#new jersey sunflowers

[thebohemianloner]

Wildflower pickin’ today 💐

[newjerseyisthebest]

Sunflower in the Sussex County Sunflower Maze at Liberty Farm in Sandyston, New Jersey in September 2021.

[catfindr]

[christineshanshanhou]

Raggedy Ann + Shouxing | 05.09.24

[floweringpear]

aug. 11, 2022: a morning walk past the sunflowers and a brunch stop at historic clinton

[cassidyyb911]

[yerr-e]

[pelenguino]

Iesha & Phillip maternity Shoot

Website | Instagram

[repulsiveliquidation]

Sun to Me || Leah Williamson

For the sake of the story, we’re going to pretend that Zach Bryan’s song of the same name came out way earlier than it really did :) no warnings i think, just a little fluff and angst?

Leah lay in bed wide awake at 5:34 am. The sun was just starting to rise and a sliver of light slipped into the room. She could hear Simon, your dog, walking around the room, trying to find himself a comfy spot to go back to bed. You had your leg thrown over hers, wrapped around her knee. Your breath hit her neck steadily, arm around her stomach gripping her shirt just a little.

Leah had had a bad day. It started with missing the first hour of training because her car had a flat tire that she insisted on changing herself when she didn’t really know how. You jumped in and saved the day when you heard her grumble in frustration as you enjoyed your morning coffee on the balcony above her.

Then she hurt her hamstring during training with Arsenal just a day after being announced in the England squad again. She called you sobbing, feeling angry with herself for being reckless and impatient. Again, you swooped in and met her in the training room in record time, pulling your girlfriend into your arms to comfort her.

Hauling her into your car an hour later, you surprised her with sunflowers in the passenger seat for her. She stood at the door and just stared at them, caressing the bright yellow petals with gentle fingers.

“How did you have time to get them? To get me?”

“Funny how fast news travels to me when it concerns you, Lee. You know I’d drop everything for you.”

“Who called?”

“Who didn’t?”

Leah sighed and looked down at you, pushing a couple of loose hairs from your bun out of your sleeping face. The look of pure calm on your face reminded her of the first time she met you. The scrawny kid trying out for the football team back home in Milton Keynes. Eleven year old you had braces and pigtails, an Arsenal jersey 2 sizes too big on, boots that were also too big, and a look of panic that none of the other girls had.

You immediately made it clear that your parents signed you up for an after-school activity that you were not particularly fond of. However, with some tips from your three older brothers and a stern warning from them about keeping up the family name, you made it on the team. Leah was also picked and you two made quick friends.

Your agility and smaller stature gave you the advantage as a striker while Leah’s taller, more athletic build benefitted her as a defender. You two had undeniable chemistry on the field and it showed on game days. Her long balls always found your feet and were almost always converted into goals. She just had to glance up at you to see you already looking at her, waiting for the ball.

By the time you were 17, your feelings for each other could no longer be ignored. For the sake of the team, you both had kept it to yourselves and pined for each other day in and day out but when the reality of Leah getting a position on the Arsenal first team came up, you couldn’t let her leave without a confession.

You pulled her into your room the night before her last game for the home team, shooing your roommate Grace out of the room for the night.

“You ready for tomorrow?” she asked sheepishly, standing awkwardly in the doorway of the hotel room. You sat on your bed and picked at your thumbs, confession right on the tip of your tongue. Leah could sense your nervousness and knew you were hiding something.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, closing your eyes and balling your fists. You took a deep breath, opened your eyes, and screamed, Leah standing in front of you with her face in yours.

“Don’t do that!” you yelled and hit her arm, watching as she flopped back on Grace’s bed laughing.

“Leah?” you call, the tension in the room broken. She chuckles just a little as she remembers the look on your face, sitting up and looking across from you.

“What’s up?” she questions, foot bouncing furiously. You reach over and rest a hand on it, immediately noticing her calm.

“I really like you. I realize that I have for a long time and the idea of you not knowing while you move up in football scared me. I know you probably don’t feel the same way and that this could ruin what we have but I couldn’t go one more game without you knowing how I feel about you.”

You carefully look up and expect anger on her face but are met with a look of love. Before you could say anything her lips were on yours, soft and warm. They molded perfectly in yours, that tingling sensation in both your stomachs. You fall back and she follows, lips never leaving yours.

She pulls away first and smiles, moving off you to lay beside you. You snuggle into her side like you are in the present, hand right over her rapidly beating heart.

“Will you be mine?” she asked after the game the next day on the bus home. You two were tucked away in the back of the bus, hidden from everyone else. Her hand found yours and held it in her lap, thumb gently rubbing the back of your palm as you shared earbuds. Zach Bryan’s raspy voice filled both your ears as you moved to lay your head against her chest.

You fell asleep to his voice and her hand in your hair, gently awoken 2 hours later with Leah’s Arsenal jacket draped around you. She walked you home hand in hand, face falling when she reached your doorstep.

“I leave in the morning with Mum,” she told you quietly, face fixated on the ground. You stood on the steps of your house, bags piled by your feet. A tear falls and hits her sleeves in her hoodie pocket and the dam breaks. She falls to her knees and you catch her, hugging her tight as she wishes you could come with her.

“I’ve got other plans for my future, Lee,” you tell her, tears filling your own eyes. “But all those plans have you in them, I promise.”

You take her face in your hands and her eyes are still watery. You wipe the stray tears away and smile, leaning in to peck her lips.

“I’ve waited a lifetime for you,” you whisper, “now I get the spend it with you.”

Leah glances at the clock and it’s almost when your alarm goes off. Simon jumped onto the bed fifteen minutes earlier and curled up by your feet, now fast asleep like his mum. She slipped out of bed as carefully as she could but Simon woke up when the blanket shifted. You remained in deep sleep, rolling over onto Leah’s much warmer spot on the bed.

She tiptoed out of bed and Simon followed, the little pads of his feet echoed in the living room as she poured his kibble into his bowl. She started the coffee machine and pulled out your favorite to make for breakfast, thankfully it was simple and hard to burn. As the toaster oven heated a couple of frozen waffles, Leah set out to clean the living room just a little to ease your load.

She laid the blanket over the couch and began to clear your notebooks when one of your sticky notes slipped out of it. She randomly stuck it back into your notebook hoping it wasn’t important when your pretty writing and her name caught her eye.

She opened the notebook and gasped, your writing was perfectly cursive and left no wasted space in the margins. You had been researching her ACL injury extensively, working closely in your clinics to find out why female athletes were plagued with this injury.

After Leah left for Arsenal, you pursued a lifelong dream of medicine, specifically as a sports medicine physician. After a career-ending knee injury for your father, he channeled his dream of playing professional football onto his children. Your brothers all became successful athletes, playing for fantastic clubs but you loved treating them when they got hurt. While you were still a great footballer, in the operating room was where your talents shone.

Having performed Leah’s surgery yourself, you drove deep into a rabbit hole of research to find out why this was common in women’s sports, specifically football.

Leah came home one day and felt the world crumble before her. She missed football. She missed being on the pitch. She missed getting teased by the girls for loving you so deeply. All she wanted was to come home and hear you yell at her for not putting her kit bag away or for forgetting to pick up celery like you’d asked. All she wanted was to see you wearing her jersey in the stands next to her family while she raced across the pitch to tackle someone or to watch the girls fawn over you when you brought coffee on Saturdays.

That day, she came home to an empty house. Simon was with you at the office and there was a note on the fridge for her. It told her you had an emergency surgery and to not wait up for you, and that there was dinner in the fridge for her too.

She sat in the living room in silence, the tinnitus in her ears the only constant in the room. Her leg was propped up like it should be and iced all around. The TV remote was too far to reach and her music player too far to set up. Her voices in her head were taking over the buzzing and she was slowly sinking in on herself.

What if she didn’t make it back to the team?

What if they didn’t want her to play for them again?

What if they found someone better than her?

What if they…

“Leah?”

Her head whips up and some tears fly off her cheeks with the speed. You’re standing in front of her in your scrubs and a wagging-tailed Simon by your side. He jumps onto the couch and settles beside her, you joining him seconds later. You caress her cheek and wipe her tears away, pressing your lips to hers.

Words aren’t necessary for her to tell you what was wrong. In her haze, she was beating herself up verbally and you had heard every word come out of her mouth. Your heart broke and felt heavy, she’s been struggling and kept it hidden very well.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she weeps, clutching your shirt tightly. You cradle her face like you did all those years ago on your doorstep. She looks up at you with that same watery look and you peck her lips just the same.

“You can and you will, Leah. I’ll be here every step of the way.”

The lyrics to Zach Bryan’s song that was playing from the music player pulled her out of her thoughts and the smell of burning waffles reminded her of why she was still here.

“Find someone who grows flowers in the darkest parts of you.”

[futfemfantasies]

Yellow - Mackenzie Arnold x reader

You woke up to a smidge of light peering through your window and a tight arm wrapped around your waist. You look at the time on your watch and it’s a little past 7:30 so you know that Mackenzie isn’t going to wake up for at least another hour. You turn over slightly and give her a soft kiss on the cheek, which causes the slightly older than you to scrunch her nose and turn over. This loosens her arm around you a little so it’s easy for you to escape. Once out of the tight hold, you decide you are going to go on a walk and to grab some coffee and bagels on the way home. After slipping on your last shoe and leaving a note on your pillow, you started your mini adventure.

You’d just moved to England from the US after scoring a deal with Arsenal so you are still getting used to the new country. Thankfully, since you and Mackenzie’s clubs aren’t that far from each other, you still see each other regularly. As you walk down the street, you see the familiar but old style shopping village you’ve grown to love. Turns out the country markets are on today and that makes you happy to explore peoples little handmade trinkets and fresh produce.

You first stop at a small flower stall and greet the old couple sitting in their slightly beaten up camping chairs, sharing a warm cup of coffee. All the different colours and aromas makes your heart burst with happiness, especially when you see this one shade of purple. It reminds you of the first time you saw Mackenzie in your national teams goalkeeper jersey. Having your favourite girl kitted out in your favourite colour did something to you. You didn’t realise how long you were staring at the flowers until you saw the old lady stand in front of you.

“You can just buy one if you want. I know a whole bunch is a bit much sometimes” the old lady offers.

You decide to buy three stems of the flower and she wraps it up nice and cute for you. You thank her and decide to give here a little bit extra for the trouble.

You walk down the next couple of stalls and see one of the new couples at Arsenal, Caitlin Foord and Katie McCabe. You talk to them for a while until you hear your phone ringing and see it’s Mackenzie. You bid them goodbye and that you’ll see them tomorrow for games night at Viv and Beth’s house. You quickly answer your phone and see Mackenzie FaceTiming you.

“Hey bubs, did you just wake up?” You ask as you look at a handmade jewellery stall.

“I did and you weren’t here. Where are you?” Mackenzie asks, mumbling into the comfy and fluffy blanket.

“I went down the street to get us some coffee and it turns out the markets are on. So I’m just having a look around, trying to familiarise myself with the area”

“Can you hurry? I’m missing out on my cuddles”

“I’ll be as quick as I can bubs. I love you”

“I love you more love. See you soon”

You look around the jewellery and see a pair of sunflower stud earrings. You pick them up and smile at the memory behind sunflowers.

On your four month anniversary date, Mackenzie took you to a sunflower farm in you hometown of Brisbane and you were in heaven. They had a clear patch where you could have a picnic and you both packed each others favourite foods and drinks. The patch was on top of a hill, over looking the beautiful mountains and the city below. You both had finished eating and you moved to sit in between her legs, watching as the sun slowing hide behind the high rise buildings, leaving behind a glow of oranges and pinks. It honestly made Mackenzie look like a goddess in your opinion. After a moment of comfortable silence, she told you those three words you have also had on the tip of your tongue also. You both sealed it with a kiss (or make out session) under the setting sun and it was truly a day you’ll never forget.

You give the earrings, along with the matching necklace, to the young girl to pay and again, told her to keep the change. She thanks you a lot before you head off down to the other stalls. You buy some more ironically coloured flowers, some matched Mackenzie’s eyes and one colour (in your brain), matching the way she smiles ever so lovingly at you.

You reach your final stall and see the most gorgeous yellow daffodils you’ve seen. Immediately buying them, you check the time and Mackenzie is texting you asking if you’ve ran away with the circus and that her ‘cuddle-o-meter’ is nearly running out so she’s going to die. You roll your eyes at the dramatics but decide to get the things you had come out for, coffee and bagels. You make a u-turn to your favourite coffee shop and order the usual for you both with cream cheese bagels.

You race home as fast as you can with two coffees and a bag full of flowers. Mackenzie hears the front door unlock and immediately goes to help you. Her eyes wide at the amount of flowers in your bag.

“What’s all the flowers for baby?” Mackenzie questions.

“I’ll explain later but please take the coffee”

You both sit on the couch and eat your bagels while you tell Mackenzie about all the stalls at the markets. Mackenzie’s heart swells up at how excited you get over the little things and it makes her smile even more (if that was possible).

“Okay presents time!” You say practically jumping out of your seat.

You explain all meanings behind the purple flowers to the sunflower earrings and necklace set and how Mackenzie hates earrings so you’ll wear them and she can have the necklace. Not once did Mackenzie get distracted or even think about not listening to you rave on about everything you bought her and the meanings behind them.

You finally got to the yellow daffodils. You turn and take Mackenzie’s hands in yours and she immediately tenses a little. You rub your thumb on her hand and she relaxes slightly.

“Mum used to tell me that yellow is the happiest colour. She used to say ‘yellow is something, or someone, that makes you so head over heels happy that you don’t want it to end’. Ever since we’ve started dating, I knew you were it for me. You’re my soulmate, my yellow. You’re the safe place I call home”

It happens all at once. The bottom lip wobbles. The single tear falls down Mackenzie’s cheek. The bone crunching hug that sends you flying back, hitting the soft cushions of the couch. You feel your shirt getting wet and you pull Mackenzie’s head up to see her with tears streaming down her face.

“Oh baby, I didn’t mean to make you cry” you mumble, wiping tears from her cheek.

“Marry me?”

You thought you heard wrong or didn’t hear her at all. When you don’t say anything, Mackenzie gets up from your lap embarrassed then you realise what she said. She turns to walk away when you grab her wrist, making Mackenzie turn her head to you.

“Yes”

“Yes?”

“Yes I’ll marry you baby!”

Mackenzie falls straight back on top of you and kisses you passionately. You pull her close when she pulls back quickly.

“The ring! You need your ring!” She sprints into the bedroom and before you could get up, she sprints right back out.

Mackenzie kneels on the floor in front of you before lifting your left hand and sliding the ring on. You tell her to stay there and you take a quick photo. She cuddles back into your arms and you cannot stop looking at the new sparkling piece of jewellery on your left hand.

“It’s gorgeous”

“Just like it’s owner”

“You cheese ball”

London being London, it starts to rain quite heavily so you both decide to cuddle on the couch and watch movies all day.

Who knew going for an early morning stroll on a day off would end up with you being engaged to the love of your life.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

A few weeks later…

liked by mackenziearnold, leahwilliamson, bethmead, matildas, stephcatley and 187,394 others

itsyn25: ‘yellow is something, or someone, that makes you so head over heels happy that you don’t want it to end’ 💍

view all 22,845 comments…

mackenziearnold: home ❤️🥺

// itsyn25: forever and always bubs ♾️

leahwilliamson: yay!! So happy for you both 😭🥹

// itsyn25: i love youuuu 🥹

caitlinfoord: I suppose you can join the club now…

// omg thank you! I totally haven’t been waiting 5 years or anything… 🥲😁

stephcatley: maid of honour dibs! 🙋‍♀️🤩

// itsyn25: I suppose 🙄

[tkachukz]

Fake Dating, Sunflower - Jack Hughes

Summary:  When Jack is tired of his friends' comments about him never having a girlfriend and asks his best friend to be his fake date for a week.

Words: 5,5 K

Winter made New Jersey beautiful, and you were grateful you'd picked a coat warm enough to handle the cold. The icy wind was cut as soon as you entered the great arena, hearing the sound of blades cutting the ice from afar.

Jack waved at you as soon as he saw you, heading towards one of the ice exits to greet you with a awkward hug over the top of the bleachers.

“Too cold outside?” he said with a big smile, his cheeks slightly red.

"Only to the point of making me freeze."

"Twenty more minutes of training and I'm good to go"

“Don't worry, I brought company” the book Pride and Prejudice was present in your backpack.

Practice lasted another half hour, but you didn't care. How could you, considering you was tucked away from the cold, with a wonderful book in hand and hot tea served by a kindly woman.

Many of the players had already left when Jack arrived. He wore a heavy jacket over his suit. With the points of his hair still wet from shower, he made sure to shake his head as soon as he was close enough.

“I could kill you right now” you said drying the cover of your book.

“You couldn’t, who would offer you a ride home?”

“I'm sure I would find someone. Ready to go?"

"Clear. Some boys are going to go to that pub at the end of the street. If you want".

“I think it's the least for wetting my book” you walked towards the exit.

“Just a few drops” he positioned himself in front of the door, holding the handle “ready?”

“Arg. Yes” with the hood over your head and holding your breath, you surrendered leaving the warm comfort of the arena, with Jack accompanying you while laughing.

The pub was busy, and Jack guided you to the back, where Nico and other teammates were.

“Yn! Good to see you” you greeted everyone and sat down next to Jack.

“Fries for you?” you nodded in agreement.

You and Jack met about a year ago. 

You were trying to make your ex boyfriend jealous and a lonely handsome boy sitting at the bar seemed perfect. You shared your plan and Jack accepted because he thought it would be fun. But at the end of the night, your goal had been achieved, but you didn't even remember it after so long talking to Jack. It turned out that you had a lot in common, both of you having a big family, your connection to hockey - your two younger brothers were in the junior league and were obsessed with your friend - among many other things.

You became friends that day and that friendship has only grown over the months. And although many people hinted at things, it was really friendship. 

I mean, you've already found yourself imagining what it would be like if that happened, but you were too focused on college to think about it and, well, if Jack wanted something, he would have dropped a hint after all this time, right?

The conversation at the table was lively, and you already knew the players long enough to be able to interact with everyone, the quietest one, however, was your best friend.

Jack snorted for the third time as he looked at his phone and then put it in his pocket angrily.

“Okay, want to tell me what's going on?”

He snorted once more and you rolled your eyes.

"I'm meeting the boys at the lake house this weekend"

“You guys are crazy to go there in this cold” you said imagining all that cold water, getting a stern look from Jack “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, keep going honey why are you mad?”

He pressed his lips together and let out a “it’s humiliating” sigh.

“I already took care of you while drunk, I think I can handle it” you shrugged.

“Well, last time we were there, the boys were talking about girls they get with and...”

“I don’t know if I want to hear this”

“No, not like that,” he said quickly, “they talk about the girls they've dated, they've all had at least one girlfriend, and Brock manages to put together a whole line of hockey with exes. Meanwhile, I stayed there just existing” he let out a sigh.

“Even Luke! My little brother Luke once had a girlfriend! Okay that lasted a month, but still. Do you think there's something wrong with me?"

The question caught you off guard “Of course no Jack! It's okay that you've never had a girlfriend, you're still young!"

“You're younger than me and you also had a boyfriend” he looked at you from the corner of his eye.

“And I ended up with a pair of horns on my head” you shrug making him laugh “it's not a problem that you've never dated Jack, you just haven't found the right person yet” you said sincerely, stroking his arm. Your eyes stayed locked on his for a few seconds, until Nico, who was sitting in front of you, and apparently listening to the whole conversation, decided to speak up.

“Why don't you take a fake girlfriend?”

"What?" you spoke in unison.

“Yeah, take someone, tell them you've been with her for like two or three months and they stop bothering you” he shrugged.

“They are my best friends and two of them my brothers, do you think they wouldn't notice if I had a girlfriend? And two months? I clearly would have said something by now.” Jack leaned his elbows on the table.

“So you say it was more recent. About a month ago, you fell in love with a friend and boom” Nico made an explosion noise.

“Boom?” you couldn't hold back your laughter.

“Come on, are you going to tell me that lately you haven't mentioned any friends to them? Someone they haven't met yet who would surely believe you fell head over heels in love with her because she's beautiful.” Nico also leaned his elbows on the table with a sneaky look.

Your attention on the conversation was being shared with your delicious orange juice and you only realized that something was going on when you looked up and the two boys were looking at you “what is it?”.

"You could be my fake girlfriend" Jack spoke a little clouded.

"What??" you dropped the juice on the table.

“It would be perfect! I already mentioned Yn to the boys, but they never got to know each other!” Jack turned to Nico.

“Today is still Wednesday, you can say something like I have a surprise for you at the weekend and when you get there, boom!!” Nico was excited.

“Aren't you forgetting something?” you stared at the two of them as if they were crazy.

“The details of how you fell in love can be discussed by then” Nico apparently felt very proud of the plan.

“You can't be serious” You grabbed Jack's arm and he had a grin from ear to ear.

"Please"

"No?"

“Little please with many hearts”

"No yet"

“Come on, you owe me a fake date” he arched his eyebrows making you roll your eyes.

You pondered. A trip would be a great distraction, you enjoyed Jack's company and always wanted to meet his brothers. However, you knew that something like that could scramble feelings that you never considered and the idea of losing your best friend scared you.

“Okay” you say in defeat, receiving a tight hug from Jack, while Nico smiles victoriously across the table.

 *

 “Don't forget to grab bikinis” Jack's voice rang loudly in your apartment as you went through your suitcase.

“Bikinis? In this cold? Are we going to another hemisphere without my knowing?”

He rolled his eyes, leaning against the doorframe "the house has a jacuzzi, it's fun"

“Okay, bikinis...” you turned to the wardrobe.

“Get a nice one”.

“Get out of my room” he raised his hands in surrender and walked back.

The bags were already being loaded into the car when you started wringing your hands. Three days ago Jack had asked you to be his fake girlfriend in front of his friends and brothers for an entire weekend, and you'd be lying if you said you slept soundly all night.

Jack eyed the trunk, satisfied with his meticulous packing, but his smile faded when he saw how nervous you were.

He approached slowly, holding your hands close to his chest "you can quit if you want".

"What?" you answered too quickly and Jack's smile faded a little more.

“You can quit. Sorry if you felt pressured to do this. I don't want a fake girlfriend if my best friend is going to start hating me” he gave a small smirk and you took a deep breath.

“I would never hate you” you said sincerely “and I won't give up!! And I promise I'll be the best fake girlfriend you'll ever have!!!"

Jack's smile came back bright as you took a deep confident breath with a giant grin.

“You are without a doubt the best friend in the world” he said, and you hated yourself for feeling your smile fall a little.

 *

The sun was at its peak when you and Jack arrived at the house. The weather was still freezing, but not as cold as Jersey. Your eyes circled the place enchanted by every detail. He'd already shown you pictures of the place, but in person, it looked even more fun.

"What do you think?"

“It's prettier than the pictures” you said with a smile still admiring the place.

Jack carried your bags inside and you followed him down the many corridors “the boys must have taken the boat out, come on, let's put the bags in the room”.

The room was on the second floor, and had access to a small balcony. The walls were blue and scattered with photos, mostly of Jack. Him with his friends, playing hockey, with his family and...

“Do you have a picture of us?” a small Polaroid you didn't even remember taking off was stuck next to a small sunflower sticker.

“It was the first time you came to my game” Jack walked over.

“And the sunflower...”

“Your favorite flower” he scratched the back of his head nervously, but you didn't see it as you were too focused on the photo.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of the boat's horn stopped him.

You followed him outside the house, watching the boys tie up the boat and run towards you.

You felt Jack's hand on your waist, pulling you closer. He looked down and gave you a little wink, as you felt confident to wrap your arms around his waist as well.

“I don't believe it” the first boy arrived with his mouth open, looking between you and Jack.

“Well, believe me my dear friend Trevor. This is Yn” Jack had a smile from ear to ear as he greeted his friend with a hug, pointing to you right after.

“Hi” your cheeks flushed as Trevor greeted you with a warm hug ignoring your outstretched hand.

"Okay, you can stop hugging my girlfriend now" Jack patted him on the back.

"I never thought the word girlfriend would come out of your mouth" Quinn approached, offering you a hand, which you accepted gently.

"Fate is playful" Jack shrugged.

“Jack talks about you all the time, but I thought you were just friends. I'm Brock, and this is Elias, nice to meet you” The blonde approached with a smile and this time it was Jack who felt his cheeks flush.

“Yeah, well, I realized after a while that I wanted more than friendship,” he says confidently, walking back to you.

“And how was that specifically?” Luke, the younger brother who had greeted you with a hug asked a curious question.

“He got jealous of me with someone else” you respond after realizing that Jack has stalled.

"How cute Jack" Trevor said smiling.

“Poor cute, you thought you'd lose me” an amused smile tumbles from your mouth when you notice that Jack's cheeks are reddening.

"You're right. When I thought of her dating someone else, I freaked out.”

“And ran to my apartment with the intention of making a romantic gesture,” you continue, enjoying the idea of making him shy.

“In a very manly way”

“With a giant bouquet of flowers” his friends seem to be amused by the idea of him being romantic.

“A very manly bouquet” he tries.

“Of sunflowers”.

He rolls his eyes "they're your favorite".

A sincere laugh leaves your lips and he follows you.

You reach for his cheek, standing on tiptoe to place a small kiss on the spot, while he still has one hand on your waist, caressing it with his fingertips.

Butterflies emerge in your stomach and you feel your leg wobble.

“Ew, it's good. We already understand that you are in love” Elias says making you two come back to reality.

“So tell me, how are you guys?” Jack addressed the question to the group, who continued talking until they reached some benches near the lake.

Jack guided you all the way, still with his hand firmly on your waist, positioning you to sit next to him on the couch. You spent hours talking, the boys treated each other like brothers and were always very polite in trying to include you in the conversation.

After watching the sunset by the lake, you decided to go inside for a shower and dinner.

*

The kitchen smelled of pasta and sauce when you came downstairs, your hair still wet.

Quinn was in charge of the stove; Elias, Brock and Jack were making the pizza dough and Luke and Trevor were waiting, they would be responsible for putting the pizza together.

"We could go a lot faster if I helped" Trevor complained, clearly bored.

"Don't you dare go near the stove" Quinn said without taking his eyes off the pot.

"And you would never have the skills to do this" Jack said, tossing the flattened pizza dough up, rolling it around on his finger, and returning it to the counter in a perfect circle.

“Wow” you blurted out and watched as six pairs of eyes turned towards you.

“Impressed?” Jack teased, wiping some of the flour off his hands on a napkin.

"I am. You never told me you knew how to do that.”

"Lie! I already cooked for you"

“True! But you never made pizza” you pouted while Jack laughed and leaned a little closer.

"Guilty. I promise to do it when we get back to Jersey.”

“Pinky promise?” you lift your pinky and Jack does so without batting an eye, placing a small kiss on your hand.

"Promise".

The boys had slowly returned to their duties while you and Jack talked. The butterflies in your stomach grew more euphoric with every smile Jack gave. He was always very smiley, but today he looked different.

“Hey, you two, enough flirting and get back to work. Jack, you still have more dough to make, and Yn, if you don't mind sweetener, could you cut the cheese?" Quinn gave the orders with his hands on his hips.

“Yes boss” you and Jack said together by chance going each to a counter.

"Is not fair! Yn just arrived and already has a mission!?” Trevor complained again.

The conversation was animated in the preparation and assembly of the pizzas, which were delicious. 

Jack and you were in charge of the dishes, and while some were tidying up the kitchen, others were preparing the room for a little movie session.

"I wash and you dry" Jack said four dishes ago, you didn't object.

“Tonight has been great” a smile graced your silly lips.

"Yes! They adored you, you're doing great being a fake girlfriend” Jack winked at you and you nodded.

"You're also a great fake boyfriend."

*

You lost track of time as it got dark. The boys had a long argument to choose the movie and when they did, your tiredness got the better of you.

You're not sure when you fell asleep, but you knew you were comfortable. 

Your head was resting on Jack's shoulder, who had his arms behind your back. He had a sweaty smell of shower, and with the little caresses he made on your back, you felt extremely comfortable and safe.

But not prepared for Luke's scream, when apparently some character died.

“I think I'll go to bed” your voice came out through a yawn as your heart was still beating fast.

After a chorus of goodnight and sorrys -and a peck on the cheek from Jack- you finally made it upstairs.

You were finishing getting dressed when Jack walked into the room, his eyes covered.

"It's safe?"

“Yep” you said as soon as you finished putting your pajama top over your head, making your friend open his eyes “is the movie over yet?”

"Not yet, but I'm tired from the trip, and Luke hasn't stopped complaining since the character died."

You watch as Jack locks the door, and takes a blanket from the trunk, spreading it over the foot of the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, you can have the bed, I sleep on the floor."

You'd be lying if you said this didn't make you slightly upset.

And you would be lying if said that you hadn't doubled the amount of cream you had applied to your body.

And maybe perfume.

“Ah”

Jack glared at you "Are you scared of monsters by any chance?" the provocative tone present.

“No” you rolled your eyes.

“Don't worry honey, I'm here to protect you if you need it” he said showing off his muscles.

"My hero!" you said with a laugh, turning off the light.

The moonlight came through a part of the curtain, making the room a beautiful color.

You snuggled under the covers while Jack took off his shirt, and you remembered that he had once commented that he slept like this. The temperature in the room seemed to rise and you closed your eyes quickly before he caught your eye.

*

Heavy knocking on the door made you jump up. Jack was still sleeping, face down, and he didn't seem to mind the louder and louder knocking.

“Are they still sleeping?” whispers through the door, sounding like Trevor's voice.

"Doesn't Luke have a key to this room?"

You reached for the nearest pillow throwing it at your unconscious friend who jumped up, facing your desperate eyes and the noise at the door.

He hurried to his feet, throwing the covers under the bed, and erasing any traces that he had slept on the floor. He tried to straighten his tangled hair, heading towards the door, still shirtless.

“May I know why the hell you guys are making such a racket at this time of the morning?” he opened the door wide enough to see the boys but made sure they couldn't see you.

"Room service" Trevor's voice sounded excited.

“Is Yn awake yet?” Brock appeared to try to enter the room, but Jack held the door steady.

“My girlfriend is still in her pajamas and you are crazy if you think I would let you see her like that”

Damn butterflies.

Jack went into the hallway and closed the door, returning a few seconds later "I told them we'd be down in a few minutes so they could get off my back, but you can take as many minutes as you want".

He turned to you, walking towards the bed and climbing on it, sitting next to you.

“I'm sorry about them, I promise they won't try to get in the room again” he says with a small smile holding your hand, which only then you realize was tightly gripped in the blanket.

Jack places a small kiss on the top of her head, and once again the feeling of security invades you.

*

“I can't believe you guys came all this way to play hockey” your voice was indignant as Jack pulled you towards a large open air ice rink.

“We're hockey players honey” he said amused.

“Yn, what size are your skates?” Quinn turned to you.

"I...I think I'll just watch"

“How disrespectful.” Trevor looked offended.

“I don't know how to skate, but it's ok I...”

The looks of shock went from you to Jack in a matter of seconds.

"Didn't you teach your girlfriend how to skate???"

"What's your problem??"

"Mom would be disappointed."

“He already tried to teach me, I'm just very resistant” you felt on a mission to save your friend.

"And I'm still going to teach her" Jack said confidently.

“Maybe one day” you nodded, as the boys headed towards the ice.

You followed Jack to the edge of the ice, where the other boys were, too, turning to him with a bouncy smile.

“Score a goal for me darling?”

He laughed "honey, you deserve nothing less than a hat trick".

You watched the first few minutes of the game, trying to be a competent fake girlfriend, but you fell into your book a while later, still on the edge of the ice. The boys formed a team and were playing with other boys, it seemed to have formed an interesting match.

Jack passed by you several times, to celebrate goals or try to splash ice on you.

Minutes of what should have been the second half, a boy also on the outside of the ice approached.

"What are you reading?"

“Pride and Prejudice” you lifted the cover.

“Great book, and much better movie. I'm Dylan, nice to meet you” he held out his hand.

“I don't trust anyone who thinks the film is better. I'm Yn” you shook his hand, he laughed.

“Interesting activity being right in front of an ice rink. Don't you know how to skate?

"No. And you, why aren't you there?

Dylan's response get lost in the cloud of ice hurled at him.

“Jack!”

“Oops, my bad. I had to stop,” he said with a cynical smile, taking off his glove and holding out his hand to Dylan, who had ice in his hair, “I'm Jack Hughes”.

"Dylan".

"Nice, Dylan, apparently you've already met my girlfriend Yn."

"Girlfriend? Now it makes sense,” Dylan murmured.

"What did you say?" Jack moved forward and you put yourself in front.

"Hey!? He was just being nice.”

"He was trying to hit on other people's girlfriends" Jack glares at the boy who has already run off.

"No, he was not."

“You are too naive to understand.”

"What?"

“You never notice when someone hits on you Yn!” he yelled “they can do anything but you don't realize it!”

Jack ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner and you instinctively took a step back.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you I just..."

You turned your back and walked away, ignoring the call of your best friend and the other boys. The fact that they were on roller skates favored you, making it possible for you to get home before them, and lock yourself in your room.

Jack's outburst caught you off guard, you had never heard him scream, especially with you. Inevitable tears flowed from your eyes. These last few days had been a tangle of emotions and you felt overwhelmed.

Light knocks on the door “it's me” Jack's voice echoes through the lock.

"I don't want to talk right now."

Your voice cracks, and Jack feels his heart sink when he realizes you're crying. Worse. Upon realizing he made you cry.

“I shouldn't have yelled at you Yn, I'm so sorry” his voice is also muffled; he is sitting on the floor, his forehead resting against the door.

"All I did this weekend was help you Jack."

"I know. I'm an idiot” the pain in his voice was audible.

A long silence hangs in the air, making her sobs seem louder.

“I bought you a present” he says still in a whisper “it's in the second drawer, on the right. It's the black box.”

You hold back for a few seconds, but curiosity overcomes you. You open two wrong drawers before the right one, but finally find a small black box, looking like an intruder in the middle of so much hockey stuff. A sob leaves your throat as you open it to find a delicate sunflower pendant.

"It was supposed to be a surprise" Jack says with a sigh.

“When did you buy this?” you felt your voice waver.

"What?"

“Did you buy this week?” your heart was sinking “tell me you didn't buy this this week. Tell me you didn't buy it just to show your friends that you know how to gift your fake girlfriend! That you're more than the kind of boy who changes when he's in front of his friends! You are making me confuse the whole weekend!" you shouted in a shaky voice.

“I've had this for months” Jack let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes tightly “you've always been true to me Yn, you just never realized it.”

Silence reigned for minutes, which became hours.

You were grateful for the door, since without it, Jack would find you in a sorry state.

Unaware of how much time had passed, you heard another knock on the door.

"I don't want to talk Jack."

"It's Quinn" your heart jumped "let me in please".

You pondered for a moment, but staggered to the door, opening it for the older brother.

“I thought you needed food” he held up a bag, which looked like it had bread and juice “can I come in?”

You nodded giving him room, your stomach rumbling as you opened the bag.

"What time is it?"

"Midnight. You were locked in here for nearly seven hours.”

"My hair must look ridiculous."

Quinn let out a small laugh through his nose, sighing shortly after.

“I know about you and Jack.”

"What?" you almost choked.

"Jack is my little brother, I know him better than anyone. And I knew that if he had gotten a chance with you, he would have told me right away, not a month later."

“A chance with me?” your head was spinning and you ate another bread.

“Did you really never notice?” Quinn looked at you with a certain admiration and curiosity, while you disagreed.

“He liked you from the day you met. The Devils had lost that day and he was on a losing streak, his mood was sour than lemon, but after meeting you, he came home grinning like an idiot. I remember him saying that he was so stunned that he had forgotten to ask for your phone number..."

“I always wondered how he found me”

"He knew your college, and he knew your last name, so he looked through the list of approved until he found it."

“But should they have like a millions names?”

"Was a long night" Quinn let out a smile "he let out a scream when he found your Instagram, and when you followed him back."

“He was always talking about you to me. Always. When we traveled, he always thought of a little souvenir to bring you, and I lost count of how many times we stayed behind because he wanted to take a picture of everything.”

“The Hughes family travel vlogs starring Jack Hughes” you mimicked the voice you knew by heart and Quinn laughed.

"He recorded it at least five times to make sure it was good."

“Why has he never asked me out?” you rambled.

Quinn shrugged, “He's Jack. He never went into detail with me, but I remember him mentioning once that you had a bad relationship with your ex and that you were trying to focus on your studies now. I think he just was afraid of losing you.”

You felt little tears forming in your eyes remembering moments of you and Jack.

When he listened to you for hours telling about your love misadventures, your deepest scars. 

When he took you in when you broke down and went to buy you a big tub of ice cream. 

When he heard you say you were tired of suffering for love. 

When you fell asleep on the couch and woke up warm and comfortable in bed. When you got sick and he left practice early just to check on you. 

Jack's smile when you showed up to watch him on the ice, or wore one of his shirts.

When he smiled at you and you felt your heart stop. 

And those damn butterflies.

"Where is he?"

*

The clock was past one in the morning and the night was cold.

Jack had his eyes closed, feeling the warm water of the Jacuzzi under the moonlight.

You approached slowly admiring the scene. He was shirtless, and looked relaxed, his body moving slowly with the water.

“Are you alone?” your voice was muffled.

Jack gave a small smirk, eyes still closed.

You walked around the jacuzzi, sitting on the stairs, right across from Jack.

He opened his eyes, analyzing you for a few seconds. You were wearing a heavy winter coat, and you smelled like vanilla and after-bath, with a high bun.

“I'm sorry” his gaze was intense.

“Me too” a small smile came out of your mouth, being reciprocated.

You took a deep breath, putting your legs in the tub. Jack's eyes shot to them instantly, your skin reflecting the blue of the water.

“I don't regret it,” he said, looking back into your eyes.

"What?"

“From this weekend. Of having you as my fake girlfriend for a while. Was cool".

A small smile came out of your mouth “I could have been your real girlfriend if you had had the guts to ask.”

The tension was electrifying. 

Jack took a deep breath, putting his arms out of the jacuzzi, looking at you in a different way. Desire.

You took off your coat, revealing your body in a black bikini, which you had felt stupid packing to go visit somewhere cold, but now you were nothing short of grateful.

Jack let out a heavy breath, and gripped the edge of the pool as he watched your entire body submerge.

"Now, I'm slightly sorry" he accompanied you glazed, while you walked slowly closer to him.

“The weekend isn't over yet” your smile was relaxed as you stopped right in front of him, who was sitting, making his knees touch your belly.

“Hi, I'm Y/n. Nice to meet you".

“You are unique” Jack grabbed your waist with one hand, pulling you onto his lap.

The kiss was desperate. A prize won after an agonizing wait.

His tongues engaged in a hot battle as he had his hands all over your body, pulling you close. Between caresses, you let out a smile.

“Look how interesting, you will be able to introduce your real girlfriend to your brothers and your friends tomorrow”

Jack lets out a smile as he kisses your neck "I wish you the best of luck, they really liked the last one, it's going to be a tough competition".

You couldn't hold back a hearty laugh. And Jack found himself admiring you bright smile, going down your neck seconds later. 

He starts tracing the silver chain, until it went down towards your breasts, where a delicate yellow sunflower was.

"Did you like it?"

You felt your cheeks flush "you get lucky, they're kinda my favorite".

Your heart melted as you moved closer for one more kiss.

 And it was like that all night.  

:)

[newjerseyisthebest]

Sunflower in the Sussex County Sunflower Maze at Liberty Farm in Sandyston, New Jersey in September 2021.

[wandanatsbaby]

The Little Rose - 1

Series Masterlist | Intro

Warning: This series includes dark themes

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

Wanda looked in the mirror to the 5 year old girl that was sitting in the back seat. The girl was playing happily with two barbies she had brought while occasionally looking out the window.

Wanda looked back at the road just in time to see the big New Jersey Sign. Just as they had passed the state border the little girl got tired of playing with barbies.

"Where are we going?" She asked Wanda as she started pushing herself up as far as her seat belt would let her.

"Sit down Detka! You're going to get hurt" Wanda scolded. "We are going to Westview for vacation" the girl nods happily as she gets in a small bookbag and grabs a coloring book and crayons.

"How much longer til get there?"

"2 hours. Why don't you draw me a pretty picture? I'll turn on some music"

"Okay!"

Wanda begins to mess with the radio looking for a good station until she pauses on a certain one

"A 5 year old girl named Rose Romanoff went missing today around 12:35pm. It is said the girl was last seen at a restaurant with her foster parents before she went to the bathroom. And didn't return. The girl was last seen wearing a sunflower dress with pigtails. She has red hair and Green eyes. if anyone sees her please report it to the authorities." Wanda looks back at the girl before turning the radio quickly and taking a deep breath.

As they get to their destination Wanda sighs and climbs out of the car before opening the back door and helping Rose out and picking her up, placing her on her hip and then grabbing her toys.

Wanda walks up the steps of the house and sets the girl down. Unlocking the door she let's Rose in and then looks around before stepping in herself.

Finally in the safety of her home Wanda gets a good look at the girl. Her red wavy hair had gotten longer since the last time she saw her. Her eyes are no longer as bright as they Once were in the compound and she had gotten a couple inches taller. The sunflower dress she wears has spots of dirt around the bottom and she wore a pair of flip flops that had some sort of cartoon character on them.

“Wandy?” Rose called for the women making her snap out of the memories.

“Yes, my little flower?”

“Why Amy an Mark no come? They alway come.” Wanda looked at Rose with a blank expression before squatting down to her level.

“Well Sweet girl your with me now. Mark and Amy are no longer going to be here. Just you and me.” Rose looked at Wanda confused. She doesn't understand what Wanda was saying. Amy and Mark had been with her since Natasha died. “Come on let me show you your room.”

Wanda stands back up and reaches her arm out for the girl to take.

Rose stops and looks at the room in awe. The walls were painted pastel pink roses and vines painted all over them. There was a small bed that had lots of pillows and stuffed animals on it with a glittery pink bedspread. A Toy box sat in the corner of the room next to a big doll house and finally there was a huge walk-in closet that already had multiple pieces of clothing in it.

“For me?” Rose asked Excitedly as she was already bouncing on her feet wanting to go inspect the toys.

“All for you. Why don’t you go play and look around while I start dinner. Does that sound okay Detka?” Rose nodded and then immediately ran over to the toy box pulling out dolls and furniture to start setting up her doll house. Wanda smiled before walking towards the kitchen where she started to prepare dinner.

She was so happy she finally had you again. You were home and Wanda was going to get to be your mom. She took a glance at the picture that was hanging on the living room wall. It was of Natasha and Wanda a couple months before she died. They had just started a relationship then and was getting ready to tell Rose about it before Natasha had- Wanda stops her thoughts and with a sad sigh continues to the kitchen.

Tags: @simpformelissa

[christineshanshanhou]

golden hour | 04.27.24

[afterglowkatie]

✧ ⊹ ˚ . ✧ ꒰🌻꒱ ☘️ . ˚ ⊹ ✧

· ─────── · · wips

names are just placeholders for now and might change before being posted :)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ steph catley ꒰ SC7 ꒱

world cup surprises

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ kyra cooney-cross ꒰ KCC23 ꒱

pair of pests catley!reader series:

flowers, markets, coffee - kyra and r go out on a date in london, hats and sunnies thinking they are doing a great job at being 'undercover' so they hold hands, kiss etc but they don't realise fans spotted them and then countless videos and pictures circle the internet later on. fans going wild

secrets out - steph finds out about r and kyra

say that again - supporters from the opposing team decide to hurl insults at r non stop during the game, kyra catches on and decides to be the one to do something about it

koala cooney-cross - arsenal trip to melbourne, you get gifted a koala toy with an arsenal jersey with kyra's name and number on it from a fan

feelin' 22 - kyra spoils r for her birthday

my sunflower williamson!reader series:

secret oasis - you know everyone at arsenal, everyone but kyra knows who you are

miedema!reader series:

kyra learns dutch in secret for you

gorry!reader series:

babysitting fiasco - kyra and you babysit harper together

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ katie mccabe ꒰ KM15 ꒱

little dove (r is katie's kid):

changes - somewhere along the way, your mam's relationship with caitlin changed

on the wall - you always keep one of katie's ireland and arsenal jersey's framed and on your wall. one day you ask for caitlin's to go next to your mammy's

starfish - katie and caitlin take you to the aquarium

first camp - you ask to go with caitlin to matildas camp instead of going to ireland camp with your mam

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ alanna kennedy ꒰ AK14 ꒱

new start [sort of second part to vulnerable but also will be able to be read on its own] - a new club meaning you could have a semi new start at least until you're confronted by alanna and forced to acknowledge the past before moving on

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ leah williamson ꒰ LW6 ꒱

surprise - barca!reader, leah makes her schedule work so she can surprise you by showing up on an important day for you

north london forever... - sister!reader, you leave arsenal

mccabe!reader series

coming soon

[addie-henderson]

More of poly percabeth with "just some guy" reader

"where'd you get this scar?" Your fingers run along Percy's back touching a long scar that had long since healed.

"new Jersey."

"and this one?" You could feel him squirm under your fingers

"LA."

"what about this one?" You gently touch his shoulder but this time it was Annabeth that spoke up.

"Florida." She smiled looking up from her laptop oddly fondly

"wow you've been so many places. I don't think I've left camp since I got here." You sigh and the two shuffle a bit uncomfortably in perfect sync.

"I guess saving the world has good travel opportunities." Percy jokes

"Yeah... saving the world." Annabeth laughs dryly affectionately patting his back absent mindedly before turning back to her work

"Why are you crying, Sunflower?"

"You're just...so strong." You cry and Percy turns himself over to wipe your face. "And It's really fucking hot."

He pauses making a face before bursting into a hearty laugh "...PAHAHA-"

"don't laugh!"