#my mom would say shit like this sometimes and it drove me fucking insane every single time

[mars-ipan]

y’know i think the most annoying thing about trying to discuss reproductive rights with cis people is the complete and utter refusal to include trans people in the discussion. like they will only ever say “women” and if you dare to point it out it’s “well this is all being done to control women” or “‘people with vaginas’/‘people assigned female at birth’ is way too wordy” it drives me fucking crazy

like first off do you seriously think that the people who seek to remove bodily autonomy from women have nothing against trans people. do you think they hold zero ill will towards us. also do you think they view trans afabs as anything other than women.

secondly. NOBODY IS ASKING YOU TO USE BIG WORDY PHRASES LITERALLY JUST SAY “PEOPLE” INSTEAD OF “WOMEN.” WE LITERALLY JUST DON’T WANT TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THIS BECAUSE WE ARE ALSO BEING HURT WE JUST WANT SOME GODDAMN SOLIDARITY IN THIS BITCH. LIKE ACTUALLY JUST FUCKING SAY “PEOPLE” IT SAVES EVERYONE FROM WEIRD LOOPHOLES AND ALSO ENFORCES THAT WOMEN ARE PEOPLE FOR FUCK’S SAKEEEEE

[returntosaturn271995]

January 4th: My mother, the car

I love my mom but she’s a total nut job. 

Much like a biscuit, my mother has been hot and flakey her whole life and therefore has gotten away with ridiculous shit with a ton of unsubstantiated confidence. 

Ex. (one of one million): She once got on to a plane without photo ID because she has a perspiration pill bottle at the bottom of her Kate Spade. She now thinks that all people can do this all the time. 

It’s a combination of charm and shamelessness, that elevated her from abject poverty in Indiana to a home in Los Altos Hills with just a high school diploma and smile. This woman drove three years without a license and if she can’t find both shoes she will walk in to bank with just a sock on her foot pretending it’s sprained (without any crutches). 

It’s both inspiring and incredibly embarrassing to watch. I bring this up because a couple of weeks ago she started nagging me to get the smog checked on the BMW. I drive my Dad’s first mid-life crisis car, a silver-green convertible circa 2000. It’s an amazing gift that they gave it to me...but the upkeep is insane and I’d rather just drive a used Prius to be honest. 

I could give a fuck about cars. I once sat in a McLaren and felt nothing.

Anyways, the check engine light has been on in the bimmer for over a year now and I explained this to my mom last week when she said it had to get smogged or we would incur a fee and likely it would cost a ton of money to get whatever stupid thing the engine needed to be fixed. 

My mom: Oh smog has nothing to do with the engine, it’s just something they have to sign every year. 

Me: I don’t think that’s how smog checks work. 

Mom: Just flirt a little, be nice to the guy.

Me: Still don’t think that’s how smogs work, we should have the engine checked first. 

Mom: Erin, you’re just being lazy. Wear a dress. I’m sure it’ll pass smog.  

After 20 minuets and several follow up phone calls, I’m wearing a dress in the middle of winter to get my car smog-checked. While the guy is nice, he clearly thinks I’m an idiot and tells me it will not pass the smog with the check engine light on. 

Mom’s reaction: Oh wow! That’s never happened to me! Well you’ll just have to go to the place you get your oil changed and ask them to turn off the check engine light. 

Me: Mom, I don’t think they can just turn off the light if something’s wrong, also the car probably still won’t pass the smog test. 

Mom: No, sometimes the light just turns on so you have the oil people reset it. Just tell them it’s so you can pass. 

Me: I don’t think that’s a thing I can request. Legally. Also they’re going to think I’m stupid. 

Mom: Erin! They do this all the time. Just ask them to flip the switch! I’m 100% positive. 

Whenever my mom says she’s 100% positive about something, it means it’s an idea she has. For four years she told me that you get a free checked bag with United flights, and no matter what I told her, she was always shocked and then mad at me when it ended up costing $40. 

I went to Vavoline. They looked at me like I was an idiot and said that turning off the engine light is illegal and unsafe, and no this is not something they or any other oil place would do. 

Mom: Did you explain it was just so you could pass smog?

Me: Yes, it was humiliating. But do you believe me now that it’s illegal? 

Mom: No, they’re just being ridiculous. You have to go to the BMW dealership and have them turn it off. 

Me: Mom, no, please-do not make me embarrass myself again-

Mom: Erin! They do this all the time. 

Me: NO. THEY DON’T. IT’S GOING TO COST SO MUCH MONEY TO FIX WHATEVER-

Mom: Oh well the car isn’t worth any more money. We’re not doing any more fixes on it. 

Me: But what if they refuse to turn off the light with out fixing it?

Mom: They won’t.

Me: ...but if they do? I won’t be able to smog check the car. 

Mom: Just have them talk to me. I already set up an appointment so you have to go tomorrow at 10 am. 

So that’s where I found myself this morning. Sitting in a BMW dealership next to Modern Luxury Magazine with a haughty-looking Anya Taylor-Joy on the cover and a copy of Bimmer Monthly from 2010 with the headline “Who’s the sportiest of them all?”.

Not me, Bimmer Monthly, not me. Neither my car, nor I, are modern or luxurious.

A nice man named Chris came up to me for my appointment, he was glowing under the florescent lights but I didn’t have time for the bullshit. I looked him dead in the eyes. “Look, I’ve been three places already, I need you to explain to my mother that dealerships don’t turn off the check engine light on request.”

He looked alarmed and again like I was an idiot. “Of course not, your car’s sensors-”

“No I know! I’ve heard this from multiple people, I’m on your side. I need you to explain it to her before she send me to Germany to have this light turned off.”

He smiled, still patronizing me. I handed him the phone and called my mom and went back to sit next to Anya-Taylor Joy. She narrowed her eyes at me, fully aware I couldn’t afford to fix a goddamn thing on this car. I flipped the cover over to a photo of boat on the San Diego harbor. 

It was 30 minuets before Chris motioned me back over, looking considerably less cheerful. I was genuinely curious to see if my mother had broken him, before he handed me my phone back and said that we’d be keeping the car for a few days. 

Although when my mother made the appointment, she clearly thought they were just going to turn of the light and slap my ass on the way out, so she said no to me getting a temp car. 

So as I write this I am currently: carless, out $220 for a diagnostic fee (this doesn’t include repairs), and my mom called me one last time. 

Mom: So apparently it’s illegal!

Apparently so. 

Other updates: 

Still Jan, still sober. Ran an extra block (#cardio). Reading like a savage. resetting my sleep routine, stylizing my resume. 

[ginanosakka]

I Hate it Here

Masterlist

We Were Kids | Next

Moving you into Katsuki’s apartment across town took mere minutes, but everyday you spent there felt like years that you’d never get back. Everything felt too big and nostalgic, and the only thing grounding you to keep you from a panic attack, was Ryu being himself despite being pulled from school and transitioning to home school. He was just happy to be around his father all the time, immediately bombarding him with questions about his day the moment that he stepped through the door.

It wasn’t news that Katsuki wasn’t fond of comforting people, and the thought of him begging for forgiveness was laughable — but that brick wall you put up the moment you stepped through his threshold for the second time was driving him insane. When he was around, you were somewhere else in the house on the phone, or on the laptop you purchased and had shipped to his home as soon as possible. On the rare occasion he did see you for more than a few seconds, you looked drained of life. . and scared.

You were tough even when you two were young — the constant picking at you being quirkless might have made you think he thought otherwise, and he wondered if that contributed to your hardened shell now — but there was the rare occasion when something would break through your tough skin.

And it was always your father that did it.

Katsuki practiced his jabs that he tried out in training with Kirishima on the air, trying to make sure every moment was precise to recreate the amount of damage he dealt everytime. You had tagged along after phoning him and asking what he was doing, receiving the usual ‘I’m training and don’t give a shit if you come or not’ that you always took as a very hostile ‘yes’.

Usually, you’d make small noises of approval as he trained, and after yelling about you messing up his concentration but only getting a tongue stuck out at him in response, he had grown use to your annoying presence. Which is why he stole glances at you today when you were completely silent, and he found himself curious about why you didn’t even look at him as he trained. Bakugou was more aware of your every moment than you’d ever know, and he wanted it to stay that way, so he continued to only steal glances instead of confronting you.

“My dad didn’t tell me happy birthday.” There it was. The moment you’d break the silence and spill your guts to him with no coaxing needed from him.

That’s what drove him crazy about you; how you adapted to his pride and made being there for you so easy.

“He had Jun give me my necklace and money when I woke up, and I asked her if he made any plans to see me today. . She said he’s a busy man and I need to grow up. . Am I asking for too much?”

You looked up at him with every ounce of insecurity on full display, the kind of look he hated seeing on your face more than he hated seeing you in those stupid get-ups your mom bought you. Even he had said happy birthday to you, granted it was though text and there was no gift with it, but at least he had the decency to listen when you said that all you wanted was to hear two simple words from the people you cared about. It pissed Katsuki off even more that he knew you told your dad that’s all you wanted, and it didn’t take a genius to know that he didn’t do it on purpose. Now Katsuki had to be the one to pick up your broken pieces.

“Idiot, it’s not your fault that your old man is trash.” He grunted, turning away from you to stare at nothing so he didn’t have to see that stupid sparkle in your eyes when he said something nice.

That damn sparkle made his heart squeeze.

He was relieved to hear your soft laughter, “I guess you’re right. He’s better at bribing people than caring for them.”

If only he could tell you how true those words were.

“Shit.” Katsuki mumbled under his breathe, the realization of what was happening hitting him like a brick.

That day he went to your office, he hadn’t been there just to get a look at what you had accomplished, and the reason he got so riled up by your secretary was more than just being told he couldn’t see you. He had gotten a tip from Tokoyami that morning about a yakuza organization that was deeply involved in many missing people cases, and also suspects for the assasination of small business companies that were expected to outgrow large corporations.

That organization had your picture on the wall, along with pictures of those who were missing, and ones who had not gone missing but were on police watch due to the likelihood of them being taken next. Katsuki chalked it up to you being seen with him when he was a target for many villains due to his success in taking down and capturing villains with ease, and he let the most obvious point go over his head. He had just immediately wen to go see you to calm his nerves, not even second guessing his own answer that tied this back to the one man he had his own hit on.

The organization that had you targeted, acted under powerful businessmen in Japan. .

Your father was one of those powerful businessmen.

‘It all comes full fucking circle,’ Katsuki thought angrily as he picked up his office phone, knowing that he had to get his least favorite heroes on the case.

“I’m not asking you to take sides, I’m asking you to tell me the truth!” You hissed into the phone, and you could feel every ounce of your patience draining from your body and your tone.

It had been three days. Three days since you moved in with the father of your child, three days of feeling anxious and livid, and three days of trying to get in contact with your mother. For once, you could say that the least of your worries was Katsuki, and now it happened to be the life of your child again. You weren’t stupid — the moment Katsuki mentioned your safety specifically being threatened you knew who had put the hit out on you, and he wanted you to know.

It was your father’s way of warning you that if you even thought of exposing that you were his daughter that ‘went missing’,or tell them what he had done, you and Ryu will never know peace again. The knowledge that you were in his sights again and he still was just as ruthless as ever couldn’t even fully register in your brain, but you knew you had to do something. This was your baby’s life that was in danger again, and this time he isn’t living inside of you so you could have him with you at all times. You didn’t even know how to have this conversation with Katsuki when he didn’t even have the decency to tell you there was someone after your son while he sat in school. In fact, you were doing your best to avoid his presence so you didn’t cause a scene and scare Ryu half to death.

And your mother had the fucking ability to help you, and she decided this was the time to wave the white flag to involving herself in you and your father’s war.

“This isn’t something that I can tell you and your father not disown me too for, Y/N! Do you really expect me to risk my life too?” Your mother responded, and your grip on the phone tightened so much that you weren’t sure how much longer you’d have before it shattered.

“Yes! I expect you to risk your life for me, mom! I expect you to be a mother for just one damn moment in your life to save your grandson! If you can’t tell me what he knows and what you’ve told him, this will not only get ugly for him, but for you too!” You threatened with full intention of making it a reality.

“I can-“ as she spoke you heard a male voice in the background that made your heart sink to the bottom of your stomach before the phone went dead.

You paced the floor with a hand over your mouth to keep from screaming with Ryu napping in the other room, but this situation could only be fully resolved with risks being taken. The company you put blood sweat and tears into — you had long since realized you never wanted to start an entire company, but it was the best thing you knew how to do to make money to give your son the life he deserved — was going to have to be put in jeopardy. Your life, and more importantly your son’s life, would be in immediate danger once you decide to wage this war.

It’s father against daughter, and loser loses everything.

“You were really going to go through this again alone? You really piss me off sometimes.”

You whirled around to the door of the guest bedroom you were in to see not only Katsuki, but Eiji also standing there. It didn’t shock you in the slightest how pissed Katsuki looked, but Kirishima’s deathly stare had you frozen in place. Even though you knew in the back of your mind that their anger was towards your father, you couldn’t help but feel weak when two very famous pro heroes had their murderous gazes on full display for you.

“You don’t have to worry,” Kirishima said and flashed you a hardened arm. “No one is going to touch you or Ryu on my watch.”

Katsuki grunted, “I’ll kill anyone that tries.”

(A\N: So who’s ready to see full on angst, romance, and a badass reader? Cause I am ^_^! Also the amount of love and insight you guys give me on this story is insane and I still can’t than you enough 🥺 I hope you enjoy! <3

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[axwalker]

If The World Was Ending: Even if he was wicked

Synopsis: When Bianca leaves her son without looking back, Drake has to live on the streets until he finds a home with Angelica Ortiz--Lexie’s grandmother and a foster mom. With the Ortiz, Drake finds a family and falls madly in love, until a tragic night changes everything, threatening the life Drake fought so hard to get.

To catch up (HERE)

Pairing: Drake Walker x Lexie O’Brien (MC) The Royal Romance.

A/N: This will be a very angsty, full of drama, small town romance.

Words: 4,120

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry, except for Lexie’s grandmother and mother.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child neglect, abandonment, sexual assault, prison and a very entitled, “evil” Liam

Due to the several trigger warnings and some of the subjects I’ll be dealing with, I will only tag people who actively asked for it. If you want to be tagged in the following chapters --or untagged, please leave a comment. 

Drake

2008

When I was 12 years old, my mother took off with my little sister leaving me in Cordonia with my father's best friend. I reminded her too much of my father, too much of a life she would do anything to forget. That "anything" included abandoning her oldest son. I'd like to say I was surprised, but the truth is I wasn't. Bianca Walker had never been a motherly woman. The only reason she had taken Savannah with her was that my Aunt Leona adored her. I was sure my mother would dump my little sister on her and never look back. I hoped that was the case, Leona despised me, but she was great to Savannah. 

A short time after that, Bastien passed away and my mother was nowhere to be found. That's when I started to go from one home to another. The first year and a half were the hardest ones. I lived with four different families, each one worse than the last. First, the Lockes, where the family barely talked to me. Then, the Ruiz that made me take cold showers and sleep on the floor. The Godwins where the “mother” used the check the state gave her to buy alcohol instead of groceries. And finally the worse, the Fields. They seemed nice enough when I met them. Not kind but polite. The first few weeks everything seemed normal. Then one day, I got in trouble at school, and Mr. Fields --the pastor of his community, beat me up to “teach me some manners.” His punishments became a usual thing after that. 

Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I escaped. Better to be on my own than believe some family was going to love or adopt me. Obviously, there was something very wrong with me. My own mother had left me, and I had never found my place anywhere else. 

I lived on the streets for 6 months. I did all kinds of jobs. Not a lot of them were legal but there were few opportunities for a 14-year-old runaway kid. The most money I got was when I stole car parts that I got to resell to a gang called the Mercy Park Crew. The boss, Mr. Kaneko was fair and paid well enough. I could’ve kept living by myself if something hadn’t got terribly wrong at my last job. One of the boys from a rival gang decided to teach me a lesson and I ended up in the hospital with a concussion. A nurse called social services so here I am in a car with another social worker on the way for another foster home. It doesn’t matter, I know it won’t last anyway. 

When you’ve been in the system as long as I had, you learned to look for certain warning signs when placed in a new home. Drugs, ulterior motives, threatening fathers, drinking mothers. After an hour, we drove through a town looking like something straight out of a movie. Valtoria. I’d heard of it before. The family my dad had been protecting when he died lived there. The house we pulled up to, was a large two-story construction with dark brown siding and an immaculate green lawn. 

Joelle, my new caseworker had popped up out of nowhere in the hospital and told me I was coming with her. Just like that. From the way Joelle talked about the new place, I figured it was some sort of transitional home for rejects like me. Too old to get adopted and too troubled for anyone to voluntarily take on. I didn’t ask her anything else because I knew I didn’t have a fucking choice. Besides, I knew words don’t mean anything. I was a kid in the system. I went where they took me. Sometimes, I hated it. Sometimes, I really hated it. This time was different. In more ways than one. Usually, I was dropped off by my caseworker, and the people receiving me were about as excited as they were about junk mail. No one has ever come out to greet me before. As long as the woman at the door wasn’t sizing me up for a skin suit, it didn’t matter.

The social worker got out of the car as I grabbed the trash bag that I used to carry my shit around. She rang the bell, and a small, older woman opened the door. Joelle had told me in the car that the woman fostered several boys and I knew what that meant. She wanted the money the government gave her for keeping us. Well, I wasn’t going to make it easy for her. If she wanted to cash a check at the end of the month it was going to cost her. I’d make sure of it. 

I had seen it all, but I still was caught by surprise when the tiny woman opened her arms at me and gave me a one-sided hug. A fucking hug. 

“I’m very happy to meet you, mijo,” she said in a strong accent. “My name is Angelica Ortiz but everyone here calls me Abuela. Grandma in Spanish.” 

The woman was deluded if she thought I’d call her grandma. She was obviously trying to impress the social worker with her fake kindness, hugs, and stupid names. I wasn’t going to be fooled that easily. 

I didn’t even answer her as we stepped into the house. Another woman, a younger version of the one staring at me was waiting for us in the living room. 

“Hi, you must be Drake. I’m Elena. Welcome.” She gave me a smile. Fake, I was sure but at least she hadn't tried to hug me. The older woman was talking to Joelle about me. Probably about my problems with authority, anger issues, and lack of communication skills. I knew my file by heart. 

I barely nodded at Elena, and the three women exchanged a look. “Let me take you to your room, Drake. You’ll be sharing it with Maxwell. He’s doing his homework with my daughter in our house across the street. You’ll get to meet all the boys and my daughter Lexie tonight.” 

She walked me to a room on the second floor of the house. It seemed clean and comfortable. Another ploy for the social worker. Two bunker beds with blue blankets and a wooden desk full of books were the biggest pieces of furniture. The left side of the room was covered in posters of who I figured were famous boy bands. There were a few of David Beckham, the only guy I recognized. Other than that there were clothes everywhere. That Maxwell dude was a fucking slob. Great. 

“I told Max to take down some posters so you can decorate half of the room to your liking; This is your room as much as it is his. He's usually much more organized than this." I notice she speaks with a sort of fondness. "It was picture day for the school yearbook and he took hours getting ready. ” 

I shrugged. I wasn’t planning to stay long anyway. I couldn’t care less if that Max kid left his posters on the walls or not. 

She glanced at my garbage bag. “Are those your clothes, mijo?” 

I scowled at her. I knew what mijo meant and I was nobody’s son. “My name is Drake.” 

She smiled. “Of course, Drake. So, are they?”

I didn’t bother with an answer. A nod was enough. 

“I cleared you this part of the closet, so you can keep them there. When you’re ready come downstairs; my mom and I will show you the rest of the house. The boys are out but we’ll all diner together tonight. Do you like Mexican food?”

I shrugged.

The woman smiled. “Shrugging is not an answer, mij- Drake. Either you like it, you don’t, or you haven’t tasted it in which case I can tell you, you’re missing out. Especially when mami cooks.” She winked at me as if we were friends or something. The woman was insane. “So, what is it, Drake?”

I’d never had it before, but she wasn’t going to tell me how to answer a damn question. “I hate it.” 

She frowned --clearly disappointed, and I almost felt bad for her. Almost. “I’m very sorry to hear that. We already made Enchiladas for tonight and we don’t waste food. You can tell us your favorite dish though so we can make it for you.”

I shrugged again. Generally, that's when the person talking to me loses her patience but Elena Ortiz only smiled at me again. “Think about it. Every Sunday night, we pick someone’s favorite and cook it. It’s really fun. Next Sunday will be your first here, so you get to pick. Mami is a great cook and she can make anything from a mean chocolate cake to the best cheese pizza. See you downstairs, honey.” 

Great. I’ve only been in this house for a few minutes, and I already hated it. The only thing worse than a home where you were beaten up as a welcome was a home where people pretended to care. My third foster home had been like that. Ms. Godwin had been all kind and nice at first. I almost felt like she cared about us. A week later, she had gotten drunk. For two days, neither I or the two girls she fostered had anything to eat because she hadn’t bought any groceries. I had to steal a twenty euro bill from her purse to buy food. She got angry and called the social worker who had come for me and taken me to the Fields. The worst home I ever lived in. 

I wasn’t going to go downstairs but I decided that if I wanted a chance to escape it was better if I knew the house. Before I could explore a little, I heard my name from what I assumed was the kitchen. 

Elena was crouching in front of the oven. “Drake has such sad eyes, mami. He’s only 14.” 

The woman that had asked me to call her abuela, answered as she chopped an onion. “This boy has been living in the streets for more than a year. Do you realize it? Pobre angelito. So young and he has already seen more horrors than most people see in a lifetime.” 

“Joelle told me that he had escaped from his last foster home.”

The older woman scoffed. “Home? If that’s how you call people that foster kids only for the money, they get in exchange. I don’t want to imagine why he fled those places." She turned to her daughter who had finished whatever she was doing in the oven and was drinking a bottle of water. "Stop watching me work, Elena and help me with diner, por Dios.”

Why was she pretending she didn’t care about the money? It was obvious. No one did anything for free. There was always a catch. 

“Dónde está mi venadito?”

“Lexie and Max are at our house doing homework, mami. Be careful, though, if Lexie hears you calling her “your little deer” she’ll kill you. The boys called her Bambi for months after they heard you the last time.”

“Nonsense. She’s my venadito and that’s that. You two will come to eat here tonight. I want Drake to meet everyone.”

Elena rolled her eyes but patted her mom on the back. “Yes mami. Lexie is dying to meet him, she and Max made a chocolate cake for him. I’ll call her in a minute. Where are the boys by the way?” 

“Bertie is trying to teach Leo how to drive. Poor boy, I hope he makes it alive.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure Leo will be careful. Bertrand will be fine.”

“Oh, it’s not Bertie I’m worried about, it’s Leo. Bartie has no patience with him.” 

I left the kitchen before they said anything else. I was sure I was going to hate this stupid place. I was angry. More than angry. Furious. After a year of successfully running away, I was back in the damn system. Back in yet another home where people seemed to care about me in front of the social worker just to ignore me –or worse, once she left. I had to admit that my new foster “moms” played their part better than most. The old one had hugged me and the other one had given me a smile that seemed real. But I knew better. No one really cared for me. No one gave a shit where I slept, what I ate, or if I was ill or scared. Not that I was ever scared. I had seen everything. 

The front door was locked so I went to the backyard. I saw a small wooden house on top of one of the trees. I decided it was a good place to hide and be myself. 

I sat there for a few moments when I heard someone climbing the tree. 

“Hi!”

I looked up and saw a girl a couple of years younger than me. She had the biggest pair of brown eyes I’ve ever seen and was smiling at me as if I was her best friend. 

“I’m Lexie! I live across the street. I’m Angelica’s granddaughter. You’re Drake, right?” I didn’t think it was possible to smile more but the girl proved me wrong when her grin widened. I simply nodded. 

“Welcome! I know that it must be hard for you to feel at home because you like just arrived but you’ll love it here. I promise. Valtoria is great. We have lakes and the mountains and when it’s warm enough we can go camping all night. You’ll love the house too. I mean between you and me the boys are kind of a pain in the ass but they’re pretty great when they want to. Or when they're not teasing me. Especially Leo and Maxie. Bertrand is a know-it-all. He thinks because he’s sixteen he knows everything." She rolled her eyes clearly offended by the idea that someone could know more than her. "Abuela, that how we all call her because she’s Mexican and would murder us if we call her grandma, is amazing. I mean don’t get me wrong, she's super strict, and as my mom says the woman is never wrong but she’s the best person I know.” 

I blinked. I didn’t know a person could talk that much without taking a single breath. 

“Do you camp?” She asked as she folded her legs in front of her.

I did before. Before my dad died and my whole life blew up in a million pieces. Not that I would explain any of that to the chatty girl, so I just nodded again. 

“Great! It’s getting warmer and Leo wants to go to a new camping site next weekend. Don’t tell him I said this but he’s like the worst camper ever. I have to double-check everything he does but I don’t tell him anymore because my mom said it wasn’t nice.” 

I wondered how could someone carry a whole conversation by herself. I hadn’t pronounced a single word since the girl had shown up. 

“I want to be your friend but I can see we’re about to have our first fight.” She told me in a teasing tone. “You’re wearing a Liverpool t-shirt. We worship Barcelona in this house. Well, Abuela, Leo and I do. The others couldn’t care less about soccer.” 

I looked at the shirt she was wearing. It read "If they don't have soccer in heaven, I'm not going." 

She noticed I was looking at her shirt and beamed. "Abue said my shirt was disrespectful to God but mom thought that was dumb and bought it for me anyway." 

"Do you like soccer?" I finally asked. 

“Like it? I love it! Did abuela saw your shirt? She hates European teams. She thinks Tigres is the best.”

“Tirgues?”

She laughed, and the sound of it did something weird to my stomach. “Tigres. It’s a Mexican team. She goes crazy when they play.”

“What team you like?”

“Barcelona, obviously.”

“Liverpool made it to the finals of the last Champion’s league.” I pointed out. 

She shrugged. “They lost so it doesn’t count. Do you play?”

“Sometimes.” I tried not to show how much I loved it. It was something else my dad and I shared that had stopped when he died. 

“I play too. How old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

“I'm twelve. Well, almost thirteen, my birthday is in May.”

I frowned. “It’s November.” 

“I know. I’m almost there.” She beamed. "I'm almost closer to thirteen than twelve anyway." 

“Do you always talk this much?”

She laughed and my belly did that weird thing again. “My mom says I was a parrot in another life. I talk more when I’m nervous.”

“You're nervous?” I liked that I could make her nervous but I didn't know why. 

She blushed and I liked it too. “A little. What happened to your eye?” 

“I got into a fight.”

“Wow. You can’t do that here. Leo is always getting into fights and abuela has to ground him.”

She sure mentioned that Leo guy a lot. “Is Leo your boyfriend?��

“Gross!! Leo’s is like my brother. He, Bertie, and Max live with abuela. We’re a family. You’re family too.”

Fuck that. No matter if the girl was sort of cute. I didn’t have a family. “No, I’m not. I’m not staying.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t belong here.”

“Yes, you do; I swear. Plus, I need someone to coach me, so I can get into the school team next year. Leo promised he would, but he never has time.” 

“I suck.”

She shook her head and smiled at me again. “Somehow I don’t think you do.” Then she gave me a conspiratorial look as she pulled out something from her jacket pocket. "You can't tell my mom about this but I took this from her room." It was a white iPod. After scrolling a little through the screen she settled on The Beach Boys. She couldn't possibly know it but they were my dad's favorites. She passed me an earbud and we didn’t talk after that. We just sat together for a while hearing music until we heard our names being called. 

“That’s abuela. We should go. She hates to wait. Plus, I'm starving and we're having enchiladas. You'll love them.” 

Lexie ran to her house to --as she put it-- 'hide the evidence.' I went back to her grandma's house and stepped into the kitchen. 

“Drake, pass me the salt, mijo. It’s next to you on the counter,” Angelica said as she kept on turning the sauce she was making. “You like enchiladas?” 

What was with all these women asking me what I liked to eat? I leaned against the black counter while she opened the lid of another steaming pot on the stove, and stirred its contents with a long wooden spoon. I shrugged. I didn’t know if I liked it. But it smelled better than anything I ever tasted, so it couldn’t be all that bad. My mouth started watering, and my stomach growled. Come to think of it, it had been a while since I’d last eaten.

“You know, I know you feel weird now. And you don’t like to talk a lot. Soon, you’ll learn that this is a safe place. We aren’t gonna judge a single word that comes out of your mouth or any of them that don’t.” 

I suddenly felt like I owed her a verbal response in exchange for her kindness. Fake or not. Besides, I just knew the chatty girl I’ve just met wouldn’t be happy if I was rude to her grandmother. “Yes, ma’am.”

She smiled at my verbal response. “But just so you know. We do have a few rules in this house.” 

Here it comes. The catch. Angelica put the lid back on the pot and leaned over the counter on her elbows. “You just need to go to school, find a hobby or sport you like, don't swear, respect the curfew and keep your room clean. Every child in this house has chores but it’s too soon to figure out yours. For now, you only have to get to know us.” Her eyes crinkled as she smiled at me. At that moment the timer of the oven rang and Angelica took a huge dish out of it. She covered it with more steamy, tomato sauce, sour cream, and grated cheese and put it back in the oven. At least, I might get some good food while I figured what I was going to do next. Because no matter how nice and kind everybody acted, I was not going back to school. I used to be good at it without much effort; I had friends and a soccer team. But I had missed a lot in the last two years. I felt dumb and stupid. 

Suddenly, the front door slammed open. “Cuidado muchachos! Be careful with that door against the wall, or you’re going be spackling and repainting this entire house,” Angelica yelled out. Three teenage boys filed into the house, followed by just as many apologies. 

“Sorry.” “Oops.” “It was Max’s fault.” “

“These are Maxwell, Leo and Bertie,” Angelica introduced. “Boys, this is Drake.” 

“Hi, man!” The blond one said with a shit-eating grin. “Abuela, Lena, you guys didn’t tell me you were buying a Liverpool fan.” 

“Adoption is not a purchase of people, Leo” the oldest one --Bertrand, corrected. 

“Yeah, cause if it was, then you got Leo from the clearance rack,” the youngest one joked, checking his reflection in the hallway mirror, smoothing back an out-of-place dark hair. “I hope you kept your receipt.” 

“Fuck, off,” the blond one replied with a middle finger. 

“Watch it, Leo,” Angelica warned. “Boys.” 

Max kissed her on the cheek. “Sorry, abue.” She forgave him with a smile, then swatted at his hand with her spoon when he dipped his finger into the pot. 

“I’m glad you’re here, bro” Leo said. I stood, and he gave me a fist bump without touching my hand. 

“Me too! And we’re going to be roomies,” the kid named Max said. He grabbed a stack of plates from the counter. I followed him over to the long dining room table and helped set the table for seven people.

2020

I lost count of how many days I’ve been in the hole. It wasn’t my first time in here and it sure as hell it wouldn’t be the last. It was always the same routine. Days and nights blended into one making it impossible to know what day it was or how much time I had been in here. 

I have been in jail for six excrutiating years. I had known from the day I heard the sentencing that the only way I was going to survive was if I didn’t think about her. It was the hardest thing I had to do but after a while, my routine was running smoothly and when my head hit the pillow at night, I was too fucking exhausted. She haunted my dreams and my nightmares, but I didn’t think of her beyond that. Except for the hole. Locked up there, cold, hungry, and utterly alone her face, my memories of her were the only thing that helped me go on. 

I replayed in my head our first encounter, our first kiss, our first time. I obsessed about her full lips, her expressive brown eyes, her gorgeous smile. I could spend hours picturing every single corner of her soft delicate curves. Sometimes, I wondered if --maybe, I didn’t start fights in the hope of being sent to the hole where I could spend my time fantasizing about her. It was pure torture, but I couldn’t help myself. The memories I had of her, of us and our short time together were the only light in my otherwise bleak life. 

She still wrote me every week but I hadn’t open any single one of her letters. I didn’t want to know if she was moving on with her life or worst if she was waiting for me. Because that was what Lexie didn’t understand. Even if nothing happened and I was released in one year, I would never be that boy again. The Drake Walker she had known and loved was dead and she wasn’t going to like the man that had been left in his place. I was damn sure about that. 

Tagging:

@mskaneko

@burnsoslow

@kingliam2019

@kat-tia801

@petiteboheme

@tinkie1973

@twinkle-320

@thegreentwin

@forallthatitsworth

@marshmallowsandfire

@marshmallowsaremyfavorite

@princessleac1

@lilacsandwhiskey

@lovingchoices14​

@lovingchoices14​

@nomadics-stuff​

[lunarliza]

Dirty Little Secret | Chapter 3: Bandanas

fuckbuddy!JJ x Kook!Reader

series masterlist | prev. chapter | chapter one

You and JJ are fuck buddies- strictly physical. But what happens when you find yourself falling more and more for everyone’s favorite golden boy even though all he can see you as is a spoiled rich girl?

Your eyes peeled open. You groaned at the lack of sleep as you shifted to your bedside table to check your phone. Almost immediately after your rendezvous the night before, JJ dashed out the window, leaving you to drift to sleep. 

Sometimes, you’d get this weird feeling after he would leave so quickly- like you were being used. Well, you were, but you hated feeling like it. It was like a comedown after the euphoria of sex and it didn’t always feel the best, but you dealt with it. It had be going on for almost three months; you were way too in over your head at this point. 

You sighed, staring at the wall across your bed, thinking back to the remnants of that first night. How nasty and humid the air felt as you both rejoined the party after like nothing happened: 

“You can’t tell anyone about what just happened,” JJ stated as he fixed his shorts. 

His words did pierce you slightly, but you put on a front nevertheless. “Please, I’d rather be caught dead than with you.” 

He chuckled to himself as you both trudged down the beach. “That’s not what I heard back there princess.” 

It didn’t take long for your parents to blow up your phone that night, seeing it was 3 a.m. and their daughter was nowhere to be found. You came home with the smell of alcohol emitting through your clothes.You only hoped you had wiped off enough smeared mascara on the car ride home to deter them. Your mother read you the riot act as Ted stood in the corner of the kitchen. She screamed and hollered before her palm finally came in contact with your cheek. 

The following Monday, you ditched last period and drove over to The Cut, hoping to come across JJ. Driving along a narrow street, you see the shirtless golden boy mowing the lawn in a small yard. Pulling up, you rolled the windows down while a devilish grin snaked its way to his lips once he caught sight of you.

“Couldn’t stay away from me huh?”

You glared at him. “Just shut up and get in.” 

Shutting off the lawn mower, he hopped in your car, smelling of sweat and freshly cut grass . 

“Look,” you began, fiddling with the ends of your blouse, “I’m not looking for anything serious.” 

JJ’s finger tilted your chin up to meet his eyes. It was different seeing them in broad daylight. He didn’t seem like some sleazy Pogue you met at a party. He actually reminded you of a puppy... an annoying one with anger issues. 

“I understand if-” 

“No, I get you,” he answered, biting his lower lip. “After the way we fucked that night, I’m down to... go at it again.” 

“Okay but we need rules,” you insisted to which he rolled his eyes. “What’s with chicks and rules?” 

“This island is small and talk gets around. No one can know about us.” 

“Well duh.” He gave you an annoyed look. “You may think you’re all that and a bag of chips but my friends would totally clown me if they found out I was with a Kook, much less you.” 

“Oh please! What do you even know about me?” you retorted, not having his attitude outburst. 

“Y/n, you’re like bitchiest of them all,” he replied snarkily and your eyes met the ceiling of your car. “Not even the Kooks like you.” 

“Shut up, asshole.” You tried to hide the hurt from the fact that even he knew about your reputation. “Anyways, rule number two: we have to meet on Figure Eight.” 

“Hell no, why do I have to haul my ass to you?” 

You sighed heavily, gripping the bottom of the steering wheel. “My stepdad will literally kill me if he finds me here. Look, I know all the hiding places there and I’ll even get you a keycard to get in through the gate.” 

JJ smiled to himself. “Kill you huh? And yet, here you are, coming here, practically begging for me to fuck you. What will daddy think about that?” 

You contemplated punching him in that moment. “Don’t flatter yourself. You followed me that night remember?” 

JJ shrugged, leaning back in the seat. “I thought you were a touron. It was dark- sue me. Anyways, fine! We meet at the Eight. Anything else?” 

“This goes without saying, but absolutely no feelings,” you stated sternly as JJ snorted. 

“Oh princess, you do not have to worry about that whatsoever.” 

“Fine then, it’s a deal.” 

You both shook on it. JJ held onto your hand a moment longer to tug you onto the passenger seat, colliding his lips with yours. It didn’t take you both very long to undress and climb into the back seat afterwards.

A loud knock on your bedroom door startled you. “Y/n! Breakfast in ten minutes!” 

Peeling off your duvet, you leaped out of bed and started doing some small stretches until you noticed a jumbled up grey bandana on your window seat. 

“Fucking kid,” you muttered to yourself before reaching for it and throwing it in a bin on your shelf. 

JJ was klepto alright. He also had a terrible habit of leaving shit everywhere he went. If he tried to rob a bank, he’d be caught in seconds because he’d leave some trace of him. Over the course of your agreement you unintentionally started making a collection of the things he left. What started out as a bracelet on your nightstand grew to socks, lighters, hats, sunglasses, tank tops, and the occasional perfectly rolled joint (that he’d never see again). You always meant to give back all the shit he left, but he’d always leave so hurriedly that you’d forget and the collection would just grow. 

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

“Jade!” you blurted unexpectedly as you strolled into the kitchen. “What are you doing here?” 

The small brunette sat next to your mother at the table, halfway done with her breakfast plate. She flashed you her killer sunny smile as your mom chimed in from her seat. “Jade here was in the neighborhood and wanted to take you on a boat ride this morning with the Cameron family.” 

“It’ll be fun y/n!” she insisted, kicking her tiny legs that didn’t reach the floor.

You were a little confused as to why you were invited to hang out with the Cameron kids seeing as they have always ignored you at school and every event. Jade caught on and threw you a look that said ‘just go with it’. 

“Um, yeah. I’m really excited to hang out with uh- Sierra and Ra- her brother,” you babbled, earning yourself an ‘Are you fucking kidding me’ look. You shrugged your shoulders, helping yourself to some eggs and pancakes. 

“Well sweetie, I think it’s great that you’re getting to know more people around here! Don’t forget you do need an escort for the Debutante Ball in a few weeks so maybe you can ask the Cameron boy to take you,” your mother suggested and Jade nearly spit out her fruit at the mention of it.  

You closed your eyes, sighing. “Yes, of course mother.” 

“So when were you going to tell me you’re a debutante!” Jade cackled as you both made way to the Camerons’ boat along the dock.  

“If you ever mention it again, I will personally slit your throat.” 

“You! You y/n of all people!” She had to suppress her laughter to a fit of giggles. “So wait, you’ve been going to Chapel Hill all this time to learn how to ballroom dance and do all that?” 

You rolled your eyes. “Yes! I told you my mother is actually insane. Anyways, what are we doing hanging out with the Camerons anyways? I thought you hated their sister.” 

“I do,” Jade responded as-a-matter-of-factly, “It’s the brother that’s delicious. Oh- and Sarah won’t be there and neither will their dad or any of their family really. It’s just going to be Rafe and a couple of his friends. He told me to bring some friends too so it won’t be awkward.” 

“And you chose me of all people? Jade, you have plenty of other very sociable friends you could have brought.” 

“Shut up y/n! You’re hot as shit okay! You just need to get out there more and meet people. Maybe then you won’t hate it here so much. Trust me, once you experience the OBX the right way, you’ll absolutely love it.” 

You crinkled your nose at her. “You’re just as insane as my mother.”  

“Come on! There are hot guys wanting to take us on their very nice boats. It’s free drinks and maybe some food,” she promised. 

You groaned. “Fine, but if any of them make an unsolicited move on me, I’m jumping overboard and swimming home. Also, now that I think about it, isn’t Rafe like way too old to be hanging around us?” 

Jade shrugged. “A little age never hurt nobody.” The boys whooped as Jade made her grand entrance onto their very large white boat as you trailed behind. Another thing you weren’t well versed in since moving here- boats. To you it was just big and small, windows and no windows, motor and no motor, but it was like a language here. When everyone would start rambling off about engines and fishing and whatnot you would just kindly smile and nod until they got the hint and walked away. 

“Who’s your friend McCoy?” a tall boy with slicked back hair asked Jade as he enclosed an arm around her waist. 

“Rafe, this is y/n! She moved here in October and lives on the east end of the Eight.” 

So this was the famous Rafe Cameron. You’d seen him a couple times golfing with Ted when you would hide away in the golf cart on your phone. Ted would mention a few times about how he was trouble and, telling by the way he still hung out with high schoolers at almost 20 years old, you believed it. 

You smiled uneasily and gave him a tiny wave as two other guys emerged from the front with a cooler. They both coordinated with the colorful short-shorts and printed button ups. They also wore those God-awful tinted sunglasses with the band connecting the backs. You recognized them from school- Topper and Kelce.

“Oh hey y/n,” they greeted tensely, each giving you an awkward smile and one-armed hug. You were in shock they knew your name even.

“McCoy, did you bring anyone else?” Kelce asked, totally not making it obvious of your unwanted presence. 

Not even the Kooks like you. 

You knew you’d have a hard time the moment you stepped foot onto Figure Eight. You had a very humble upbringing, which was unfathomable to the kids at school, so it was hard for you to make any real friends besides Jade. During the school year, you ate lunch by yourself and sprinted home as soon as the final bell rang. It got to a point where, when anyone would try to talk to you, you’d either roll your eyes or just simply ignore them. 

“Nope! Just me and my girl.” Jade flung an arm around your shoulder and handed you a beer. She raised her eyebrows at you to check if you were okay, and you smiled reassuringly, taking the bottle. 

“Let’s hope she knows how to hang,” Topper added as he started the engine on the boat. 

You sipped on your beer as you rode down the marsh. Kelce tried to make small talk with you as Topper drove and Jade macked on Rafe. It actually wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be, Kelce did have the occasional funny story or witty thing to say even if it was about swinging a golf club or purchasing some extravagant item no one ever needed. 

“Woah Pogue alert,” you heard Topper warn as he steered next to a smaller boat hanging on the side

You glanced over and immediately met eyes with JJ who was casually laying back with his friends- two dudes and a girl. When he wasn’t acting like a complete jerk, he actually looked down to earth and kind of innocent. Cans of cheap beer littered their deck and a cute little ‘HMS Pogue’ lettering hung from the back. 

You turned back to Kelce, thinking it was just a quick pass by until you heard something thump on the side of the boat from their side. 

“Fucking rats!” Rafe barked at the group and hurled an open can of beer over towards them. 

“That’s for the van you sons of bitches!” you heard JJ holler as Topper slowed down the boat so they were eye-to-eye. 

“Hey that’s payback! I know it was you that fucked up my bike, filthy Pogue!” Topper snarled, pointing at JJ, tumbling more shit in their direction. 

The throwing escalated into an all-out war. You screamed and joined Jade who was clearly outraged as she ducked under the cooler for cover. 

“Rafe, just fucking drop it and let’s go! You’re wasting shit at this point,” she urged also throwing Topper a stern look to get moving.  

“This isn’t over!” Rafe roared at the group as Topper sped up the engine again. 

“That’s right, just ride along you fucking Kooks! And take your hoes with you!” JJ shouted. 

You threw a glare his way at the vulgar name he called you and stuck up middle fingers his way, sailing off. 

Fucking tool. 

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

chapter four

tags: @starkeybaby​ @obxlife​ @everydayimfangirling​ @iamaunicorn4704​ @tangledinsparkles​ @poguesrforlife​​ @thx-quxxn​ @obxmxybxnk​ @rororo06​ @poguesforlife​ @ilymarkchan​

[docholligay]

What are some things you feel you aren't good at, despite trying to improve them?

Oh so many things! Do we mean on a personal level, or on a raw skills level? I have both in droves! THere's no finish line for being the best version of yourself you can be. It's a horizon to go toward, not a destination to be reached, and so I think striving, and not being satisfied, is important! It's what makes us better and stronger as people.

Skills wise:

I'm objectively not a good artist, though I haven't worked on this for a long while. But for a while I did! Very hard! In this way, tumblr can be very disheartening, because the artists on here are already so good and I was very down on myself about how bad my skills were, and the feeling I would never be good. It was all rather defeatist, truthfully. Maybe once Jewlet is a little older and I have a little time, I'll try again.

Carpentry eludes me UTTERLY. I really struggle with precision, and so carpentry, where you need to be so sure of your measurements and angles, is really hard for me.

I'm really piss poor at decorating cakes and cookies ahahaha. My food is pretty ugly.

I am in no way organized or neat, I am messy as hell, and sometimes this one frustrates me to literal tears. I work so hard! I wish I were one of those people whose mind was oriented toward neat cubbyholes and picking stuff up without thinking about it, folding clothes and hanging our keys up in the same place every day, but it's one of those things I have to take bird by bird, you know? I constantly have to be like, "The perfect is the enemy of the good, progress not perfection," because this is one thing about which I can be REALLY cruel to myself. ANd I guess if my choices are "beat yourself up" or "stop working on it" I'd rather beat myself up than roll over, but sometimes I hve to soothingly say to myself, "It's okay that you don't know where your keys are. You have 86 copies for this reason. Take a breath."

I had some others, but then I reflected and was like, "Do you actually work at this?" and had to be like "....NO I GUESS."

Life wise:

I'm incredibly impulsive, which is good in some ways--I have literally launched myself over a guardrail to go help someone in a car wreck, I'm quite brave--but also can be! Not great! I work very hard at not saying exactly what I'm thinking all the time. Sometimes it doesn't need to be said. Part of this is of course, my ADHD, but it having EXPLANATION doesn't mean it's not something I need to work on, or try to. But it's really really hard for me not to plainly say shit like, "Oh wow, you gained like thirty pounds!" or "That color makes you look like you have jaundice" or "You could be interesting too, if you did anything but scrolled through your phone and watched Netflix" these things are not UNTRUE, but as my mom always told me, "Some things you don't need to say unless someone asks you." WORKING ON IT MY WHOLE LIFE. MUCH MUCH BETTER THAN I USED TO BE BUT STILL NOT GREAT.

In that vein, I interrupt people, especially if I'm excited, in a one-two punch of having ADHD and coming from a collaborative culture where that's normal. BUt it makes people who don't come from that culture fucking insane, and for good reason! I work very hard to try and rein it in, and sometimes I'll just go, "I'm sorry, please finish telling your story, remind me to come back to X"

I have the WOOOORRST time assuming malice in people, holy shit do I annoy even myself with this one. It's a really unkind impulse, and it's not the way I want to be, assuming that people are being intentionally difficult, or mean, or deliberately obtuse. (The fact that sometimes, on the internet, people ARE deliberately obtuse, does not help) So this year I'm really working on: How can I assume the best of people? IT'S NOT GOING GREAT, but every day I try and make a choice to assume good.

I have a TEM-PER. IN fairness, all of my emotions are VERY VERY LOUD, including joy and happiness, and I am very often happy! Small things bring me immense joy! @keyofjetwolf has often commented on how fun it is to be around me when I'm excited, I'm like a bouncy little happy goat! But ALSO, this translates into anger (and sadness) I get mad like a firework--it's usually pretty shortlived, but BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES THE FLASH AND BOOM IS UPON YE. Sometimes I scare myself, even, with the quality of my anger. This is something I feel like I've actually gotten a lot better about! I've gotten a lot better about emotionally regulating, and have totally not been arrested in years! I don't yell hardly ever! I tell myself a lot "I am very angry, but anger does not give me the right to behave BADLY." But as good as I've gotten, I would still say this is a big weakness of mine. I really envy people who are slow to anger by nature.

But yeah, i'm always working on myself! WE are works in progress, and it does us no honor to set that paintbrush down and call it done!

[blueeyedheizer]

All Over Again - Matt (part 1)

WARNINGS: mention of a car accident, memory loss

A/N: Here it is ! The first part to my 3 or 4 parts fic. :) I know this trope is far from being original but I wanted to give it a go. Also this was originally supposed to be a one shot but the more I was writing, the more I got ideas so I decided to split it into a multiple part fics. let me know what you think xx

----

Matt was supposed to have been home from practice 2 hours ago. It was almost midnight and you were worried sick, pacing around the house and looking out the window every two minutes. You didn't think much of it at first and figured he had stayed in the studio a little longer to work on more songs, but after an hour you began to worry. You had tried calling his bandmates, but according to them he had left practice on time with everyone else.

“Did he seem upset during practice?” You questioned through the phone, biting your nails anxiously.

"It was a hard day, yeah. He kept on messing up his parts and was a bit more irritable than usual." James explains. You let out a deep, shaky sigh, one hand coming up to rest on your forehead and closing your eyes as you tried to keep your composure.

"Look James I, um- i'm sorry to bother you with this but Alex won't answer the phone either, do you think they might have gone to a pub together or something?"

"Alex went straight to his girlfriend's after practice. I'm sorry love, I really don't know about Matt. But don't worry about it too much, yeah? I'm sure he's fine. You know how he can be sometimes." you nod your head repeatedly, allowing a tear to slide down your cheek.

"Okay, yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks anyway James." you croak out before saying goodbye and ending the call. You had thought of calling Javed, but you knew it was already late and there was no way his dad would've let Matt in at such an hour. Your heart was beating insanely fast inside your chest and you were feeling like you could break down at any moment, the worst thoughts occupying your mind.

You eventually decided to lay down on the couch and play your favorite movie to try and get rid of the nagging voice in your head. Maybe he just went on a walk to clear his mind and stopped by a pub nearby. He might have met up with some friends there, which would explain why he was so late.

After a little while you heard the sound of the front door open. You immediately shot up, running over the door as Matt walked in. He didn't seem hurt at all, which was relieving. But you were still upset.

"Where the hell have you been?! Do you have any idea what time it is?!" he doesn't say anything and walks straight past you. "Matt, what's going on?!" you call after him as he makes his way to your shared bedroom.

"Why aren't you in bed?" he says coldly, completely ignoring your previous questions

"Because it's fucking midnight and my boyfriend who was supposed to be home two hours ago didn't show any sign of life until now!" you say and he scoffs. "I was worried sick, Matt!"

"I don't have a curfew to be home, Y/N. I've already had a shit day so if you could just fuck off and stop giving me unnecessary lectures I would appreciate it." you open your mouth to speak but close it again. You genuinely didn't know what to say anymore.

"Fine. Maybe I should leave and go have fun on my own somewhere then, since we don't have a curfew."

"Yeah, good. Leave. Maybe I'll finally get some peace and quiet." he spat.

With that, you turn around and walk out, grabbing your coat and car keys on your way. You storm out the front door, slamming it back close behind you and run straight to your car, silent tears leaving your eyes as you do.

You weren't sure how it happened.

Tears were blurring your vision as you drove to your best friend’s. You knew that she would gladly let you in, no matter what time of night you showed up, plus she wasn't the type to go to sleep early. You hated driving at night, but you needed to get some fresh air, you needed to get away from Matt. 

You eventually began to regret your decision of leaving as the fog covered your vision more than it already was with your tears. But it was too late to come back, and you still weren't ready to face him after what had just happened. He wanted to be alone, then he was going to get his alone time. Your hand gripped the wheel tightly as you wiped your cheeks and eyes furiously, but no matter how hard you tried to calm down and focus on the road, the tears would come back and blur your vision.

And before you had the chance to react to what was coming in front of you, you felt a violent collision, and your world went black.

Matt knew something was wrong the moment his dad burst into his room in a panic the next morning.

"Dad?! What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in?!" he yelled.

It was barely 7am when he got a call from the hospital letting him know that you had been taken there after a car accident. He was in shock, barely able to let any words out. You were like a daughter to him, so the news were hard to swallow. All he did since he burst into the room was to blurt out your name along with barely coherent words between breathless pants.

"Dad? What is it? What's wrong with Y/N?!" Matt said, immediately jumping out of bed. He grabbed his clothes and put them on quickly, waiting for an answer.

"She got– she in an accident last night. It's bad." he managed to get out.

Matt's heart stopped beating for a moment as he tried to comprehend what he was being told. Everything around him seemed to have stopped as the events from yesterday flashed through his mind. He stared at his dad, speechless, his face suddenly draining of all color as his eyes filled with tears. He was suddenly hit by a wave of guilt and he felt the whole air being knocked out of him. His heartbeat picked up and the room soon felt too suffocating. He couldn't breathe, the room was spinning, his ears ringing.

His dad grabbed his face with both hands to keep him grounded him then pat his cheek slightly.

"Come on now, we have to go. She needs you, son." He said, keeping a steady gaze on him. Matt snapped out of his daze and stormed out of the room, his dad following closely. He grabbed the car keys on his way and they both headed to the hospital in a hurry. Of course Matt’s dad insisted on driving, knowing that his son was in no way able to focus on the road in this state.

By the time they got there, Matt's eyes and face were bright red from how much he had been crying. He was out the door before the car even came to a complete stop, rushing into the emergency section of the building.

He burst through the front doors and begun looking around, trying to find a nurse, a doctor or anyone that could tell him about your condition. A nurse came out of one of the many rooms and he rushed towards her, tears still streaming down his cheeks as he asked where you were.

"Could you tell me her name again?" she asked, gently placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He nodded and repeated, trying to keep it together. The nurse lead him to the reception, searched through her papers then looked up after a few seconds.

"She's in surgery right now so I can’t let you go see her just yet. We're doing the best we can to keep her alive, but from what I know she got into a pretty bad accident, and this kind of surgery requires hours and hours of work." she continues and he nods, trying not to completely break down in front of her. She gives him more details about the surgery before leading him to the waiting room where your family and some friends of yours were waiting.

three days later.

''It's been over half an an hour...'' Matt finally spoke up, breaking the silence as he paced anxiously around the waiting room. "Someone should be able to tell us something by now.''

''I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Matt." Javed answered softly in an attempt to comfort both himself and Matt. Matt sighed and nodded before he finally sat down in the space between James and Javed. No one was speaking. Everyone avoided eye contact, too busy being lost in their own thoughts, moving their legs anxiously. Matt however couldn't stay still, but no one could blame him. He had been staying with you every day since you got there, even though you weren't awake, and now that they finally had some news they wouldn't let him see you. Family first.

He fidgeted and bit his lips nervously, the worst thoughts constantly occupying his mind. He buried his face in his hands, more tears falling down his face. Needless to say, no one had ever seen him like this before. He looked extremely tired and sleep-deprived, and the guilt was eating him alive. Javed placed a comforting hand on his back.

"You need to stop blaming yourself, Matt. This is not your fault." he says. "She’s going to be okay."

“It is my fault, J. If I hadn’t come home so late and told her to leave...—” he chokes, opening his mouth before closing it again. "She went out because of me. She's here because of me. If she had died—" he starts, but James interrupts him.

"But she's alive, mate. That's all that matters right now. You can't take back what you said or did, but you still have time with her to make it up."

As he was about to stand up and start pacing around again, Matt's head shot up at the sound of footsteps coming towards the waiting room. In a matter of seconds he was on his feet and your mom was at the door with a small forced smile and wet cheeks, a nurse standing beside her.

''Miss Y/L/N is awake.'' the nurse said. "You can see her, but you all should know that she's showing signs of amnesia." everyone's face dropped as they took in the information. "We do not know whether it is permanent or temporary. She remembers her mother and her name but couldn't tell us today's date, whether it is day, month or year. I just want you all to be prepared in case she has a hard time remembering any of you, which could be a possibility." Everyone in the room nodded then started hugging each other to express a deep relief along with sorrow. After three days of constant fear and sleepless nights, you were awake. But then, there was the possibility of you not remembering them. Matt hugged your mom tightly before they all followed the nurse into your room. His heart started racing as he thought about all the things he wanted to say to you. He didn't think apologies would be enough.

He finally snapped out of his thoughts when he reached the door to your room, his heart aching at the sight of his girlfriend laying on a hospital bed.

You were slightly startled when the door to your room opened again, your nurse walking in along with a bunch of people you couldn't quite recognise as you struggled to keep your eyes open. Your entire body felt numb. You tried to sit further up, but your were immediately stopped by a striking pain coming from your ribs. You lifted your hand in an attempt to scratch your head but you were surprised to feel a bandage under your fingertips and see one wrapped around your wrist. Confused, you realized the upper part of your body was bandaged, but you couldn’t quite figure out why.

"Hello again, Y/N." your nurse smiled "Some people are here to see you. Could you tell me if you recognise any of them?"

Vision still blurry, you frowned and attempted to turn your head to the right. You let out a small groan, the movement triggering an ache.

"Take your time, there is no rush." the nurse says.

Then someone took a seat next to you and grabbed a hold of your hand that wasn't bandaged. You eventually managed to take a proper look at your surroundings, looking around yourself. Your mom was there, along with Javed.

"Um...well, there's mom again. And Javed." you spoke weakly. A small smile curved your lips when you saw him. You two had been friends since 6th grade. You then looked at the two boys behind him. "I don't think I know you." you spoke with a frown." James and Alex's faces dropped a little, but they were kind of expecting it. You weren't as close with them as you were with Javed, so you had fewer memories of them and more forgettable ones.

Then you met the other boy's eyes, the one sitting beside you.

You said nothing while staring at him before realising that he was holding onto your hand which you slowly pried away from him. Your brows furrowed as you looked at him. His nose, his hair, his lips. Then his eyes. You looked into them, trying to find any form of familiarity, but there was none. Why was he holding your hand?

"Y/N?" he says, his voice weak. You could tell he was fighting back tears. You frowned again, lips parting in confusion. You gave your mom a worried glance before looking back at him.

"I...I'm sorry but, am I supposed to know you?"

[severeblizzardlady]

Music in My Ears

Soulmate AU - You hear your soulmate’s music. But what are you supposed to do if they happen to be in another universe entirely? 

Pairing: Jin Bubaigawara x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, Sexual themes (some non-con/dubious consent), Jin’s shenanigans (also, language barriers? Sometimes they’re a thing, sometimes they’re not), and a weeeeee bit of yandere

Disclaimer: I don’t own the music

“Baby shark, do-do-do-do-do-do. Baby shark--”

“[Name], I swear to God, you need to stop singing that fucking song.” Your cousin said, glaring at you from the corner of her eye. After visiting your cousin and her family for the week, it was time for you to fly back home. She’d offered to drive you to the airport, even though you were fine with getting a taxi. 

Obviously, she was starting to regret it.

“It’s not my fault that’s the only thing your kids wanna listen to!” You snapped. And it was true. The entire time you’d been there, those sweet, angelic children begged to hear that song at least once or twice a day. 

She muttered something then, something about “empty heads,” but Mom had taught you not to hit someone when they were driving. Louder, she said, “Just listen to the song all the way through. That should get it out.”

“Okay,” You reached for the stereo’s power button only to get your hand smacked. “Hey!”

“I’m not listening to it, use your player!”

Dammit. “Hmph, this better work,” You stuffed your earbuds into your ears, finding the song. “I don’t wanna get thrown off the plane mid-flight.” 

---

“No good, no good, no good.” Jin Bubaigawara, AKA the villain Twice, couldn’t breathe. The walls were constricting all around him, and not just from that yakuza Mimic. He’d been slow in making the wall that separated Twice from that Salaryman hero. It was on purpose, he’d wanted Jin to get caught.

No way, that couldn’t be right!

Gin grit his teeth. The pull was getting worse, the one deep inside, threatening to rip him into pieces--of course it wasn’t, he was fine. Just dandy even!

“Gonna split apart. Hooray! I’m...splitting!! I won’t!”

Hurting, it hurt so bad. No, actually, it felt just fine, like a warm bubble bath! Where was Toga? Why couldn’t he have just ignored those beaked bastards that day?

“Gonna split...if I don’t cover up!!” He, he was--

“Baby shark do-do-do-do-do-do. Baby shark do-do-do-do-do-do. Baby shark do-do-do-do-do-do. Baby shark!”

The splitting stopped. Something in Jin’s chest shifted, no it didn’t! It was deeper, in his soul. Like a piece that he hadn’t realized was missing had just snapped into place as music filled his ears. A song about sharks that just kept going in his ears. Even as Toga wrapped her handkerchief around his head to prevent him from splitting further (Unfortunately!~). 

Did this mean he had a soulmate? For all of his life, Jin had never had a soulmark. No red strings, no mysterious bruises (but the ones he made were plenty mysterious on their own!), no music...until now. The song sounded like it was for kids, a real banger! Was his soulmate a kid? They could just call him grandpa!

“If this cooperation thing doesn’t work out,” Toga said suddenly, dragging Jin out of his thoughts (She didn’t have to be jealous!). “We’ll never get our revenge.”

“It’s the end do-do-do-do-do-o. It’s the end!”

---

You didn’t get thrown off the plane. And you no longer had the Baby Shark song in your head. Both were a plus. 

Once you were home safe and sound, you had a little time to rest and relax before you were back to work again. Honestly, you hadn’t planned to spend your entire time off visiting family, but your parents blackmailed you. Really, you serenade a cat in public one time, and suddenly you’re marked for life. 

Whatever, you would do it again in a heartbeat. All cats deserve to know they’re loved!

You worked. And worked. And worked. And worked. And every day after work, you’d collapse on your couch with something quick to eat, like food from the freezer section at the store or takeout. Sometimes your neighbors, the couple in the next place over, would start yelling or start having sex. Both were loud and messed with your stomach--whether in anxiety or just...not wanting to hear them have sex because, holy shit, who had sex that often (where they leads in a smutty romance?). So you’d listen to music. 

You flinched at a dull thump that came from the wall on the other side of your apartment. You knew, from the one time they’d invited you over, that your neighbors had a bookshelf there. It sounded an awful lot like something had been slammed into it. 

“O-oh fuck!” The woman moaned.

“Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.” You nearly threw your takeout to the floor with how quickly you grabbed your ear buds. Trying to shove them into your ears as a repetitive thud started, you turned up the volume as high as you could before pressing play. Then, as Freaks by Timmy Trumpet started playing, you collected your food and hustled to the bedroom.

“I need to move.” 

---

“The bass and the tweeters make the speakers go to war. Ah, the mighty trumpet brings the freaks out to the floor.”

“You’re doing it again.” 

“Huh?” Jin whipped around to see Dabi fixing him with a blank stare. Wait, nu-uh, the blank stare was his usual look. That was Dabi’s annoyed look. 

When Jin just kept staring back, Dabi sighed. “You hearing your soulmate again? Every time you do, you start wriggling like you’re gonna pee yourself.”

“That’s because I wanna dance! Nah, you caught me, this music’s bad on my bladder!” 

Weeks had passed after the League had gotten their revenge on the bird bastard yakuza. With vengeance for Big Sis Magne taken care of, it was back to business. Well, when they felt like it anyway! They mostly lazed around a lot. 

With the yakuza’s serum in their hands, it should’ve been smoother sailing, but Jin wasn’t able to copy it. Shigaraki’s disappointment had been palpable that day (well, maybe he was just constipated!). The guilt of it weighed on Jin. Again, he’d let his friends down again. 

And yet, every time he felt down, every time he felt like a failure, he heard it. Music. His soulmate (stalker!).

The second time he heard the music was when he was in the middle of a League meeting. One second it had been quiet, nothing but Shigaraki discussing their next steps, and then: 

What a splendid pie, pizza-pizza pie. Every minute, every second, buy, buy, buy, buy, buy! 

 He was pretty sure kids didn’t listen to metal. But maybe their parents were just really edgy!! 

But the songs kept coming, none like the first. Some had a whimsical element to them, though, like the music had been doused in glitter and summoned from a unicorn’s ass. 

The music always came when Jin needed it. Always when he felt useless, like he couldn’t provide for his friends or protect their happiness. Maybe his soulmate could sense his distress and that caused the music. Nah, it was aliens.

“I still think we should find ‘em!” Toga cut in, chin resting on her hands. “Even if you don’t recognize the music, you. Being away from your soulmate for too long can’t be healthy!” 

“Yeah,” Spinner piped up, “but even so, how’re we supposed to find them? We can’t even find that music online.” 

Both were good points (eh, sorta). Soulmates had to unit at some point, particularly those with a hearing bond. Eventually, they’d begin hearing more than just each other’s music. They’d hear conversations and anything else their mate happened to hear. It drove people insane, the way the universe was desperate for destined lovers to be together. Or maybe it needed to be more aggressive, push a little harder! 

But....

“We’ll find them eventually,” Jin gave his friends a thumbs up. “For now, let’s focus on what’s ahead of us!” Of course a soulmate was nice, especially one that cared for him--so nosy!--the way his did. But his friends needed him. Unlike his soulmate, they were right there, and he could make sure they got everything they needed for their happiness. 

Toga watched him with curious eyes even when Shigaraki finally arrived for the meeting, but she didn’t say anything else. 

---

“You don’t look too good, [Name].” 

You smiled despite your upset stomach, trying to wave off your coworker’s concerned stare. “Had a little bit of food poisoning this morning.” Just the mention of food made your stomach want to wring itself out until you vomited again. 

It’d been a mistake, drinking as much as you had the night before, but you’d finally managed to snag a new place and had celebrated with a drink. Or three. Man, that had not been smart. 

“Hey, if you’re not feeling well, head on home, all right?” Your coworker said, stepping back a little. Like you were going to puke on her pumps. You would’ve bristled at that if your head didn’t hurt so much. A little bit of vomit would’ve been an improvement. Her shoes looked like they’d seen better days. “We’ve got that meeting this morning too.”

Yeah, that was the only reason you’d shown up. Your boss had reminded everyone about how important the meeting was. There was no way you could miss, especially not because you were hung over. 

As you ambled into the meeting room, there was a buzzing in your ear. You frowned, rubbing the back of your neck. Instead of dying down, especially once the meeting started, it got worse, to the point the buzzing sounded like, like music. A slow song, one full of longing and love. God, were you so messed up from just three drinks that you were suddenly hearing music? 

Which was what you thought. At first. But then it kept happening when you hadn’t had any alcohol. It was never at the same time of day, sometimes it happened when you were eating lunch or talking to someone. It was good, almost always rock after that first romantic-ish sounding song, but you had no idea why it was happening. 

You could still hear, but there was music. Music no one else could hear, and you’d asked plenty of your coworkers, nearly making an ass of yourself in the process. 

The only time it stopped was when you got home. The time you really needed it to and had to resort to your own music (until you could move out at least). 

You wondered if you were going crazy.

---

Jin was going crazy. And he didn’t want to say it was Shigaraki’s fault, because it honestly wasn’t! It really fucking was though. 

“We’re finding your soulmate,” Shigaraki said one day after they’d taken down a wannabe villain group that was trying to stake a claim on the League’s territory. The group had some valuables among them, some money and a nice stereo system.

Shigaraki had taken one look at it all and demanded it get carried back to the base. Mr. Compress, the swell guy, did all the heavy lifting, and he’d broken a sweat by the end of it! 

 “I thought we had more important things to do,” Dabi groused. He’d stepped out earlier, something about calling a potential recruit.

“We’re not doing anything without Jin,” Shigaraki stated, turning on the system. Music filled the air. “And if that means we have to take the time to find his soulmate, we’ll do it.”

If only Shigaraki wasn’t looking out for them all. If only Shigaraki didn’t believe in him. Because even with the music on his side, nothing had changed. Jin was letting everyone down because nothing seemed to be working. Not that first song, the one that was literally saying, “I’m here, darling, come find me. May this song be the only one that fills your ears so you know I’m thinking of you.” It was made for auditory soulmates by a singer with an auditory soulmate. 

It was because you were a child, wasn’t it? Because you didn’t understand, were too young, couldn’t tell your parents. You were avoiding him, wanted nothing to do with him, thought he was a waste of your time. 

The music could only do so much to fill the void your presence would fill. He couldn’t think about anything for too long without you somehow being involved. People watching turned into wondering what you were like. Fighting turned into imagining you being amazed by his abilities. Smoking out his window at night turned into dreams of you calling for him from his bed, saying you missed him. Needed him. 

But the searches still turned out nothing. The music did nothing. It was like you weren’t even real to begin with. 

Where were you?

---

“It doesn’t look like anything’s wrong. To be honest, your hearing seems to be even better than most at your age!”

That had been the oto--ear doctor’s diagnosis after he’d tested you. After a quick Google search, you’d been sure you had tinnitus, which would’ve made sense with how much music you played to drown out your surroundings, but apparently you were wrong.

You hadn’t told the doctor you were hearing full songs that you’d never heard before. But maybe you should’ve? Even as you’d gotten in your car after the appointment, you could hear it again, that slow, yearning song that you’d first heard. God, if only Google had a melody search bar!

The music had stopped as you pulled into the apartment parking lot. You sighed. “Just like clockwork, huh?” 

It was your last night at the apartment. Tomorrow, you were moving everything into a new place. One that  was closer to your work so you’d be able to walk more. Maybe get some fresh air. And maybe the change would make the weird music go away. 

Not wasting a second, you pulled out your headphones and stuck them in your ears. Who knew what would be waiting for you tonight? At least it would be the last time though! With that happy thought, you stepped out of your car....

and felt the world give way underneath your feet.

---

“I know that we’re just perfect strangers, and perfect strangers, that just won’t do, no.”

God, were you trying to kill him? 

Another day fighting nobodies and taking everything they had. Jin felt like his skin was too tight on his bones, like everything was too loud and too bright and not bright enough. Jin had gone back to the base early. It was a bad idea, too dangerous (how fun!) on his own. But he needed to play the song again. 

He’d been playing  music all the time to tell you he was there listening, waiting, needing. Except you weren’t coming (Sure you were!), always just teasing him with your stupid music--nope, you were definitely calling to him right back!

“Why not make today the day that a perfect stranger falls for you, oh!”

You didn’t want anything to do with him, that was why you were hiding! The fabric of his costume crinkled as Jin clenched his fists, body shaking with rage. You were just mocking him, tormenting him, he wasn’t worth your time at all!

“Then I don’t need you either!” He roared, lunging at the sound system--

There was a rumble. The building shook, throwing Jin off balance. He yelped, tumbling and shielded his head at the last second. The shaking stopped as soon as it started.

“What the hell?”

Yeah--wait. He didn’t say that. Slowly lowering his arms, Jin found himself staring at a complete stranger in the middle of the League’s base. 

---

You were sitting in some sort of warehouse. You blinked. Then you blinked again, just to see if that would help. It didn’t. “What the hell?”

Your ear buds were still in, “Herp de Derp” still playing in your ears. And you would’ve taken them out right away if it weren’t for the costumed guy on the floor staring at you. 

Was he some sort of cosplayer? The costume, black with silverish gray lines on the body suit and red wrist...things and a mask that was half gray and half black, looked sort of familiar. Like you’d seen it on Adult Swim at some point while channel surfing late at night. 

You hoped that all the muscle accentuated by the suit was padding. Wait, no, you needed to leave. 

“S-Sorry, I...where am I exactly?” He said something then, but you couldn’t quite hear because, duh, your music was still on. “Um, sorry,” you tapped your ears and tried to smile (it was all getting creepier by the second), “just lemme....” 

Tapping a finger on the screen, you paused the music, pulling out your ear buds.

The guy jolted to his feet then, making you flinch (you were starting to think the muscles were his, if the way they flexed was any indication). You had no idea what kind of expression he had under that mask but the eye holes were wider than they’d been before. Like he was bugging out. “You.”

“Y-yeah?” He had a really nice voice. It was a shame things were getting more surreal and even creepier by the second. You were still on the ground, your legs felt numb.

He was on you before you even realized it, solid, warm body pushing into you, making you feel that, no, there was no padding. The shock of it startled you, making your nerves zing in a way they never had before, like something about this was right, even as your stomach flopped at the fact that you were in a strange place with a strange man who was touching you. 

His body slotted against yours perfectly, making you feel every inch of him. Your mouth was dry, no words could come out, only a slight squeak. “You’re not a kid, I was worried. I was looking forward to being called ‘grandpa’!” His hands trembled as they went to your face, tracing your lips, cupping your cheeks. “I knew the universe would make sure we came together. Except this was all me!” 

You had no idea how to respond, not to his babbling or his contradictory way of speaking. You didn’t get a chance to either. His mouth was on yours, lower half of his mask pushed up out of the way. There was a vague feeling of stubble, but all you could focus on was the tongue in your mouth, inviting yours to meet it. 

All you could focus on was the thick hands sliding down to your ass to drag you forward until you were sitting in this man’s lap. 

All you could focus on was the heat of it all. Of how good it felt. Of wanting more. Of wanting to go home, wherever that was. 

He moaned when you clutched at his back, mouth leaving yours to plant kisses down your neck. “My soulmate, all mine. Finally.” He panted the words between each kiss, as though being away from your skin for even a second was too long.

Soulmate?

You shivered when he began to shift, hands moving to your hips. When he finally spoke again, his voice was raspy, thick with desire and something too dark to be considered love:

“I’ll never let you go.”

[thephantomofthe-internet]

The Party’s Over

Flayed!Billy Hargrove x Reader

Word Count: 3,252

Warnings: swearing, violence, breaking and entering-just a whole lot of nope is happening

Author’s note: So this is a request! I don’t normally do requests, but I did this one! It’s a very loose interpretation, but here’s the request: If your requests are open: could you possibly do a billy x reader based on the song when the party’s over by billie eilish? I love love love your writing and I’ve just finished season 3 so I need some billy love xx thank you! I hope you enjoy, nonnie! 

Tag List: @moonstruckhargrove @hotstuffhargrove @carolimedanvers @alex--awesome--22 @thechickvic @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @so-not-hotmess @agentsinstorybrooke @sunflowercandie @kaliforniacoastalteens @songforhema @spidey-pal @mickmoon 

Heather had to have gone insane. It was like she was trying to get fired. Every weekend, there she was, bringing new people to the pool after hours. A little party heightened with drugs or alcohol or just the excitement of getting caught. It was a risk Heather was easily taking on, usually with your boyfriend at her side.

Billy Hargrove had gone off the deep end, no pun intended.

Ever since he found out that Heather Holloway was a secret party girl, they’d become best friends. And his whole personality had flipped. Well, flipped back. The Billy Hargrove you were dating wasn’t the guy you were introduced to way back in October. When he first arrived, he was an asshole. He slept around, he bullied or mocked anyone who seemed different or self-conscious enough to feel hurt by him, he treated everyone around him like shit or like they were disposable. The only people who could put up with him for more than a month were those looking for a boost in their own popularity. Tommy H and Carol had stuck around despite Billy pushing them away at every opportunity, purely because they wanted to suckled the teat of Hawkins High popularity, drinking it in.

You didn’t put up with any of his shit. You didn’t laugh at his jokes, you didn’t sleep with him or go on one of his little ‘dates’, you didn’t fall for his charm-you saw right through his bullshit. And that was frustrating to him; he wanted you to fall just like everyone else did. You were a challenge and he didn’t like those very much. But he was bored enough to keep trying. And eventually, after venting how tiring it was chasing you around was, you let him take you out just the once. And then you let him take you out a few more times, because what else were you supposed to do? Go out with Keith from the arcade? He was the only other person interested. Slim pickings meant that when Billy Hargrove came knocking, you answered.

And he wasn’t a bad date-he had a cool car; he drove fast, that was fun; he had good taste in music; sometimes he talked about interesting things; he was a good lay. He kept coming back too, you didn’t really get why. Neither did Billy, it wasn’t for love. He was bored of you after three dates. But other girls in town were more boring and they were annoying too. You weren’t annoying. You were almost cool. Like a friend he could fuck when he wanted.  That was nice.

But you were busy. And the summer was long. And being surrounded by girls in bikinis all day, drooling over him. Things were bound to happen. Nothing serious, nothing bad. Harmless flirting with Heather, she threw good invite-only parties, what was he supposed to do? Mrs. Wheeler was easy to frazzle, which was always fun, and she was something interesting to do. Well, he didn’t do her, but he wouldn’t pretend that he didn’t try. Not that he would tell you that. You didn’t need to know that. It would probably hurt your feelings anyway, he didn’t want to do that.

But you weren’t naïve. You noticed the way Heather looked at him. You heard the rumors around town about what and who he was doing. You tried to pay it no mind, but you worked at Sam Goody in the mall, every girl in town circulated that store and they all gossiped about the same things. So, you dealt with it. You dealt with the rumors. He was your boyfriend.  You knew him. He lied and he cheated and he stole, but he trusted you with everything. You were the exception, every girl he slept around with and never called again were the rule. And he was a stickler to his own rules.

Until now.

You didn’t believe the rumor that he was sleeping with Karen Wheeler; she was too much of a challenge, even for him. But the stories about Heather Holloway? Those made sense. Too much sense. Those were something to question. That was something to fight about. And you fought like hell. But Billy denied everything.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Billy cried, running his hands angrily through his hair, pulling at the ends. He’d been wearing the same white thermal for almost a week straight and you were very weirded out by it. In part because it was beginning to smell and he didn’t seem to notice in the slightest. But mostly because it was boiling outside! Hawkins had been in a heat wave for two weeks now and everyone in town had been dying. Everyone, it seems, except Billy. Wearing that dumb thermal, always wandering around with a blue raspberry Icee in hand. He always seemed to be in a daze or actively upset. There was no in between. And you hated it.

“Oh come on! Don’t act like I’m stupid! I see what happens when I’m not around! We had plans last night to go out and you ditched me! Without even a call! And Jennifer Spears sees you driving to Heather’s house! Heather’s for god’s sake!” you countered, matching his volume. Billy had snuck into your house that afternoon, still not bothering to use the front door even though no one was home and no one was going to catch him or even be mad at him.

“Why don’t you trust me anymore? Jesus! When did you become such a clingy girlfriend?” Billy scoffed and you about near punched him square in the jaw. What kind of bullshit was that? You’ve never been clingy! You’ve always given him the space to be the lone wolf he insisted on being. You didn’t cling, you didn’t pressure, you didn’t do anything to get in his way.

“Oh my god…” you massaged the bridge of your nose, closing your eyes tight “This really isn’t worth it. Do whatever you want with Heather, see if I stick around?” you snapped, turning your back to him dramatically, crossing your arms tightly over your chest. You didn’t expect Billy to stay and you weren’t upset when he didn’t. He knew to leave you when you were pissed off, because you’d only bite his head off about whatever had ticked you off.  You weren’t one to mess with when you were upset and Billy knew this.

Billy did exactly what you told him to do, he went out with Heather that night. And you didn’t talk to him for a week. But you didn’t let him get to you.  When your friends dragged you to the pool, you made a point to flirt with Adam, the assistant manager from the pool, only because he was an ass and Billy hated it when he smiled his smarmy smile. He looked like he was about to sexually harass you at a used car dealership.

But it didn’t do anything. And for the first time, you saw it. You saw how Billy was with other girls. You saw the way Karen Wheeler flirted shamelessly along with the other moms on the left side of the pool. That didn’t bother you, although the way Mrs. Armstrong, with her cheetah print one piece and neon green visor surrounded by tightly curled frizzy blonde hair kind of made you nauseous. No, what upset you was the way Heather and Billy interacted. It wasn’t flirting. That would be too obvious. It was like they were speaking in code. It was full of nods and knowing, neutral looks. They whispered far too much, Heather even pointed you out in the crowd. At first, you thought she was mocking you. That made your blood boil. But her expression was so empty, her eyes so dead. And Billy shook his head. They began whispering harshly to one another and you wondered what they were arguing about, if they were arguing at all. That was when you decided to leave the pool. You didn’t know why you went in the first place.

The answer came soon enough. Billy called. This was a shock, he never called, he always just showed up randomly to wherever you were to confront you.

“Billy, what do you want?” you huffed after learning who was on the other end, dropping down onto the mattress with a dramatic sigh through your nose.

“Look, we fought, I’m sorry, can we move on?” he replied, matching your frustration beat for beat. You rolled your eyes, but nodded.

“Sure, fine, what’s up?” you asked bitterly, running your hands through your hair.

“We’re throwing a party tonight. Be there.” Billy barked. He seemed angry, but you didn’t know why.

“Who’s we? And where is it even?” you asked quickly. Billy had a nasty habit of hanging up the phone after giving you brief bits of information.

“At the pool, Heather’s throwing it. I’m helping. You in or not?” Billy returned quickly, rephrasing his wording quickly. You contemplated starting a fight about it; after all, you were still mad about Billy’s sneaking around with Heather. But you decided to hold off on it.

“You picking me up?” you asked.                                                  

“Sure.” Billy replied gruffly.

“Around eight?”

“Nine.”

“Alright, I’ll be ready. I’ll see you then.”

Billy hung up on you without a goodbye, although it didn’t really bother you. The sound of the dial tone was friendlier than his goodbyes. Besides, that just meant that he didn’t want to or couldn’t attempt to say goodbye. It was sweet. That’s what you told yourself.

You did what he wanted, although you weren’t excited about it. You didn’t like authority and you didn’t need the Hawkins PD chasing you down. But Billy wanted to go and you were sort of glad that he invited you. He didn’t want to go with Heather. He wanted to go with you. So you pulled out your best black one piece and covered it with your homemade cut off shorts and a plain tee shirt. You pulled your hair up and ran outside to Billy’s car before he could even blast the horn.

Billy didn’t talk while he drove, his jaw was far too tight and his gaze too stern. He looked nervous or at least tightly wound. But you didn’t comment on it. You assumed it was because of the risk he was taking even showing up. One more meeting with the Hawkins police and he’d lose the car for the rest of the summer. And he needed his car. You kept quiet and held your bag tightly to your chest, keeping your gaze focus on the streets in front of you.

As you pulled up to the pool, you saw Heather leading a group of kids into the pool. You were surprised by the group. Where was Carol? Tommy? Tina? Vikki? Fuck, nobody even pretended to invite Steve Harrington! It was a bunch of misfits. You noted Nick Cline, who was most known for playing the cello in the school band and puking onstage; Lisa Reid, who was the first person in school to get braces and still had them; and Curtis Rudolph; who got so stoned at Tina’s Halloween party the year prior that he flashed the whole party his penis and forgot about it. The rest weren’t anyone you recognized, but you noted the trend between the three you did. They were outcasts. Nick Cline was ignored even by fellow band geeks, Lisa Reid was declared the least bangable girl at Hawkins High via their list in the locker room, and Curtis lost everything after everyone found out all at once how creepy  he was and how small his penis truly was. Nobody was fucking with them. Until now. Now, they were invited to an exclusive party by Heather Holloway, who was known for throwing the most exclusive, coolest parties in Hawkins and always getting away with it.

You were beyond confused.

Billy grabbed your elbow, pulling you back for a second. You turned to look at him, furrowing your brow. “What is going on, Bill?” you whispered, stopping in your tracks.

“Just wait for ‘em to go in. We’ll go in afterwards.” He replied easily, letting your arm go. You nodded, crossing your arms over your chest.

Heather peeked out from the gate and caught Billy’s eye. She waved him in, but Billy shook his head. Heather turned to you, smiling brightly. “Y/N! Come on! Leave the grump behind!” she called, laughing at Billy’s stern expression. You found yourself smiling too, something about her look made you want to smile too. It made you want to do anything she said.

You turned to Billy “Come on, let’s go. Before the cops shut this thing down. In and out quick, okay?” you whispered, looking up at him with the big doe eyes that you knew melted his heart. Something in Billy’s expression changed, his gaze softened slightly and he seemed conflicted with himself. But Heather’s musical tone call out to you again, beckoning you in. She had become a sort of siren and you weren’t refusing the sailor’s song she sung for you. You ran towards the gate. Billy couldn’t help but follow.

The group was circled together on the deck. Heather took the centre, raising her hand to silence everyone. “Alright! Everybody go and change in the change rooms and shower off! I won’t have you contaminating the water just for fun!” she explained, still with that fun party girl tone that lured you in. Everything about her face screamed that the situation was very serious, but her voice was so upbeat and fun that it distracted everyone around you. It distracted you too, you followed the line of awkward girls heading towards the locker room. Billy pulled you back roughly.

“Stay here, okay? She’s just bugging the nerds.” Billy said softly. And he smiled. That threw you for a loop, he’d been so annoyed all day, but now he was grinning at you like you hung the moon. And that was distracting you, it held you in place as he headed off behind the boys. You dropped your bag on the white lounge chair behind you pulling off your tee shirt and shorts before sitting down on the edge of the pool, dipping your feet. The water was far too cold, someone had turned the pool heater off completely, letting the water turn to ice on your feet.

The group was gone for far too long, it made you nervous. You kept your eyes on the doors, waiting for someone-anyone-to emerge. But nobody came out. You stood from edge, peering towards the doors, inching back to grab your bag. You had a bad feeling about this whole scene and you wanted nothing more to be out of it, even if Billy would get pissed about it.

Before you could even attempt to head towards the gate, Heather burst from the doors, grinning and giggling. “Y/N! Come in here and help me! Lisa’s got her braces stuck on her sweater vest I’m about to piss myself laughing!” she called, waving you over again. And you found yourself thinking that you could help for a minute. You didn’t have to run off now, maybe it would feel better in there.

The locker room was insanely humid. All the showers were running the hottest water they could, filling the room with steam. The lights had been turned off almost completely too, save for the one closest to the door entering the pool, leaving the room dark and eerie. Despite knowing that everyone had gone into the locker rooms, you couldn’t hear any voices. The only sound was from the showers running. Then, someone hit you hard against the back of your head.

You dropped to your knees immediately, losing your balance. You felt insanely dizzy and sick, you knew you were about to pass out. But you forced yourself to stay awake. You knew if you pass out, something worse would happen. Hands came to the back of your shoulders, forcing you to the ground. Heather hovered over you, her expression the same as it was at the door only moments ago.

“If you stay still it’ll be over faster.” Heather said with a sickly smile, looking up to nod at the person above your sightline. Your wrists were bound above your head with rope and you were dragged by them by the person just beyond sight. You screamed loudly, kicking your unbound legs wildly, aiming for Heather’s…anything. Anything to get her to stop this. But no matter how many times to struck her, she didn’t even flinch. She just kept walking slowly behind you.

“Billy! Billy help me!” you screamed as loud as you could. He was just in the other room, he had to hear you. But even if he did, he wasn’t there. There was nothing you could do now, fighting wasn’t working. The person dragging you bent down to pick you up, it was Janet Holloway to your shock and horror. How on earth did she get that strong? Her arms went under you easily and lifted you into the air fireman’s style. You contemplated fighting against her, beating her down. But you weren’t certain it would work. Instead, you let your body go limp, laying all your weight on her. Janet Holloway collapsed immediately under your weight.

This was your chance.

You bounced up, making a brake for the backdoor, not trusting yourself to be able to get passed Heather. You were so dizzy, your vision drifting in and out, but you made it out the door.

Tom Holloway grabbed you roughly by the shoulders, holding you in place as soon as you got outside. “Where you going, missy?” he asked with a cocky tone, his skin pale and sickly looking. He was sweating far too much, it was sickening. You struggled against his grip, trying to break away. Just like Janet, he was too strong, and it turned your stomach completely. You looked over scene, trying to find anything that could help you here.

They had a van, and people were already loaded into it, wrists tied and knocked out the same as they tried to do to you. Other than that, the area was desolate. No cars, no people, hell the streetlights were out. Everything was set up so you would get caught. So all those people would get caught.

Then, you found Billy. Moreover, Billy found you. He tapped Tom on the shoulder and he released you immediately. You fell into Billy’s arms, unable to wrap your arms around him, but so desperate to.

“I’ll handle her.” Billy said simply and Tom nodded, heading towards the van. The van sped off fast as soon as he was inside. You didn’t know where Janet and Heather were and you didn’t care. Billy would keep you safe.

“Billy, what’s going on? Where are they taking them?” you asked frantically, searching his face for any sign of humanity. But there was none. Everything about his expression was dead and empty. He wasn’t himself anymore.

“Just stay still, it’ll be over soon.” He said, laying you down, pulling a rope from his back pocket.

“Billy, what’re you doing?” you asked, trying desperately to pull your legs away. Billy held firm on them, not letting go no matter how hard you kicked at his face.

“Billy, I’m scared let me go.” You cried, kicking up at him.

“Don’t be afraid, it’ll all be over soon…” he said, almost sounding bored by the whole scene.

“Billy, look at me. Look at me!” you cried. Billy’s hands stopped for a second and he looked to you. A glimpse of his former self glinted in his eyes and you held onto it tightly. “Billy, this isn’t you. You don’t have to do this. Please just…just let me go…I won’t tell anyone.” Billy’s hands grabbed your legs hard, slamming them to the asphalt.

“Billy you’re hurting me!” a tear rolled down your cheek, your lip quivering violently. Billy looked up at you, shocked. His look…hurt. Like he didn’t want to be doing this. You held his gaze, letting a few more tears tumble down your cheeks and your nose run. Billy let go of your legs and reached into his back pocket, pulling a switchblade from behind him. You let out a strangled scream, but Billy shushed you. He brought the knife between your wrists and sawed through the rope, freeing your hands.

“Go.” He whispered. You saw the fear in his eyes, the sheer brokenness of his whole expression. You wanted to hug him, but you stayed still. “Go!” he cried and you shot up like a rocket. Abandoning your purse and clothes, you ran for your house, never looking back.

You didn’t know what could’ve happened, but you didn’t plan to find out.

[khaoticallykat]

◇The Prince and The Punk◇

Summary: you and Ransom get to know each other.

Word count: 2,139

*Warnings: physical abuse

A/n: sorry for the delay, I'm trying to update this every sunday or monday, thanks for the support and likes. ♡

Chapter 2: Clarissa

You ignored Ransom as you talked to Harlan, it was amazing how much tension was in the room, Marta shifted uncomfortably around, fiddling with the books, Harlan tapped his fingers against the velvet chair, doing his best not to pry in the business of the both of you. You sat on the loveseat, facing Harlan with a smile on your face as you talked about your research paper, Ransom was burning holes in the back of your head, he chewed loudly on the biscuits he got from his coat pocket, doing everything in his power to think of a way to make you leave, or just torture you. 

"Excuse Grandpa," Ransom said getting up, "may I have a word with Y/n? Please? Alone?"

You gave him a look like he had five heads, about to protest, Ransom took your hand and pulled you to a door that lead into a different hallway from where you came in at. 

"You wanna tell me what you're doing here?" Ransom asked, "and you can't run this time honey."

"First off, don't ever call me honey in your life again or it will be short." You waved a finger in front of his face, "second off, I'm here because it's the main priority of my class, like I said to Harlan, it's my research literary paper, that has to be twenty pages and I don't see you doing any sort of work Hugh."

He clenched his jaw, "I don't have anything, my main priority is the football team," 

"Of fucking course it is, and what girl you sleeping with?" 

"She's my girlfriend, not some girl, it's love, her name is Clarissa." 

"Clarissa Monroy? That insanely too happy cheerleader?" You cringed

"She's the captain, and I'm working on being the football captain." 

On the other side of the door, Marta and Harlan listened closely, mainly Harlan. 

"Harlan, you shouldn't do that!" Marta whispered, trying to pull him away from the door.

He shooed her off, "This is my house I can do whatever I want." 

"Just stay out of my way and we won't have a problem, honey." Ransom smiled

"Whatever you say Hughie, it seem like you're always in my way though." You turned around and grabbed the door handle, Ransom had his hand blocking you from leaving. 

He leaned down, close to your face, "get your paper done and go, I don't want people thinking I have anything to do with you."

You rolled your eyes and pulled open the door with all your strength, making Ransom stumble slightly. Harlan was sorting in the same chair smiling at you, Marta was facing the bookshelf. 

"Everything alright Y/n? I hope Ransom isn't giving you a hard time." Harlan knew exactly what was going on, he had a plan that would be put into action very soon.

"I'm good, me and Ransom were just catching up." You smiled, looking back at Ransom in the doorway, looking a little peeved. "Let's get back to work shall we?" 

Over the next few months you were between, school, work and Harlan's house. You started to see Ransom more around, whether it was a passing glance at school or walking around Harlan's. Harlan often invited you over for lunch and would ask you to stay and use his study for your paper. You were happy to take the offer of course, but that offer also came with Ransom who would creep over your shoulders while you typed. 

There were a few incidents with Ransom and you, the first was when you were in the bathroom, he took the opportunity to take your items and place them on the top shelf of the library and taking the ladder, leaving you to look around, panic and finally trying to climb up the shelf to get your stuff. He stood in the next room laughing, watching you dismay for about half an hour until Marta begged him to help you. 

Another incident happened, this time it was from you, you waited around a corner in the house with the dog's toy, Ransom sat outside on the patio by the pool smoking until get finally got up and began walking back in, "Hey Ransom, catch!" You yelled before throwing that toy at him, he caught it with ease and rolled his eyes, until he saw the face of two dogs jump him and fall into the pool. 

The last incident that happened was just about the same, except you were talking to Harlan by the pool, "Hey Y/n! Catch!" He yelled, you fumbled with the football but was able to catch it, you looked at Harlan, confused.

"Ransom, you know there's no throwing-" Harlan was cut off by your shriek as Ransom tackled you into the pool, he had to admit, it was rather funny, but he kept a stern face. 

Marta came running out, gasping at the situation, "Harlan is everything ok?" She asked rushing to the edge of the pool, "are they ok?" 

You and Ransom came back up, you were pissed and you swam over to him and began splashing water at him, "YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" 

Ransom laughed, blocking himself from your attacks, "that's what you get!" 

"Every is going smoothly" Harlan assured Marta, smiling at the two of you fight in the pool. 

 Another two months passed without a fight from either of you, Fran, the maid, made sandwiches for the both of you in the kitchen, Ransom always called her "The Help".

"You really shouldn't call her that," you said one day, taking a bite of the sandwich Fran made for you, it's been about 5 months since you first came over and the tension between the both of you was normal, you both welcomed the challenge of fighting with each other.  "she'd probably stop calling you Hugh if you did." 

Ransom huffed, sitting across from you at the table in the kitchen, trying to ignore you by playing on his phone.

"Don't you have homework? What the hell is end your Major? All you do is play football and fuck-"

"Shut up!" He slammed his palm down on the table "are you always this annoying?" 

"Are you always a little bitch?" You smirked

"Why does my grandpa even let you come here? You're always annoying with that loud music in your headphones." He pointed to the headphones around your neck, the music was just loud enough for you to hear without putting them on. 

"It's called metal, you should look into it instead of listening to all the same rappers," you turned down the volume, "you look like the guy that says he listens to everything, but once any kind of rock or metal plays, you're crying like a bitch." 

"I do listen to everything," he said, turning his phone to you, showing you his music library, "I listen to rock." 

You couldn't hold back the laughter, tears were coming from your eyes as you pushed his phone away, "oh Hugh, you can't be serious, your library is mainly trap, and not the good kind. Not to be rude, but you listen to shit."

Ransom took his phone, furrowing  his eyebrows "If you mean all that screaming and growling shit, then no, I don't listen to it." 

"What a shame, you should try it sometimes." 

You and Ransom talked a bit more, learning more about each other, he lived on his own while you still live with your parents. You told him that your mom was a doctor and your dad was a realtor, that you still work at the bakery, even though you could live comfortably off of them. He even offered to buy you an apartment, you politely declined. You wanted to work for what you needed, even if it was a part time job. He told you that his major was engineering, which made you laugh, you could never see Ransom living a finger to do anything. He said that football was his main goal, though, engineering was to fall back on. You applauded him for his plan, at least he was smart enough to have one. 

You both were so deep into conversation that his phone ringing surprised you both, he looked at it and held up a finger. 

"Clarissa, babe, how are you?" He smiled, "oh? Really? Ok, I'll be right out." Ransom got up from the table and began making his way to the front door, "Clarissa is here." You got up and followed him, he opened the door and waited on the porch.

Clarissa had been over a few times with Ransom, you've never ran into her before, she was the exact image of what a rich white girl would look like. Petite, long, blonde hair and blue eyes, had plans for plastic surgery to get her boobs and ass bigger. She drove up in a newer model BMW and parked right next to Ransom. She stepped out of the car with a gift bag, still dressed in her cheer uniform. Normally the dogs would run up to people, but for some reason they stayed by you in the foyer with you.

"Ransom!" Her high pitched city girl voice called out, running up to him and jumping in his arms, "I got you a present." She winked, holding the bag out for him.

"I can't stand that damn girl," a voice from behind you said, it startled you but it was only Harlan, "she's sweet but so disrespectful." 

"Thanks sweetheart" Ransom dropped her and opened his gift, Clarissa walked in, seeing you and the dogs.

"Aww," she smiled, reaching her hand out to pet the dogs, but they snarled and growled, "guess your still getting used to me, it's ok." She turned her attention to you, "and you must be Y/n, Ransim told me that you were a high friend of his." 

Friend? Yeah, right. 

"Yeah, something like that, he told me a bit about you, even though I've seen you on campus." You held out your hand to shake but she didn't seem to care.

"That's right, we go to the same college, you must be really smart, it's like, really hard getting into a college like that, it's very expensive." 

"I worked hard to get into it, unlike some people who can just buy their way in." 

You could already tell that she was looking down on you and you didn't like it. Ransom came up from behind her and held her, almost like he could tell the tension in the room, "hey, we're gonna go, we have dinner plans tonight." 

"It's at the restaurant on 5th, The Wine Bottle," She winked and held on to Ransom, "maybe you could try it one day." 

Ransom looked at you with sorry eyes as he started to drag her out, "see ya,  gramps, Y/n." 

The door closed behind, leaving you, Harlan and the dogs alone, "I told you, she's rude, I don't see what Ransom sees in those women." 

You sighed and shrugged, "I guess if they look like a sex doll, it works for him." Harlan let out a hearty laugh. "I should get going, thanks for having me over again Harlan." 

Packing up your stuff you headed for the front door, but could hear two people arguing on the other side. 

"You didn't have to act like that Clarissa, I'm trying to make my grandpa like you, ok?" Ransom said, clearly aggravated.

"Be like what? Did I hurt the feelings of that bitch in there?" Clarissa, not sounding like the squeaky city girl she was earlier. 

"Be nice." He seethed, "I'm doing this because I want to, not because I have too."

"Be nice? So you're taking up for her after she was rude to me?" 

"No. I'm saying that you can't treat everyone like dirt, if you want to be part of my family you need-" SMACK!

"Miss goodie two shoes making you act nice all of a sudden? You fucking idiot, you're lucky that I'm still choosing to date you." She said, "you told my parents that you wouldn't be a problem, remember?" 

"Yeah." 

"Good, let's go to dinner babe." 

You held your breath, hand covering your mouth. It made you angry, a rage burned all over your body, she can't just do that, she can't treat someone like that! 

"Something wrong Y/n?" Harlan said walking up behind you, the dogs coming up to you and whining.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and turned to Harlan, all smiled, "yeah! Of course! See ya!" You said, rushing out the door behind you, both BMW's were gone as you ran to your car taking a moment in the driver's seat to breath, punching the steering wheel out of frustration. You couldn't let that happen again, not to Ransom. 

[xxeyesonlyxx]

Massachusetts is actually limbo. We don't know how our weather works. Spring lasts a month if we're lucky. 2 weeks in April and the first 2 of May. March is called surprise winter storm month. We love the sun but probably only see it every few weeks, depending on the time of year and the angle at which the eagle screams. We've had 3 tornados in past two years. It's September but the temperature this week has been in the 70s. But literally as I type this a cold front seems to be rolling in, clouds are blotting out the sun, and yet I can still smell that warm air. We are constantly in the state of "Will this be a normal rain or is a storm coming?"

The leaves began slowly falling a month ago. It was still very warm out. The first two weeks of September always smell like fresh cut grass and watermelon jolly ranchers. All the trees grow sideways. We get snow every year, and still over react when we hear it's on its way.

Our fucking monument is a rock, and there's a gang that's literally just the Massachusetts area code.

Our fauna is fucking nuts. We apparently have rattle snakes, (I WAS SHOOK WHEN I LEARNED THAT SHIT) and while rare, apparently we also have black widow spiders. There's a type of spider that lives here, that if it bites you, can cause necrosis. Our ecosystem mimics that lifecycle example of textbooks; rabbit overpop so foxes and coyotes overpop, then no food, so pop drops. Also there are deer sometimes. We had a bear make its way into Cape Cod a few years ago. It was in my yard at one point. That was fun. Turkeys are insane. They will attack you, your car, your dog, or run away screaming. It's always a toss up. Our mice can get to be the size of rats and or gerbils, especially field boys, because they thrive in our type of environment.

Our taxes are always weird Numbers, and none of us seem to know how they work. Our healthcare is free if you're poor (I had Masshealth and hoooboy. They told me I was 106% below the poverty line.. so like. I was double poor? I'm not entirely sure the people running it are smart...) But it also is shite. You literally should just go to your local hospital and have them fill out your paperwork if you need to renew it, because it will never be correct otherwise. After telling me I was like. Uber poor. They then proceeded to claim I was making too much money to receive the free health care. Apparently they had me listed as working 5 jobs, because despite me having to constantly update them about any income changes (IE I quit that job. I no longer work there. I am employed at a different place.) they would then just add that to the list of jobs I currently worked at. I had to drive two hours away to get a tooth removed because no dental surgeon near me could do it as they didn't take my insurance. (I may or may not be venting... Let me have this.)

Tourists. They arrive in droves and expect to have perfect weather. I may or may not have started to take great pleasure in telling ppl they missed out on the lovely weather we'd had the week before, when it had been gross and muggy the next. (If I don't get to enjoy the nice weather when it comes to us, neither do you Sharon!) They also demand you tell them if the local historical museums and attractions are interesting. Lady, why would I visit the JFK museum, I have grown up with all of them, my mom grew up with them and went to school with them. I have no need the hear their stories for the 15th million time. And why do you think it will be easy to just wander anywhere near the kennedy compound without getting in trouble? You can't just visit them, they are not a zoo attraction! (Some of them are really chill but it depends on which kid you talk to.) My favorite was "Oh my god do they really live there?! All year round?" Like... Idk? I would assume they probably travel, but like... We're not all buddy buddy with them? I don't know if they're at the house on the vineyard this week, but if they call I'll let you know! "Plymouth rock was not as interesting as I thought it would be." It's... It's a rock. What did you think it would take and preform a dance number? The plantation ain't real either! You wanna tell me how disappointed you were that those are actors and that none of them actually live there? (It does happen and it does make me die inside.) Yes. Everything on cape cod is nautical themed, we are famous for it, you want generic go to the mall. I don't know if anyone around here are locally sourced seafood servers. Ask them!

HALLOWEEN IS WEIRD. Salem goes overboard and so suddenly people seem to think the rest of massachusetts needs to get spooky. Every village has ghost tours. I have never been on one but yes, I have seen the marsh lady, she is terrifying. And yes I did see the ghost horse. No it's not particularly interesting, but we've all seen them, and we pretend not to.

Boston is historical as fuck. You wanna learn history shit? Go there. Concord and Lexington are just as historical. Salem is only cool during the fall, nothing else is really open during the summer there.

I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THE MEDIA SHIT:

Boondock Saints is the most Boston Bullshit (in a good way) movie you will ever see. And the second one was... Ok? The Covenant was like... If Salem was trying to advertise itself by making it sexy and edgy to teenage girls? If you need serious Boston rep for music: Dropkick Murphy's, Godsmack, and Aerosmith. (We also count Rob Zombie, despite him being from New York? Don't ask me. I don't have answers.) Godsmack is the best. No take backs.

Massachusetts is not real. Anyone who says otherwise is selling you something.

[quirks-of-a-fangirl]

Another Quick Blurb

Here’s some more of Piper and Harry time! Please give me all the feedback! What else would you want to see?

Word Count: 3221

As the finishing bars of The Christmas Song floated through the air, Piper closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She hates this time of year. The whole world won’t let her forget that this month was supposed to be filled with happiness and family and cheer and love. Piper’s December was not filled with any of that. It was a time filled with triggers and anxiety and fights and loneliness. 

She rarely went home to visit her family. All that ever happened was hurt. They hurt her. She’d sometimes hurt them back. No one was happy when she was home so she cut down the visits to once a year- at Christmas. 

Harry has tried to convince her to just spend Christmas with his family. He would do the cleaning. His mom would do the cooking. His sister would do the presents. Piper could just do the drinking. But Piper knew she would never hear the end of it from her mom and sister if she didn’t go home for a bit. 

So home she went. She drove the few hours to see her family and it was fine for about 24 hours. Piper was shocked at who broke the peace this time, though. Her younger sister was playing her Christmas music at full volume and the song was one that brought all of the shit of Christmases past right to the surface. Piper could feel the anxiety attack coming.

“Can we just turn down the music? Or turn it off?” Piper turned away from her sister. Piper reached toward the volume control on the stereo. 

“God, why did you even come home if you were going to be such a killjoy?”

Piper’s head snapped around to look at what she expected to be her mom, but no. It was her sister saying those things to her.

“Everything has to be just like you want it, doesn’t Piper? You’re just like mom.”

Piper couldn’t talk as her sister just turned the music up, making it heard throughout the house. The tears welled up in Piper’s eyes and she turned the knob down. Her sister pushed her and turned the knob back up. 

“God, just go home.”

So Piper did. She hadn’t wanted to come in the first place- she was guilted into it, just like every other year. She silently grabbed her bag and started walking out the door. 

“You can’t even spend Christmas with us? You hate us that much?” Her mom’s voice hit her ears. Piper didn’t even bother stopping. She was too upset to be effective like her therapist taught her. Whatever Piper said would be twisted and turned around. She was starting to wish she had taken Harry’s offer. 

She closed the door behind her and got in her car. She pulled away from the driveway before she let the tears fall. She refused to let them see her crying again because of their words. They didn’t need more ammunition. She cried the rest of the way back to her apartment. 

Persephone, her little tortoiseshell kitten, came bounding over to her, the little bell on her collar tinkling. She made little squeaks to show her confusion. Mom had set out food for a few days and took her bag, which usually meant a few days of ruling the house for the small cat.

“Hi, little miss. I know I’m home early but I just missed you too much to stay away, Sweet Girl,” Piper scratched the cat’s belly as she flopped over at her mom’s feet. 

Piper set her bag down and picked up the cat to really give her some love. When she started wriggling in Piper’s arms, she put her down and went to change.

 Harry had left his forest green pullover at her place before they both left to visit family. She picked it up. It still smelled like him. She took off the nice outfit she had put on for the Christmas Eve festivities and pulled the oversized sweatshirt over her head. Pulling the sleeves over her hands and putting them up to her face, she inhaled deeply. Even from miles away, Harry was bringing her some comfort on this awful night.

She grabbed her blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her as she walked back to the couch. Persephone cuddled up right next to her as she turned on the shitty reality tv show she had been watching on Netflix. Piper just wanted to forget what happened and drown her sorrows in drag queen drama.

About 20 minutes into the episode, her phone began buzzing. At first, she ignored it. It was most likely her mom wanting to chew her out for leaving. It finally stilled. Then the phone buzzed again. It was Harry trying to FaceTime her. She slid the grey circle to the right, not even bothering to unwrap her head from the blankets she burrowed into earlier.

“Lovey! I proper miss ya, don’t I? Been chatting me mum’s ear off about it so I figured I better call ya instead!” Harry kept going, “She and Gem are making cookies and I snuck away to call. I can’t wait for you to try- wait. Are you on your couch?”

Harry’s mom and sister had come over from the UK to visit Harry. They were staying at a hotel near his tiny one-bedroom apartment near campus. That’s why he had wanted her over so badly, to just stay home this year.

“Yeah.”

“But I thought- shit.”

“Harry watch your language while your mother is here!” Anne called from the next room.

Harry rolled his eyes. Piper just stayed quiet. Harry knew Piper didn’t get along with her family, knew that she only went home once a year for a reason. It didn’t take much for him to connect the dots. 

“I’m coming over.”

“Harry, no. Your family is there to see you. I’m fine. Just go help with the cookies.” There was no way she was letting him come over and ruin his family time.

“We don’t need him messing up our cookies. Please let him over, just for our sakes!” Gemma’s face appeared on the screen. Harry looked at his sister horrified, then back at Piper.

“Even though that was mean, it doesn’t change the fact that I am still coming over.” And with that, the call ended. 

Chuckling, Piper shook her head. Anne was not going to let Harry out of her sight on Christmas Eve. They had come in from across the ocean. No way.

So when the door starting opening 10 minutes later, she was confused. Her head popped up over the back of her couch to look at the door and Harry busted out laughing. She was all wrapped and bundled in her blankets, much like a burrito, and just her eyes and nose were visible over the couch. 

“Anne wasn’t supposed to let you leave.”

“You’re practically her second daughter. No way in hell she wasn’t going to let me come see you.” He smirked at her, “Plus I’m an adult so I can do whatever I want.”

“You trying to tell me or yourself?”

“Heeeeeyyy!” Harry whined as he walked over to her nest on the couch. He picked up her legs so he could sit down, putting them over his lap when he settled. 

“What did your mom do this time?”

“It was my sister, actually. Told me I was just like mom,” Piper said quietly, looking at her twisting fingers.

“What the fuck,” Harry sat up from his lounged position, “That’s literally what you’ve been working on in therapy for years. You are the furthest thing from being your mom. She’s the one being like your mom!” His voice started to rise. Piper started to shrink. Harry checked himself when he saw this. “Sorry, lovey. I just can’t believe she would say that to you. No matter what happened.”

Piper smiled the beginning of a smile, her right cheek lifting with the corner of her mouth. Harry was so protective of her therapy work, of her. 

“Harry, it’s ok. I’m ok. I left before it got worse.”

“Allison is gonna be so proud. I’m proud.”

Piper’s cheeks got warm. They were definitely reddening. She’d never get used to the pride that her therapist and her best friend offered her consistently. So Piper just snuggled into Harry’s side as Harry’s tattooed arm pulled her closer. 

“Have you seen the space challenge in this season yet? The challenge twist was insane!”

And with that, they watched the drag queens as they battled it out. After an episode and a half, Piper turned the television off. 

“Hey! The next episode is the best one in the season,” Harry whined.

“Harry, you need to go spend time with your family. So get your cute ass up and leave.”

Harry just frowned at her as she got up from the couch. The blankets fell in a pile around her feet. His eyes widened as he took in her pant-less state. Her, Harry’s, sweatshirt rode up her thighs as she stretched. Harry looked away. Piper pulled the sweatshirt back down. 

“Sorry,” she murmured. Harry stayed quiet, still not looking at her. She figured he was annoyed with her wearing his sweatshirt so she hurried to change. “I’ll get this off so you can take it with you when you leave.” 

Piper rushed to her room, spooking the sleepy kitten on her bed. She found some jeans and a comfy shirt to throw on as Persephone got up and stretched her little legs and then resettled. 

Piper went back out, pullover in hand. Harry was still sitting on her couch, head in his hands. He looked up when she stopped in the doorway. 

“You’re gonna freeze, love. Put the pullover back on so we can go,” Harry told her as he stood.

“Go?”

“Yeah. Go. Back to my place.”

“Harry I’m not intruding on Christmas with your family.”

“Not intruding, babe. Never intruding,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around her and looking down at her with those green eyes.  And that’s how somehow she ended up with the sweatshirt on and back at Harry’s apartment, his mom and sister twittering around her. 

“Oh, you’re even prettier than Harry said!”

“Your necklace is just the cutest!”

“We have been dying to meet ya!”

“Come get some cookies!”

“Did ya eat yet? Harry get her a plate.”

Piper didn’t even have time to be overwhelmed with the women. They gave her food and drinks and hugs. They asked her how her masters was going, all about her work in the schools, how her tiny cat was doing. It was like catching up with her oldest friends. 

Harry had planted himself right next to her and refused to move all night. He constantly had a hand on her: an arm around her shoulder, a hand on her leg, fingers twisted with her own. Piper was used to the affection- Harry was always so clingy. But tonight it was more than the usual. She figured he was just happy his family was here and tipsy on his red wine.

Around 11, Anne and Gemma started saying their goodnights and gave hugs all around. 

“I’m making a full English tomorrow for breakfast so you better be here hungry,” Anne squeezed Piper tightly. 

“Mum’s gonna proper spoil ya tomorrow,” Gemma giggled in Piper’s ear. 

Anne whispered in Harry’s ear and his cheeks turned a dark pink before he kissed her cheek and ushered the women out the door. 

“What’d she say?” Piper asked him.

“Nothing,” Harry shook his head and chuckled. “Let’s get ready for bed.”

“Ok, let me grab my phone and we can leave.”

“What? No. You’re staying over.” 

“I’m not staying over when you’re family is getting here early. Especially on Christmas Eve.”

“It being Christmas Eve is all the more reason to stay.” He replied quickly, the smirk he wore turning it into a game.

“Your couch is covered in presents from your mom.”

“You’re taking the bed so that’s not an issue.” He smirked, thinking he was winning

“What about you?” This was Piper’s winning move. There was not enough room in this apartment for both of them.

“Well, I was taking the bed, too, actually.”

Oh. 

The butterflies erupted in her belly. He wanted to share a bed. With her. They had spent the night at each other’s places before, but always on the couch or the floor in front of the Netflix marathon they were in the middle of watching. This was so different. They would be so close, bodies almost touching, all night. There was no way Piper would get any sleep if he were that close. She stood there, guppying her mouth open and closed. The glint in Harry’s eye told her that this was the reaction he was going for. 

“Only if you’re ok with it, that is.”

“Yeah. No. Why wouldn’t I be fine with it? I’m totally fine with it.” She was rambling now. It was just making her butterflies worse.

Harry nodded his head once and started to lock up the front door. Piper took a deep breath. It was too shaky to bring her any comfort as Harry called over to tell her he was going back to his room to change. This did nothing to steady the shaky breaths Piper pulled into her lungs. She took one final breath and started back to the bedroom. With a small knock, Piper checked to see if Harry was decent. 

“Come in, lovey,” she heard through the door. So she opened the door to find Harry ready for bed. Her eyes scanned from his slightly messy curls down the inked skin of his toned torso all the way to the grey joggers resting low on his hips. He was so beautiful that Piper almost let out a sigh. 

“Looks like you’re overdressed. I thought you might want this so I pulled it out for you.” Harry pointed to the worn Rolling Stones t-shirt that Piper stole every time she could her hands on it. She smiled to herself as she picked up the shirt and held it gently in her hands. 

“I’ll- um, well, I’ll let you change real quick.” He hesitated and then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Piper quickly switched clothing. Looking in the mirror hanging on Harry’s closet door, she tugged the bottom of the t-shirt down just a little more. It skimmed her thighs and the bottom of her panties were just peeking out. There was a small knock on the door before Harry stuck his head in and stopped. His eyes widened as he took in the girl standing in front of his mirror. He cleared his throat and Piper turned around, still tugging at the bottom of the borrowed shirt. 

“It’s a little short,” she said quietly.

“Mmm,” was all he did to acknowledge her statement. He just looked at Piper. 

“Well I’m getting kind of tired, so…”

This seemed to shake him awake, “Yeah, of course. I’ll get the lights.” Piper climbed into the right side of the bed while Harry switched off the overhead lights and plugged in the strand of fairy lights above the bed. He climbed in beside Piper and didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her. At first touch, Piper stiffened. Her skin tingled. But she relaxed into Harry’s touch when he placed a gentle kiss to her hair.

And that’s how they slept the whole night. With Harry’s arms around Piper and her cuddled into his chest. 

Piper woke up to the sound of soft laughter and the smell of breakfast cooking. Piper quickly pulled on a pair of boxers she found in Harry’s drawers and walked out to the kitchen to Anne cooking at the stove, Gemma rummaging in the fridge, and Harry standing by the toaster. 

Anne was the first to notice her, “Oh! Piper! Harry told me you’re a vegetarian. Gem is, too, so there are tons of things for you two to eat.” Piper smiled as she said her thanks. Harry looked over at her, face lighting up. He walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug. His tall frame towered over her as he whispered, “Ya look so cute in my clothes, lovey.”

Piper’s cheeks burned as she pulled away. She asked Anne for something to help with. She was tasked with cutting the bread for the toast that Harry was buttering. After their full English, the four started the present opening. Piper took over the job of photographer for the crew, capturing the reactions to each present and each sweet moment between the family members. She was shocked when the last two presents had her name on them. Harry handed them to her. One had her name printed in beautiful handwriting and the other had her name scrawled on it in Harry’s messy handwriting. Piper looked at the three people surrounding her, mouth agape. 

“We hoped we would get to see you while we were out here so we got you a gift. I hope you don’t mind,” Anne told her gently. Piper opened the gift from the women with shaking hands. The paper opened up to a deep red leather-bound journal with her name pressed into the bottom right corner in a swirling script. A long satin ribbon was sticking out of the book, marking the first page. Piper spent way too much of her free time journaling, already filling up 3 journals this year. This was a perfect addition to her collection. She thanked the women with tears in her eyes.

“Of course, sweet girl! You’ve brought so much happiness to Harry’s life, it’s the least we could do. Harry told us you always have a journal with you and go through them so quickly.”

“My turn now,” Harry nudged the next gift toward her. 

“I don’t have yours here,” Piper replied as she picked up the gift. 

“Doesn’t matter, love.” Piper pulled the paper away and she was met with a box to open. She looked over to Harry with a confused look and he just nodded at her to keep going. She took the top off and gasped. Sitting inside were tickets. Tickets to her favorite artist. Tickets in the front row. The tickets she had tried so hard to get when they went on sale but sold out before she could get any. She had saved up for months to get these tickets. Piper looked up at Harry. He was just smiling, dimples popping. She couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

“Did I mess up, lovey? These are the ones you wanted, right? I got two so I could go with you, if that’s ok,” Harry worried. 

Piper just nodded, trying to calm down her breathing. She threw her arms around his neck. He returned her hug, pulling her close and kissing her hair again. She drew away, wiping at her eyes. 

“Thank you all so much.”

The rest of the afternoon was filled with giggles as they all cleaned up the aftermath of the gift exchange. Piper couldn’t remember a Christmas that she felt this loved and this cared for. 

[thechocoboos]

Could you do the chocobros (+Ardyn and Ravus) taking care of their significant other while she's on her period?

These hcs have been sitting in my google docs for a week now--but hey, they’re ready!!! I ended up with eight pages of headcanons so brace yourself lol; wrote these while i was suffering from the very thing i was writing about. what a life.

HC: The Bros + Ardyn and Ravus taking care of their SO on their period!

Noctis

Noct knew that periods existed, he swore that he did, but he just kinda… forgets.

So when he came home to see you dying on your couch, he was just… ??? “Uh, babe? You okay?”

“NO, Noct, I’m not o-fucking-kay--”

“Uh.”

It was only when he called Ignis that he figured out what was going on, with Ignis exasperatedly having to remind Noct that hey, people get periods!

It was a short phonecall, luckily

And it didn’t take Noct too long to get with the program

Softness increases to 110%

Mutual laziness increases to 70%

Caring for his SO increases to 2000%

He does his best--but he also kinda. Just. I dont wanna say it but he doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal until he sees you crying over cramps, then he realizes that periods suck and that you just need your stupid boyfriend to give you the love and support that you deserve

After that, he gets better!!!

“NoCT, can you please go get me my meds? And some water--”

“Can’t you do it yourself--” He always freezes, remembering how bad it can be, “Shit, sorry, babe--” He already started getting up, bringing out a bit of your favorite snack as an apology, “You know I’m an idiot.” He said when he handed you your meds and your fave candy bar

You know, and for whatever reason, you still loved him

He kinda has to learn what to do and what not to do just because he feels too unsure to ask anyone

Unfortunately, it was also through trial and error that he realized how sensitive you can sometimes be when your period is knockin’ at the front door

He found out through multiple crying sessions--and yes, it was usually his fault, but he was always insanely good about making it up to you with food, cuddles, and movie marathons

He’s the boyfriend who goes to the store for tampons and pads for you, sees the giant aisle of them, and while he isn’t embarrassed to be seen buying shit for his SO, he has absolutely no idea what to get and literally grabs the first shit he sees

And of course, you send him right back with a picture of the brand you actually like and a pad in his hand just so he can get it right the second time

Cue the mental image of Noctis comparing the pad in his hand to the color of pad packaging in stores

“They’re both green so it’s gotta be right… right???”

In summary: Noctis is a dumbass and can be a bit insensitive about periods simply because he’s really not around women or anyone who gets periods, but he really does try to remedy his ignorance and any mistakes he makes

Prompto

Prompto, too, has never really had much experience with girls or periods or people with periods and he just. He tries so hard--he really does

He gets you a new teddy bear every single time (at some point, you know you’re gonna have to tell him that he can’t keep buying you new bears, but it’s so cute that you don’t want him to stop)

He’s the one who gets sympathy pain

I promise, the second he catches wind that you’re on your period, he’s out the door trying to find your favorite of everything

If you send him to the store for pads, he comes back with one of everything and lots of tears in his eyes, “Babe--I didn’t know what you wanted so I just bought everything im sorry oh gods”

He’s the pitiful soul who blushes as he buys all the pads and tampons and looks like he’s gonna cry

He’s the one who pulls a cart full of sanitary products to the first register he sees and is crying as he looks in the clerk’s eyes and cries, “My SO is on their period i dont know what they like help me please”

Christ, he’s a mess but he’s your mess and you love him

He comes back with every single snack he knows you so much as look at

Cravings? He’s got your back.

Like, you mention this shit you want half heartedly and then he disappears for three hours and comes back with a weighted blanket, heating pad, and three bags of those weird chips you were craving

He’s always blushing and frantic, but he blushes the hardest when you ask him to lay with you and cuddle

Ofc he does it--he loves it, but the bold, straightforward way you ask has him blushing head to toes

He once caught himself wishing people got periods more often just so he could hold you like this more often--he accidentally said it out loud, and you only snuggled into his chest more and told him to shut up and hold you tighter

Prompto is a mess but he tries so, so hard just to make you comfortable and content

He once drove for twenty minutes to find your favorite candy bar (and he would do it again, no question)

When you cry bc emotions, he starts to tear up, too

He always says, “Babe, if you cry, I’ll start crying and then we’ll both be crying and I don't think either of us can handle that on an emotional level” and then you both cry anyways

He likes to sing to you when you guys cuddle, his voice is soft but husky in the perfect way that lulls you to sleep

If you fall asleep in his arms, he falls asleep, too

He’s the extra bf who goes above and beyond unnecessarily, merely because he doesn’t know how else to help you

Gladdy

Holy Behemoth Batman! One of these idiots is properly aware of periods!!!

And it’s this one. Bravo, Gladdy, bravo. Fans everywhere are cheering your name.

In all seriousness, he is aware and actually knows how to handle someone who is on their period

Iris used to get some pretty bad periods, and with their mom not around and their dad always busy, it was Gladio who had to help her out and actually explain them to her in the first place (he’s never gonna forget when Iris ran up to him one morning while crying and shouting about bloody underwear)

So, needless to say, he ain’t shy during that time of the month. In fact, he knows more tips and tricks than you do, simply because he was one hell of a big bro for Iris

Heating pads? Blankets? Snacks? Damn good brands of sanitary products? He’s got it all and you didn’t even have to ask, like holy shit

Back when you guys were just starting out your relationship, you had actually gotten your period once while at his place and when you told him you’d have to go home because you forgot your products, he was like, “Oh--hang on. You prefer pads or tampons???” and pulls out a giant basket with a lobster on it, labelled ‘Menstruation Crustacean’

He said that he liked to be prepared in case Iris was over

What an absolute legend of a bf. Like, after that, you knew you weren’t letting this fucker go.

He rubs your stomach if you’re having really bad cramps and doesn’t even have to be asked to go grab you some pain meds--it’s like he has a sixth sense or some shit

Really, really chill about periods as a whole like he’s not scared to go to the store for you and he gets the right products!!!

Sometimes, when you get so sore and crampy that you can’t move, he’ll carry you around in his arms and doesn’t complain once

Will change your bloody sheets and isn’t the slightest bit grossed out--doesn’t mind emptying the bathroom trashcan either

Similar to Prompto, he loves to hold you and hum to you. He won’t sing, but even his absent minded humming while he holds you to his chest under one arm and reads some random book lulls you to sleep with ease

Quite frankly, probably the best of the bros when it comes to periods

He’s not scared of them. He doesn’t care if it gets messy, he knows what to do, like. Shit. Fuckin’ winner over here.

Ignis

Ignis, much like everyone else, does not have that much experience with periods. Didn’t really have many folks with periods around and he’s never had a SO before

So you would think he’s a hot mess--but nO! He would nEvER

He googled and he googled and he googled and he asked coworkers (always respectfully ofc) and he googled some more

He has an arsenal of tips and tricks and guides and everything--but he does lack the hands on experience

He will help you and he will buy you everything you need and more--but there will always be the hesitation of someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing

One time, Ignis tried to rub your belly to help with cramps, but he only succeeded in tickling you and embarrassingly had to admit he doesn’t really know where his hand should be

Ugh what a cutie pie

He’s patient and sweet and he does all these small things for you without even telling you, and when you do notice, you feel like your heart is just gonna burst and vomit affection everywhere

He’s still a little embarrassed and shy when you boldly demand cuddles, but he does it nonetheless (he fucking loves it though he will never admit to it)

He’s the SO who cleans up bloody sheets and quietly gets blood stains out of your clothes while you’re vomiting from cramps, but never, ever makes a big deal out of it and does it with the caring affection of a kind man in love

Bumps his pun game to 110% to try and make you laugh

Knows which subjects and what phrases and words to avoid to prevent your emotions from blowing up

Even if they do, he never takes rude words to heart and he always comforts you lovingly, giving you a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek

He keeps an eye on you

If you shift uncomfortably, he’s there with a heating pad

If you’re meds are wearing off, he already has more in hand

Sometimes, if you want to cuddle, you only have to look at him a certain way before he’s sighing and climbing into bed next to you, reminding you that if you were anyone else he wouldn’t go this far

He just dotes on you in the quietest ways possible

Ravus

Insensitive Dumbass Part 2

Yes, he knows people get periods. Does he care? No.

Not until he falls in love with you, at least.

Cramps? Can’t be that bad. Migraines? Just mere headaches. Aches and pains? Probably nothing. He dismisses each symptom right up until you come into his life

Because when you guys get together--he gets to see firsthand just how bad everything can get

Oh gods you’re crying from it all?? VOmitting??? HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO KNOW--

He felt like a right dick (and he should)

But he was also quick to change his tune, because the love of his life can’t suffer like this

Not while he’s around!!!

He’s quick to ask Luna what to do, and thank god at least one sibling in their family is sympathetic and not a mess and a fucking half otherwise he’d be doing things through trial and error (not that he didn’t, even with the help)

He does everything by the written list Luna had given him (she knew he wasn’t gonna remember everything), even years after you two got together (he likes to use it as a benchmark of sorts to know when he’s doing everything you need)

The first few times you had sent him to the store because you ran out of supplies, he had absolutely no idea what to get and any poor employees who tried to help him earned the most aggressive, hostile glare he could muster

He ends up calling Luna, too, because how is he supposed to call you and tell you that he doesn’t know what to get??? And have you think he’s incapable??? NO! He was gonna be the best bf and get exactly what you fucking needed or so help him--

He’s just very aggressively in love. Little bit of a dick but he changes and grows as a person into the kinda man we can all love and support and who will love and support us right back!!!

He does his best but he doesn’t want to seem incapable of being helpful

Likes to remind you when your medicine is supposed to wear out so he can show that he’s some use

Anytime he gives you a massage or rubs your back or smth, he’s always giving you nervous, uncertain glances just to make sure you’re content or that he’s helping

Always giving you nervous glances just to check that you’re okay (he really loves you, he’s just not sure how to show it)

Lots of hugs and kisses but he’s embarrassed about all the skinship when you want cuddles (don’t get him wrong, he really, really loves it; he’s just… not sure what to do with all these feelings)

He learns how to be a supportive, wonderful SO when you’re on your period and maybe one day he might actually remember your favorite brand (but don’t get your hopes up too much at that)

Ardyn

Back in Ardyn’s day, periods weren’t exactly talked about, so the first few times you mentioned them, he was absolutely flabbergasted that you would blatantly talk about something that was considered so private

If he hadn’t been a healer, he wouldn’t have known near as much about them as he did

But even as a healer, periods were still something considered a woman’s subject and were usually left for women healers and mothers to handle so he could rarely do much

But then--Ardyn had to get pretty fuckin’ used to periods because you were pretty much out of commission when your “aunt irma” came to visit

First couple times you got your period while with Ardyn, they weren’t so bad, but then they went right back to their normal symptoms

When Ardyn came home to see you curled up in a ball, clutching your abdomen and trying to just keep your eyes shut to block out the light, he had thought you were terribly, terribly sick

“Darling--what’s wrong? What happened--” He was genuinely concerned and worried, his brow furrowed and mouth drawn in a worried frown. He hadn’t realized that your periods were so debilitating, so to see you like this, he had thought something even worse had happened

You only managed a groan when you tried to talk, and that only made him rush over even more, trying to lift your arms to see where you were injured, “Darling, please--”

“‘M fine,” you tried to say, “It’s just--fuck,” You hissed as a particularly bad cramp came your way, “--fine, jus’, that time of the month.” You wheezed, laying your head back down on your pillow

And that was when Ardyn realized just how terrible the symptoms could be

He was a worried man. Absurdly worried actually, and sometimes it made you want to laugh if everything didn’t hurt so badly

Ardyn was the kind of man to do absolutely anything and everything for his love, so that’s what he did

You never had to leave the bed for anything unless you really wanted to

Ardyn would deliver your pain meds on the clock, always accompanied by the most ridiculously jeweled goblet he could find (he was always one to be amusingly over the top and treat you like a queen, but his dramatics always cheered you up)

He was usually by your side unless you requested some alone time, and then he would respectfully kiss your forehead, say “Of course, darling. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call--I am always at your disposal,” and close the door quietly as he left

Otherwise, he would be laying in bed with you, one arm wrapped around your shoulder and the other holding some old book or resting across his stomach as he took a nap beside you

He would give you massages wherever you ached and he would provide herbal remedies from back in his day that were pretty good at relieving aches and pains

Ardyn’s innuendos and teasings would go on the back burner during this time--unless you instigated it

If you didn’t, he might tease you here and there, but always the tiniest, most light hearted things and it was always said in the softest teasing tones

All your feelings are valid to him, hormonal or otherwise, and he will listen to every word you say as though they were your last

Yes, you were usually treated like royalty by him, but it somehow increased exponentially when that time of the month arrived

[onceuponanaromantic]

You Can’t Wake Up (this is not a dream)

Summary: A few years after Klaus' escape from the Umbrella Academy, he nearly freezes to death on the streets.

Read under cut or on AO3

Are you insane like me?

Been in pain like me?

Bought a hundred dollar bottle of champagne like me?

Just to pour that motherfucker down the drain like me?

Would you use your water bill to dry the stain like me?

 “Klaus, Klaus you need to get to somewhere safe for tonight.”

            “G’way, B’n.”

            “Or at least somewhere sheltered.”

             Klaus flapped one end of his scarf, his threadbare, once-neon-now-faded scarf at what appeared to be thin air. Ben soldiered on, hoodie shrugged over his shoulders. He would have given Klaus the hoodie if it would have any effect; it’s not like he needed it now that he was dead. But his hoodie, sadly, was stuck to him. If only the champagne bottle in Klaus’ hand was adequate to keep him warm.

             “Klaus, it’s too cold tonight. Find somewhere warm. Please, Klaus.”

                        Ben tried to place a hand on Klaus’ shoulder, only to feel a surge of frustration as his hand just fell through. Klaus stumbles around him, bare feet moving across the pavement nimbly. Klaus never liked shoes, and that hadn’t changed a bit since leaving the Academy. Ben had tried, at first, when they had just left the Academy to convince Klaus that if he was going to need shoes. Klaus had shoes.

             Had started out with shoes at least. And nice ones at that, the kind that cost an arm and a leg and someone’s liver and someone else’s kidney. The kind that Klaus shouldn’t have if he hadn’t stolen Reginald’s shit, and the kind that Klaus really shouldn’t have sold for something as fleeting as champagne.

             Alcohol though. Alcohol and drugs. Being dead meant that Ben could see the other ghosts, and could see the living nightmare that was Klaus’ life. Corpses at every street corner and corpses of every kind of death. Gruesome, terrible corpses of course, heads torn off and deep slashes across throats and arms.

             But the worst kind was the kind that didn’t appear to have any problem. Even Ben got fooled once in a while, especially at the start, by quiet voices that pleaded for someone to notice them, and you turned around, worried and asking if the two of them could help in any way. But then Klaus would look at them and try and reach out and his hand would just. Fall through their body and Klaus would stumble away as their wails got louder and their pleas. Their pleas got more vigorous as they turned to Klaus and begged him for help and for everything that he couldn’t give.

             Sometimes, and Ben wouldn’t admit it, but he stretched out and let his hand fall through Klaus’ body just to reassure himself that Klaus wasn’t one of the ghosts too. It was a terrible thing to do, he knew, because like the other dead, his body was freezing and no amount of warmth could warm Klaus up but it was worth it. To convince himself that Klaus, no matter how close to death he seemed to be, was only in Death’s front garden.

             Although, all things given, Klaus had probably rung Death’s doorbell at several points.

             It was days past the last time that Klaus had been able to take a shower. The last shower that he had, he had made his way into while high, and then nearly spilled his bottle of cheap beer on the floor. That had gotten him kicked out, because no one would take a junkie.

             Ben tried to pull at Klaus’ scarf to wrap it around him. Klaus giggled a little and turned away as Ben’s fingers fell through the fabric.

 Are you high enough without the Mary Jane like me?

Do you tear yourself apart to entertain like me?

Do the people whisper 'bout you on the train like me?

Saying that you shouldn't waste your pretty face like me?

             “Klaus?”

             Ben apologised, as he slammed straight into Diego, before he realised that Diego couldn’t hear or feel him anyway so the point was moot. Ben had never been so glad to see a brother, especially Diego. Diego and Klaus had been close as children, right? That meant that Klaus could afford to rely on Diego? Diego, who happened to be dressed in his vigilante gear, knives strapped and holstered all over his body, like some kind of low budget Batman.

             Anything. Diego wouldn’t leave Klaus here, not when he was freezing so badly. It was too cold that Ben was half surprised that Klaus’ blood had frozen in his veins.

             “Di… Diego! Number Two!”

            “Keep your voice down.”

             Klaus was curled up against the edge of a building, shivering, eyes glazed. Diego was glaring down at him, even as Klaus hiccupped a giggle at him.

             Klaus smiled, but not the smile that Ben longed to see. Not his soft, caring smile. He smiled his manic smile, his ‘I’m-not-okay-but-I’m-going-to-pretend’ smile. All their siblings had fallen for it. The fake, plastic smile that made the others groan, and go ‘Number Four… Don’t. Just. Get out.” And Klaus would leave, still smiling his manic smile, all the way until he finally landed into drugs, and then fell down that particular rabbit hole.

             Ben had been tricked by that smile, once upon a time. Living and observing Klaus all the time though had taught him better. Because when Klaus was truly happy, the smile he came up with was a soft twitch of his lips. His eyes lit up a little and his hands started to come up as he gestured.

             Even now, on the streets, people stayed away from Klaus. Not just because he was a junkie, because that was certainly part of it, but also because he smiled to himself and appeared to be talking to thin air, and he always had on that manic grin.

             That manic, intense teeth baring smile that distracted everyone from the pain that Klaus never could escape.

             Perhaps, at one point, Diego might have known better. Diego had been close to Klaus when they were younger after all, between talking to Mom and training. They had been as close to actual brothers, actual friends, as it had been possible to be in the fucked up mess that was the Academy.

             Ben remembers being jealous at one point, of the fact that Klaus and Diego always seemed so exclusive. But now? Now he just wanted Klaus to be loved.

 And all the people say

You can't wake up, this is not a dream

You're part of a machine, you are not a human being

With your face all made up, living on a screen

Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline

  Ben wonders if that was a thing about Diego. The people that he had loved the most had been the ones that well, seemed almost human but not quite. He had loved Mom, yes, and he had loved Klaus. Mom, who was a robot, but who had loved all the children and showed them more affection than Reginald or their other nannies had in years. Mom, who had always been there, unchanging, even as the children grew into teenagers.

 Ben wonders if it was the constancy that Diego liked. Mom never changing, and Klaus’ only constant being that he was never the same.

 “Number Two?”

 Klaus looked up, almost plaintive, as if he could see Diego above him. As if his eyes weren’t clouded over by the haze of drugs and alcohol. Diego sighed and pretended to be put upon, as he hefted Klaus up, and carried him to his beat up old truck.

 Klaus’ mascara and eyeshadow smeared on Diego’s vigilante gear, leaving sparkly stains on the black fabric, but Diego didn’t appear to notice. Ben followed behind them, checking to make sure that no one was following them. Klaus had… he had picked up his enemies. Not just the ones that he had collected, that all the Umbrella Academy kids had picked up, but the ones that came from being a young man with curly hair in bright makeup and clothing that didn’t allow you to avert your gaze.

 “Number Two, ‘ve m’ssed you.” Klaus mumbled into Diego’s shirt. Diego nods curtly, not bothering with a verbal response.

 Ben wondered for a moment, what happened to their other siblings. What happened to Vanya? What happened to Luther, to Allison?

 He hadn’t seen Five’s ghost, but Five had been gone so long, it wasn’t as if the chance of him being dead somewhere in time where Ben and Klaus couldn’t reach him was completely unthinkable.

 “Two, dyou… dyou love me?” Klaus asks, stumbling over his words as he sits in Diego’s back seat. Diego grunts, and starts the car.

 “I’ll drive to my place. You can stay there for the night. Shower.”

             Being a ghost, and not needing things like food and sleep also meant that one had an unfortunately long time to watch someone and to think about your life choices. One of those things that Ben pondered on while watching Klaus doze now, and as Diego drove, was that Reginald had broken all of them, but to different extents.

             Diego drives on, car glinting in the lamplight, eyes fixed on the road.

 I think there's a flaw in my code

These voices won't leave me alone

Well my heart is gold and my hands are cold

             All of them, Ben thought, had become emotionally constipated.

             Ben includes himself, because the other ghosts don’t exactly make the best people to socialise with and to talk to about your emotions and worries about your future. Mom had been the actual robot, but all of them, Reginald had tried to programme into being good little robot-soldiers. 

             And what do you do when electronics don’t work? You whack them around. You hit them with a wrench. And if the object happens to break in the process of trying to fix it, well, that wasn’t intended.

             They had all been hit over the head by Reginald’s metaphorical monkey wrench a couple of times.

             Some, like Luther, had thrived. The monkey wrench hitting appeared to have worked. Or maybe it was that his code had been perfect. Obedient, strong, willing to enforce Reginald’s rule on the others in the house. Allison too. Too busy with Luther to deny Reginald, happy to use her rumours at the drop of a hat to get what she wants.

             Diego, well. For a long time, Ben might have assumed the monkey wrench hitting worked. But Diego had always been a soft soul, what with the stuttering and his fondness for helping Mom in the kitchen. Diego had loved, and Reginald had never been pleased with that, especially when that love was for robots like Mom, and failures like Klaus.

             Hah by that metric, Ben was probably a failure too. So was Van. They should form a team. Klaus could design the T-shirts. Van could come up with a theme song. ‘Umbrella Academy Failure Squad’. Five, well, he wouldn’t be a failure, but he was also missing so, moot. Five was strong, and smart, and he was willing to actually use his power.

             Number Six, the Horror.

             As if the Horror knew what he was thinking of, they rumbled away in his stomach. Since dying, Ben had been able to feel the horror but hadn’t been able to convince them to come out. Not that he wanted to, of course not, but, it had been a little disconcerting to be unable to feel the pain and constant discomfort of the Horror beneath his skin.

             Who said that being dead didn’t have its benefits?

             “B’n…” Klaus croaked out, from the middle of Diego’s backseat. Diego stiffens.

             “Klaus. Four. Stop pretending Ben- Six is there. It’s not nice.”

             Ben wants to retort that Diego is the rude one and he is sitting right here thank you very much and Ben is perfectly happy here.

             But Klaus just snuffles and curls up in Diego’s car. Within seconds, he’s fast asleep in the warmth of Diego’s car.

             “Ben?” Diego says, voice shaking. Ben looks at him and raises his eyebrows. After saying that Klaus is hallucinating, it seems a bit rich to ask for his presence but whatever.

             “Yes?” But of course, Diego does not hear him.

             “If you’re there… I’m… I’m sorry. For… for everything.”

             Ben does not respond. He doesn’t think he knows how to.

 Are you deranged like me?

Are you strange like me?

Lighting matches just to swallow up the flame like me?

Do you call yourself a fucking hurricane like me?

Pointing fingers 'cause you'll never take the blame like me?

             “We’re here.” Diego turns off the ignition, parking outside an unsavoury-looking gym. Ben raises his eyebrows. The last he had heard, Diego had been in the police academy. But, things must have changed in the time in between.

             Judging by the vigilante gear, Ben thought he might have a guess as to why. The instinctual need to defend, to save, even if it went against the rules, even if the methods used were unsavoury… That was their Diego.

             Ben wouldn’t tell Klaus that Diego had made an additional loop around the block to allow Klaus to sleep longer.

 The smell of cigarettes and stale alcohol clung to Klaus’ clothes, and Diego sighed and leaned his head against the wheel. Ben took this time to take a good look at Diego.

 Diego seemed… jaded. His face was lined and tired, and the knives tucked all over his body were all black.

 Diego used the old Umbrella Academy mask.

 And they all had their own masks, didn’t they? All his siblings, the ones that survived. The ones that escaped. Klaus had his makeup, his bright eyeshadows and lipstick and his colourful skirts and fluffy jackets. Diego had his Umbrella Academy masks, and his sullenness and his hit-first-ask-questions-later-if-ever attitude towards life. Allison, from what Ben had seen of her, has rumoured herself into a position of fame and happiness, flashing cameras that never saw her when the doors were closed.

 He hadn’t figured out what happened to Vanya after Klaus left. He hoped she found somewhere safe, where she could play her violin in peace and where people appreciated her for who she was.

 Ben had. Well, he had wondered at least. About what happened to his siblings, even if he couldn’t actually go look them up without Klaus’ help.

 Diego opened the car door, and prodded Klaus’ shoulder. Klaus whimpered but woke, blinking blearily in the dim lights.

 “You can stay over. Just for a while.”

 Klaus nods, and leans over to hug Diego. It’s a strange sight; spindly thin pale makeup covered Klaus and black leather vigilante well-built Diego.

 They’ve always been weird after all. Sometimes, it’s better to just embrace the weird.

 Sir had certainly leaned into the eccentric billionaire raising superheroes thing pretty hard. It was for the greater good, to stop the no-one-knew-would-actually-happen apocalypse.

 And all the people say

You can't wake up, this is not a dream

You're part of a machine, you are not a human being

With your face all made up, living on a screen

Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline

             Diego’s boiler room was… well, it was certainly warm which is more than Ben could say than the world outside. Klaus was unceremoniously dumped on the ground, where he had a little more colour in his skin and where he was slowly, unfortunately starting to sober up.

             Ben looked around, and noticed the other ghosts, and aggressively attempted to shoo them away, even as Klaus’ eyes came into focus and he shut them tightly to avoid hearing and seeing them. Not that closing his eyes or covering his ears helped, or it would have helped a long time ago.

             Diego set about disassembling his vigilante gear, mechanically and with practised fingers. Ben perches himself at the industrial sink, waiting for Klaus to come awake.

             Diego was halfway through cleaning and sharpening his second knife when Klaus began to murmur ‘No, no, no.’ and stretch out his arms as if he can ward off both the memories and the actual ghosts with just his arms.

             Ben moves to stand next to Klaus, from where he’s lying on the floor. Klaus sobering up is never fun to watch.

             “I’m here, Klaus. I’m here.”

             Klaus looks at him with wide eyes, and asks, “Where am I?”

             “Diego’s place. He caught you freezing on a street corner.”

             Klaus’ eyes dart around the room, looking at things that only he could see. Diego looks over a shoulder and says, “My place.”

             Klaus smiles at Diego, but it’s his manic grin once again.

             “You should… You should stay the night. Shower.” Diego says, not looking at Klaus, eyes fixed on the knife he’s polishing.

             Klaus hiccups. Ben looks over at him, and raises his eyebrow.

 I think there's a flaw in my code

These voices won't leave me alone

Well my heart is gold and my hands are cold

             “Ben?” Klaus asks.

             “I think you should take Diego up on his offer. You really were freezing.” Ben wants to say, ‘I think you should try to be sober’ but he can’t ask that of Klaus.

             Klaus covers his ears briefly as the ghosts continue clamouring for him to help them. Ben sits down next to him, then lies down across his lap. Klaus smiles, eyes soft, and tries to pet Ben.

             Diego still doesn’t look at Klaus when he says. “Your body is cold. You should try to warm up.”

             Klaus coos. “Awww, so you do care!” And stretches his arms out towards Diego, who resolutely pretends to ignore him.

             Yeah, hugging his spindly junkie brother when everyone was not-as-drunk wasn’t something Diego usually did.

             Until Klaus did stand and tried to hug Diego, who grumbled and threatened to stab Klaus but otherwise didn’t do anything to avoid the hug.

             Ben hugged them both, not wanting to be left out.

             Klaus grinned at him, a real smile this time.

[algor-mo4tis]

could I request about flash physically bullies penny and tony and flash's parents aren't really happy about it :D

Okay so, this is technically a chapter for this story https://archiveofourown.org/works/22155316 but I realized it could also be standalone so I decided to kill two birds with one stone!

Tw: Slut shaming, Physical Assault.

And I didn’t go over this well! Sorry for typos!

Not Starker.

-

He didn’t fucking get Penny Parker.

She had gone through traumatic shit that made him shiver, she had watched her uncle die and had to listen as people in school talked about it for weeks.

And yet she was still kind, she was still sweet and she still smiled at him even when he kicked her into a locker and hurled lame insults at her like some third grader.

And then there was the ‘Stark Internship’

So yes, he really didn’t fucking get Penny Parker.

It drove him insane sometimes, she never brought up the supposed internship unless asked about, Hell Leeds has brought it up more than she ever has and it pisses him off and confuses him to the max.

If he had the internship (which he had admittedly tried to join before getting an alarmingly fast email back saying they don’t hire high schoolers) he would flaunt it and rub it in everyone’s damn face because he wanted them to know he was better than them.

And one day. After the frustration and confusion had been building for too long and to top it off his mother being an absolute bitch while his father fucked some model on a cruise ship somewhere.

He snapped.

And Penny Parker went home with bruises and fat tears that were for once, not by a criminal.

She cursed Thor when her aunt is out on a business trip and she can’t sneak back into the apartment to nurse her wounds.

They’ll only be there for an hour tops, doesn’t mean they won’t hurt.

“Jesus child. What happened to you?” Bucky says, the notepad and apple he held dropping to the couch. “You didn’t go out in the suit without telling Tony did you?”

His metal hand is cold but gentle against her purple wrist, he pulls down the hoodie for her face to be seen which is worse.

He curses under his breath again and brings her to a chair, grabbing the first aid kit out of the kitchen.

“This wasn’t a mugger was it squirt?” He asked dabbing at some of the open cuts.

“You don’t have to do that. They’ll heal soon.”

He grunts. “If they get infected it’ll take longer for them to close up, and quit deflecting, I grew up with Steve. Who did this?” Penny face flushes she ducks down but Buckys grip on her chin holds it up.

“Just… some boy from school.

“ a boy did this to you? What is this? Kiddie school? I thought boys didn’t pull in pigtails anymore.” Frustration flares in her. “Well obviously he didn’t just pull in my pigtails.”

Her shoulder hunch in as she mutters a shameful sorry. Bucky shrugs.

“You’ve had a rough day, no need to apologize. But you need to tell Stark..” Her head snaps up. “No! This is the first time it’s happened! And besides he just calls me lame names like.. Penis Parker.” Admitting it makes embarrassment flare up but she would rather admit to him than Mr. Stark. “And.. I could tell he was having a rough time too, it was a bad day for him and he decided to take it out on the first thing he saw.”

Bucky frowns, “but you’re not a thing squirt, and that doesn’t excuse his actions.”

The silence stretches between them before Bucky sighs.

“I’ll let it go just this once, but if I find he’s done it again you either tell Stadk or I will. Got it?” She nods, sliding off the counter to rush to her room.

“Got it! Thanks Mr. Barnes!”

He shakes his head, going back to his Apple. “Kids.”

It happens again.

And Flash feels so fucking good doing it.

But this time, his usual Penis Parker turns into cunt and slut, the bruise that had healed yesterday without trace of what had happened was back again, Flash’s boot come down on her stomach hard she yells out. But quickly shushed by Flash telling her to shut the fuck up whore.

“Y’know, I used to not believe you when you said you had the Stark Internship” he mimicked her, hands making quotation gestures.

“But now, I think it might be possible. After all those lips are pretty aren’t they? Bet Stark thought they looked good around his cock eh, she chokes back a sob. Not wanting him to have the pleasure of seeing her at her lowest.

“Thompson.” Comes a sharp call out, Flash whirls to see Mr. Harrington hurtling down the hallway.

“What the absolute fuck do you think you’re doing?!” And.. and that’s new. Mr. Harrington had always seemed sad, but nice and awkward but funny but never mad.

He reaches up and grabs him by the caller of his shirt, Flash flinches back like so many times before. Jones steps out from behind him.

“Ms. Jones, please take Ms. Parker to the school nurse.” Michelle nods easing Penny up as gently as she can, Mr. Harrington turns to look at him sharply. “You’re coming with me and I’m calling your mother and Ms. Parker guardian,you’ll be lucky if they don’t press charges.”

Flash hangs his head.

Karma is a bitch.

After the nurse dabs her cuts and gives her some pain relief pills that won’t work, MJ takes her to an empty classroom.

“I knew Flash was a Dick but I didn’t think he was a bastard.” MJ snarls pacing the room as Penny sits quietly.

“Is.. is this the first time?” No response.

“I’m gonna say no.”

“He did it yesterday too. But.. my healing covered it up before anyway saw.. except Mr. Barnes but you know me” she cracks a smile, “puppy dog eyes and I can get what I want.”

MJ’s smiles back, but it doesn’t last long the pinch of her eyebrows together overshadowed it.

“You could press charges. Me and Mr. Harrington both saw and could testify.”

“I can’t, flash has money. Me and may don’t have enough to win, or even go far.”

“But luckily, I do.”

Both girls whip around to see Mr. Stark learning against the door frame. MJ gives him a nod to which he returns.

“Mr. Stark! I-“ a hand in the air dismissed what she was to stutter out.

“How long were you standing there?” MJ asked curiously, Tony shrugged. “Believe it or not, when I don’t want to be seen it works like 99% of the time.”

He strides over to where Penny sits

“Honey. Two times? Two times you allowed this?”

“He.. he’s not.. this hasn’t happened before.”

MJ cuts in. “It doesn’t matter if this is only the second time it’s happened Penny, this isn’t an abusive couple situation where it’s harder to get out of this. This is a school bully that can get what he deserves. And the pattern doesn’t care what type of relationship it is, I watched my mom in it and I will not watch my friend.” She seethed, cautiously she opened her arms. Inviting her friend in for a hug.

She’s even more surprised when MJ falls in.

“I’m okay.”

Mr. Stark’s voice is nothing but symptomatic and truthful when he speaks.

“You won’t If this continues.”

To say that Flash Thompson is surprised when Tony Fucking Stark walks in the principals office is an understatement.

Principal Morita looks tired, to say the least.

His chest heaves high when he says “Mr. Stark, please take a seat.” MJ and Penny followed closely besides him.

“Now… our school has a strict bullying policy.”

“Bullshit.” MJ curses, Tony smirks. “I’m gonna have to agree with Lois lane. I hacked into your security feed, it looks like most of your teachers don’t give a shit.” You have to give Morita props for trying to stand his ground.

“That was illegal.”

“How would you like to be exploited for years worth of bullying? And oh, doesn’t one of- or. A couple at least have some kind of sexual assault charge on their record? Do you think that, if the parents of these generously funding folk knew they’re children, they’re daughters. Were around sex offenders they would still fund you? I have even funded a lot for this school seeing as I had respect for it.”

Morita stares at Tony Stark, looks at Jones leaning back into her seat with her chin raised and Parker’s black and blue face and knows he’s looking at a battle he can’t possibly win.

“We’ll wait until Thompson’s mother gets here. Then we’ll discuss what should be done.”

Yup, Flash thinks.

I’m so fucked.

Mrs. Thompson looks like a bitch, is Tony Stark’s first thought.

Her jaw is set tight, twitching every few seconds as Harrington, Penny, and Morita all explain what had happened.

“Oh.” Her voice is sickly sweet, the gentle hand on Thompson’s back makes him flinch which is something Tony does not miss.

“And.. how much will this all cost?”

Tony does a double take.

“Excuse me?”

“How much will this cost, this whole ordeal? 1K 10k?” She repeats her words.

“This won’t be costing anything other than proper repercussions, Mrs. Thompson.” Tony mimicked her tone, Mrs. Thompson’s smile falls into a curl of lips.

“We were.. discussing Thompson’s punishment, a month of suspension,” she looks like she’s about to argue before he stops her. “I talked them out of pressing charges. Be grateful.” She grunts falling back against her seat.

“And during that time he’ll have to write an apology, and go to the guidance counselor office.”

“Will That Be all? I would like to leave?” Is her response, anger barley resisting.

“You can go. I’ll see you next month Mr. Thompson.”

Morita turns back to Tony.

“You’ll Fire those with a criminal record that involves sex offensive and anything that goes past serious robbery and assault. And you will actually be stricter about this policy of yours? Understand?” Morita’s jaw twitches But he nods.

Stark tacks on- “I’m taking Lois Lane and Penny here out for ice cream. See ya, hopefully never.” And with that Tony Stark walks out the door and out of Moritas life hopefully forever.

The tension in his shoulders finally leak, he turned over to roger.

“Pay attention to that Parker, I don’t want hell unleashed on me the next time someone hurts her.”

Roger nods.

God help them if it did.

[spaceskam]

31 and 70 from the prompt list for Rosabel

“Your brother won’t stop making heart eyes at my sister, it’s grossing me out.”

“I’m sure Liz says the same thing about me.”

Rosa gave Isobel that smile-that-wasn’t-a-smile, but it wasn’t a frown so Isobel took it as a win.  Isobel was still trying to navigate the large walls that surrounded Rosa Ortecho.  Sometimes it’d seem like she’d found a hole to weasel her way inside, but then a gate would shut and she’d still be on the outside.

Sometimes it drove her insane.  Sometimes she enjoyed the challenge.

“Hey, uh, after I get off, do you wanna go to a movie?” Rosa asked while somehow avoiding eye contact.  She was usually overwhelming with it.  Not today.  Isobel found herself smirking.

“Absolutely.”

*

“Oh my god, Izzy!  You-you’re too much!”

Isobel took a step away from Rosa.  She’d come to the roof of the Crashdown to see her, only to find her hysterically sobbing.  She didn’t really know how to handle this, especially since every time she tried to comfort her, Rosa would push her away.  She didn’t know what she did wrong.  All she knew was that they were fine one day and then Rosa was ignoring her the next.

Isobel happily skipped over their almost-kiss goodnight in the preservation of her own ego.

“Do you want me to go get Liz?” Isobel offered.  Rosa clearly didn’t want her there, but Isobel wasn’t about to leave her this all by herself.  The closer she looked, the more she realized Rosa was probably strung out.  She felt even more compelled to go get Liz.

“No!  No, I don’t want you to get Liz!” Rosa screamed, her hands going to her hair and pulling as her voice echoed in the empty space.  Isobel slowly took a step towards her once again.

“Okay, I won’t.” Rosa nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized Isobel was close again.  “Do you want me to leave?”

“Izzy!  Just-just stop!  Stop talking to me!” she shouted.

Isobel stared for a moment, watching her pull at her hair and pace wildly.  She debated if she should just listen.  As worried as she was, she also wasn’t wanted.  She was scared she was just going to make it worse.  As much as it hurt, Isobel decided she had to back off.  She wasn’t helping, she was hurting.

Isobel didn’t want to hurt her.

“Sorry.  I’ll leave you alone,” Isobel said softly.  However, she could barely take a step away before Rosa tightly grabbed her arm.  Rosa’s eyes were frantic with emotions even she couldn’t read, her pupils blown beyond recognition.

“Don’t leave me.”

Isobel nodded slowly, “Okay, I won’t.”

*

“Liz is leaving, my mom left, every fucking friend I had left once I got clean, now you’re leaving to?  Jesus Christ, am I that hard to be around?”

Rosa was high.  She said she was clean, but Isobel had spent enough time around a clean Rosa to know this wasn’t her.  Still, she stayed quiet about it as they laid close on the rooftop.  Pointing it out only upset her.

“No one is leaving because of you,” Isobel said, hesitantly reaching out to touch her arm.  She never knew what was okay and what wasn’t.  Rosa changed her mind every time they hung out.  Today, she was okay with arms touching.

“Really?  Because it feels like I chase everyone away.  Hell, I’m even losing you and you’re the most persistent person I’ve ever seen,” Rosa laughed.  Isobel pulled her hand away and turned to face her.  Was that what she was?  Nothing more than a persistent person?

Isobel made a mental note to talk to Max about what to do when the person you like is completely oblivious.  He had more practice in that area than she did.

Rosa looked at her when she took her hand away.  They laid there, staring in silence for a while.  They did that a lot.  Rosa moved closer, her eyes flickering across her face.  Isobel prayed her face didn’t betray how flustered that made her feel.

“It’s just college,” Isobel whispered, “You haven’t lost me.”

Isobel didn’t have much time to enjoy it when Rosa surprised her with a kiss.  It lasted maybe seven seconds, half of which Isobel spent in shock.  When Rosa pulled away, an involuntary part of her pushed her to try to follow for more.  Only, Rosa sat up and left her feeling more pathetic than before.

“You’re a good friend, Izzy.”

*

“How do you know if someone is gay or bi or… open to same-sex trysts?”

Michael slowly looked up from his comically large physics textbook with furrowed eyebrows.  Isobel stared at him helplessly, hoping he could play wise older brother.  She was lost, confused, scared, and slightly horny over everything that was Rosa Ortecho.  She was like a glitchy traffic light, one minute she was fine and the next she was freaking out.  To Isobel, it seemed like a massive sexual identity crisis and she didn’t know how far to push.

“Why?” Michael asked.

“Because there’s this girl I‒”

“No, I got that part, I mean why are you asking me?”  he clarified.  Isobel rolled her eyes and waited for him to laugh, but it never came.  She snorted.

“You’re, like, the resident queer-who-will-talk-to-me,” she explained.  He somehow looked even more confused.  “Oh, come on, Micahel, there is absolutely nothing heterosexual about the way you stare at Alex Manes.” Michael sunk down in his seat, but he was no longer confused about why he was the one being asked.  “So how do you know?”

“I mean, there’s not really a for sure way to tell,” Michael told her.  She groaned, her head hitting the table.  

“Well, how did you know Alex was into guys?” she asked.  If it was a slightly less serious situation, she might’ve laughed at his progressively reddening cheeks.

“Lucky guess?”

“Oh, so you are banging the MCR reject?”

Micahel’s eyes went wide, “We are not talking about me, we’re talking about your massive hard-on for Rosa Ortecho!”

“Hey, no call outs!”

“You literally just called me out!”

Silence rose between the two as they glared.  However, the glares were replaced by small smiles that grew into snickering once it settled in how ridiculous they sounded.  It didn’t help that they were literally sounded.  It didn’t help that they were literally in the Crashdown and the probability of the people they were talking about overhearing was absurdly high.

“Okay, for real, what do I do?” Isobel asked.  Michael leaned in closer.

“I know this might sound insane,” he started, “But maybe you should just ask her.”

“You’re right that does sound insane.”

*

“Can we talk?”

Rosa looked up, smiling when they locked eyes.  That was hard to decipher.  It could mean ‘let’s kiss under the stars for hours like last time’ or ‘you’re such a good friend’ or ‘touch me and I’ll scream’. She was truly a wild card.

“Of course.”

Isobel slowly sat beside her.  Rosa sat up and faced her, putting their knees together.  She was so confusing.  The confusion didn’t stop the heat from coursing through Isobel when they touched.

“I… I don’t understand how you feel about me,” Isobel admitted.  She hated how weak she sounded.  There was no way to bullshit her way through this conversation.  Boys were easy, they usually didn’t get confusing.  They either liked you or they didn’t.  None of this messy shit.

“Izzy,” Rosa said, smiling softly as she reached for her hands.  Isobel relaxed when she noticed this was sober Rosa.  This was her favorite version, the sweetest version.  “After all my bullshit that you’ve dealt with, you still don’t think I love you?” A smile twitched onto Isobel’s lips as she involuntarily leaned forward.

“But… as a friend, or…?” Isobel said softly, hoping she’d just fill in the blank.  Rosa leaned forward, resting her head forehead on Isobel’s and nudging their noses together.  Isobel’s heart leaped into her chest as her eyes fluttered closed.

“You’re so naive, Izzy.”

“That’s a new one.”

“Besides, I thought you were seeing Michael Guerin,” Rosa said.  Isobel’s eyes shot open in confusion.  Rosa looked dead serious.

“I’m sorry, you thought what?” Isobel asked.  She nearly pulled away, but Rosa grinned and put her hand on the back of her neck to hold her in place.

“Kidding.  I know he’s with my baby Alex,” Rosa laughed and Isobel somehow managed to relax into her hold once more.  This was the most Rosa had taken control in their entire friendship.  She was rarely ever the one to make the first move.  Now she was making almost all of them. It was insane and exhilarating and she wanted to explode. This was good. “I love you, Izzy.  Not like a friend.” This got better.

And she leaned in for a kiss.