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babygirlbenji · 2 days ago

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Birds of a Feather - Ben Chilwell

A/N: So this might just be one of my favourite fics I have ever written... she's a big hefty girl at just over 3k words, but it's just super sweet fluff from start to finish.

Warnings: None, fluff, friends to lovers, big confession of love at the end so be sure to stick it through!! Let's get into it eeeek I'm so excited for you guys to read this

'God, you two are just two peas in a pod!'

'What do they say about birds of a feather?'

'Seems you two come as a package deal.'

These remarks, and general reiterations of them, were said regularly to you and Ben throughout your shared childhoods.

Having been born merely two weeks apart, having mums who were best friends, having grown up just a few doors down from each other, it was incredibly rare that you were ever apart. Your personalities were pretty much copy-pasted (though that may have also been a byproduct of spending so much time together), and your senses of humour were so similar that often, you'd end up finishing the joke or saying the punchline of the other person's joke.

Ben moving away to Leicester had no impact on your bond, and him ending up at Chelsea followed by Crystal Palace was even better, as you'd scored a job working in operations at a luxury health club in south west London. As his career progressed and you advanced at your job, one thing stayed constant: the two of you were never far away from each other.

You were there through it all - the Champions League victory, his ACL injury, his low patches, his upset with Chelsea. In turn, he'd supported you through all your trials and tribulations, from being at the end of the phone during your days of struggling through your university course, to helping you through the endless circle of job applications, rejections and interviews after you had graduated. He'd credit you with inspiring him to take the move to Palace, as your new role at work was at a club not 10 minutes from the training grounds, so it was easy for you both to see each other.

But of course, neither of you would risk your friendship to address the unspoken feelings between you. Ben would never want jeopardise nearly 27 years of friendship by admitting that he'd been in love with you since he was about 16, when he saw you at prom wearing a beautiful navy dress with a sparkly bodice (he'd never forget the sight of you, for as long as he lived). Nor would you ever breathe a word of why you could never hold a boyfriend for more than 6 months, because they could see that no matter how much you liked them, it would just never match up to the way you loved Ben. It was just a distraction and a means to an end.

As you settled into your new role and new club, and as he found his feet at Palace, you'd found a comfortable rhythm to life - as best friends. Nothing more.

'Alright Leo, I'm gonna pack up and head off home!' It was finally the end of your week, and you'd had such a hectic day that you could hardly wait to get home and put a film on. As you packed up your laptop and other work bits, your phone buzzed with a text. Fishing it out of your pocket, you saw that it was a text from Ben:

At home, Harv and Tom are coming over for dinner and want to see you, would love to see you too x

A smile graced your lips; you loved spending time with the boys, and this sounded just like what you needed after your day.

You quickly typed out a response:

Would love to!! Just finishing up at the club, will stop by Waitrose and pick up dessert then come to you x

'Who are you texting with that goofy grin?' Leo teased. Your boss was a flamboyant Venezuelan who you just adored. He was one of the few people at work who knew how close you were with Ben; as the place you worked for was in London and very close to both Chelsea and Crystal Palace, you both agreed that it was best that you keep your friendship with him low profile, and that he would probably get hounded if he came to see you at work.

'Oh, just Ben! He's invited me round for dinner and movie with his mates, ideal.' Leo waggled his eyebrows.

'He did? So when are you guys going to go on a date?' You couldn't help but roll your eyes playfully.

'Come off it, Leo, we've been best friends basically since birth. He sees me as a sister, he'd never look at me in any other way. It would essentially be incest.' You couldn't help but giggle at your words, but they did have an achingly real truth in them; Ben would just never see you as anything other than a best friend, an unofficial sister.

'Whatever you say, babe,' Leo replied. 'Have a good weekend!' You hugged him goodbye, and made your way out of the club, bidding your colleagues goodbye as you left.

It was a short walk to the Waitrose up the road. You picked up a strawberry trifle and a cheesecake, just so everything had something they liked, before heading to your car and starting the 20 minute drive to Ben's house. Since transferring to Crystal Palace, he'd purchased a modest but beautiful home in Wimbledon. You'd helped him pick it out, and had advised him on things like decor and furniture (he was a typical bloke, and was useless about things like that).

You let yourself in using your key, and dumped your bags in the utility room by the front door.

'Hello, I'm here!' Walking through the large, airy hallway to the kitchen, you found Ben at the oven stirring something in a pot.

'Hey, you, how was your day?' He hurried over and caught you in a brief but tight hug, rubbing your back like he always did.

'It was okay, just glad the week's done now. Are the boys here yet?'

'Nope, they'll be here in about 10, which means you get first pick of the film.'

'Tangled!' Your suggestion made him laugh; Tangled was your favourite movie of all time, and he'd lost count of how many times the two of you had watched it together.

'I love that movie just as much as you do, love, but I'm not sure how keen Harv and Tom would be to watch it.' Ben's smile lit up his whole face, as it often did when you were together. You were one of the few people he could be totally honest and up front with, and it spoke to his comfort around you that he could be his authentic self with you, without fear of judgment.

'They wouldn't know a decent film if it slapped them round the face. Anyway, that's my pick, and we can take their picks once they get here and we can poll the options. Whichever film gets the most votes is the one we watch, and I can put money on it being Tangled!' You were so confident in this, that it made Ben laugh more.

'You're funny. Would you grab me a colander, please? Just need to drain the pasta.'

'Sure.' You got up from your seat at the island and went over to where the kitchen supplies were, grabbing the colander and giving it to him.

'Thank you, sous chef,' he chuckled.

'What else can I do to help, chef?'

'Just sit there and look pretty.' This easy banter, this semi-flirting, was commonplace in your interactions with Ben. You'd always hoped that it meant something, but you knew the potential consequences if you were off in your assumption that his feelings for you went further than friendship, so you never took it further than banter.

You retook your seat at the island, and caught Ben up with the gossip at work. He listened intently, offering exactly the right reaction to each part of the story. Hearing about the crazy instances that took place at your work was one of his favourite pastimes - being in a customer service role, based in Clapham, you had plenty of stories to keep him entertained. Everything from rude members to having to call the emergency services, he had heard it all, and he listened to each and every story with unmatched interest.

The doorbell rang a few moments later, and you went to answer it as Ben was still preparing the last of dinner.

'Y/N!' Tom cheered as he and Harv barrelled into the house. You were suddenly caught up in a three-person hug, not knowing whose arm was whose.

'Hey, guys, so good to see you!' You laughed. Being best friends with Ben as long as you had meant that Harv and Tom were also your best friends, and you couldn't wish for a better group of people to hang out with.

Tom and Harv followed you into the kitchen, and the four of you settled into easy conversation and banter. You felt a distinct sense of belonging, as you sipped your wine and enjoyed the company.

'Right!' Ben clapped his hands together. 'Dinner is served, we'll sit at the table, should all be set up.' Ben had made his signature chicken alfredo, complete with a leafy salad and garlic baguette. It made you think back to coming home from uni at weekends, and if he was home for an evening, he would make this same dish for you. It was probably your favourite that he made, but everything he made was delicious. He was definitely the cook out of the two of you.

'Looks amazing, Ben, thank you for cooking.' You sat down and helped yourself to some salad and a couple of pieces of garlic bread.

'So, Y/N, how's work? Had to call the police again recently?' Harv asked. His question made you laugh; the last time you had hung out, you had had to call the police to your place of work, and since then, it had become a running theme of conversations of which emergency service you'd had to call.

'Luckily, no, not since our last update! Although we did have to ring the non-emergency medical line for someone the other day.' And you launched into the story of how someone had rolled over on their ankle, and they weren't sure whether it was broken so you called the non-emergency line to get their opinion. They took themselves off to the nearest A&E, and were luckily okay.

'Your work sounds insane sometimes, I don't know how you deal with those uppity members. If I were a member there, I'd be the nicest person ever,' Tom said earnestly.

'Thank god, I get enough grief from you outside the workplace,' you clapped back, making Ben laugh. 'Nah it's okay, most of the members there are nice. It's the ones who are rude one day, and then turn up the next day and act all sweet and sugary. They're the ones you really need to watch out for. Harv, how's things with you?'

Harv shrugged.

'Not bad, just same old.' Harv's updates weren't major, still at his job and enjoying getting to know the girl he was speaking to. Tom's life was similarly uneventful - looking for a job in media, going steady with his girlfriend who was abroad on a hen do.

As dinner progressed and dessert was consumed, you felt yourself getting slightly more tired. You were excited to curl up on the sofa and watch a movie, and just switch off your brain for a few hours.

You got up and stretched. 'I'm going to pop to the bathroom before we start our movie, alright boys?' Ben looked up and smiled at you.

'No worries, love, we'll be in the snug.' Both of you missed the pointed look that Harv and Tom gave each other.

While you were in the bathroom, you quickly checked your phone to see if you had any messages from work before you switched off your emails for the weekend. There was one that needed your sign off for something, which you gave, and you then turned off your emails. Anything that came in now could wait until Monday; for now, you were in rest mode.

You finished your business, and on your way into the snug, you stopped off at the kitchen to refill your water bottle. As you did so, however, you heard hushed voices from the snug.

There was a slight air of trepidation as you padded silently over to the door to the snug, wanting to know what the boys were talking about.

'So when are you going to ask her out, bro?' That was Harv's voice. It had a sense of excitement about it, as if he couldn't wait to hear what Ben's answer was.

'I don't know, I kinda don't want to ruin what we have, you know? We've been best friends for, what, 27 years? I don't want to ruin that. She's clearly happy with where we are, I don't want to put her in an uncomfortable position if she doesn't feel the same way.' Ben's voice. Were they talking about... about you? There was no way. Ben felt the same way about you? After all these years of hoping and pining after him? Your heart was pounding so hard that you were worried that they could hear it. It felt like you'd just run a marathon.

'She clearly feels the same way. The way she looks at you, the way she laughs when you make a stupid joke... just do it, dude.' Tom was always the voice of reason in your friend group, and you wanted to shout, scream that he was right, you did feel the same way.

'You guys are seriously crazy, but if you say so. I really like her, I just don't want to ruin anything.'

There was a sound of rustling, as if someone had got up from the sofa. You careered away from the door, not wanting them to know that you had heard, and busied yourself with your water bottle.

'You ready, Y/N?' Ben appeared at the door, and your heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. Knowing what you knew, and the fact that he didn't know that you knew... It gave you an odd sense of excitement. It didn't help that he looked so devastatingly handsome, dressed in black joggers and a faded grey hoodie. So simple but he looked so cosy, it made you just want to bundle yourself up in his arms and never leave. His hair was fluffy and that little bit of stubble across his chin was just... perfect. He was perfect.

'Yeah, yeah I'm ready, just coming in now.' He stepped out and made his way over to you.

'You ok? You seem a bit distracted.' His words, and how genuinely concerned he seemed, made your heart swell. So, too, did the way he gently rubbed your arms and looked directly at you.

'I'm absolutely fine, Benji, don't you worry,' you whispered. He smiled gently, and brought you into his arms for a hug. Your head was against his chest, just under his chin. You sighed contentedly, but couldn't help but wish that this hug meant more than it did. 'Love you, Benj.' Your voice was slightly muffled against his hoodie. He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of your head.

'Love you longtime.' The words you often signed off each call, each FaceTime, each hangout with. They had rung true since the moment you first spoke them to each other, just as friends, but now... dare he think that they meant more? With you curled up in his arms, feeling so like you were exactly where you belonged, Ben decided to take the biggest risk of his life. 'Y/N, I need you to look at me when I tell you this.' You broke apart from his embrace, confused. 'As in, like, I really love you. Like I've loved you since we were 16, when I saw you in that puffy gown at prom. I've loved you at every movie night, every win, every loss, every transfer, every laugh, every heartbreak since then. And I know it's a massive risk telling you this, as I could be jeopardising our entire two decade long friendship, but I couldn't spend another day not telling you how I feel. If you don't feel the same, it's okay, and if you never want to see me again, I understand, I just...'

And then you kissed him. It felt like the only reasonable thing to do. You kissed him as if your life depended on it. You kissed him in a way that made you feel like you were going to run out of air, but it was so addictive that you didn't care. Not one bit. And he kissed you back, a small smile on his lips as he did so. It was 27 years worth of kisses, packed into one. It was the best first kiss of your life.

'I love you too, Benjamin. I just hate that it took so long for us to say it like that.' He chuckled and used his thumb to gently wipe away a tear that you didn't even realise was falling down your cheek.

'We've got the rest of our lives to say it. Might as well start now.' You giggled through your tears. How lucky were you to call this gorgeous man yours?

A chorus of cheers coming from the snug room broke off your magical moment. You had completely forgotten that Harv and Tom were even in the building.

'Yes Chilly!'

'About time, Chill!' You started to giggle delightedly, Ben bundling you back into his arms.

'Does this mean I get to pick the movie?' You asked cheekily, although your giggles turned to squeals as Ben started to tickle you. 'Oi! If I've been upgraded to girlfriend after 27 years, I'd expect the girlfriend privileges to start right from the off!' You continued to giggle and squeal as Ben tickled you relentlessly. Your arms found their way around Ben's neck and he pulled you in again for a sweet kiss, both of you grinning at each other in between kisses. In that moment, you'd never felt so loved, so cherished in your life. You knew right then and there that this was the man you would meet at the end of the aisle, the man you would one day welcome kids into the world with, the man you would grow old with.

As you and the boys settled into the sofa, you and Ben snuggled up together like two birds of a feather, you whipped out your phone to check your messages one last time. As you did so, a notification popped up:

Harv's Phone would like to AirDrop you a photo. Accept?

You clicked accept, and your heart instantly melted when you saw that it was a photo of you and Ben in the kitchen, big grins on both of your faces as you held each other. It was the sweetest photo anyone had ever taken of you, and you instantly set it as your new wallpaper.

An idea popped into your mind, and you went to message Leo. Attaching the photo to a message, you simply texted him:

So when you asked about Ben asking me out on a date...

You sent it, and he immediately responded with:

OMG!!!! So happy for you babe, that man will love you for the rest of your life. Xx

And you had absolutely zero doubt in your head that no truer words had ever been spoken.

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safyresky · 5 months ago

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So I don't really know what the Crystal Springs stuff is, but I was casually scrolling the tag on your blog and it looks really compelling! Do you have a quick little blurb of what it is because I am delighted by what I have skimmed. (I am also too tired rn to comprehend things so maybe I will get it when looking after some sleep, but still.)

What a DELIGHTFUL ask to wake up to! Thank you, Anon! I will DO MY BEST to be short & sweet & to the point for you bc I totally get it lmao--I am an ALWAYS tired bitch 🤭

Crystal Springs was (and is!) a fanfic (genfic) I wrote as a continuation to the Christmas movie The Santa Clause 3. It focuses on Jack Frost, post-thawing at the end of the movie, and how things have been going for him in the year following. Here's the (long form from ao3) summary for you:

It's been almost a year since Jack Frost thawed and things are looking...well, not so great. Jack's powers are seemingly gone. Without them, the Dome that keeps the North Pole safe from the cold and its magic controlled is melting, putting everything and everyone magical at risk. Unable to hide his power shortage any longer, Jack is forced to admit the truth. Thankfully, there is a solution: enacting the Legate Law, bringing Jack and the sister that he hurt so many centuries ago back together again. But when Jacqueline starts experiencing destructive blackouts, the pair are forced to head back home to Crystal Springs, bringing Jack face to face with the rest of his estranged family. Needless to say, between getting his powers back, helping his sister figure out what in the FROST those blackouts even were, reconciling with his parents, meeting the two even younger siblings he didn't even KNOW he had, NOT TO MENTION the ancient threat that's had it out for the ENTIRE Frost family finally making a move? Saving Christmas (regrettably) is looking to be a little bit...complicated.

You can read it HERE on ao3 and HERE on fanfiction dot net. I've been told it's quite good! ;)

Since writing it and posting it in 2012ish, it's kind of taken a life of it's own? Hence the fun tag, lol. It's grown so big and I've got so many little guys in it now that it's become so far removed from the movies it's not even funny, and I'd LOVE to one day see about publishing it! After like, 7 plus degrees of removal because I am not unconvinced that Disney wouldn't come after me about it, given who their lead actor for that particular franchise is.

Anyway, you don't really need to watch the movies to get it; and you can start right at Crystal Springs in terms of reading order! There is a sort of prologue to the fic, called Meet the Frosts, (ao3 is the most up to date/nice to read version of it) in which we do that exact thing! It has a really good "history of Crystal Springs" lore dump in chapter one, which you can find right here on the hellsite, even! It's a fun summary of the beginnings of CS, how it came to be ruled by a monarchy, and how the monarchy was eventually replaced with a democracy inspired system via the Assembly.

So what is Crystal Springs, itself?

It is a magical landmass hidden away from the rest of the world in which all SORTS of fantasy creatures, legends, folktales, magical beings and so on and so forth can see and visit and call their home, if they'd like.

It has existed for THOUSANDS of years. It's been through three whole eras (roughly) and all sorts of magical shenanigans ensue there! It's called Crystal Springs because the centre of the landmass holds a huge, sprawling series of freshwater springs in the mountains, and they heal all magical beings.

It's basically just a big, huge melting pot of fantasy creatures and I'm so very fond of it! The main characters at present are usually the Frosts, lol.

There's Jack, of course. Then there's his younger sister/second-in-command/next in line for the title of Jack Frost, Jacqueline. Crystal Springs focuses on them reuniting and Jacqueline dragging Jack back home to reunite with the rest of his family: Winter, his mother, the literal season; Blaise, his father, ex-prince of Crystal Springs, governor of the capital of the continent, the city of Crystal Springs (they got a whole New York, New York thing going on there lol), and his two youngest siblings he's never met: The Twins, Fino and Fiera, who live to be cute, set things on fire, wreak chaos and hit you with wisdom when you least expect it.

While Winter is winter, Blaise is a summer sprite. Not Summer herself, of course; but a sprite with all the powers of the summer season! So half of Jack's family is just on fire 🤭

There are a whole HOST of other characters you'll meet along the way! The other seasons, the other Legendary Figures, their seconds in command; OCs friends have made that sometimes appear in Crystal Springs (usually under the cs au tag); fics inspired by the story??!?!?! (Absolutely WILDING thing to see fr fr!) Miller's Law is a DELIGHTFUL read, focusing on Lucy (who thawed Jack) and Jack, featuring the cast of Crystal Springs/low key taking place in a world where Crystal Springs exists! AND it has the AMAZING Melusine, one of the aforementioned friendly neighbourhood OCs! Jacqueline herself has story hopped in Rules of Engagement, where we meet her biffer, Elle!

There's plenty of oneshots and sillies in the smile shots tag. I have a sequel planned that is a wip (the beginning and end are beat sheeted/note plotted out, but the middle. She eludes me. For now...) and I've shared some shadowy snippets from that! Sometimes I dabble in CS angst, and those are sometimes filed under frowny shots because I think I'm cute and clever, lol.

There's also a GIGANTIC HUMONGOUS fic called The Twelve Years of Frostmas (on ao3 and ff dot net) that focuses on the timeline in the movie when Jack takes over as Santa, leaving Jacqueline to take over as Jack Frost! That one is a very fun romp! VERY LONG. May need some more third movie context but is very enjoyable, or so I've been told ;)

I do talk about it quite a bit because I love it to death, and lately I've been tagging everything cs related as "cs posting" so people can blacklist it if they came here for fandom and fandom ONLY. I should probably make that it's own post but I figured I'd add it here for the curious who made it this far. On that note!

Sorry this got a bit out of hand anon, if you made it this far. I really need an elevator pitch for this thing, or like, a masterpost guide I can pin. Problem is, I quite enjoy pinning the art my friends make because it brings me joy and I need EVERYONE to see it lol!

Hopefully somewhere in this mess of text I helped explain CS to you a little bit! And ty for asking! I have now been awake for two hours and am doing cartwheels in my head I'm so happy to have gotten this ask (I can't do cartwheels irl/probably should do cartwheels at work lmao)

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