal's over and I have nothing to do here anymore. Bye JJ. -she caressed his hand quickly and left the room. He wanted to stop her; to run and engulf her in a hug, but couldn't. He hardly had Kie as his logical partner. His logic said she is the one that suits him the most. Y/N---she was different. She didn't have time to hug Pope and Kie, because they left the Chateau, but said one last goodbye to John B and Sarah, before hopping in her car and driving away.

- Y/N was at her house; her suitcase opened in front of her, on her bed. She was folding the clothes and putting them in, completely lost in her thoughts, that she didn't hear her mum come in with a plate filled with every type of fruit she had at home. -Here, eat this. -she placed it on the nightstand. -Mum, a fruit plate, seriously, I'm not a kid anymore? You can't take out words from me by feeding me fruit anymore. -I can try at least, right? -she smiled, -What happened? Is it JJ? -"We're not dating mum, it was all fake." -her inner voice wanted to scream the words, but couldn't because her mum was emotionally connected to JJ and the same pain they shared. -I'm leaving for college and will miss him a lot, that's all. -Don't worry; you'll face time all day I know you two. She didn't. She didn't know them. There was no them. But her mother was too happy to see her daughter happy, that something like fake dating wouldn't even pass her mind. -I'll leave you pack your stuff. -she sat up, -See, the fruit plate worked. Y/N's smiled disappeared, as soon as the door was closed and her mother was out of it. Her eyes though, were stuck to her phone, hoping he'll call and stop her from going, creating scenarios in her messed up head that he has a bit feelings for her, developed in four months like she had. But instead of JJ, John B's name appeared on the screen. -I'm coming immediately. It took her a second to slip her shoes on and leave the house, leaving her mum with questions. She wasn't walking, she was running towards the Chateau, at what John B told her.

-Where is he? -she came breathlessly to the couple. -He's shaking Y/N and keeps saying your name in his sleep. Go to his room. Y/N swung open the screen door and then made her way to JJ's room, where he was wrapped in a blanket, and his hair was wet from too much sweating. -You can go guys, I got him. John B and Sarah followed her words and left the Chateau, as she went to the kitchen and filled a bowl of water, dropping a cloth inside and taking it to JJ. She squeezed out the water and started dabbing it on his heated skin. -Y/N- his voice came in a fragile whisper. -JJ---I'm here. -Don't leave me, let me come with you. -he was now in full pain, but still sleeping. -Where? -she said, lifting him up and positioning his head on the headboard of the bed. -Wherever you want. Just let me be with you. -JJ, I'll go make you a soup, it'll make you better. -she jumped up and rushed to the stove, to make JJ a soup. She stirred it as fast as possible and poured a bowl for JJ and  cup for her, because the Chateau was freezing at night.

It had passed a few hours and JJ was now having nightmares; just like the hours before where he had a few. -JJ---you're having a nightmare. -It---it's cold Y/N. Without thinking twice, she slipped her shoes off and threw the blanket over herself, hugging JJ and transferring him her warmth. She rested her forehead on the side of his head, trying to calm down his trembling body. But what she didn't see coming, was completely falling asleep in his arms. The next morning, John B and Sarah came back to both of them asleep in JJ's room, and to them it seemed that he felt better because she was there, rather than the empty plates of soup and the bowl of water. They shut the door and left them to have peace alone. But not too long after they left, JJ woke up to Y/N in his arms, and nudged her to wake up. -Y/N. -she hummed in response. -You slept here. -Yes. -she said and slowly opened her sleepy eyes. -What do you mean? You don't remember me coming here? -No, I don't. -he said and slipped himself out of bed. -Okay then. I see you're fine. I'm leaving then. -she put her shoes on and walked to the living room. -Y/N! -he ran after her. -We can all have breakfast, huh? You don't have to leave immediately. -Yeah....I HAVE to leave JJ.

- Her drive out of the OBX was painful and full of anger. The boy didn't remember the words he said, neither the care she took of him. Her hands tightly gripped the steering wheel and she hardly held back her tears, from the goodbyes she had to tell her parents. JJ on the other hand, was pacing back and forth, regretting not stopping her from going. After Sarah told John B she's leaving, they rushed to tell JJ that Y/N's going. He was helplessly going from John B to Sarah, asking them what to do. John B's quick pep talk about the way JJ feels for the girl, and that it's too late because she's leaving, woke up his other side; his heart. And he now understood that love sometimes has no logic...or most of the time, and that emotionally he needs to be with Y/N; the girl that's leaving his life forever.

She turned up the music, just to not hear her loud cries. But she did hear them, as well as constant beeping behind her. She tried to fasten her driving, thinking that a driver behind her is too angry at how slow she drove, but the beeping didn't stop, until she realized the same car she was sometimes driving or being driven with. Y/N pulled aside, knowing it must be the blonde coming to at least say his goodbye. -What are you doing, JJ? -I'm stopping you from leaving, Y/N. -Why are you doing this to me? Just go. Weren't you supposed to go to Kie? -No. -Why am I asking even? Whatever you want to do with your life, do it, I'm leaving. -Y/N, don't leave. -those two words stopped her hard steps. They were JJ's never told words, and two hardest words of his life. Traumatized from his mother's leaving, he hadn't told them to anyone since then, thinking he can't hold a person who wants to leave his life. -Why? Why shouldn't I leave, JJ? Is there a reason? -Yes. I've fallen in love with you. You're always on my mind. You've taken a hold of my entire self and I can't let you go. -he said and pulled the back of her head, meeting her lips with a deep kiss. Y/N accepted it and placed an arm around his shoulders. When they split apart, all that made JJ sure that she won't be leaving, is the bright smile curved on her lips.

[pink-imagines]

spice it up

request: Ok this is something that’s been on my mind for a couple of days now, and it’s SUPER CHEESY but plz bear with me haha. I’ve been watching a lot of ANTM and it inspired me to think about an au where Bakugo is a pro-hero and Y/N is a upcoming top model visiting Japan to walk and display a new line of lingerie based off of Pro-Hero’s costumes (kinda like for a Victoria’s Secret fashion show) She’s chosen to wear the Ground Zero lingerie and she gets permission to shadow Bakugo for a day or two to get a read on his personality so she can base her walk off of him. Thing is, off the catwalk, Y/N’s personality is free-spirited, laidback and even a little shy, so when Bakugo meets her he’s like “why the fuck would they choose an extra like her to be me?” but little does he know on the catwalk her personality does a complete 180 and is outrageously fierce and confident. Pro-hero’s got a free invitation to the fashion show so with some convincing from his friends (and maybe because he was curious to see how the hell she was going to pull this off) he goes to the show and his reaction to when she steps on the catwalk… Lol I want to leave it up to you. Wow that was wayyy longer then I expected it to be. I’m sorry to spam you like that 😂 I feel like ppl are either going to love or hate this idea so if you don’t want to write it I honestly don’t blame you haha. Either way I love your posts! You’re writing style is very fun to read!

a/n: hellooo! hope you’re doing well! sorry for the late update, but i hope that this is an alright imagine!

warnings: description of lingerie(??)

masterlist

You were exhausted. The airport had always been a stressful place, but now you were jetlagged aswell. Flying to Japan wasn’t an easy task, but it was worth it. You carefully pushed the sunglasses you were wearing up the bridge of your nose. It was a weak disguise, but you really couldn’t care less.

“The car’s waiting outside. Let’s hurry up.”, your manager spoke fast. You grabbed your bag and followed after her. The paparazzi were flooding the exit, luckily they had put up fences. This was one of the reasons you had to look atleast a little bit dressed up on airports. Which was the most uncomfortable thing ever, but you just had to live with it. By “dressed up” they usually just meant “don’t wear sweatpants”. So you could still wear your comfy pair of jeans and a nice sweater or something of the sort.

“How do you feel after travelling so much? From New York, to London, to Paris and now here in Tokyo. How do you cope?” The same questions were popping up everywhere, but you didn’t stop for any of them. The only time you did stop was when you saw a few fans getting strangled against the fence. You hurried towards them, got their things signed and made sure they got back to safety.

“Let’s go, Y/N.”, your manager warned.

“Coming!”, you sighed and kept walking.

The next day you were driven to the place where you’d be messured for the lingerie.

“Y/N? Over here, honey!”, the designer said. He got you into a chair as soon as you arrived.

“What do you have for me today, Ray?”, you smiled kindly.

“So, heroes are a big thing. So we’ve made a line of hero-inspired lingerie, we think it’ll be a hit.”, he said with a big grin and showed you the sketches, “We’ll get them ready as soon as possible, but we need to match the right hero to the right model.”

“Alright, I trust your judgement.”, you looked through the sketches, “Give it to me, Ray.”

“Okay, okay. Since you’re the most charesmatic of the girls, we want you take care of the hothead.”, he pointed at one of the sketches, “Ground Zero.” You looked at the sketch. The top was some sort of dulled down orange color, in a lacy material. That wasn’t that bad, it was the usual, but there was a leather harness on top of it... a leather harness that connected to a leather choker. The bottoms were high-waisted and in the same lace material but black. But that wasn’t it. There was a pair of leather, knee-high, boots along with it.

“It’s... extreme.”, you sighed, “But, sure... I’ll do it.”

“Oh, thank you, Y/N. You’re a life saver, no model in Japan wanted to take the roll.”, he chuckled, “Here I’ll show you what we thought we should do for the face.” He showed you a face with cat-eye eyeliner, a simple nude lip and some sort of explosion looking thing behind the ears. You guessed that was a part of Ground Zero’s hero costume.

“Looks great, Ray.”, you smiled.

“Go get yourself meassured, your manager is booking you a meeting with Ground Zero so that you can study his personality.”, he said calmly and started to walk away.

How had you gotten yourself in this mess? To be honest, you didn’t know anymore. Everything happened so fast and now suddenly you were in the lobby of a hero agency, waiting for Ground Zero to go on his lunch break.

“Y/N Y/L/N?”, a rough voice asked behind you. You turned around to see a pair of crimson eyes staring into your soul. His hair was messy and he was just wearing jeans, a hoodie and a leather jacket. You didn’t know why you thought he’d show up in his hero costume.

“I’m guessing you’re Ground Zero?”, you stretched out your hand.

“You can say Bakugo.”, he scoffed and ignored your stretched out hand. He instead put his hands in his pockets.

“Are you ready to go?”, you asked.

“Why else would I be here?”, he sighed and walked to the exit. This was gonna be an exhausting week.

Bakugo walked as if he had just proven a point, or like he had just won an argument. To say the least, there was only pure confidence flooding in his veins. You hated it, but you simply had to see this as a job. You weren’t in your body, you were only watching from the audience.

“Are you just gonna sit there looking at me? You’re not gonna talk?”, he quirked an eyebrow at you.

“Fine then... um... what kind of music do you listen to?”, you asked innocently.

“Music?”, he bursted out into laughter, “That’s it? You really are just another extra!”

“Listen, man, you’re the one who wanted to talk. So talk.”, you kept your calm, you didn’t want to make a scene out in public.

“Eh- this place sucks, let’s go to my apartment. We can talk there.”, he shrugged and walked faster.

“Your apartment?”, you squeaked.

You were just supposed to follow him around for a while every day, but now you were in his apartment. This was only the first day! His apartment was nice though... it kind of had an oldschool aesthetic to it. Like he came straight out of a private school in England during the 1980′s.

“You asked what kind of music I’m into or something?”, he sighed and walked over to a record player after taking off his shoes and hanging up his jacket. You stopped for a second. Didn’t he just make fun of you for asking that? You watched as he flipped through a few records.

“Yeah, I did.”, you answered cautiosly and hung up your coat next to his jacket.

He effortlessly handled one of the vinyls and quickly put it on the record player... it started playing and-... was that The Beatles? Bakugo sat down on his couch as if it wasn’t extremely shocking for him to listen to this.

“You listen to The Beatles?”, you asked as Paul McCartney started signing the first verse of Yesterday.

“Who doesn’t?”, he sighed, “C’mon, sit down.” You sat down in one of the armchair’s and finished listening to the song.

“You don’t seem like you listen to this kind of music.”, you commented as the next song started playing.

“I don’t only listen to this, idiot.”, he snarked, “This was the first thing I found.”

“Whatever you say.”

A few days went by and you’d go through the same schedule. Wait for Bakugo to go out for his lunchbreak, walk around for a bit, go to his apartment and go home when he had to start his next shift. He started making you lunch, and he was a surprisingly good cook. 

For the last day he stopped you before you parted ways.

“Wait-... can I meet you at your hotel later tonight?”, he actually looked a little bit nervous for once.

“I mean, yeah... but why?”, you gave him an unsure smile.

“I’ll take you out for food, something spicy... unless you can’t handle that.”, he grinned, his confidence was suddenly back.

“You wanna bet?”, your laughed.

“Alright then, it’s a bet.”, he chuckled, “I’ll meet you around 7 in the lobby.”

“For sure. I’ll see you!”, you waved goodbye and so did he.

Just when you were about to sneak out to the lobby your manager walked past.

“Where are you going?”, she asked.

“I was just uh...”

“And why’s Ground Zero in the lobby? He’s starting a commotion! We don’t need that, we need you to rest for the show tomorrow!”, she sighed.

“Please, I just wanted to-”

“No, Y/N. You can’t go out tonight, you have a damn show tomorrow.”

“Well, please just tell Bak- I mean... Ground Zero that I can’t come... and that I’m sorry.”, you pleaded, “Please.”

“Fine...”, she agreed.

The next day you woke up early to go to the fitting, so that you could later that day go to the show. Since they had your measurments, it fit perfectly.

“Hey, Laura!”, you stopped your manager as she passed by your make up station.

“Yeah, what’s up? Need anything?”, she asked.

“No-... I was just wondering if you know if Ground Zero would be here tonight.”, you asked.

“I don’t know, honey.”, she sighed, “He hasn’t said anything about it.”

“Alright, thank you.”

You got a moment alone in your changing room before you were going backstage. There was a harch knock on the door, which prompted you to go over to it and open the door. 

“Is it time to come out n-”, you stopped dead in your tracks when you saw Bakugo in front of you.

“Hey.”, he said quietly.

“Hi.”, you responded, “How did you get back here?”

“It’s not that hard for a hero of my status.”, he grinned and puffed up his chest a bit.

“Okay, okay...”, you chuckled and wrapped the silk robe you had on tighter around you, “Well, I’m happy you made it.”

“Y/N! Showtime!”, you heard your manager shout.

“Coming!”, you answered.

“Good luck... on the show...”, he muttered.

“Thank you! I expect to see you in the crowd.”, you grinned and ran up to the backstage area.

-

Maybe he should’ve tried to see what she was wearing. He really hadn’t thought about it at all...

The show was in alphabetic order, so he’d have to sit there for a bit before she’d come out. He really didn’t care much for the other models and he might’ve fell asleep for a few minutes here and there... but that was the chair’s fault! It was too comfortable, it even had armrests! How could he not fall asleep? Just for a bit... 

“Ground Zero!”, they shouted, making him almost jump out of his seat. Eijiro, who sat beside him, let out a quiet chuckle.

“Shut up, man...”, he whispered before glueing his eyes to the runway. He didn’t even recognize her at first. Y/N was... different... and it wasn’t just the clothing... or more like the lack there of.

Her whole aura was different when she walked she was like a whole new person. She was fierce, confident, simply the embodiment of a goddess of war and destruction.  Katsuki’s eyes were glued to her, every curve and edge, and his mouth was slightly agape in shock. He didn’t even realize that people were taking pictures of him.

After the show Katsuki made his way backstage, where he met up with Y/N who was now wrapped up in her silk robe again.

“What did you think? Did you like it?”, she grinned.

“I-...”, he looked around at the people around him who were all watching, “It was alright.”

“Alright?”, you laughed, “Okay then, you diva, I’m gonna go get changed!” His gaze followed her form as she walked away from him to her changing room... until he noticed that people were staring at him.

“Oi! What are you looking at!?”

-

The next day you were already at the airport early in the morning, which was way to early since the plane didn’t leave for another hour. So you decided to look at the articles about last night.

You scrolled quickly through most of them until you saw a picture of a familiar face. It was Bakugo! Looking absolutely star struck as your figure strutted down the runway. A smile spread across your lips and you took a screenshot of the photo.

“Hey, do we have Ground Zero’s buisness email or something like that?”, you asked your manager.

“I can get it for you. Why do you need it?”, she quirked an eyebrow at you.

“Oh, I just wanted to thank him.”, you smiled sweetly, “Also, do you know the next time I’ll be working in Japan?”

“In a few months or so.”

“Perfect.” You couldn’t wait.

-

permanent taglist: @theoceanphoenixhasrisen | @raven-r0ses | @darkbeautyswife | @sondering-thoughts | @gowoneandonlyone | @bnhabadass | @queenblackcat | @jayetheanimefreek101 | @witchy-anna 

tagged for this fic: @bnha-violetnote​ | @succulent-momma​

[my-emotional-self]

The Soulmates Chapter 8

Moodboard by @princess-evans-addict​

Pairings: Steve Rogers x OFC x Bucky Barnes

Warnings:  Swearing, exotic dancing, drug use

Summary: Being born with the words of two soulmates was rare, and you were one of them.  You had no idea that when you started a new job as Pepper Potts’ personal assistant you would end up finding both of your soulmates.  Things start off great, but what happens when Steve and Bucky find out about your double life and your side job?

You stayed with Steve and Bucky Monday night, not having to work at the club as it was closed. Tuesday and Wednesday flew by way too fast.  Tuesday was a regular night at the club for you, but it was now Wednesday evening as you left your apartment and headed to the club.  It was Rock night; the night you dreaded most.  You never had to work Rock night in the past, but now you did and you were not looking forward to it.  The girls always complained how it was their least favorite night to work because the tips were horrible.  The men were grungy and touchy and most of the tips were in the form of one dollar whereas on the nights you worked, you usually got nothing smaller than a ten dollar bill.  Plus, you had regulars that came in just for you on your regular nights.  Now you were forced to work all five nights the club was open.  

Sitting at your vanity station, you began to pile on the black eyeliner and eyeshadow.  You were already dressed in your new red leather underwear with a cut up Linkin Park t-shirt.  It was cut like a crop top and you cut the collar so it hung off your right shoulder.  The black eye makeup really stood out against your red long wig.  

Tommy came into the room and set down a tray of cocaine in front of you; handing you a rolled up bill. “Have at it kid,” he encouraged with a smile.  You did two lines quickly, throwing your head back and sniffing deeply; rubbing your hand over your nose to clean yourself of the evidence.  “You’re up next.”

Giving Tommy a nod, you took one last look in the mirror.  “You can do this,” you whispered to yourself, standing up and heading out the door and towards the stage.  

“We’ve got a surprise for you tonight!  Everyone, welcome to the stage, Nikita!” the DJ announced as ‘Numb’ by Linkin Park began to play.  The crowd immediately began to cheer, more than likely from the song choice as you grabbed the pole.  

I’m tired of being what you want me to be

Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface

I don’t know what you’re expecting from me

Put under the pressure, of walking in your shoes

Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow

Every step that I take is another mistake to you

Caught in the undertow, caught in the undertow

You gripped the pole and hooked the back of your knee around the pole.  Quickly you began to spin around, feeling free as you kept twisting around the pole.  You thought this was a good song to start with, because at this point, you did feel numb. Having to lie to your soulmates was hard, and while you had thought about saying ‘fuck it’ and trying to get out of your deal with Tommy, you knew he could do some serious damage to you and you didn’t want to end up dead in a dumpster anywhere.  

I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there

Become so tired, so much more aware

By becoming this all I want to do

Is be more like me and less like you

Can’t you see that you’re smothering me?

Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control

‘Cause everything that you thought I would be

Has fallen apart right in front of you

You got off the pole, dancing erotically as you entertained the crowd in front of you.  You felt disgusted as this crowd was not your typical business men you were used to.  Getting to your knees, you began to gyrate your hips and whip your head around. Immediately you felt grimy hands on you and you shuddered, but kept in character.  

Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow

Every step that I take is another mistake to you

Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow

And every second I waste is more than I can take!

I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there

Become so tired, so much more aware

By becoming this all I want to do

Is be more like me and be less like you

And I know I may end up failing too

Making your way back to the pole, using your hands you climbed up a bit and twisted so you were upside down.  

But I know you were just like me with someone disappointed in you

I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel you there

Become so tired, so much more aware

By becoming this all I want to do

Is be more like me and be less like you

Still hanging upside down, you spread your legs so the pole was between them as you slowly slid down the pole.  As the song ended, the audience cheered and you quickly made your way off stage. Only one more song tonight and you were done.  Tommy kept his regular Rock night girls as the main event and you were happy with that. Usually you did anywhere from 4-6 songs on your regular night and you were grateful only having to do two of them tonight.  

“I feel like I’m dying I’m so tired,” you whined as you sat down on your chair.  One of the girls you had seen around, Starr, came over and sat next to you.  

“Here, take these. They help you stay awake,” she said as she placed two capsules down in front of you.

“What are they?”

“Adderall.  Tommy has a dealer so if you need more, you can ask him. I have a day job and these are a life saver!”

With how tired you were feeling, you didn’t even give it a second thought as you put the pills in your mouth and swallowed them with a big gulp of water.  

~~~

You didn’t sleep at all that night and you were still wide awake as you got to work the following morning. The Adderall really helped as it had a much longer lasting effect than the cocaine.  You ended up deep cleaning your entire apartment that night; the pills making you energized and feeling like you had to constantly be doing something.

That day at work, you were still running around like crazy.  You had gotten so much done you actually found yourself sitting at your desk, tapping your foot on the floor as you finished all your work and didn’t have anything to do.  

You were relieved when Pepper came into your office, letting you know it was lunch time.  But by then, the Adderall was beginning to wear off and you felt yourself beginning to crash.  You were beginning to think you took too much for your first time.  

“Hey sweetheart,” Steve said from behind you, startling you as you nearly dropped your plate of food on the floor.  “I’m sorry. Did I scare you?” he asked with concern.

You waved him off, giving him a weak smile.  “M’fine. Just tired,” you replied as you headed over to the large table and sat down.  

Bucky sat down to your right as his metal hand reached out and rubbed at your neck, making you moan at the feeling of how good it felt.  

“Are you feeling alright doll?” he asked as his hand moved lower and rubbed at your back.  

You nodded as you felt your eyes begin to droop.  “Yeah. It’s just with helping out my friend at night, it’s already starting to take a toll on me.  I’m tired.”

“You got a new job?” Pepper asked from across the table, sounding worried.  

You couldn’t help but chuckle at her worried tone.  “I’m helping a friend out Tuesdays thru Saturdays in the evenings.  She’s helped me a lot in the past and she was desperate. I didn’t want to let her down.”

“Well that’s very nice of you Rosalie.”

“Don’t worry Pepper. I don’t plan on leaving you high and dry,” you responded with a smile.  

“Good.   Because I don’t know what I would do if you quit. You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.”

Emotions swirled from within you.  You had never known what it felt to be truly wanted or needed before, especially growing up. And here you were, feeling that way with not only Pepper, but with your soulmates as well.  

The rest of lunch was a rather quiet affair.  Bruce even emerged from the lab to grab a plate of food before quickly disappearing yet again.  

You gave Bucky and Steve a quick kiss before going back to your office; happy that Pepper had more stuff for you to get done.  

~~~

Steve and Bucky headed into the gym; both of them quiet.  

“She’s lying again,” Steve spoke freely as they each began to run on their own treadmills.  

Bucky turned his head to face Steve; his face sullen.  “I know pal. There’s something she’s not telling us about this job with her friend but I don’t know how to bring it up to her.”

Steve sighed next to his soulmate as he broke out into a fast run, wanting to take his aggression out. He was without a doubt beginning to fall in love with you and he knew Bucky was too.  But you were still a bit guarded and while he had no problems with that, he didn’t want you to keep lying to them.  

“Maybe we just flat out ask her.  Ask her where she’s working with her friend.  That way we can stop by every once in a while.”

Bucky shrugged, giving Steve a nod.  “That sounds like a good idea.  We can tell her we would like to bring her dinner every once in a while and see her on her break.”

The two of them jogged side by side on their treadmills; jogging for miles before calling it quits. By the time they were done, they were both dripping with sweat.  

Steve reached out for a towel, wiping the sweat off his face as Bucky chugged from his water bottle. Steve sighed, sitting down on the bench, hanging his head down low.  

“What’s on your mind?” Bucky asked, sitting next to his soulmate.

Steve shook his head, placing the towel over his neck as he turned to face Bucky.  “There’s just-I just feel like there’s more to her that she’s not telling us.  She seemed so energetic this morning when she got to work, and in a matter of a few hours, she was the complete opposite and looking ready to crash.”

“Well, I mean she did start her other job with her friend.  She could have just had a second wind this morning with working all day yesterday and all night.”

Steve thought about that for a second before shaking his head.  “Yeah I know.  But something just seems more off about her.  I mean…,” he stopped short, not knowing how to continue.  “Fuck!  Things are going so good between us but she’s barely opened up to us and now she’s lying to us, I know it.”

Bucky gripped Steve’s chin, tilting his head to face him.  “Hey.  We’ll get to the bottom of this.  One way or another.  We’ll get her to open up to us more and we’ll get her to tell us what is really going on. We are not going to lose her Stevie. She’s our soulmate and we aren’t going to let her go.”

Steve smiled at him, nodding his head before leaning forward and catching his lips.  

~~~

While you were grateful that Pepper found stuff to keep you preoccupied after work, you were utterly exhausted, barely able to focus.  By 2 pm that afternoon, you found yourself nearly falling asleep at your desk.  Your eyes kept roaming over to your purse, knowing there was still some cocaine in there.  

With a sigh, you got up from your desk, grabbed your purse and headed to the bathroom.  Locking the door, you placed your purse on the counter and opened the small compartment on the inside.  With shaky hands, you pulled the small baggie with white powder out. You knew this was a bad idea; you knew you would be falling down a deeper hole you ever wanted to, but at this point, you didn’t have a choice.  You needed this job more than anything.  This job brought you happiness; something you never in your life thought you would have.  It brought you a friend in Pepper, and it helped you find your soulmates.  

Without another thought, you opened the baggie, dipped your pinkie fingernail in it and inhaled it into your right nostril.  Your eyes were clenched shut as you felt the illegal substance take its course through your body.  You sniffled a few times, making sure you got everything down your nose before cleaning yourself up.  

Taking a look in the mirror, you felt disgusted with yourself but you knew your life could be much worse.  This was just a little something you needed to get you through your day.  Just a few more weeks of working all the extra shifts at the club and you would be fully adjusted; not needing anything extra to get you through your days.  Right?

As you made your way back to your office, Bucky and Steve were sitting in the chair across from your desk, waiting for you.  

“What can I do for you gentlemen?” you asked with a smirk, sitting down behind your desk as you folded your hands on the surface.  

Steve leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees.  “We were hoping to stop by your job tonight and drop off some dinner for you.”

Immediately you felt your neck and palms break out into a sweat.  You knew sooner or later they would want to come visit you and that was just not an option right now.  Not only would they be disappointed that you had been lying to them about what exactly you were doing, you knew they would be downright pissed at where you were working. Standing on stage, nearly naked and dancing exotically for men every right.  Steve and Bucky were so protective of you, sometimes overly protective. And while you didn’t mind it, you knew things would not be good if they found out what you did at night.  Hell, they would angrily glare at men who just looked in your direction while the three of you would go out together in public.

“Umm, wow, that’s umm, so nice of you and all.  But umm, you know, I haven’t really told her about you two yet,” you stammered out.  

“Are you ashamed of us doll?” Bucky asked, his voice laced with sadness.  

Your eyes grew wide and you quickly jumped up from your chair and rushed over to him.  Placing your hands on his cheeks, you leaned forward and kissed him passionately.  Naturally, he took your breath away with the kiss.  

“No Bucky.  I am not ashamed of either of you.  I’m proud to call you both my soulmates,” you promised as you gazed into his eyes.  “It’s just, I would like to keep you two to myself for a little bit longer is all. I’m just not ready to share you with my friends quite yet.”  That made both of them laugh and you internally let out sigh of relief.  

They let you get back to work and you sat at your desk, pondering what to do next.  While it had been a few weeks of finding and being with your soulmates, you still hadn’t truly opened up all the way yet.  You had yet to tell them about your life growing up and the way you were treated in your family.  While it wasn’t your fault the way your parents treated you, you still felt shameful and embarrassed about it.  But this was Bucky and Steve you were talking about; your soulmates.  They had done nothing but treat you with respect; making you feel loved and wanted for the first time in your life.  They deserved to know about your past, about your life growing up.  

Letting out a sigh, you determined that next week you would sit them down and open up.  But for now, you just needed to get through the rest of the week first.  

[saharamae21]

Vapor (Part 4)

Hey guys! I changed my taglist link in my masterlist so please fill it out if you want to be added to the taglist! Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was exhausted!!

WARNING: THIS FANFIC MIGHT CONTAIN CONTENT THAT CAN BE TRIGGERING TO SOME

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I didn’t stick around long after that. I had promised my mom I would be home for dinner and knowing my dad, he could probably use some help cooking. When I walked into the house, it was a little too quiet. I could see my dad arguing on the phone in the backyard and Sydney was nowhere to be found. I let out a sigh and pulled the defrosted chicken out of the fridge. I turned on the kitchen lights and started. Chicken Parmesan was easy enough for me to get done before mom was home.

I was almost done cooking when my dad walked back inside. He seemed panicked as he walked into the kitchen. When he saw me, his whole body relaxed. He hugged me and placed a kiss on my forehead, saying I was a life saver. I smiled as he told me he would finish up. I let him do the rest and went outside to look for Syd. I glanced over at Topper’s yard and saw her over there talking to Top. I made my way over.

“Hey A,” he said. I smiled and greeted him. Syd gave me a look telling me to go away, which made me laugh. It was obvious that she had a little crush on Top too. “You coming to Kelse’s tonight?”

“I don’t know yet,” I said. I had thought about it a little bit, but I wasn’t sure if I was in the mood for a party.

“C’mon,” he said. “I’ll even drive you.”

“Can I come?” Syd asked. I told her no. She asked why not and I rolled my eyes. I was not ready for one of her meltdowns right now. I let out a sigh as she began to tell me that she never got to do anything and that her life sucks. I told her to go help dad with dinner and she stormed off. I apologized for her behavior and told him I would think about going.

“C’mon Adelaide,” he said. The way he looked at me made my heart pound. “Live a little.” “Fine,” I said. How could I say no to him. I smiled and told him I would be ready by 8. I walked back over to my yard and heard my mom’s car pull into the driveway. I walked around front and asked her how her day was. She ignored me and asked me how JJ was. I told her that he was fine and helped her carry some things into the house. I didn’t really want to talk about JJ because then I would have to talk about what happened that day.

The rest of the night went smoothly. I ate dinner with the family and then went to take a shower. I slipped on a black tanktop and white jean skirt. I looked at myself and tried to comprehend why I was trying to look nice for someone who was dating a good friend of mine. Did that make me a shitty person? I walked downstairs and walked over to Topper’s yard. He was waiting by his jeep and told me to get in. I smiled and took the passenger seat. He turned on the radio and drove over to Kelse’s house.

The party was busier than I thought it would be. It was packed with people and they were already getting rowdy. I looked around and saw Sarah. Topper immediately made his way over to her and I decided to grab a drink. I grabbed a can of beer and opened it up. I scanned the crowd and saw a bunch of kids I knew.

Over the next hour I tried to enjoy myself. I tried really hard to get into the party mood, but it wasn’t my thing. I wasn’t a huge fan of them. I prefer to know my surroundings and enjoy the company of just a couple people. I felt the alcohol loosen me up a little bit though.

I walked around the living room, dodging the couples who were dancing. I felt someone snag me hand and pull me towards them. I stumbled forwards and into a chest. I looked up to see Rafe Cameron. It’s not that I didn’t like Rafe, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was that I knew he dealt. Maybe it was that I knew he did coke. I couldn’t say for sure though. He seemed like he wanted to dance. I decided to humor him for a little bit and we danced. He got a little too handsy though and I told him I was going to go get another drink. I could tell he followed me. I felt his lips make contact with my neck as I grabbed my drink.

“You should come out more, A,” he whispered. I turned around to face him and watched as he leaned in to kiss me. I pushed him away gently. I wasn’t looking to hook up with him. He gave me a look before rolling his eyes at me. I was uncomfortable and needed some air. I walked quickly to the backyard and sat down. Not long after I got out there, Topper came out sighing.

“Hey,” I said.

“Jesus Christ, A,” he said, jumping a bit. “Sorry I didn’t know you were out here.”

I apologized as he sat down next to me. He seemed like something was bothering him. I knew it had to be Sarah, but I didn’t really want to know. It killed me when he talked about her. I knew I had to be a good friend and ask though. He told me about how there was this space between them, how he was in love with her and he wanted her to love him too. He was moving so fast with her, but he didn’t see that. I told him that maybe she just isn’t ready to move so fast. I told him to slow down a bit and he nodded. I wasn’t getting through to him though.

“So what’s wrong with you? You looked like you were having fun,” he said.

I told him how I didn’t really like parties, but he wasn’t buying it. I told him that I didn’t feel good. Once again, he didn’t believe me. I finally told him about Rafe and he just stared at me.

“He can be assertive at times,” Top said, making excuses for his friend. I looked away from him and let my shoulders slouch.

“You don’t get it,” I said. “I didn’t want him to be my first kiss.” I felt my cheeks flush up in embarrassment. I watched as he looked at me with shock.

“You’ve never had your first kiss?” he asked. I shook my head as he chuckled a little bit. I shoved him, feelings hurt. “It’s just a kiss. You’ll have many in your life. Here.”

I felt his hand turn my face towards his. As I took a closer look at him, I could tell he was fairly intoxicated. I closed my eyes as he pressed his lips against mine. I was so shocked at first that I didn’t react, but then I melted into it. He pulled away and laid back.

“Don’t tell Sarah, kay?” he said. “I don’t want her to take it the wrong way. It was just a kiss, basically nothing.”

It was just a kiss to him, but it was so much more for me. I looked at the dumb smirk on his face and suddenly felt upset. He had just taken my first kiss like it was nothing. It wasn’t nothing to me. I got up, frustrated and confused. I listened to him say my name. I ignored him and walked back into the party. The music was too loud and my anxiety began to build up. I walked quickly out the front door and sighed, realizing he was my ride here. I felt like screaming, but kept my cool as I walked all the way back to my house. I was tired and exhausted, but most of all I was confused. I snuck into the house and listened to Syd taunt me about coming home already. I just told her to shut up and went to my room. I collapsed onto my bed and thought about what happened. How could he be so insensitive? JJ never would’ve done that.

“Oh my God!” I yelled as JJ filled my mind. I was not about to go down this path again. I listened to my mom knock on my door and ask if I was okay. “I’m fine.”

I sighed and covered my face with a pillow, internally screaming my lungs out. I was not about to go back to who I was two years ago. I was not going to go back to being in love with JJ Maybank.

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Tag List : @jjmaybangme @thebendslikebendover @justcallmesams @jellyfishbeansontoast @prejudic3 @jjtheangel @jiaraendgame @obxmxybxnk @waywardbarbie @talksoprettyjjx @obbx-tings @agirlwholovescoffee @thoughtsofthestars @outerbankslut @potterheadhollander @baby-pogue @lindzaylove @obxlife @queenofthebees003 @rockyyc77 @beth-winchester21 @outerbongs

[midas-or-khaos]

Spirit, chapter 2

Ughhhhhhhh...waking up is shit. Ice sat in place for his heart, but waking up to these covers is amazing; so soft, like lamb wool or something and it’s all so WARM, like a 360 blanket draining away the frost in his marrow. Whatever was causing that gentle swaying was a life saver. Nice, gentle, swaying...

...Wait. Beds don’t rock, something’s happened. Ohhhhhhhh shit he fainted yesterday hadn’t he? Who (with the exception of trainee surgeons and Victorian women in novels) faints?

People who meet things that don’t exist apparently, ‘cause last time anyone checked giants don’t fucking exist! SOD IT! Ok, calm down, level head, this isn’t the time to go crazy ‘cause otherwise he’s fucked. Just breathe and think it through, what happened? He fainted for the first time in his life, and is now in the possession of whoever found him. Bright side, he was now warm and healing his busted feet, so if a chance to escape occurred, the odds were more stacked in his favour. His head rattled, was it all against him, or was his head pain something else? Concentrate. Other side, the giants could pull him out of whatever cranny they’d stuffed him into at any point and crush him. One option then, he had to try and escape unnoticed before anything happened.

Ok what was the environment Bill was working with? Through the fuzzy walls, the muttering from before was still going on (just quite a bit louder, though not painfully). The language used wasn’t anything recognisable, even the sounds seemed completely left field with the occasional use of whistling on certain words. No ability to communicate, great. Made sense now why whoever shouted back when he called out just said ‘argh’. Bill couldn’t distract them with bullshitting if he was spotted, so that meant extra stealth. He could do that, but how? They’re awake and aware so they’ll notice him moving around wherever he was. Especially if he was close to the body of whichever giant he was attached to. No knife though, so he couldn’t make a hole and slip out. He’d have to force his way out the top, but take it slow.

Lightly patting around in the dark, the smooth wool came to a dip above his head. There’s the bitch. Trying with a hand first, a few fingers managed to slip through the sphincter. Chattering he hadn’t noticed had been there started up at at a whole new level. Chilly, ok, but not too hard. Trying again, the whole hand pushed through, frost lapping at exposed finger tips. Freedom, but dangerous freedom. If there was no shelter once he got out, he’d be back to square 1, freezing his balls off and potentially dying from exposure. However, there was still no change from anyone on the outside, so coast was clear. Better to take a chance. Taking the second hand, it snugly fit in beside the other; now came the tricky part. The angle wasn’t the best, but with all the might he could muster from string bean muscles (and shot glass worth of excitement induced adrenaline), the clenched entrance came apart, and a blinding spotlight snuck through. It’s just there!

On shaking thighs trying to keep balance, the brunette stuck his upper half out, almost instantly a gush threw Bill around like a daisy hanging on for dear life to its stem; the bittersweet outside. As the whoosh past, the opportunity to look round dame at last. The boy wasn’t sure what was worse: seeing nothing, or seeing reality.

He was nowhere, adrift a sea of swaying spines that rolled and tumbled for an eternity all round, in a boat he had no control of, and had no idea of its intentions or direction. Even if he were to escape, there was nowhere he could hide. No shelter he could find. No experience on how to find food. He was as dead out there (he found with shuddering breaths, unsure if it was the chill, or his own rising panic) as he was in the pockets of his captors. There was no way to find home. Jesus...

...his captors had been awfully quiet...

“Doyo?”

Throwing his head back, the boy’s blue orbs grew wide and doe like as a new face held what little concentration he could get from himself in place. Younger, much younger, around mid 20’s? But he held similar features to the older man, so maybe a relative. Wait was he talking to Bill? A shiver, CRAP, he’d been spotted trying to escape!

“Wwwwwwwha?” Was all that could dribble out of the O of his lips.

Curious buttercup coloured irises were hidden by furrowed brows.

“Doyo...deskja jo?”

“I, errrr, em. I’m sorry, I literally don’t understand a word you’re saying, but pleeeeaaaasssse.” He reasons with bated breath, “Pleeeaaassseee don’t hurt me.”

No reply this time, just an abrupt stop, throwing him forward. Rising up rollercoastered his stomach down. A full-shadowed jaw was coming closer, he was about to get eaten, a gruesome death.

“OH FUCK PLEASE DON’T-”

Smush

“-ww...wha?”

The giant pressed Bill to his forehead, holding him there. What the hell was he doing? The heat radiating off was like lava, steaming off his fingertips whilst the wind at his back felt that much worse for it. His holder turned back and called out.

“Sit mayert. Demnot doing great.”

What was that?

The youthful face looked back, the cords of his throat tight and bulging, like he was holding his breath. Did he just switch to English? What he imagining that? HOW WAS THAT POSSIBLE! HOW WAS ANY OF THIS POSSIBLE?!

He was losing his mind, and his body. Limp all round, this unusual unresponsiveness was feeling less like fright, and more like what little heat was being sapped out once more. Bill couldn’t go on, the icy ache was taking over all thought.

A hand like fallen tree descended in like it was nothing, plucking up his upper body and stuffing it back inside his baking prison (which was doing little to warm him truly) and sealed the top shut once more, footsteps becoming thunderous all round. They were moving fast. Fuck, he couldn’t stay awake, the heat was a lullaby, and no matter how much his mind wanted to fight, in the end the body submitted.

...This was getting ridiculous. Where was he this time? Well, at least the supposedly unmoving ice in his body was shifting its way out again, because now he could feel his fingers and toes. Opening his eyes, he was greeted to a pointed roof of what looked like thatch, only it was some ridiculous amount of meters up above to accommodate the gigantic residents. The whole room in fact smelt earthy, walls made of waxed wood and thatching, with something that looked like clay or mud plugging in holes and leaving the air tasting of dust, however non of the elements had any chance of getting in so win some lose some.

Sitting up, a groan threw him back down, a migraine putting him back in his place. Oh the joys of feeling like life’s punching-bag. Something foul smelling and wet suddenly smacked his feet, before trailing over and over his legs. Ew. Shifting to try and pull away, the thing only came back with more vigour, going for the whole body, mo matter how much he tried to pull away. Whatever it was eventually pulled back, and heavy pants came from above. Like that...of a dog. Uncurling, the wide smile, stout snout and wide face was unmistakable. It looked like some kind of Tibetan mastiff, if only some 100x bigger. It seemed friendly though, and that smile was too wonderful to hold a grudge against, it was doing its best to take care of him. Despite being slobbered on thanks to its exuberance, Bill couldn’t help but coo and call it back, wanting to stroke that lion mane ginger hair. Probably felt like silk. The dog was all too happy to oblige, short nose leading in to nuzzle his middle fondly. This was a better way to wake up, lying on a bear-like dog, being snuggled.

“Thanks mate. You’re lovely, aren’t you? I wish I had a dog like you back at Uni, so I would always have someone nice to come home to.” He slurred, draping over the good boy’s snout. A chuff was replied.

How had he become acclimatised to this level of insane so quickly, that he didn’t question or care about lying down with an enormous dog? Had he really given up trying to comprehend, or had his subconscious decided to flood his systems with enough serotonin to not panic himself into oblivion? Because consciously, he still saw this day as maddening. Giants were real, he was tiny, and he was making a bed on a dog. To think, he’d thought leaving his mother to stay on the other side of the country was a big deal. That managed to put a bit of a sour note in his mouth, eyes dulled as he concentrated on his mother. What he wouldn’t do to have her back. Bill’s poor mother must be losing her mind with fright, and in all honesty, he wanted her back more than anything in this world that made less and less sense. Just the sight of familiarity, the smell of floral unconditional love, and the touch of a warm hand.

“Hey.”

...reality made no sense. It sounded like buttercup eyes from before.

“Rooster, you’re not still Ill, are you?”

Rooster?

Not bothering to turn and get up to only let pain drag him down (plus Doge, as the boy decided to coin his new friend, was comfortable), Bill chose to instead groan to the air.

“My name’s not rooster.”

There was a small shift from behind. A new set of breaths, much lighter than the dog’s filtered lightly across his back. He was so close, all that nonchalantly was being replaced by adrenaline. He could grab and control all he wanted. Stay calm.

“Did...you just reply?” Came a stuttered response.

“Surprise. I don’t know either, but I can understand you now.” How very monotone of him, good.

There was a pause on Buttercup’s behalf, so he chose to carry on.

“I think it started when I was pressed to your forehead-” snapped out.

“-You remembered that? I’m surprised, I thought the hypothermia had driven you out of your mind.”

“Hypothermia?” Was that what was messing his head round? To think he’d been that vulnerable.

“Yes. Didn’t you notice?”

“I’ve never had it, so I wouldn’t know.”

A light touch, maybe a finger, grazed his spine. Trying not to shiver is harder than it looks.

“You feel warmer to the touch Rooster, so it’s probably gone.”

There it was again. “Why do you keep calling me rooster?” That may have been a bit too forward. Luckily, Butter seemed to take it in stride.

“Sorry, your determination to live when you were faced with arid land was like that of a rooster. Stubborn. Well, that and the hair. You were tenacious enough to outwit death.”

Don’t really think it was tenacity mate. Looks more like it was luck. It also looked like his luck was out.

Multiple rough finger tips touched both sides. That was the last straw. Unable to stay calm and pretend not to be terrified, Bill let out a shout of “no!”, but the hand had already scooped under his squirming body and lifted him again.

“Shhhh shhhhh shhhh. It’s ok, you’re ok Rooster. Where’s all that bravery from before?”

It was never there, it was all a facade crumbling like dust in the wind. He wasn’t brave, never was, always too afraid to speak up. All of his so called bravery was simple survival tactics that had failed him miserably. He was stupid, and impulsive, getting so caught up in one direction of thought that he never saw the consequences. It was all go, and less stop and think. And now, that immediacy to react had made him scared of the same person that had saved him from hypothermia.

“I’m sorry.” Whispered out.

The hand lifted the boy to a scruffy cheek, sweet almond-shaped eyes looking over adoringly as a curtain of thick, onyx locks cascaded around and just let him be in that moment.

“Don’t be. You’re scared, that’s alright. I would be too if I were picked up by strangers. Let’s get you some food and you can tell me your name. Mine’s Ekashiba.”

“I’m Bill.” He could already tell he was going to forget that name quickly.

At last the brunette was pulled away, feeling better. It wasn’t often that Bill enjoyed close contact, hating to be touched by others (even his own family to a point, though it wasn’t personal), but for a reason even he couldn’t comprehend, Ekashiba’s touch wasn’t as pervasive and unwanted as usually all things were. It was...nice.

As the boy was held at waist level to the man, he couldn’t help but notice in fact, all of Ekashi spoke of warmth, literally. He was wearing some sort of monochrome robe, like a Kimono but made of thick wool, with a similar sort of linen version peaking underneath. On top of that, a deep crimson sleeveless robe and finishing it all off, ring earrings and a bead necklace. But no pockets, Bill noticed with a confused head swivel. How was he carried here then?

Trotting through connecting dome-shaped rooms, the heat started to permeate the air and a sweat was building. There in the centre of the room, a wide birthed fire pit made of sand, surrounded by what looked like the whole family sitting on the raised wooden, tatami matted floor, cooking. They were all chatting amongst themselves, not noticing or uncaring that Buttercup had entered. It was a much larger family than his own, with both grandparents all the way to a kid around 12. 9 of them in total, including the familiar bearded man. Here in the light, the resemblance was striking. Same squat button nose, same sunny eyes, hell even the same thin, bowed lips. Just the addition of crows feet and full beard.

“Dad, Rooster’s woken up.”

The man in question looked up.

“Situ mitsku do toyuma?”

What? Why couldn’t he understand them! For god sake, why’d he have to go through this song and dance twice?

“What did he say?”

Buttercup shot a look down, wide eyed.

“You can’t understand him, but you can understand me?”

“I don’t know! This is all new to me too!”

“Nea...wataki mo?”

“Yes Dad, everything’s fine. It’s just for some reason the little one can only understand me-”

“-Oi, dickhead! I’m 18, not 10-“

“-And we don’t know why.”

The Dad seemed to ponder this for a while, catching the attention of the other members that weren’t cooking (grandparents, wife and the other couple). It got quite heated at one point, and Bill was only managing to be ok with all the frighteningly boisterous shouting because he was still steaming about the earlier comment. Ekashi looked like a cat trying to focus in on one target among a flock of birds, barely keeping on track, and throwing the odd comment here and there.

“Are you sure?” “Doesn’t seem likely.” “I think we need to-“

This was like GCSE French all over again. Tidbits of understanding and the rest a sea of bollocks. Was this good news or bad?

“Buttercup, please, I just want to know what’s going on.”

“Buttrvrup?”

Crap. The brunette forgot only he called him that behind his back.

“That’s not the important bit, what’s going on?”

“They’re trying to decide what you are and if you’re safe to have round.”

“...but I’m like the size of a mouse, why would I be unsafe to have around?”

“They fear you may be a Monster.”

Of course. Why didn’t Bill see that coming.

“...fair enough.” What kind of an answer was that?! He should’ve made more of an effort to try and change the family’s mind through Ekashi.

The conversation just kept going on and on in circles, but one member of the debate was starting to take notice in the boy’s mind. The grandmother, hunched, skin like cracked earth and silvery. She hadn’t said a thing the whole time, just stared at him and watched his hawkish lay with beady eyes. Like she was debating his worth just through observation. Was he doing alright? Was he making a good impression.

“Boy, lift up your shirt.”

Holy shit. “Y-you speak English?” Why didn’t she say anything this entire time!

“Please, do as I ask.”

Everything fell silent, save for the bubbling wok of oil, and everyone came round to see what she was talking about. So silent, the anticipation was cutting.

“...ok.” Taking both hands to the edge of the roughed up t-shirt, the boy himself was reluctant to see what was there, but it had to be done. Putting up resistance as much as he could, shaking hands lifted the edge with nervous twitched rising. There was a black strip. No way. Lifting more the strip became strips, till he got the lip of the edge into his mouth. It was a symbol, like a kanji. A perhaps dreadful realisation, she’d seen this before.

“As I thought. The sign of the heavens. Oki, you can’t harm the child.”

“Kamita odo?”

She didn’t break eye contact once.

“...because that, is your son’s new spirit.”

[alindakb]

Letters to my Parents - Tuesday 25 July 1995 - by Alinda

Tuesday 25 July 1995

Dear mom and dad,

I’m back home now, as it’s the summer holiday. I can’t remember much of the last couple of days at school. I know Draco never left my side and made sure I was okay. For the first time, he didn’t care about his grades at all. I was the only thing on his mind. And it wasn’t like he was going home to his father, who would be disappointed in him if he knew that Draco didn’t become top of the class in any of his subjects (Hermione beat him in most, and Divination was rubbish anyway according to Draco).

Draco is here, at Grimmauld Place. Officially he’s staying with his aunt and uncle, the Tonks. You remember, they were the once that took me in before third year started and I had run away from the Dursleys. His mother had arranged it all, to make sure Draco is safe. Mr and Mrs Tonks were at the train station, only Draco refused to go with them. He wouldn’t leave me, so he came home with me. He’s still here. I think he’s scared that if he loses sight of me, something bad will happen again.

I almost didn’t go to Grimmauld Place. Sirius told me he fought with headmaster Dumbledore about it. The headmaster wanted me to go to the Dursleys. Said it was saver, that my mother's protection would protect me there. Sirius didn’t agree, and as he’s my legal guardian, he decided I would stay with him. This house is unplottable and protected in other ways. Sirius is sure it’s safe, and I trust him. I would have hated it if I would have been at the Dursleys again. Here I have people that understand what happened and don’t care that I wake up screaming for Cedric almost every night.

Because of all that had been going on, the task and the aftermath, I had forgotten Draco’s birthday this year. Draco says it’s okay, that he doesn’t care. That he already got the best present in the world. He means that I made it out of that graveyard alive. I still feel bad about it, and I already told Sirius I want to get Draco the newest broom when it comes for sale in a couple of weeks. Sirius said that would be a perfect gift.

On the last day that the Durmstrang students were at the school, Viktor came to talk to me. He wanted to apologise for what happened in the maze. He remembers attacking Cedric, and he hates that Cedric died thinking he wanted to win so badly that he used an unforgivable curse on Cedric. I didn’t know what to tell him. Both Cedric and I had no idea that Viktor was under the Imperius curse. I only learnt about this when Barty Crouch Jr told me about it. The only thing I could do was tell Viktor that I knew it wasn’t him and that I still consider him a friend. This cheered him up a little. He said he would write, said we should stay in touch. I got a letter from him yesterday, and he’s doing okay. He says he also has nightmares about what happened in the maze. It’s nice to have someone to write to that understand a little better what it was like to be in that tournament.

The leaving feast wasn’t a true feast this year. There was no decoration in the colours of the house that had won the house cup. To be fair, I don’t even know which house has won this year, and I don’t care either. It’s a stupid rivalry that we don’t need now. We all need to stick together to fight Voldemort. I’m just glad that most of my friends all agree with this. Ron and Neville told me that had been in a fight with some older Gryffindors that said it was all because of us Slytherins that Cedric is dead. I believe they have to do extra work over the holiday to make up for getting in trouble on the last day of school.

But back to the leaving feast. The only decoration in the hall were black drapes behind the teacher table. The headmaster's speech was also different from other years. He said a kind word about Cedric and we all raised our glass in his honour. And then the headmaster told the entire hall that Cedric was killed by Lord Voldemort. This caused some commotion among the students. Draco took my hand in his at that moment as a support, as lots of students looked my way, dying to ask me questions about what had happened and how I had gotten out alive.

And then the headmaster honoured me for my bravery. For standing up against Voldemort and risking my own life to get Cedric’s body back home. Most people raised their cup for me, except for Nott and his friends. Adrian and Miles sat close by them and I could see they smacked Nott and Crabbe on the back of their heads for not honouring me. Adrian worded to me that ‘they got this’.  Not that I cared that much. It is clear that Nott and Crabbe will be fighting against us for real from now on.

I didn’t pay much attention to the rest of headmaster Dumbledore’s speech. Draco later told me it was mostly about how we need to be united in our fight against Voldemort. That we are strong as we are united, weak when divided.

The next day, Professor Snape asked me and Draco to come to his office. He wanted to talk to us before we went home. He said that he had to take up a role for the resistance that would put him in a dark light. Draco asked him point-blank if he was going back to following the Dark Lord. Professor Snape assured us that he would never, that he would do anything in his power to protect both me and Draco, and his other students. But he would also have to do things that he won’t always be able to explain and he asked us to trust that he will never betray us. We talked about it later, back at home, where nobody could overhear us. We think that Professor Snape is spying on Voldemort, by pretending he’s still a Death Eater.

It was a beautiful sunny day when we got on the train back to London. Draco and I sat alone in a compartment by ourselves. Blaise, Luna, Greg and Daphne said we should rest and that they would be just across the hall. Draco took me in his arms and I soon fell asleep against his chest. It wasn’t until after lunch, when Hermione and Ron came looking for us that I woke up again. Draco had some sandwiches for me, not that I was hungry. But he forced me to eat something, said it was no good to stop eating.

Hermione wanted to talk to us about Rita Seeker. She had figured out how she got around the school and knew so much about everything. It turns out that Rita is an unregistered Animagus and can turn into a beetle. And Hermione had her captured in a jar. Hermione set her free when we got to London. She made Rita promise not to write another story for an entire year. If she does, Hermione will spill the beans on Rita.

They stayed in our compartment after that and we played some exploding snaps and just talked. I told them all about the graveyard, and Draco told them he wasn’t going home, that he couldn’t as long as the Dark Lord is around. I told him to start calling him Voldemort, but Draco refuses. He says he can’t. Just like Ron can’t call him anything else but the-one-that-shall-not-be-named. Hermione is the only other person, next to the headmaster, that I know also calls him Voldemort.

Sirius was at the train station to pick me up. He made sure nobody got close to me to ask me any nasty questions. And as I said, Mr and Mrs Tonks were there to get Draco, but he came home with me. I’m glad he’s still here. I have nightmares every night, and it helps to wake up in Draco’s arms and to hear the sweet words he whispers in my ear to get me to calm down. I’m a very lucky guy for having him as my boyfriend.

Sirius isn’t doing that great in the love department. Professor Lupin and Tonks have started dating. And to make things worse, Sirius has to see them get cosy together quite often. This is because our home is the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. I know I don’t have to explain what that means to you, as you were both part of it in the last war. But it means that all meetings take place in our kitchen. Draco and I are banned from these meetings. Almost everyone agrees that we are too young to be involved. Sirius doesn’t agree with this, so he updates us afterwards when most others have left.

In the beginning, some voices didn’t trust it that a Malfoy was in the house. Said Draco couldn’t be trusted. Headmaster Dumbledore shut them down quickly, told them all that Draco was in more danger than any of them because of his connection to me. And that Draco would do everything in his power to keep me safe. I think some of the members still don’t trust Draco, but they keep their nasty words to themselves, so that’s good enough for me.

But back to Sirius his love life. He’s struggling. He pretends he’s okay with Professor Lupin moving on. And he said he’s glad that Remus is happy. Doesn’t change the fact that I’ve heard him cry a couple of times now when he thinks we are asleep. He’s been talking to you, dad. I’ve heard him, telling you he wished you were here to make him see that everything will be alright, just like you used to do when you were younger. He misses you. He needs his best friend now that the man he loves has moved on. I know you would be here if you could, that you didn’t want to die on us. But we do miss you and we still love you. I wish I could ask you what I do to make Sirius feel better, to get him to smile more. He hardly smiles anymore. I’m truly worried.

Draco says that there isn’t anything we can do. That only time might heal a wound like that. I know he doesn’t believe that just as I don’t. Sirius has loved Remus for over twenty years. There is no way he will just get over it. But we’ll try to show him that he still got a family and friends that do love him. It’s all we can think of doing, so that’s the plan for now. I just hope he feels better by the time I have to go back to school. I hate leaving him alone in this house when he’s depressed like this.

I’ll keep you informed on how Sirius is doing, I know you would want to know. And about all things concerning the war against Voldemort. Dinner is ready, so I’m off now.

Love you both,

Harry James Potter.

[sunshinejs]

Right Here, Right Now

A/N: ngl this one hurt me a lot because I was having a HSM 3 karaoke session yesterday and I absolutely love this song with all my heart. And before that, Tori and I had a talk about Connor comforting you with a song after a fight and she decided this is THAT SONG. I don’t make the rules here.

This one is dedicated to my sweet bean, Tori @shawnpetermuffins and I hope you love this one!! 

———————————————————— 

Word count: 2.2k -ish

“Baby, don’t forget about tonight!” You call out to Connor as you picked up your handbag from the table “The event starts at 6:00pm okay!”

“Yes, babe, I know” Connor chuckled, looking up from his laptop to your direction “You’ve told me that like a million times already and I’ve already told my boss I was going to head out earlier today”

You walked up to him, where he sat on the couch and sat on the arm of the couch “I’m sorry, bubs. I’m just really excited for the opening!”

“And you should be” He smiled at you as he took your hand in his and pressed a soft kiss to the back of your hand “I’m proud of you, love. I really am”

“Aw, babe!” You blushed “I can’t wait for you to finally see the café! I’m going to record your reaction”

“I cannot believe you won’t even tell me the name of it” Connor shakes his head “I’m your husband, baby! You’re not supposed to keep any secrets from me, you know!”

“Well some surprises are just worth the wait, baby” You winked, preparing to get up from your seat “Alright, I have to head out already. I’ve got a lot of prepping to do for tonight”

“Hey, whoa, hold on a sec” He called, getting a hold of your wrist and pulled you back “Where do you think you’re going, hm? I didn’t even get my kisses”

You rolled your eyes playfully and leaned in to peak his lips. After pulling away, you shake your head “Sometimes I forget you’re like a giant baby”

“It’s because I’m your baby” He grinned “Good luck with the set-up, honey! I’ll see you later!”

“Thank you, bubs!” You called over your shoulder as you headed for the front door “Have a good day at work!”

xxx

Connor was officially fucked.

Just as he was about to leave the office, his boss calls everyone in the department for an emergency meeting. Apparently, their clients moved up the datelines and they wanted the submission to be handed in by Wednesday morning, which was in 2 days, and they were nowhere near done.

Just as he thought he was in luck today; the universe decides to make everything wrong. He felt so bad for having to do this to you because he knows how important this grand opening is to you (it’s the only thing you have been talking about, not that he minds it; Connor thinks it’s adorable how excited you always look whenever someone brings up the café to you) and he wants to be there with you for your big night. But this project was also important to him and there was no way he could back out of it.

He returns back to his desk and immediately calls you up; already dreading to hear the disappointment in your voice.

“Hey, honey!” Your happy tone on the other line snapped him back to reality “Are you on your way over? Your family just arrived and your mom’s asking where you are!”

“Baby,” Connor sighs heavily “I’m really, really sorry”

On the other end, your smile immediately drops “Why are you saying sorry, babe?” You asked anxiously.

“Some thing’s came up at work” He said hesitantly “And I don’t know if I’m going to make it for tonight”

That sentence alone made your heart drop to your stomach.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. You repeated to yourself as you took a deep breath. Your vision starts to get cloudy and you could not make a scene right now (even though you felt like you were going to explode); not when so many people are already present for the event.

“Oh,” You said softly. It felt like someone had burst your little bubble and the air flowing out of it was all your excitement and happiness.

You wanted to be mad at Connor. You had every right to. But you knew that his work is also important to him and it’s not entirely his fault his boss was a monster who wanted his employees to work until late night.

“That’s okay, Connor” You reassured him, in a tone that was fake enough for Connor to know you weren’t okay with his decisions.

And he knows you’re nowhere near okay. You called him Connor. Not baby or bubs or honey or even Con. Just plain old Connor. You only did that when you’re angry at him or just disappointed.

“Baby, I’m so, so sorry” Connor frowned, muttering softly “I promise I’ll make it up to you, okay? I feel so bad about this”

“Don’t be, Connor” You said flatly “Work is important to you and I get that. Good luck with all your paperwork. I’ll see you at home”

“Honey-,”

And Connor groaned to himself when you hung up on him before he could go any further with his sentence.

No goodbye, no I love you. You were extremely mad at him. And being silently mad at him instead of bursting at him was so much worse.

A few hours later, Connor was still furiously typing away the proposal on his laptop. His body might be present in the office but his mind was elsewhere; thinking of you and how he has let you down tonight.

He was angry at his work, the only thing that was stopping him from being by your side at your grand opening, like he promised you multiple times.

Lucas was passing by Connor’s desk to head to the printing room and was surprised to still see his friend in the office at this hour, especially since he knew that you were having a grand opening for your café tonight.

“Connor?” Lucas calls out to his friend.

Connor stops typing on his laptop and turns his chair around “Oh, hey Lucas” He greeted in a non-enthusiastic tone.

“Why are you still here?” Lucas asks confusingly “I thought you would be gone by now. Isn’t y/n’s grand opening tonight?”

“It is” Connor replied, letting out a frustrated sigh “But since our clients moved up the submissions date, I’ve got to stay back and work this shit out because I’m not even half way through”

“Aw, man I’m really sorry about that” Lucas frowns “And y/n is okay with you here?”

“Obviously not. She’s pissed at me”

“Then just ditch the work, man” He insisted “Look, your wife is more important, Connor. Just come in work earlier tomorrow and get everything sorted out. I’ll even help you draft everything out so you can finish it faster, okay?”

“You really would do that?” Connor asked hopefully.

“Yeah man, now go” He rolled his eyes playfully “Go see your wife and tell her how sorry you are”

“Lucas, you are a life saver” Connor sighs in relief as he saves the work he typed out in a document and shuts down his laptop “I owe you a drink, buddy!”

“Correction, you owe me a drink and a fancy dinner, Brashier!” Lucas calls out to him, laughing as he watches his friend grabbed the bouquet of roses Connor had already purchased earlier and ran towards the lift “Good luck, man!”

xxx

Connor pulls up his car right in front of the café not too long later. There weren’t many cars around so he had a feeling the event has been over for quite some time now.

He got out of the car, holding the bouquet of roses in one hand, and his breath hitched in his throat when he finally notices the giant sign above the entrance of the café, displaying the name that you kept as a secret from him.

The Expresso CDB.

CDB named after him.

The coffee shop had clear windows and from inside, everything was dark except for one light, which meant you were probably still in there (he knows that’s a fact because he saw your car parked across the street).

There was a sign board propped up by the entrance of the door and as he walked closer to it, he finally read the opening message written in cursive.

Welcome to the grand opening of The Expresso CDB!

Thank you for being a part of this special night and for being one of the reasons why I have decided to pursue my dreams of opening this café.

The name ‘The Expresso CDB’ is inspired by my husband himself, Connor David Brashier. We first met in a coffee shop about 5 years ago and it was the best accident that has ever happened to me.

This one is for you, bubs. All my love is yours always.

y/n

And he immediately felt worse than before.

Connor opens the front door and immediately hears the bell ring. He nervously steps into the café and was taken aback by the interior design of it. Everything was set-up so perfectly and it was obviously suited to your likings.

You walked out of the kitchen as you carried out a basket filled with clean glasses and cups “Sorry! We’re not open….” Your words trailed off when you looked up and noticed who was at the door “Yet”

You rolled your eyes and set it down on the counter as you walked at a fast pace to your office “Go home, Connor!”

“Baby, wait!” Connor called after you as he sets the flower down on one of the tables and ran after you. He was too late though because you were already in the office and slammed the door shut, locking it in the process “Baby, please, I’m so sorry!”

“One night, Connor!” You slide down against the door as you yelled out “I asked you to be free for one damn night! And you couldn’t even do that!”

“And I feel so terrible about it, honey!” Connor reasoned with you in a softer tone as he continues to knock on the door “Please, please, forgive me, honey. I really feel bad”

“Everyone was asking about you tonight, do you know that?” You sniffled softly as the tears you were holding in were finally falling form your eyes “They were asking why you weren’t here it and I felt like the biggest idiot standing in front of everyone without you there with me!”

“I know how important your work is to you, Connor, I really do” You said shakily as a soft sob escape from your lips “But just this one time, I wanted you to prioritize me over your work”

“Baby, I always prioritize you” Connor choked out and he felt his breathing getting heavier. His visions were cloudy from the tears in his eyes “You are always number 1 to me. Not my stupid work or my boss. It’s always you”

“No” You shake your head “Tonight you showed me that wasn’t true”

Connor gave up on banging on the door, there was no way you were going to budge. The tears couldn’t stop flowing from his eyes as he slides down the door, being in a similar position to you on the other side.

He could hear your soft sobs coming from inside the room and he wanted to hurt himself for being the cause of it. He absolutely hated to even see a single tear from your eyes and now to hear you sobbing; the guilt was eating him alive.

Connor lets his head fall back against the door as he lets out a shaky breath. He had to try the one thing that would always work whenever you two got into an argument. He didn’t know if it would make you give in this time, but it was your safe song.

“Right here, right now” Connor sang out softly. His voice came out shaky as his lips trembled. On the other side, your hands were over your mouth, trying to cover up the sound of the sobs escaping from your lips. And when you heard those words, your mind just froze.

Your safe song. The one he always sang to you whenever he was trying to comfort you after a fight.

“I'm looking at you and my heart loves the view” He continued “Cause you mean everything”

“Right here, I'll promise you somehow….” Connor continued to the next part, sniffling in between “That tomorrow can wait for some other day to be”

And he paused. Waiting to hear you end those lyrics because that’s how it always goes. You finishing the chorus as a way to tell him that “Yeah, I’m mad at you right now but I’ll forgive you soon if you give me sometime”

It was silent for a while and Connor’s heart was broken. He’s never going to hear you say them because this time, it was really bad. He messed up really bad. And in times like these, he had to give you some space.

Connor wiped the tears from his eyes and slowly got up from the floor. He was going to give you some space but he wasn’t going to leave this café, that’s for sure.

He was about 5 steps away from the door and when he hears the soft click of the door, his heart starts beating faster. Connor turns around slowly and finds the door half opened and you standing by it with crossed arms, tears in your eyes and make-up all ruined as you ended the chorus, giving him the reassurance that he needed.

“But right now, there’s you and me”

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Reblog, like or leave a comment; always appreciated!  ❤️

x rina

TAG LIST:

@hurts-like-hell-xx @connordavidscamera @r3ader @tinycertain @green-lxght @queenmxndes @turtoix​ @zigzagsandzebras​

*lmk if you want to be removed/tagged!

[dddsfics]

New update for “Opposites Attract”

After finishing her cup of coffee and taking a good 30 minutes to figure out what say, Ellen began the daunting task of replying to her texts. Some she gave a quick response to, others she knew she had to call. The problem was that the ones who deserved a phone call were the ones who were going to keep her on the phone for a least an hour. And oh did they ever. By the time she had finished answering half her texts and making all of her important phone calls it had somehow become 4:30 in the afternoon. How time flies when you aren’t in an office, she thought.

Charlie would be home in only an hour. Although the shop was open until 6, his position as both co-owner and head mechanic meant he could essentially work his own hours. And she knew damn well he would be home as early as possible to check on her. Yet here she was, still in her goddamn sweats from last night. Yeah, that was really going to make a good impression. Charlie was out working hard to support the two of them, while she hadn’t done a thing besides vent to her friends and listen to lectures on the phone for hours from her family. On top of that, she hadn’t cleaned any part of the house. She hadn’t even given a thought to dinner (which Charlie always prepared so it was hot when she got home). And she was starting to look as disheveled as a 16-year-old going through her first break up.

I can’t let him see me like this

With Ellen’s wardrobe seriously lacking in options, she decided to raid Charlie’s closet. Even if she still dressed down, she hoped sporting something of his would add somewhat of a sexy element to the ensemble. She was immediately drawn to the gray sweatshirt with a logo of one of Charlie’s favorite pubs. It looked incredibly cozy and, fortunately for her, still had a hint of his scent. So she traded her own shirt for his, and slipped into the one pair of jeans tucked away in her dresser drawer.

She finally hurried off into the kitchen and took a good, long look at the inventory in the fridge. She wasn’t even sure what she could whip from the mishmosh of items in there. Charlie certainly had the cooking skills for that. Her? Not so much.

Just as she had grabbed her phone to began looking at delivery options, a text from Charlie popped up on her phone. “Want me 2 grab dinner?”

With a smile, she texted him back a kissy face. Always the life saver.

.....:....................

“I can’t remember the last time we’ve had lunch...or that I’ve seen you in daylight.”

Ellen chuckled, but Margo had a point. Outside of work events the past couple of years, she hadn’t had much of a life. Not to mention Margo had become quite busy raising a family so the two rarely saw each other these days. But after she had reached out to Ellen the prior day and offered to meet up for lunch, she saw no reason not to reconnect.

“How have you been taking this huge change?”

Ellen sighed and rolled the cherry tomato from her salad around on her plate. “Well yesterday I didn’t get dressed until after 4:00 and I forgot to eat lunch so...you tell me.”

“Honestly, and I know you probably don’t believe me right now, but getting let go was the best thing to ever happen to me. I was able to figure out my priories, take a good hard look at myself, Roger and I were finally able to start a family and I don’t feel like my entire life is run by my career.”

“But that was three years ago.”

Margo raised her eyebrows as if to challenge her. “Exactly. Look how much has changed.”

Ellen didn’t know what to say. Sure, things for Margo had gotten easier over time. But she was a mess for at least six months when it had happened. Had she forgotten that?

“So how are things going with Charlie? Maybe now might be the time to talk about settling down, if that’s something you’re interested in of course.”

“Margo, I think that baby train has left the station.” Ellen was trying her hardest not to roll her eyes at her friend.

“Hardly. You still have time left if you’re really dedicated to the idea.”

The look Ellen gave her made it crystal clear she wasn’t.

“Well, there are other ways to ‘settle down’ you know. Although what you and Charlie have seems to be working so I don’t blame you if you both want to keep things as they are.”

Ellen felt her mind start to wander, then caught herself before she got lost in a train of thought. “Yeah, things are great between us. Not sure we really need anything else, you know?”

Margo nodded, then took a bite of her turkey sandwich. “Well one thing’s for sure. He seems to be over the moon for you. I’d do anything to get Roger acting like that around me again.”

Ellen wasn’t sure what to say, so she let her friend continue as she nibbled away at her salad.

“And after seeing you with Joel and that horrendous asshole Greg, Charlie is even more of a dream. I’m glad you have him. And whatever you do, don’t let him go.”

——

As Ellen drove back to the house, she kept replaying her conversation with Margo in her head. What she and Charlie had was great. They had been together for three years, living together for one and things were better than ever. Effortless, really. The two of them had honestly never had a discussion about marriage. Of course, Charlie knew Ellen had been engaged before to the corporate douchebag known as Joel, but she made it clear that she left him because she finally came to realize what a snake he was. It wasn’t a fear of commitment. Not in the least. But, why had she never even thought about walking down the aisle for real this time? Had he thought about it?

Although Charlie was quite the romantic, he didn’t seem like the marriage type. Hell, he was that stereotypical bachelor when they met. The thought still made her laugh. But he had a capacity for romance that few other men could match. It was one of the many reasons she fell in love with him.

Charlie would no doubt make a great husband. But would she be able to fill the role of wife? 

Does he even see me as marriage material?

She became so lost in thought that she almost drove past a stop sign. “Shit.”

Thanks a lot, Margo.

——

That night, after the she and Charlie enjoyed the pasta they had whipped up together, Ellen asked if he wanted to go on a walk. Though he was caught off guard by her out-of-character suggestion, he was more than happy to oblige.

As he locked the door behind them, Ellen stood on the porch and closed her eyes to breathe in the crisp autumn air. Somehow it was even more gorgeous outside on this particular evening than it had been just the previous morning.

“Just beautiful,” Charlie said softly as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

She felt herself melt into him and let out a content sigh. “Isn’t it?”

“I was talking about you.”

Immediately Ellen began to blush, just as she always had whenever he complimented her. Something about the way he said it was just enough to send chills down her spine in the best way possible.

Charlie planted a kiss on the top of her head, then moved to her side and linked his hand with hers, leading her down towards the road.

They walked slowly in sync, saying very little to each other for the first time that night. Charlie appeared to be taking in the sights and sounds of the evening, humming a tune while rubbing her hand with his thumb. Ellen’s mind, however, was elsewhere. All evening she had been trying to muster up the courage to bring up the topic of marriage. But she couldn’t figure out where the hell to begin.

“You’re awfully quiet tonight.” Apparently he had noticed that her mind was elsewhere. Oops.

“Babe,” she finally managed to say. “Have you ever thought about...”

She stopped mid-sentence, prompting Charlie to squeeze her fingers as if he were encouraging her to continue.

“...getting a dog?”

Charlie stopped in his tracks to look down at her with a confused smile. “A dog?”

She had no idea where that had come from. “I...yeah, I mean it could be fun.” Her voice was getting higher by the second.

He gently pulled his hand away from hers, then began to caress her back as they walked. “Well, why don’t we visit the shelter this weekend then? Get a jump start on our new role as pet parents,” he said, clearly giddy.

And just like that, Ellen felt like her entire world was turning upside down for the second time that week.

[timetoresurface]

EXCHANGE (7) / JJK

to give something and receive something of the same kind in return

Note: First of all I want to thank @rumpucis for always liking and just being enthusiastic whenever I update. Second thing I want to talk about is my upcoming holiday to Greece. I will be gone from tonight until the 31st of May and I’m not taking my laptop on this well deserved trip. I really want to read books again instead of writing and struggling with my own fan fiction stories. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing but it takes up a lot of my time (I work full time and have a lot of social obligations) so I will reward myself with a little writers break while I’m tanning and swimming the salty sea of Kos. Don’t worry, I'll be back with more as I know what I want to write next for a change.

Pairing: reader x Jungkook

Genre: romance, non idol AU

Warnings: none

Word count: 2560 words

PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3 / PART 4 / PART 5 / PART 6

Summary: Yes, you are an exchange student. You noticed EF also organized trips to Seoul and you wanted something different than the same five people in your hometown. You came to the beautiful city to learn and relax, most definitely not to fall in live with one of the teachers. Definitely not the young extracurricular teacher who seemed to be good at everything.

*Y/N = your name *Y/C = your city/country

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

The morning is as assured as the tides and just as unstoppable. You need a few more hours of blackness. Not to sleep, but to prepare, to reorganize your thoughts and to make sense of the events of last night. But already you can see the chaos that is your room, the dark outline of the dirty clothes on your dresser and the tall lamp you always trip over in the dark. Soon there will be color and traffic noises, the smell of other residents making coffee and toast and your roommate waking up.

You don’t understand why you’re nervous about meeting up with Jungkook. You had already spend a great time hanging out with him solo. You had already kissed and felt a little too much of each other. Still, you were a nervous wreck about today’s activities. You both agreed to spend the day together walking through Seoul after barely five hours of sleep. You had tried to hide the bags under your eyes but failed miserably. Sunglasses will have to do today.

A soft knock on your door surprised you and you almost woke up your roommate by tripping over the tall lamp. Silently a curse escaped your lips while you tried to find everything you needed. Your little bag was already filled with more than you needed but you still wanted to take your camera with you.

There was another knock on your door and you instantly found the camera you were looking for. You were shocked he was perfectly on time as he looked like a young man who really needed his sleep.

“Hi Jungkook!” You answered his continuing knocking on your door. His cheeks were turning red but you simply ignored his cuteness and locked your door.

“I wasn’t sure if you were awake because there was no sound whatsoever.” He awkwardly shifted his leg.

“I was trying to keep the noise down so I wouldn’t wake up my sleeping roommate.” You tried to explain to him in a whisper.

“That sounds reasonable and also nice of you. Most people don’t care if they wake up their roommates in the early mornings.” He whispered back to you with a huge grin on his face.

“It is not that early though.”

“It is early enough to need coffee to be a normal functioning human being.” A coffee cup was put in your hand and you gladly accepted his offer.

“Thanks for the coffee. This will be a huge life saver today.” You tried to take a sip but it was still too hot to comfortably drink it.

“Is there any specific place you want to go too?” He asked you while holding his cup in between his both hands, enjoying the warmth it brought him.

“Not really, I want to see everything if that is possible?” You might have a file on your phone of everything you wanted to do and see in Seoul. But it would be more fun if Jungkook showed you his favorite places, you thought. Or maybe explore some new places for the both of you. All was good.

“We’ll need more days though.” His laugh was still as contagious as yesterday and as the day before. His spell wasn’t going to be wearing off anytime soon.

“I’m staying for another three weeks so we’ll have more days.” It might have sounded like a lighthearted comment but your heart wasn’t too happy with this fact. Jungkook took a sip form his coffeecup while hiding his face from you. He might feel the same. Three weeks is really nothing if you’re spending it with someone you’re going to leave behind. Why waste time when it is going to end into a hundred broken pieces. 

“What are we waiting for? Seoul is waiting for me.” You tried to lighten the mood again and held out your hand to him. Jungkook gladly accepted your offer and that’s kind of how it started. His hand was going to be there for the rest of the day, leading you to touristic places and guiding you through his favorite neighborhoods. 

After a few hours of walking and taking pictures, you both halted to get some ice cream. The weather was exceptionally good today so he took you to the river where he knew a great spot for ice cream eating. The only spot where you were allowed to eat the cold dessert, or at least according to him. Ice cream should always be combined with a great view otherwise the taste just wouldn’t be the same. 

His fingers were rubbing circles into your hand while he was talking to the person selling ice cream. You were surprised he kept rubbing and acknowledging your hand while he was in such a crowded place. You didn’t notice at first, but everyone kept staring at your intertwined hands. As if a European girl was not allowed to touch a Korean boy. As if you were the strangest and most discussing combination there was. 

“Here you go. Chocolate and raspberry as requested.” You quickly licked the ice-cream to right it, it had begun to slump precariously to one side and there was nothing worse than loosing an entire scoop to the dirty sidewalk. You followed Jungkook to his favorite spot and you couldn’t help but to admire his perfectly defined back. His t-shirt was a bit too big but it didn’t hide his muscles. The sudden urge to go and touch him was hard to ignore but you did. You had enough of everyone’s staring eyes, so you simply behaved yourself, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t look.

In your daydream a drop of raspberry made it onto your t-shirt, with a finger you scooped it up. You frowned momentarily at the pink stain before spying Jungkook struggling as much as you did. A laugh escaped your lips and he pinned around with a confused look on his face. The giggle built up inside you like so much water behind a dam, making your shoulders shake and your belly hurt. When it erupted from your mouth it sounded more like a braying donkey as you fought to breathe and stifle the tears.

It seemed that Jungkook was also under some kind of spell. Whenever you laughed he had to laugh too and he didn’t even try to hide it. His eyes remained on yours so he hadn’t even noticed the stain on your t-shirt. He didn’t even acknowledge the chocolate stain on his own t-shirt. While giggling you tried to scoop up the ice cream he had dropped onto himself and this finally got his attention away from you. 

“Oh this is embarrassing.” He finally said after trying to get rid of the stain.

“Jungkook, look at me.” You tried to get his attention back. His head shot up and looked up at you. It took him a while but he finally realized why you had laughed so hard minutes before. The giggles rolled out of him like the waves on a long shallow beach. They seemed to disappear for a while only to build up and break to the surface once more. 

“You’re as much of a mess as I am.” You said with heart eyes aimed at him.

“That’s why I like you, I think.” His sudden confession made the both of you look a way from each other. As if eye contact was going to make this moment more intimate than what you both were ready for.

“Jungkook, I …-“ you tried to start but he was quick to interrupt you.

“I know, just friends right? I realize you’re leaving in three weeks, but I can still like you.” His hand cupped your face and you immediately relaxed to his touch. You hadn’t realized how much you had missed the feeling of his hand on your face, or for that matter anywhere else. All you wanted him to do was touch you and hold you, but that wasn’t really possible.

“Just friends who accidentally kissed all night.” You said with cheeks as pink as the blooming cherry blossoms in the background.

“If you want to pretend nothing happened, I’ll agree because I respect your opinion and feelings. But otherwise, I really wouldn’t mind kissing you again and again.” His hand left your face and you already missed the warmth even though it was scorching hot in the afternoon sun.

“Aren’t your lips still swollen from yesterday, maybe you need to have a day off of kissing foreign students.” You felt like teasing him. You wanted to test him if he really wanted to kiss him again so you took a step closer over to him. Your face only a breath away from each other. 

“I kissed one and she’s only here for a couple of weeks so I really won’t like a day off.” His hand stroked the side of your arm leaving a trail of goosebumps. 

“Everyone’s staring, Jungkook.” You finally snapped after taking a step back. Were you were from nobody really seemed to care if two people were a bit more relaxed with each other, but here in busy Seoul everyone were sending you judging looks. Maybe it was because you weren’t Korean, or maybe it was because you two were a bit too intimate to their liking.

“Since when do you do things waiting for someones approval.” His eyes were dark and needy and it took all of you to not just jump onto him and kiss his perfectly swollen lips. Because of the alcohol last night you don’t exactly remember how he tasted, how he touched your body while keeping his tongue in your mouth. You so badly wanted to do it all over again to savor his flavor and keep it locked in your mind for the rest of your life. But you couldn’t do that. If you kissed him one more time you knew you would be hooked, and you were trying to avoid having feelings for him that were too deep.

“You don’t know me that well, Kookie. I don’t know if you like me or the idea of me being foreign and therefore more exciting? Or isn’t that what young Koreans think of us?” You couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment you wanted to have a fight with him, but is suddenly was there and it wasn’t anything you could ignore.

“That’s not what I …-“ Jungkook tried to explain but this time you were ready to interrupt.

“Maybe that’s why everything is going so fast because you know I’m leaving in three weeks. What is it that you want? Some adventure? Because I can not give you what you’re looking for.” You tried to keep your voice down as you both already got too much attention from the locals and tourists. 

“Y/N please no, that’s not what I want.” He tried to start but you already turned around and threw your melted ice cream in the nearest garbage can. The moment you entered the never-ending and never stopping crowd he lost sight of you. 

There was no logical explanation for your actions. The only thing you could think of was for the both of you to stop interacting so you could get over him before leaving. Maybe it was an internal safety mechanism trying to save you from heartbreak, but in this moment you weren’t really sure if it had saved you or caused you more pain. 

**

“Y/N? Are you inside? Can I come in? Are you dressed?” Alfie screamed from the other side of your door. You quietly got out of bed and opened the door for him.

“What do you want?” You grunted.

“Hangover?”

“Not really but something like that.” You weren’t in the mood to explain things to Alfie.

“Love?”

“Definitely not that.” You said a bit too fast which made him realize it most definitely had to do something with Jungkook. His eyes showed a kindness you were really craving at the moment, that certain kindness of a best friend.

“You know I’m not really allowed to be in your room. Let’s go outside and catch the last remaining rays of sunshine.” With a simple nod of your head the both of you exited your room. There was only one remote spot for the two of you to silently discuss anything without being eavesdropped. 

“So what’s going on Y/N? What has Jungkook done?” In this moment you were grateful to have a friend like Alfie when everything seemed to go a bit wrong today.

“He didn’t really do anything, I did something.” And that’s how you started to explain the situation. You mentioned the secret hang outs you had previously kept a secret from him. You expressed him your feelings for the Korean boy who stole the hearts of every girl on campus, including your apparently which made you act like a lunatic. You told him about today and how you suddenly exploded and left Jungkook in the middle of Seoul, right at one of his favorite spots to make everything worse.

Alfie listened and hadn’t said a thing which made you realize he was probably taking Jungkook’s side. Of course he did, who wouldn’t? 

“It seems like you tried to help yourself but actually made everything worse for everyone. You exploding on him made you realize you kind of fancy him and now you’re here with me instead of kissing the boy you want to kiss.” He carefully selected his words, trying to calm the mess that you were.

“I don’t think he would let me kiss him again. What kind of weirdo am I? He should run from me if he’s smart.” You dropped your head in both your hands and immediately hated the dramatics but these were dramatic times.

“Stop acting like everything is ruined. Just go up to the boy and apologize. If he really likes you, and it seems like he really does, he would instantly forgive you and kiss your pouting mouth.” He did make a lot of sense and the wheels in your head started to come up with a plan.

“I’m saying you need to move now! Go to his place, which you apparently know the location of, and talk to the guy. He has shown you nothing but respect.” He lifted you up your feet but you weren’t ready to go yet.

“is this smart?” He looked taken aback by your question but quickly composed himself again.

“You might work things out but you’re not there yet. Enjoy life and enjoy the body of the man you have the biggest crush on.” His words were the perfect motivation to move from your frozen insecure state toward Jungkook’s place. You hadn’t practiced what you wanted to say. You also hadn’t really thought this through but you were in front of his place and couldn’t move. You couldn’t knock and you couldn’t go back to your room. 

After a couple of minutes you finally knocked on his door and it immediately opened with a tired Jungkook holding the door. You couldn’t help but to feel responsible for the mess that was in front of you. There were no smiles or blushes, only you awkwardly shifting your weight from one leg to the other. How the heck do you start this conversation?

[girls-scenarios]

I Need U

Idol: Yeeun (CLC)

Prompt: I’m so happy you’re taking clc requests and went out of your way to promote their INSANE comeback! Could you do a Yeeun scenario where she pretends the reader is her girlfriend so her ex leaves her alone? Thank you for everything you do! Stan CLC!!

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Yes, Stan CLC! The title is from one of their sidetracks, check it out, it’s a bop! Sorry I didn’t have one up yesterday, work got crazy, but I love this type of prompt and I hope you guys enjoy!

This was a dumb idea. Yeeun had watched enough dramas to know that this would only end badly, but here she was, ready to ask this dumb question because she had no other choice.

“This is going to sound weird,” she said as you sat down at her kitchen table, a slightly confused look on your face. She’d asked you to come over out of nowhere, saying that she needed your help, and like the good friend you were, you'd come straight over. It occurred to her now that she probably should have specified what kind of help she needed. “I basically need you to date me.”

Your eyes widened, and you stalled for a moment, frozen in shock. “I-. What?”

“Fake date me,” Yeeun clarified, clasping her hands together. “Just pretend to be my girlfriend for a little while, please.” You raised your eyebrows and crossed your arms, but the way you leaned forward slightly told her that you weren’t totally against the idea.

“Why exactly do you need me to pretend to date you?” Yeeun took a deep breath before launching into the story.

It was kind of her own fault this was happening. She’d let her ex girlfriend back into her life, despite knowing how toxic and possessive she could be. Now, this ex wouldn’t leave her alone, somehow convinced that Yeeun talking to her meant that she still liked her. Yeeun knew she should tell her straight up, but she hated confrontation and knew that the ex would step off if she thought Yeeun was dating someone else. From that had come this stupid, stupid idea, and now she sat in front of you with her best smile on her face, hoping that you’d say yes.

“I told you that she was no good and you should stay away,” you told her, shaking your head, “but fine. I'll be your fake girlfriend for a little while. Because I'm a nice person.” Yeeun’s shoulders slumped in relief and she let out the breath she’d been holding.

“Thank you! You’re the best, (Y/N), it’s my treat whenever we go out.” You grinned.

“If you’re the only one who pays for our dates, that makes me a bad girlfriend. Let me at least pay for a few.” You calling yourself her girlfriend made her head spin a little. “Also, since I came all the way over here, can we watch some Netflix or something?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll make some popcorn.”

“Awesome! I’ll go set up the tv.” You stood up to make your way into her living room, and she watched you go with her heart beating hard. Yeah. This was a really dumb idea. But she was going to saver every minute of it.

-

“So, I did something stupid .”

“What’s new?” Sorn snickered as Yeeun turned to glare at her. “I’m kidding. What happened?” Yeeun let out a sigh and resumed staring at the dull patterns on the ceiling.

“I asked (Y/N) to be my girlfriend.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? You’ve been pining after her for ages.”

“Fake girlfriend,” Yeeun clarified, and Sorn winced.

“Okay, not so good. Did dramas teach you nothing? You’re going to fall for her even deeper but it’ll all be pretend and then she’ll be able to go back to her normal life but you’ll be left heartbroken.”

“I know! I know, okay? But my ex wouldn't leave me alone and I know the only way I can get her off my back is to pretend to be dating someone else.”

“Couldn’t you have asked me?”

“Ew, that would be like dating my sister.”

“But you wouldn’t fall in love with me during the process.”

“... You’ve got a point.”

“Are you going to be okay after this?” Yeeun paused, looked over at Sorn who had put down her phone and was staring at her intently.

“I think I will. I just need support.”

“Well, you’ve got me. When you get your heart broken and come crawling back I’ll make you some food and we’ll watch trashy romantic comedies until you never want to fall in love again.” Yeeun smiled and reached out to fist bump her friend.

“Thanks, dude.”

“Anytime.”

-

The dates started out kind of awkward, with neither of you really knowing what to do. It was hanging out, but.... Different. It wasn’t until the third “date” that things started to get better.

“Let’s just try to act like normal,” Yeeun said as the two of you sat down at the movies, popcorn and snacks in hand. “I’ve got photos for social media, and that should be enough. There’s no need for you to pretend outside of that. We can just act like we’re hanging out, like we always do.” Something crossed your face, an emotion that she couldn’t read, but then you gave her a smile and shrugged your shoulders.

“Sounds good to me. It was getting really awkward.”

“No kidding.” She let out a little laugh and settled back into her seat, hoping that you didn’t notice the tinge of sadness that colored her voice. She should have known better. Her feelings for you weren’t reciprocated, so this was just making you uncomfortable. Maybe she should have gone to Sorn after all.

The theater dimmed, and as the movie began to play, she felt you take her hand in yours. She jumped a little and turned to look at you, but you were looking at the screen, a small little smile on your face. Swallowing, she turned her attention back to the screen, but she could no longer concentrate. Did you know what you were doing to her?

-

“Finally!” You jumped at her exclamation and looked up from your sandwich to her, and then at the people sitting in the restaurant around the two of you, giving them an apologetic smile.

“You shouldn’t be so loud in here,” you said, and she grinned sheepishly, putting down her phone.

“Sorry. I just got so excited.”

“What is it?”

“My ex texted me. She said that she didn’t know I had a girlfriend and that she won’t bother me anymore. Isn’t that great news? Our plan worked!” Again, that emotion flitted across your face, but you smiled and held up your hand to high-five her.

“That’s great news!”

“Right?” Yeeun bit her lip as she brought her hand back down, remembering what this meant. She wasn’t ready to stop dating you. She wasn’t ready to go back to being just friends. But it was time to let you go. “This means you don’t have to fake date me.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Trying to ignore the feelings bubbling up in her chest, she smiled.

“We are officially broken up now. Sorry for forcing you to do this with me.” You looked down at your sandwich again, and Yeeun knew she was just imagining, hoping, but you seemed sad.

“You didn’t force me to do anything.” When you looked back up, you had a smile on your face again. “It was fun dating you.” A million things ran through her mind, but she couldn’t get any of them out. Her heart sat broken in her heart as she thanked you, keeping the fake smile on her face. The plan had worked, but it had been dumb. And now she was more in love with you than she’d been before.

-

“Isn’t this what I told you would happen?”

“Please shut up and commiserate with me,” Yeeun groaned, voice muffled from the pillow she’d buried her face into. From the other side of her bed, Sorn kicked her softly.

“No. I refuse to let you just wallow in self-pity when you could be doing something.”

“I can’t do anything. (Y/N) doesn’t like me like that.”

“How do you know?” Yeeun turned over to look at her friend, eyebrows raised. “You said she was sad, right?”

“I said that she seemed sad, but I think it was just my imagination. I wanted her to feel the same way, so I just put emotions on her.”

“No offense, Yeeun, but I don’t think you can imagine an emotion onto someone. You said she held your hand, right?”

“Well, yeah, but she could have just felt like she had to-.”

“You told her that she didn’t and she still did. Come on, dude. You’re either going to pine away and drown in your own feelings, or you’re going to woman up and go confess. I swear that you’ll end up regretting it if you don’t confess.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I almost lost my chance with Seunghee after waiting too long to confess. Seriously. Just do it. I’m going to leave, and I want you to text her and tell her that you need to tell her something. Then have her come over and ask her to date you for real. Then you can know her feelings and you don’t have to wonder or imagine.”

“That’s scary,” Yeeun whined, and Sorn shrugged, standing up and reaching over to flick the older girl’s forehead before turning on her heel.

“You can do it, I believe in you. Good luck.” Yeeun sat up and watched Sorn leave, dumbstruck for a few minutes before she blinked and looked down at her phone. Could she really text you? Have you come over and confess for real?

She picked up the phone and thought about the way you smiled at her, how your hand felt in yours, and how cute the photos she’d taken for social media had been. Sorn was right. She needed to tell you.

-Hey, sorry to bother you but can you come over? I have something I need to tell you.

-Do you need me to fake date you again? Jk lol. I was just about to text you saying the same thing.

-Oh wow, telepathy! So your place or mine?

-I’ll come to yours. Wait for me!

Her heart was in her throat as she put the phone down and got out of bed to do a little cleaning. This was it. She had to tell you.

When she opened the door to let you in, her cheeks were already slightly flushed, and she was fidgeting with her long sleeves. You also seemed a little nervous as you stepped inside, struggling a little with your jacket and shoes before the two of you headed in to her living room.

“So, what did you want to tell me?” Oh, yeah. You had something to tell her too, right?

“You can go first,” she said, but you waved your hands and shook your head, shifting on the couch to face her.

“No, you go ahead! We’re at your house, after all.” Yeeun swallowed, and knew that, if she didn’t tell you now, she’d chicken out. So she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and looked you in the eyes.

“(Y/N), I really like you. I’ve liked you for a while. And fake dating you only made me want to actually date you even more. It made me realize that I don’t want to go back to being friends.” Your mouth dropped open slightly, and her stomach twisted. “Sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear, but I needed to tell you the truth.”

“No! Actually, that’s almost exactly what I came over to tell you.” Her eyes widened, and you fidgeted with your fingers. “I realized that I liked you while we were fake dating, and I probably have for a while. And it made me realize that I needed you, so I wanted to tell you that.” Your words settled in Yeeun’s heart, and she could have cried, she was so relieved, reaching over to take your hands into her own.

“I’m so happy you feel the same way,” she said, unable to stop the smile spreading across her face. “I was scared that you would hate me if you knew.”

“I could never hate you,” you replied, smiling that smile that she’d fallen for so long ago. The two of you looked at each other before delving into shy giggles.

“Does this mean you’ll date me?”

“For real this time?”

“For real. I want you to be my real girlfriend.” You grinned, and the butterflies in Yeeun’s stomach started up again. She would have to thank Sorn later. 

“Then I’ll say yes. But kiss me to seal the deal.” You leaned in closer, and as Yeeun’s eyes fluttered closed and her lips touched yours, she rescinded her original stance. All those dramas were lying. This idea hadn’t been so dumb after all.

[jayascorner]

life isn’t that bad

~part 1

josh dun x reader

•

•

•

(past flashback thing i guess..)

i leaned on the small, brown piano as i listened to my boyfriend play beautiful sounding chords on it. i watched his fingers glide across the keys, something about his fingers playing made me feel happy. then he starts singing.

“you know...

i’ve always been collected, calm, and chill.

and you know...

i never look for conflict for the thrill.

but if i’m feelin’...

someone steppin’ towards you, can’t describe just what i’m feelin’..

for you.” he stopped.

“that’s all i have so far.” he smiled up at me.

i always loved his voice and how he had a natural talent. but this song, it’s like he wrote it for someone. i mean... i am his girlfriend.

“that was beautiful!” i beamed.

he smiled shyly. “thanks. i uh.. i wrote it for you.”

“that’s the cutest song i’ve ever heard.”

he smiled and stood up. he came towards me to lean in for a kiss.

that was a good day. but sadly, i never heard the rest of the song.

••••••••end of flashback••••••••

(6 years later)

obviously this is not like how most stories go. no, tyler and i never ended up happily ever after. no, we didn’t end up getting married and having a totally problem less life. life definitely isn’t perfect. and things happen, like my first relationship not lasting forever. crAzY rigHT?! wrong.

it’s really hard to get over someone that seems like ‘the one’ to you. when it turns out wrong, it’s like your whole world flips up-side-down. tyler did seem like he was the one, but i guess he wasn’t. in fact, i bet he’s already married now, he is really good looking.

i did end up getting over the fact that i broke up with a perfect guy eventually. but he is still fresh in my mind. i know, we were young. i was only seventeen. of course it didn’t work out. it took me a long time to get over it, though. even though that was six years ago, i still remember it fully as if it just happened. weird, huh?

yes, i’m still single, and haven’t found anyone, really. it’s kinda sad. well, actually

i’ve found someone. his name is josh.

it wasn’t until later that night, or should i say morning, i got a call from josh.

i picked up my phone to answer the call. it was strange he was calling me at 12 in the morning, so something must’ve been up.

“hey jish. why are you up so late?” i asked through the line.

“sorry y/n. i just wanted you to know that my band made a new album.”

oh yeah! he’s in a band! twenty one pilots! i forgot!

i’ve listened to stressed out, but not anything else really. only because it’s been on the radio a couple times. but the lead singer’s voice sounds very familiar.

“oh. ok... what’s it called?”

“oh it’s called trench.” he said.

“did y’all just now release it?” i asked.

“yup. i bet our fans are going ballistic. we haven’t released an album for a long while, ” he said, chuckling. i laughed “they probably are.” “well, i’m telling everybody in my contacts and i guess you were the first person i thought of.”

i could feel that he was smiling through the other line. “really?!” i asked, all the sudden feeling really happy.

“yeah...anyways, sorry for bothering you.” he apologized.

“no no you weren’t bothering me. i’m wide awake.”

“oh good...are you bored?”

well..i mean...kinda. ok yeah. i’m bored now that i think of it.

“yeah i am bored, actually. i have nothing to do.” i said.

“ok do you want to come stay with me? i’ll just be contacting all my friends about the album.”

how could i say no? he’s offering me an opportunity not to be bored out of my mind! yay!

“yes. anything to make me not bored. uh...you have food right?” i asked, suddenly feeling hunger in my stomach.

“yeah? why?” he asked, confused.

“i don’t know...i’m hungry for some reason.”

“you like pickles?”

“I LOVE PICKLES DO YOU HAVE THEM?!” i asked, pure joy coming out of my voice.

“yeah actually, i have a huge jar of them. i got it from a friend. i’m pretty sure it was a joke, but you can have some.”

“OH MY GOSH REALLY?? THAT IS ACTUALLY A LIFE SAVER. PICKLES ARE LITERALLY MY HOLY GRAIL!”

apparently that was funny to josh because he started cracking up. but really, i was being serious.

“okay then— you-you can have the pick-pickles” he said in between laughs.

“YESS THANK YOU!! okay so i’ll come over right now. we can listen to the album.”

“okay sounds great.”

“‘kay, bye jishwa.”

“bye (y/n/n).”

i ended the call. i’ve always like the nickname he had for me. like, it’s unique. only he calls me that. if someone else calls me that in front of josh, he’ll be like ‘nope. get your own nickname for her’ or something like that. is pretty amusing. he’s also protective over me, and i really appreciate that.

“LET’S GO WOOOO!! I DON’T EVEN CARE THAT IT’S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!! WOOOOO!!!” i shouted to myself as i grabbed my keys. i tossed them and caught them like a cool person and walked out the door.

“wait.....” i realized i literally had a tank top and shorts on. AND NO SHOES. “i do not look presentable, do i?” i said to myself.

later when i put better clothes on, like a t-shirt and leggings, i slipped on some tennis shoes before finally walking out the door with my keys.

~lil time skip~

*knock knock knock*

i waited for the door to open.

the door opened with josh in a t-shirt and pants. somehow, the man still seemed to attract me.

“hey! that was fast.” josh said, a big smile spread across his face.

“you know me.” i said, josh making a way for me to come in. i spread my arms out so i could hug him. i don’t know...i just really felt like getting a hug from josh. he wrapped his arms around my torso. i rested my head on his shoulder. “how was your day?” he asked. “good so far, it just started.” i smiled.

“oh that’s right. well how was your day yesterday?” he pulled away.

“it was alright i guess. nothing really happened much, but i can tell you that today will be great.” i said, while making my way to a nearby couch. y’all sat down together on the end.

“i know my day will be awesome . it starts with you.”

“thanks. anyways, enough with the cheesies now i want to hear the album.”

“okay. now you can do whatever you want while i contact people.” he said. i nodded in response.

then i remembered that he had a whole jar of pickles, and then suddenly got really hungry. but little did i know, there weren’t pickles so pleasing to my eye. meaning, there was only one.

“oh yeah...so you have pickles?” i ask, a smile creeping on my face.

“oh uh...about that...i got a little hungry.”

he says, looking down.

“YOU ATE MY PICKLES?!!” i shouted standing up. i marched to the fridge.

“well technically they’re not your pickles. they’re mine. i was gonna let you have them.”

“why did you eat them then?!”

“i didn’t eat all of them. and besides, i was hungry.”

i managed to find a jar of pickles, or should i say jar of pickle. i looked up and gave him a death stare. “how much were there originally?”

“um...i forget.” he said, but i could feel he was lying.

“oh really?”

he sighed. “no.”

“that’s what i thought. now how many were there?”

“...” he said. he SAID. dOT DOT DOT.

“wow you just said ‘dot dot dot’. but seriously how much. i won’t be mad.”

“...fine. about six.”

“YOU ATE FIVE?! I THOUGHT YOU DIDNT LIKE PICKLES!” i shouted. i wasn’t mad, i was just shocked.

“there was nothing else to eat.”

“why? i thought you have a lot of food.”

“i’m....on a.....diet?” he said, more a question.

“yeah. a pickle diet. not to mention, i saw you eating ice cream two days ago.” i stated.

“that’s because...“ he paused to think of some made up excuse. “i just started my diet today!” he triumphantly said, probably happy that he found an excuse that i would possibly buy. wrong. i didn’t buy it.

“whatever you say josh. anyways, it’s fine i’ll just have this pickle. i need to go on a diet, too.”

“i’m sorry for eating your pickles y/n.” he said, shamefully.

“it’s fine josh. don’t sweat it. i totally understand though, pickles are amazing.”

“they’re okay i guess. i mean, i have similar foods that you might like.”

i stop mid-bite in the pickle.

“...”

“like what?” i asked, out of curiosity.

“um..let’s see.” he looks in the fridge. “i have cucumbers.” he looked back at me. “if you like those.”

“do you have ranch?” i asked, because like cucumbers, but they’re even better with ranch in my opinion.

“uhm, what kind of ranch?”he asked.

what kind of ranch?? what is he talking about. uhh yeah i’ll have some chocolate ranch. thanks.

“what do you mean?” i asked, because i’ve only heard of regular ranch.

“like flavors. i have chipotle, coleslaw, buffalo, and jalapeño ranch.”

oh.

ohhh.

i’m so dumb.

now i know what he’s talking about.

“can you put samples in bowls so i can taste test them? ‘cause i don’t know what they taste like.” i ask, walking in the kitchen where he was.

“yeah.” he said.

with that he got three small bowls out and put each type of ranch in it. “this one’s homemade.” he pointed to the jalapeño ranch.

“so it must be good.” i said with a smile.

“i don’t know, do you like spicy?” he asked. i shrugged “depends on how spicy it is.” i dipped a cucumber in it and took a bite. i stopped and my eyes widened. i looked at josh like ‘seriously dude? you MADE this?’

he quickly noticed and chuckled. “is it good?” he asked.

“holy crap dude. why haven’t i tried this ranch before? this is amazing!”

josh smiled at me. “so, you want that one?” he pointed to the dip you were using.

i nodded, dipping more cucumbers in it, as if i couldn’t get enough of it.

“okay.” he got some more of the ranch into a bowl that had enough for me to eat.

now lemme say something, josh is really nice. i don’t know if he’s nice like this to everyone, or if he has- well, um...feelings for me. which i don’t think so. and i don’t know how to feel about him, whether he’s a friend, or more. i would only like him if he liked me back, y’know, that sort of thing. of course he’s attractive to me, but i need to wait to see if he would possibly feel the same. but there’s just one thing, i don’t want to ask him in person or anything. so yeah, there’s that. phew! i got it out of me.

after a while of silence, nothing but me crunching on my cucumbers, i hear this voice in a sing-song way say something that vaguely sounded like ‘cover me’.

and then this really awesome bass line kicks in, followed with a drum beat.

i start bopping as i feel the music. josh looks over at me, and smiles at my sudden liking for this song. “this is jumpsuit. the first song on the album.”

“it’s catchy.” i said, a grin finding its way to my face.

“oh, just wait until the words are sung.” he said.

and that’s when i heard the first line. yes the ‘i can’t believe how much i hate.’ and for some reason, the voice is strongly familiar...

“why do i know that voice?” i mutter to myself, but josh seemed to hear.

“um, stressed out was on the radio a lot. you might recognize the voice from that.” josh says, confused.

“yeah i’ve heard that before, but that sounded familiar, too.” i said. i totally knew the person, he was just on the tip of my tongue. “w-what’s his name?” i asked, my nerves picking up as if i had known this guy before.

“his name’s tyler.”

hey guys, so apparently this was too long so i had to cut it in two parts. i hope you liked this first part :))

i will be updating the second part shortly, if you’re wondering :)

—yaya

[jamesbvck]

lost & found | b. barnes | part seven

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader (AU, Bartender!Bucky) Summary: Being lost was something foreign to you. Beginning a new life was an uphill battle. Being found was a surprise, especially unexpectedly by a man his own questionable past. Word Count: 3k Warnings: slight angst, mention of drinking, swearing, fluff A/N: Welcome to part seven! Feedback is welcomed :) also shout to to @justasimpleassbitch for beta-ing <3

MASTERLIST | TAG FORM

The night was long.

You had barely gotten enough sleep to function yet there you were at 8am in the kitchen getting yourself a bowl of cereal and poured some water into a glass. This wasn’t anything compared the breakfast Bucky had made you, but it was something. You curled up into the corner of the couch with a blanket placed over your legs. The television was on but you could barely pay attention to anything on the screen. Luckily for you Hayley was a life saver and agreed to cover your shift for the afternoon. You couldn’t find the will to go into work and truthfully, you weren’t even sure if you wanted to see Bucky or not. A strong part of you continuously craved him but there was another part of you that grew meek, hesitant, and distant now. You felt a bit lost.

The events of the night before flickered through your mind like a flipbook; each page migrated to Steve’s agitated face and the sound of his words replayed in your mind. It was so complicated and who was really to blame other than yourself? Everything circled back to you, first the “date” with Steve and then everything in between with Bucky. Bucky had been an unexpected twist to your life. Easily you gravitated to him, found common ground, and truly felt yourself in his presence. 

Sighing, your head tipped back against the couch with your eyes closing. There was movement on the other side of Corinne’s door. You had heard her get in about an hour after you had gotten home. She didn’t even make an attempt to talk last night which was surprising. Her door jiggled and opened, her feet padded to the kitchen and the fridge door opened. Corinne joined you in the living room, settling in the arm chair and she looked at the TV. She was the constant confusing part of the situation. 

“Did you sleep?”

“Barely.” Your head lifted and you set the soggy cereal onto the coffee table, tucking your feet under yourself.

There was silence between you and your sister. Corinne idly sipped her orange juice, running the tip of her finger around the edge of the glass. You knew she was thinking and that she was biting back from saying anything, however you knew your sister well enough that she couldn’t stay quiet.

“Tell me what you said to Bucky yesterday.”

Corinne drawled out your name like a child not wanting to do something. But you pressed her and she caved.

“All I said was that I hope he treats you good because your deserve the best,” Corinne said. “That’s it. He didn’t say anything back which wasn’t surprising since it’s Bucky.”

“What does that mean?” You asked. She shrugged. “And what’s the deal with you and him, Corinne. He got weird the other day, too, just like you did.”

“It’s nothing.” Corinne rose from the chair and downed the rest of the juice, going into the kitchen.

“Bullshit.” You grumbled. “Tell me.”

The glass clanked against the countertop. Corinne’s shoulders were tight with old tension and her fingers gripped the counter. Her head rolled from side to side. “Did he tell you about his arm?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t tell you want happened after,” Corinne turned back around. Her eyes were sad as she reflected on the past. “He got drunk, terribly drunk. I was walking home from the subway and he was there on the stoop of his building because he couldn’t figure out how to get into his own damn home. So I shoved him into a taxi and brought him here. He was embarrassed and ashamed. He kept talking about how he always lets everyone down. I told him that he can always try again, try and be better. I let him stay the night but he ended up staying three more because he was too scared of going back to an empty apartment. He didn’t want to go to Steve either.”

The story unfolded and you sunk into the couch. Corinne had cared for Bucky. “And then…?”

Corinne shrugged. “I think a part of me was infatuated with him. I don’t think it was love but it was something. But I was stupid and he didn’t reciprocate, he didn’t care,” she hollowly laughed out of spite. “We were friends then we were nothing, we’ve been nothing for years. Just two people who know each other. And maybe I was telling you to dismiss him because I still have some resentment.”

Your eyes fell to the floor, brain searching for comprehension but now it was more exhausted than before. “Corinne, I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t be. Bucky likes you and honestly? It’s nice seeing him smile and seeing you smile.”

Her words were as genuine as the smile that crept onto her lips. You knew all she wanted was for you to be happy no matter who or what it was. You got up and went over to hug your sister tightly. Her embrace was warming as she murmured that none of it mattered anymore and while understandings were beginning to come together, there was still ground to cover. You had to go talk to Steve, to apologize and clear the air. Thinking about it made you nervous.

Corinne offered to go with you but you thought that would just make it more awkward. After getting dressed and brushing your teeth, you set out to Steve’s place with directional help from Corinne. 

Your feet were frozen in front of the two elevators and you stared at the up button for a solid two minutes before pressing it. The elevator to the right dinged and opened its doors. You stepped inside and hit the 10, the elevator shooting upwards. Your body felt heavy as you found your way down the hallway to Steve’s apartment. 

Three knocks.

Your heart pounded in your chest as the last knock echoed in your mind. You tucked your hands into the front pockets of your jean shorts, easing out a slow breath as you waited for Steve to answer. On the other side of the large dark stained door there were loud footsteps. The locked flipped and within a moment the door was opened to reveal Steve standing tall in a light grey, too tight t-shirt and black ankle-gripping sweatpants that hung from his hips. He appeared tired, eyes droopy and blond hair messy as if he had just gotten out of bed.

Between the two of you there were no words for a very long moment. It wasn’t as awkward as you thought it would be, though. If anything it was more like silent exchanges. You were sorry and he was sorry for being an ass. Steve moved aside and motioned for you to come inside. His place was clean and bright with large, uncovered windows. You didn’t spend too much time looking around but it felt homey. 

You weren’t sure where to begin but you knew you had to talk and work it out. Steve was a good guy and your first friend in the city. You hoped he still would be your friend. 

“I’m sorry. It’s really all my fault, there’s no one else to blame.”

Steve sat himself on the small sectional sofa, fingers pressed to his closed eyes as he fought back a yawn. “I thought it was Bucky at the door, not you.”

You breathed out a slow sigh. “Have you talked to him?”

Steve shook his head. “No.”

“I didn’t mean— I don’t want to get in between you and Bucky. That would be wrong of me to do so. And Steve, I am so sorry that I hurt you.”

Your words were rushed out of fear of his anger. But Steve was calm on the couch, one hand rubbing his chin and his other arm resting on his leg. You could see the wheels turning inside his head. Steve’s lips parted and the tone of his voice was soft, reasoning.

“You’re not getting in between Bucky and I. You think him and I haven’t clashed over a girl before?” The corner of his lip twitched upward briefly. “I’m sorry for the way I acted.”

You took a small step forward before committing to walking over to the couch. You sat beside Steve but left a polite amount of space between the two of you. Nervously your hands slid along your thighs back and forth. “Bucky told me about some of the things you’ve done for him. You’re like his guardian angel or some shit.”

That kind of made Steve laugh because honestly, in some weird way maybe he was. He was a counterpart to Bucky as Bucky was to him. They has known each other for most of their lives. Friends since childhood and never breaking their bond no matter what. 

“I guess I just…” you continued for a moment then trailed. How open should you be with Steve? There wasn’t anything left to lose. “I didn’t know this was going to happen and the fact that I hurt your feelings doesn’t sit right with me. You’re such a good guy like everyone has been saying. And it’s cliche and dumb, but—“

“It’s not me, it's you?” He cut in. Steve adjusted his back against the cushions, stretching out his long legs across the rug underneath. “Buck’s been through some shit, you know. At the end of the day all I want for him is to be happy no matter what. He’s always been there for me, too. Besides…” 

Steve got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen, getting out two mugs and turning on the coffee maker. “Not sure if I could date someone who’s a Dodgers fan anyway.”

Your mouth dropped opened at his playful words. You could see him snickering and you were so thankful he was joking with you right now. “That might just be one of the rudest things anyone has ever said to me.” You rested your hand on your heart and shook your head. 

He returned with two hot coffees and took his seat again. He still had a faint smile on his face as you carefully sipped the coffee. “When Bucky and I were kids his mom used to give us money to go down to the corner store and buy bread and milk. With the leftover change we’d get some candy. I got bullied a little when I was a kid and there was another old kid from our school there with some guys. They tried to steal the money and take our candy and I just remember in the blink of an eye Bucky had big ol’ Thomas Lafferty on the ground asking for mercy.”

Steve chuckled softly at the memory. You could just imagine what that scene must have looked like. It brought a smile to your face as well. 

“I think you’d be good for him.”

His words broke you away from the thoughts you had sunken into. Your eyes darted over to Steve who was blankly looking out the nearby window. His fingers tapped the ceramic mug, his shoulders back and relaxed. You weren’t sure how to respond to his claim but it warmed you knowing that perhaps Steve was going to be okay with whatever the hell it was. 

“You deserve good too.”

“We all do,” Steve nodded. “Sometimes things take a little longer but everyone will find the thing that's good for them.” He turned his gaze towards you and for a moment you almost broke down in tears. Steve was so gracious and you weren’t sure if you deserved that from him. He noticed your change in demeanour, blinking a few times. “Don’t worry about me.” 

You could tell he was trying to make light of it but there was still guilt in your body.You glanced away, eyes flickering downward. Steve spoke your name softly to regain your attention but you remained how you were. The quietest sigh left his mouth and he scratched the side of his head. “Don’t worry about me,” he repeated. “Please don’t. If there’s anyone you should put your worry into it’s Bucky because he deserves someone like you who cares for him. I know that you do, a lot. And you still have a friend in me, no matter what.” 

It was after a second cup of coffee and another memory tale from Steve that you had gotten yourself up to leave. Steve embraced you mainly because it looked like you needed a hug but also because it was comforting. His body was warm and you hugged him in return before taking a step back. You shied away to hurriedly go but Steve held the door firm before you could slip through. 

He told you to go figure things out with Bucky, to go and do what’s right. Bucky and Steve would be fine in the end, no harm no foul. Once finally outside you stood on the steps. Cars drove by and the sidewalks were now populated with residences of the area. There was relief inside you and you could see the brighter outlook.

You turned west and headed towards Bucky’s place. There were multiple things to discuss but truthfully you wouldn’t mind laying on his comfy couch and putting on Netflix for the remainder of the day. The elevator up was occupied  by morning food shoppers and joggers getting back from a run. You exited with a man who went down the opposite hall. Approaching Bucky’s door, you raised your hand to knock. Instead the door was swung open.

In front of you was Natasha in yesterday’s party clothes, now a bit wrinkly and red hair slightly disheveled. While you stared with wide eyes, she was giving you a friendly smile. She spoke but nothing registered as you stepped into Bucky’s apartment. Negative thoughts were forming as you hoped it wasn't the worst. Natasha was beautiful. She was sexy and confident, who wouldn’t want her? Bucky and Natasha had a red hot past. 

She waved to you and all you could manage was a small wave back. Your turned as she left and the door shut. Relax. Bucky appeared from around the corner pulling a dark blue shirt over his head. All you could focus on was how the bed sheets looked like it was occupied with two people instead of one. You could feel Bucky’s presence grow closer. 

“Did you… and her…”

Bucky’s brows furrowed at your lack of words. It took him a moment before he followed your gaze to the bed. “What— No. No.”

You supposed it didn’t matter. He wasn’t yours, you weren’t his. He could do whatever—whoever— he wanted. He denied it, and while that was something you were still second guessing.

“We drank until three and she slept on the couch. She only laid there this morning because I wouldn’t get out of bed.” Bucky explained. “I promise.”

“Okay.” You nodded once. Bucky radiated nerves. His face was deepened with a frown, reaching out to gently touch your cheek. You softened to his hand, closing your eyes. You could fall right into him, you thought. Be wrapped in his arms for hours and not care about anything else. 

“I was going to see Steve. Fix this mess.”

“I just came from seeing him,” you replied. You could tell Bucky felt as lost and off as you had. “I think he’s okay. I mean, you both should talk but I think it’s going to be fine.”

Bucky’s chest deflated letting out a long breath. You could see it hurt him that he had crossed his best friend. You believed in Steve’s words that they would be good. He guided you to sit on the couch, his arm going around your shoulders. He asked if Steve seemed mad and truthfully you really didn’t think so. He spoke out of jealousy and simply feeling hurt. You told Bucky the conversation you had and that seemed to ease him.

“There’s something we do need to talk about,” you shifted to look at him. “Corinne told me about when you stayed with her.” He didn’t say anything, so you continued. “She told me her side but I want to hear yours.”

His arm remained around your shoulders, fingertips brushing against the soft skin of your arm. “After the accident I wasn’t drinking, things were getting better like I said. Then one day something snapped within me. I think it was hatred towards myself, getting involved with the wrong people, borrowing tainted money, screwing over my friends. I just wanted it to stop. I thought what else do I have to lose? I don’t actually remember Corinne finding me. It’s blurry and I’m not sure if I want to remember. But she was kind and let me stay more than I was welcomed. She talked to me like a human and not some fucked up guy who didn’t have his head on straight. I knew how she felt, I could see it, but it wasn’t right, not for either of us. I closed that door quickly and never reopened it.”

“Because you didn’t feel the same?”

“Because I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to hurt anyone else. So it was the best option, I guess.” Bucky removed his arm and leaned forward; elbows on his knees and hands cradling his face. He had his own guilt about it and how it could have been handled differently. “I do care about her, always have.”

You slid closer to Bucky, resting a hand on his back. You rubbed small circles and placed your head on his shoulder blade. There was tragedy and mainly miscommunication. That seemed to be the common theme throughout everything here. 

“At this point I can’t afford to fuck anything else up.” Bucky mumbled.

“You haven’t with me, if that helps,” you whispered. “And I don’t think you will.”

His body manoeuvred so he had you back in his grasp. He laid back into the couch and you formed to his chest. His arms were contoured around your frame with one hand slipping under your shirt to rest on your back. 

Despite it all, this was perfect. Perfect to you. 

Still there were so many things going on in your mind but now you could categorize and actually think. Taking into consideration about what Corinne and Steve (hell, even Clint) had said about you and Bucky, maybe it was okay. You liked him, you weren’t going to deny it. You were attracted and clearly he was too.

Propping your chin on his chest, you examined him for a minute. Bucky rolled his eyes to look at you and suddenly you were swimming in a deep sea of blue. His lips drawled out a low ‘doll?’ in a questioning tone, his other hand moving to explore the outskirts of your face with a gentle caress. His touch sent goosebumps over your skin and you took the plunge. Leaning towards him your lips interlocked in a brief and tender kiss. His hand cupped your cheek and attempted to bring you closer than you already were. A smile peeked with another kiss this time initiated by him, then small peck before there was air between you. Cheeks warm, toes curled and an explosion of butterflies. 

Suddenly everything felt right.

permanent bucky list: @tjhammcnd @fossilbarnes @wintersparker @buckybarnesappreciationsociety @sweetwaterprincess @demongirl0913 @queenlydias @lilah-bard @dontpanc @ohkingsteve @kingsebstan @buckystan-plums @cauraphernelia @yourwonderbelle @beauty-who-doesnt-need-a-beast @bleedlikerubies @fallenaristocat @bubblybuckybarnes @solarbarnes @my-world97 @mystic-scripture @ragnarokbarnes @bvcks @stardustparker @kali-rambles @pao-prazz @thorins-queen-of-erebor @eventyyr @abbadontherisingqueen @lovinglokiforever @justasimpleassbitch @red-wallflowers @brooklynightsky @hellaqueerangelofthelord @yknott81 @rvmanova @bvckysmanbun

[onlinebusinessreviewsblog]

Support flows in for Colliers Wood crochet art group

Online Business Reviews

Hundreds of residents have encouraged a yarn group to "crack on with their colourful displays" after they received an anonymous letter asking them to be removed from the streets of Merton.

Penny Bettel, of Spin us a yarn, has been filling Colliers Wood with her bright crochet art since November 2020.

Spin us a yarn creates everything from post box toppers to crochet tree decorations - with some creations being dedicated to charities.

The yarn group, which now has over 70 Facebook members, has been praised for making people smile throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Spin us a yarn outside Colliers Wood Underground Station

With some people branding the group and their crafts as a 'life-saver' for their mental health.

Between families, adults isolating alone and passers-by, the joyful decorations seemed to be a hit with the "majority" of Merton.

But on Tuesday ( May 18), Penny was left "astounded" after she received a letter through her door which called for the group's work to be removed.

The person who wrote the letter acknowledged that Penny "clearly has a talent" but says that it is not fair to "force" the displays on people.

The letter read: "I write on behalf of a growing number of residents in the Colliers Wood area that have the same feeling.

"It has come to our attention that you are the person who has been decorating the trees etc with crochet blankets and animals, jewels, plastic decorations etc.

You very clearly have a super talent in your craft however many people would prefer to view the trees as well as other areas in their natural state.

"Have you considered putting your talent to really good use by making items that can be donated to charities that would welcome blankets, toys etc?

"Its with a heavy heart that we ask that you might please consider removing many of these items from the local area."

The letter has since been shared far and wide on Facebook, with hundreds of comments in support of the crochet art.

Penny is fundraising for a Cerelbral Palsy charity in name of her young neighbour who lives with the condition

One Colliers Wood resident responded: "Penny. I was very low when you & my husband decorated my tree.

"I've looked at that tree for over a year dreaming of the day I could go out without fear.

"I've had both jabs but I am still frightened to leave my house.

"My little owls brighten my day each time I look at them. You provided me with some relief."

Speaking about the letter, Penny said: "I felt deflated and even a bit dirty when I received the anonymous letter yesterday. It came through the mail and the water stamp was from Croydon.

"Of course we have our own opinions, but this person was too scared to put a name to the letter.

"They obviously don’t know me very well, as they suggested that the groups time should be spent on charity.

"We are creating items right now for Jumble trail which will occur in September, and any money raised will go to local charity.

"I can’t forgive this person, as they have hurt a group of wonderful people who helped each other throughout lockdown.

"I have got over it as much as I can, and feel so blessed by the majority of the wonderful Colliers Wood Community!"

Penny is well known in Colliers Wood for her community organisation work, Christmas decorations and chocolates for school children and more.

She originally started to plant flowers and hang baskets in the Park Road area around 10-years-ago, which led to plants being sponsored by a local business.

Together with other residents she organised the Colliers Wood street party which has been running for around five years.

Speaking about her latest venture, she said: "I was chatting to a couple of friends who were depressed and bored and they said that they would like to join in.

"We gained a lot of interest and decided that it was time to start creating our toppers.

"I have had lovely feedback from our members who say that the group saved their mental health and boredom during lockdown.

"Also we have made some lovely new friends with similar interests.

"I can’t thank the community and of course the members of the incredibly talented members of Spin us a yarn (Colliers Wood) for their support on what has been a bit of an unpleasant experience [ with the letter].

"We are currently working on another topper for near the bus garage and have been commissioned for creations on the new wine bar based at Merton Abbey Mills and St Helier Hospital Maternity wing."

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