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m1d-45 · 1 year

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You know, I've been thinking. The stars in our world often look quite dim, especially in areas where there is light pollution. Suddenly, I'm imagining that in the Imposter!AU, the Creator looks at the stars at night, captivated by their brilliance. Perhaps Scaramouche or Mona (Whichever you prefer, you may also just write another character you think fits this scenario :D) find them. The Creator looks at them, then back at the stars.

"They're very lovely, you know? The stars never shine this brightly back home. It's a lovely sight..."

They smile. "I'm happy that I'm able to see them, even if it's in another world. I appreciate you letting me look at them before I die."

Perhaps the character takes pause... And sits next to them.

It's a lovely night.

in the stars

word count: ~1k

-> warnings: violence, blood, both of those in your future so technically you’re not hurt yet, not written for mona mains, sorry, didn’t work with the plot :/ also diona/klee/qiqi/nahida/sayu mains are on thin ice with this one. questionable plot. barely edited.

-> lowercase intended

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie

< masterlist >

the stars never lie.

mona clutches her catalyst to her chest, wide eyes turned to the sky. she whispers to them, hoping they’ll change, shift into something she’ll understand, anything.

they don’t.

her head lowers, inspecting the book. thrilling tales, the spine reads, the cover a simplified dragon with a sword through it. she tries to read into it, to try and pick apart the motives behind the weapon, but all it returns is a simple needlepoint.

a compass. one she’d followed ever since she caved into the pull on her catalyst, one she’d followed out of the city at dusk and into the plains, hiking up starsnatch cliff at its behest. her twin tails had lost some of their curl on the journey, her hat flopping sadly. it was late, later than she’d normally be awake, and she stumbled once on a rock before quickly catching herself, checking to make sure you hadn’t moved.

you, sat at the peak of the cliff. you, surrounded by cecelias, face turned to the stars. you, who turned at her short cry.

“are you alright?”

she couldn’t bring her hands to shift her catalyst into its attack position. her hands, free from their usual gloves, dug into the cover of the book, shaking both with the chill of night and with… she couldn’t tell, couldn’t pin whether it was fear or nervousness, or something else that blurred the line between panic and excitement.

“just fine, thank you.”

her voice was harsher than it should have been. she could tell you were being genuine, the way the water in the air shaped around you like it wanted to cling made that clear enough, the stars shining down on you as if you were the only being on the planet.

the stars never lie. so why were they saying you meant no harm?

you turned back to the stars, your hands shifting back to weave into the grass between the cecelias.

"they’re very lovely tonight. the stars, i mean. they never shine this brightly back home….” against her better judgement, mona glanced up. the sky was particularly clear, constellations shining down unhindered. “it’s a beautiful sight.”

orders from the knights echoed in mona’s head, orders extended from a god she’d never met. she knew the knights wholeheartedly meant what they said, truly believing the words they were told, but you…

hesitantly, she brought her hand in a circle in front of her, scrying for your constellation. you didn’t have one, unsurprisingly, and she relaxed slightly in the knowledge that you didn’t have a vision.. still, there was something strange about the empty space where yours would have been. swapping the sigils and rotating the outer edge, mona decided to read your future.

all the air was sucked from her lungs, the images depicted in the water making her mouth dry. the water warped and bubbled a dark color, as if it itself hated to show what it did.

you were on your knees, tight steel chains wrapped around you and latched onto hooks in whatever you were sitting on. in front of you stood the favored, the creator’s most prized, their weapon drawn. their form was taught with anger, nearly seething. it was strange, so uncharacteristic that it froze the astrologist in place for a moment.

no matter how fiery the disposition, vessels of yours were calmer after being wished upon, heart stiller for being by your side. they, the most prominent on your team of them all, should be at most handling such a severe situation with a tick in their jaw and quiet fury in their eyes, not…

she watched with sick horror as the favored attacks once, your chest caving once, twice with hitched attempts at breathing before you slumped over, blood trickling from your neck. the favored stepped back, weapon dismissed, and mona closed the illusion before it played any further. she hadn’t meant to look all the way to your death, only a few-

…only a few hours.

her hands shake where they’re still clasped in front of her, the remains of her scrying circle swirling in her palms. you didn’t even have a day.

she let the water fall, sending it towards the cecelias around you, willing them to stand brighter as she approached. she couldn’t bring herself to summon her catalyst, not now that she knew what your fate held.

the grass was damp beneath her, seeping slightly into her nightclothes. you didn’t say anything, simply passing her a flower that you had been twirling in your palms. she willed it to heal, restored the color to its petals and the strength to its stem, then passed it back. she had no use for it, not when you…

you chuckled as you took it, staring down at it for a moment before turning skyward once more. mona followed your eyes up, spotting a well known constellation directly above you. nearly perfectly straight up, glowing like a beacon, was the constellation of the favored, six stars making themselves prominent against the dotted sea of night.

“beautiful, isn’t it?”

she swallowed, eyes flicking down to you. you were still watching the stars, probably tracing the shape of the constellation above you. unknowing of what it spelled for your fate, unknowing of the warning written above you.

mona settled into the grass a little more, taking her hat off her head so it wouldn’t fall when she looked up again.

“indeed, it is.”

#genshin sagau #genshin self aware au #self aware genshin #sagau #genshin #sagau impostor au #genshin impact #mona #mona megistus #sagau mona #sagau mona megistus #another fool with too many names smh #ANYWAY anon you are so right actually #and with mona? her character is criminally underutilized (i’m a criminal as well)#she can instantly tell intentions; tell truths from lies; literally just a scroll through her wiki lore page aiskksjd SHES SO INTERESTING #like…….. ugh….. i don’t have as good a grasp on her character as i’d like to because she’s so cool… so interesting and so many POSSIBILITIES #meant to post this forever ago sorry #but my mind made me write a 6k piece on the fatui harbingers soo…. :))#yeah i’ve been. i started a new project that can’t really be posted bc it’s vvvv self indulgent so requests are even further sidelined UGH #mmmm procrastinating requests even though i have no reason to

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cleo-serotonin · 8 months

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hear me out, since emma had to give up swimming she decided to take up ice skating ! i feel like it suits her super well, it takes a lot of discipline and grace (classic emma traits) and it could have actually given her development. instead the show shoves *sh d*ve down our throats <\3 also if the ice was uneven/melty she’d just slyly freeze it. she’s a super athletic person she would definitely need something to fill the void and this way she could stay active and sweat wouldn’t be a problem

#did i think of this bc im making webkinz h2o cosplays and put ice skates on my emma?#maybe i have the mind of a mastermind #rikki would watch from the sidelines and foam at the mouth #need to make fanart asapp #i can’t remember if sweat is a problem for them i don’t think it is but i also can not recall it being mentioned #but for the sake of this hc it now is !#h2o just add water #emma gilbert #headcanon #au #hc #h20 just add water

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dandylovesturtles · 6 months

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Sidelined AU Info Post

Alright, I guess we're doing this

CWs: mentions of internalized ableism, struggles with mental health

Timeline:

all of S1 is the same as in canon up until End Game

however, after Splinter turns over the helmet to Draxum, Draxum does not put on the armor, but chooses to put Leo inside instead, realizing that whoever goes in will probably have something horrible happen to them. that's detailed in this fic

unlike Draxum, who gets spit out of the armor immediately, Leo ends up trapped inside. from Leo's perspective, he is only vaguely aware of what's happening outside (it's a bit sunken place-ish, with him seeing snatches of events like through a grainy television), and he has only small amounts of influence over what the armor does

once Feral Shredder is on the loose, he pretty immediately starts destroying the Hidden City. Draxum realizes that he has inadvertently released a great evil on his people, the exact opposite of what he wanted, and he turns to the Hamatos to help him stop it. obviously they don't want to work with Draxum, but they have to get Leo back so they take the help

it takes them two days, during which the Shredder moves up to start terrorizing New York as well, but eventually they get him subdued. I'm not 100% on what goes down yet or whether Big Mama gets involved (I'm leaning toward not), but Leo fighting from the inside is a big help

Leo is removed from the armor and is in really bad physical shape; meanwhile the Shredder is subdued for now. in the immediate aftermath, the Foot Clan manages to get ahold of the Shredder and take off with him

he's too weak to do anything immediately but he is very much a Looming Threat the family is aware of

Draxum leaves for awhile at this point because none of them want him around and seeing Leo in the aftermath did wake him up to "oh yeah that's just a kid and I did that to him," also he's feeling real bad about that whole "accidentally almost destroying the yokai and also maybe the world" thing

meanwhile, Leo is severely weakened, but there's not anything that the family can do to hasten his recovery. they can only get him hooked up to an IV for fluids and nutrients and wait

it takes Leo a few days to become fully lucid again; during that time he tries to fight anyone around him off or sometimes pushes his family away to "protect" them

eventually Leo does regain lucidity, he tells everyone he's fine but he's Super Depressed. he's also lost his mystic powers completely.

Splinter also retreats a bit at this point, because he feels guilt for handing the helmet over to Draxum instead of trying to find a different way to rescue his boys, which isn't a great thing for him to do but his mental health is also not doing very well (someone get these guys some therapy)

in the meantime the bros and April manage the best they can, they all have different approaches but I'll go into detail about that in the next section

there's no treatment for Leo's condition outside the most boring one: time, exercise, and diet. unsurprisingly he hates this

Healing Bad Times abound, as shown in this fic

eventually the boys have to go out on a mission again. Leo, feeling useless, listens in on the comms from the lair, and ends up catching something the other boys' missed, meaning he's able to save them from a trap or something idk exactly what the point is he makes himself useful

this opens up a new path for Leo, one his brothers very heavily encourage

with a new goal in mind, Leo starts taking a lot better care of himself, actually following his physical therapy routine, spending time gaining new skills, and accepting help in the form of mobility aids. his physical and mental health both start making big improvements

this also helps his dad's mental health, everyone is doing better even if things aren't perfect

Donnie builds Leo a command center modeled after the bridge of Jupiter Jim's ship, he absolutely loves it. whenever the boys+April are on missions, Leo is in his command center helping from the background

eventually Leo has gotten to the point where he has enough strength for day to day life most of the time, he still isn't fighting baddies on rooftops but he can get to a store and back without collapsing on a good day and that's pretty good!

the Foot Clan has been a much bigger threat in this version of S2 and it's clear they're up to something big

of course right when Leo is starting to feel stable and happy again, that's when they launch their final attack

a lot of the finale events go down similarly to how they do in canon, minus Battle Nexus New York. they get Karai back but then she dies, Shredder destroys their home (including Leo's command center :c ), everything is Bad

Leo gets his mystic powers back the same way his brothers do, though he needs a little bit of an extra helping nudge from April/Karai, since he didn't think that was a thing he could still do

everyone getting their mystic powers is emotional but it's especially emotional for Leo. he didn't even know what ninpo was before today, but he knew after the Shredder it was like some part of his soul got locked away, and now that he can feel it again he finally feels whole

it gives him a burst of adrenaline so he can participate in the fight, though he doesn't do much of the actual battling, instead getting his bros where they need to be for the big hits (I mean this is basically what he does anyway haha)

it takes Donnie exactly .02 seconds to figure out how to use his own mystic powers to support Leo physically so that helps

after this, Leo becomes a more constant part of the team in the field, though he still primarily works as support and only gets into direct fights when he feels like he has to

instead of being made leader like in canon, Leo and Raph become co-leaders. Leo's own leadership abilities have improved massively, but Raph has more experience in the field, so having the two of them working together means they cover each other's blind spots, and the division of labor is less stressful for both of them

since Leo's already been through his character development and this tension is gone the movie events play out totally differently but I haven't gotten that far yet lol. I'm sure the apocalypse still happens somehow, though, I'd hate to lose Casey Jr

happy ending whooo

Relationships

Raph

Raph feels a lot of guilt about what happened to Leo; he was supposed to protect his little brothers and he didn't, and now one of them has permanent physical disabilities as a result. add to that it was Raph's idea to be heroes in the first place and yeah... he's not doing great

because of this guilt, Raph's instinct is to essentially baby Leo - he wants to take care of his every need as soon as it arises. this makes Leo feel stifled and infantilized, and drives a wedge in their relationship (the same one Raph is driving between himself and Mikey, in fact)

his and Donnie's distinctly different approaches to the situation also mean that they get into arguments often and can't really deal with being around each other, leaving Raph feeling isolated at the start (and thus pouring more attention and effort into Leo, which compounds the problem)

Raph dealing with his own guilt and trying to find the balance between helping Leo while also respecting his need for independence, boundaries, and dignity is a big part of his journey in the AU, and it also improves his relationship with Mikey and Donnie as he gets better at those skills

Donnie

Donnie is not dealing well with the fact that there's nothing to fix. they can only be patient and work incrementally to improve Leo's condition

he distracts himself by putting all his energy into making the lair accessible for Leo, building him mobility aids and doing everything he can to help

he also has a hard time understanding why Leo won't do the things that will help him (at first), because doesn't he just want things to go back to normal? doesn't he want to help himself? why won't he just do what he obviously has to do, Donnie does not understand

Leo is deep in denial at first, and he feels like he breaks down and starts doing physical therapy and using mobility aids and doing basically any of the things that will help him, that means it's not going to magically get better, it's going to take time and effort and it will probably never be fixed, just improved, and he hates that so much he's choosing to treat this like a temporary cold or flu that will blow over any day now

Donnie doesn't understand that so he takes Leo's refusal as a rejection and animosity abounds!

breakdowns and admissions of feelings will eventually happen

Donnie and Leo together come to grips with the idea that there is no fixing this and there is no return to how things were before but they can work toward a new normal that's just as good

Mikey

this one is a little bit too big for Dr. Delicate Touch and Dr. Feelings

Mikey tries, but he is just a kid, and with their dad emotionally retreating too there's just too many feelings for him to deal with on his own

he's gonna play family therapist until he breaks

he's frustrated because he can see what each of his brothers need to do to feel better but they just! won't! they won't do it, and he doesn't know how to make them

he's really stressed

it's Mikey that realizes that Leo needs goals to work toward to get himself motivated to take care of himself, and it's Mikey who pushes the hardest for Leo's new role in the team

sometimes Mikey will challenge Leo to something silly, like who can make the most throws of a paper ball into a trash can, just to push Leo into exercising

he finds other little ways to help the others too, but he still can't solve the big problems on his own

meltdown ensues

Mikey has to learn to take care of himself, too, while the others have to learn they can't lean so hard on him for all their emotional problems

April

the only one holding on around here. it helps that she doesn't actually have to live in the powderkeg

takes a rationally minded approach to all these problems, kind of functioning like family therapist along with Mikey but in a healthier and more controlled way

helps get them resources from above ground

Leo opens up the most about his feelings about his physical condition to her first, because she strikes the best balance between being a sympathetic ear without coddling him

she's also stressed, but she has an outside support network so she's handling it better

Splinter

fully blames himself for what happened to Leo and has a hard time getting over it

depression in full swing

it means he can't easily get out of bed to help his kids, but then he feels bad because he isn't helping them, which worsens the depression, which makes it hard to get out of bed... a vicious cycle

when Leo starts working on his condition he gets a pact out of his dad that they will both work on being healthier together

maybe they manage to find an actual therapist eventually idk lol

either way, Splinter and Leo grumpily sitting over their plate of broccoli and then Leo says "bet I can eat more pieces than you" and it's on son

he's trying his best

Leo's Condition

Leo came out of the armor severely dehydrated and malnourished, even more so than any person should realistically be after two days; just keeping him from dying of the dehydration was the most immediate struggle

the main issue is that Leo's life force, mystic abilities included, were basically sucked out, leaving his body catastrophically physically weak

his muscle mass can come back with time and diet

the bigger problems are the bone density and chronic fatigue. while Leo can improve these, they'll never be back to where they were before the Dark Armor

his reduced bone density means he has to be careful doing anything physical because the chance he can break a bone is much higher than average, and he stands to suffer more from that break than the average person

he'll eventually get to where he can go through his day-to-day life just fine most days, and can even do some of the physical things he enjoyed before, he just has to be careful and know his limits. he'll never be pulling the 1440 off the halfpipe again, but he can still skateboard as long as he's careful.

even when recovered (as much as he can be), he has bad days and days when the fatigue is really strong. how Leo feels on a bad day is up in the air; sometimes he's at peace with it and generally cheerful, happy to be around his family even if he spends most of the time in his chair or on the couch dozing in and out. other days the depression rears its ugly head and he can get a bit nasty and bitter again. his family is much more patient with him on days like that than he is with himself.

in the beginning Leo also has brain fog and sensitivity to light and sound. these clear up over time, especially once Leo starts making more effort to exercise his brain. he starts reading a lot more and doing puzzles, especially things like sudoku and word puzzles, which helps a lot. thankfully these changes aren't permanent

his inner ears were also damaged a bit, this also heals up largely on its own, sometimes he still has difficulties hearing his brothers if they're whispering or far away but it's not so bad he needs assistance

Leo's Devices

Wheelchair

this is obviously the one Donnie had the most fun building and it shows. this baby is tricked out. Leo also likes to suggest improvements often, some for actual functionality but many just because he thinks it would be cool (like neon lights on the spokes)

it is blue obviously. do you even need me to tell you that?

it's fully electronic but Leo can also wheel it around freely if he wishes. Leo likes to wheel himself when he has the energy because it's good exercise he doesn't have to go out of his way for and he just likes feeling like he's moving himself under his own power. but when he's not feeling up to it he just drives it with the electronic controls instead

it has handles that extend and retract. being allowed to touch the handles is a major sign of Leo's trust and initially it's only for his bros + April + Splinter. Leo hates being moved when he doesn't actually ask to be moved, and he also hates being tipped backwards so his fam knows not to do it even as a joke (and it's so heavy that tipping him is kind of hard, anyway). someone touching the handles or messing around with them without permission gets you immediate backlash from protective siblings

that said Leo has them extended often so he can hang things off them, even though Donnie constantly gripes that that is not their intended purpose!

Sr Hueso is another person who gets handle-touching-privileges pretty fast, and he's also the one Leo asks to move him most often because he thinks it's really funny. he hams it up every time. Hueso is exasperated but does it anyway

(if Hueso adds a few extra wheelchair-accessible tables to Run of the Mill no one has to know)

the chair can also be moved by S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. this is mostly just for emergency situations, or times when the chair is somewhere Leo is not. Shelldon is a very good boy who does not move the chair without Leo's permission.

it has a billion storage spaces and little hidey holes and it can sync with Leo's phone to play music and it also has a charge port for his phone and yeah basically anything Leo and Donnie can come up with goes into this thing. it's a behemoth

Donnie also made Leo a lighter-weight chair with fewer features that he most often uses when he's good using his walker/cane/braces but wants to clear a larger distance first, and eventually Donnie makes him an athletic wheelchair so he can play games like wheelchair basketball

Walker

the walker is also blue but there's nothing particularly special about it

Leo hates using it because it feels like an old person thing. even if realistically he knows there are plenty of reasons people use them, including his own situation, culture is culture and it makes him feel bad no matter what rationality states

so basically once he doesn't have to use it he doesn't

as they all get more comfortable with Leo's situation and he starts openly using humor to cope, jokes about Leo's chair and cane become pretty commonplace in the fam (all good-natured of course). they know the walker is too much of a sore spot though, and poking fun at it is the fastest way to get Leo to do something stupid, so no one does. it's better to just pretend it's not there

Crutches/Canes

he eventually ends up with a variety of these, with different levels of support depending on what he's needing on a given day.

some of the canes are more fashionable than others. this is important to him.

Leo pretty much always has one of these on hand just in case, even on days where he feels alright to walk on his own

he is not afraid to bonk a brother with a cane or crutch but he does so knowing they are free to retaliate

Leg Braces

Leo doesn't need these every day but they're a pretty standard part of his wardrobe at this point

they start out plain but get increasingly elaborately decorated as time goes on because he, Donnie, and Mikey can't help themselves

like the walker, the braces are in the "don't make fun of" zone, though Leo is happy to get positive comments about them and doesn't really need their presence ignored

Other Mobility Aids

Leo has a variety of things to help with his loss of grip strength, difficulties bending over, tremors, etc. all of them are either made by Donnie or ethically "acquired" by April

he drives everyone crazy by leaving them in random places and then forgetting where they are. Donnie starts installing locator tags on everything they give Leo

jokes about these are fine, Leo makes them often himself and has silly names for all of them (this also drives Donnie crazy)

#rottmnt #sidelined au #phew #can't believe it lol I don't need more AUs but here we are #also I do not have any mobility disabilities myself #a lot of this comes from experiences with family + research #however feel free to correct me if I've misrepresented anything!#I do want to be respectful #it's why it's important for me to stress the name of the AU is based on Leo's own feelings (and how he overcomes them)#and not intended as an outward judgement on his situation or abilities

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pyrohonk · 1 year

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Enough of the "Steve owns a coffee shop and Eddie is best customer" or vise versa, that's getting boring. I want Steve and Eddie, proud owners of seperate competing coffee shops, both trying to outdo the other while accidentally falling in love

#steddie #coffee shop au with a twist #they would get wayyy too into it #robin and Crissy on the sidelines be like ._.

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myonmukyuu · 4 months

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One-sided Nana => Ayumu

Prompt:

#i have this AU that exclusively exists in my head #where setsuna disbands the idol club but never joins back #and she just admires ayumu from the sidelines #and ayumu doesnt even know her #parasocial nanapomu...#it's really juicy i want to take it further some day #love live #setsuna yuki #ayumu uehara #nana nakagawa #my art #nanapomu #setsuayu

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lnfours · 10 months

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sideline (three) | t.h

summary -> tom holland: the name thats always floating around campus, and for good reason. he’s the captain of the hockey team, he’s good looking, and he’s always caught up in an off and on again relationship with the president of the sorority. that’s where you come in. you two had made a deal to make your exes jealous, but we all know how fake relationships end.

wc -> a rule breaking 2.5k

warnings -> fluff, jealous exes, and fluff.

🎵 spotify playlist | 📖 prev/next chapter | 📂 masterlist

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

it was finally friday, the night of the first home hockey game. you were in the bathroom, trying desperately to curl the back of your head, but no luck.

you huffed, “mia! can you come here real quick?!”

your voice echoed, her footsteps being your sign that she heard you. she opened the door to your bedroom, walking into the small half bathroom.

“what’s up?” she met your eyes in the mirror, cracking a smile at how distressed you look.

“can you curl the back of my hair, please?”

she smiled, holding her hand out for the curling wand. she sectioned your hair, grabbing a reasonably sized chunk before wrapping it around the barrel.

“so,” she dragged the ‘o’, “you excited for tonight?”

you shrugged, “i suppose. would be nice to actually see tom play.”

“oh, i meant to ask,” she said, “but how did you two even start dating? was it the night of the party?”

you bit down on your bottom lip, “yeah, yeah. i guess we sorta kinda just clicked? i don’t really know how to explain it.”

she smiled, “i was just making sure this is something you really wanted. i mean, i know i’m one to talk, but with everything that happened with jack, i just want to make sure you’re okay.”

you smiled softly at her in the mirror, “i’m okay, i just want to move on and be happy again.”

“understandable,” she said, “what he did was so fucked up. he’s lucky i haven’t seen him yet because i will quite literally give him an ass whooping.”

you laughed, “i love you.”

she smiled back at you, “i love you, too,” she turned the curling wand off, placing it down on the sink before admiring her work, “and you’re all set, hot stuff.”

you smiled, “thanks.”

“i’m gonna go make sure sarah isn’t trying to leave the house with sweatpants on.” she said and you laughed as she made her way back down the steps.

your phone buzzed on the counter, a message popping up on your screen. you grabbed the phone, plopping down on your stomach onto the mattress.

tom dropped something off for you at your door see you soon :)

you locked your phone before running down the steps, laughing as you heard sarah’s complaining about the outfit mia suggested she wore tonight. you opened the front door, a bag sitting on the carpet in the hallway.

you grabbed it and shut the door, reading the sticky note that was plopped on top of whatever was inside the bag.

fake girlfriend or not, there’s no one else i’d want wearing my last name tonight.

the tickets are at the bottom, see you tonight :) - tom

you pulled out the black jersey, the stitching on the back reading tom’s last name and his number. you smiled, grabbing your phone out of the back pocket of your jeans.

y/n thank you! i love it

you slipped your phone back into your pocket, jogging up the stairs. you entered sarah’s room where mia was laying on the bed, smiling contently with her efforts on getting mia to dress up a little bit. you entered the room, your eyes immediately going wide at sarah’s outfit.

“you look hot!”

“see, told you,” mia said, throwing her hands up in the air, “wear the outfit!”

she was in a black turtleneck sweater tucked into the front of her light wash jeans that quite literally fit her like a glove. she wore a pair of black booties with them, with some light makeup on (courtesy of mia).

sarah hardly ever got dressed up like this anymore, which she never really had to. she looked gorgeous either way. but ever since her and her ex boyfriend broke up, she’d lost the motivation to throw on cute outfits, just opting in on staying in sweats or pajamas all day. if there was a party, it was leggings, one of her comfort hoodies, and her beat up pair of converse that were now considered her ‘frat shoes’.

you and mia both tried to get her back to being her confident, carefree self. but, it was hard. hard for all of you, especially sarah. at the end of the day, you both just wanted her happy again.

“mia, this bra is suffocating my tits,” she said, tugging at the cups, “how the fuck do you wear this everyday?”

you both laughed, “you’ll get used to it.”

“what’s that, y/n?” mia asked, nodding towards the bag in your hand. you smiled, grabbing the material from the bag and holding it up for both the girls to see.

“no way!”

“shut the fuck up!!”

you laughed, smiling, “i know, i know.”

“that’s so cute,” mia said, sticking her bottom lip out. sarah agreed, nodding her head as she put a hand over her heart.

“finally, y/n finding someone who treats her right.”

you chuckled, fishing the tickets out of the bottom of the bag, “here’s our tickets. we should probably leave soon.”

“yes ma’am,” mia said, fakely saluting you.

sarah and you laughed, each of you departing to your own rooms to finish up getting ready and to grab your things.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

the arena was packed for the first home game filled with a bunch of parents and college kids hoping for their team to win. tom was nice enough to get you, mia and sarah seats right near the ice.

“okay, can i just say, i love tom. i mean, look at these seats.”

you smiled over at sarah, “yeah, it was really nice of him.”

mia was looking around at the people near you, seeing if anyone else you guys knew showed up for the game. she immediately whipped her head back around to you, slapping your arm to get your attention.

“jack’s here.”

there’s that nervous pit again.

“wait, where?” sarah asked, moving to turn around in her seat. mia reached over you and grabbed her arm to stop.

“don’t look at him! he’s a couple rows up.”

great.

your phone buzzed in your pocket, you fished it out and tapped on the message notification.

tom hey, how're your seats?

y/n they’re great! other than the fact that jack is a couple rows behind me but otherwise they’re great :)

tom oh shit, i’m sorry i can have someone come get you and move you guys if you want

y/n no, no it’s okay

you bit down on your bottom lip, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

let’s just make him jealous, like we said we would

tom with pleasure. see you after the game

y/n good luck :)

you locked your phone, mia turning to look at you, “you okay?”

you nodded, tucking a piece of hair away from your face, “yeah, actually. i am.”

it wasn’t a complete lie. sure, seeing jack was like a sucker punch to the gut, but you decided to not let it overpower you tonight. you were here with your best friends, supporting one of the nicest, funniest, caring guys you’ve ever met.

as the night went on, you and your friends cheered on tom’s team. he scored the winning goal and the arena erupted with cheers and applause. you, mia and sarah immediately jumped out of your seats, screaming and cheering as tom shrugged off his helmet and was hugged by his team. once everyone had calmed down, he skated over to your section, holding up a heart made out of his hands. you smiled, holding up one back.

his subtle jab of rubbing it into jack’s face. smooth.

once the arena cleared out, you let mia and sarah head back in mia’s car as you waited for tom. you were waiting in the lobby, scrolling on your phone trying to pass time.

“hey,” you heard a voice and looked up to see jack, “didn’t know you liked our hockey team.”

you slipped your phone into your pocket, clearing your throat, “uh, yeah. kinda getting back into liking hockey.”

he nodded, “yeah. i mean, sleeping with the captain of the team kinda helps, doesn’t it?”

you opened your mouth to speak, but felt a hand wrap around your waist. you were immediately enveloped in the scent of tom’s cologne.

“hey, baby,” he said, leaning in and pressing a kiss to your cheek. you masked the surprise that ran through your body, smiling over at him as he looked over at jack, “sorry, didn’t catch your name, mate. you are?”

jack’s eyes narrowed on tom’s figure, “jack.”

“jack, i’m tom, nice to meet you.” he said, holding out his hand for him to shake. jack didn’t accept the handshake, but just shifted his gaze to you.

“didn’t you say jocks aren’t your type?” he asked, and eyebrow raised at you.

“funny how we both said things we didn’t mean.” you spit back. he opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by his friends calling his name behind him. he rolled his eyes, turning around and walking towards his group.

“pleasure was all mine, mate! see you later!” tom called back after him. you let a chuckle escape your mouth as he unwrapped his arm from around you, turning to face you, “you okay?”

you nodded, “yeah. thank you.”

“that’s what i’m here for,” he smiled, “hungry? we can get something to eat before i drop you off at home?”

you nodded, “sounds good.”

he nodded towards the door, the two of you walking out towards the parking lot. he opened the passenger side door for you. you thanked him before he jogged around to his side, buckling in and starting the car before passing you his phone.

“put on whatever you want.”

you scrolled through his spotify, finding a couple songs you knew and put them on through the car speakers. he pulled into the parking lot to one of the diners in town. the two of you made your way inside before sitting in a booth across from one another.

you scanned over the menu, “what’re you going to get?”

he hummed, “don’t know. kinda going back and forth between the club and the chicken parm. what about you?”

you hummed, twisting your lips in thought, “the grilled cheese and tomato soup sounds good.”

he smiled, “does sound good.”

once the two of you ordered and got your food, you made small talk about the game.

“i don’t think jack likes me much.” tom chuckled, taking a sip of his drink.

“no, really?” you smiled, voice laced with sarcasm, “what gave it away? was it the blatant ignoring or was it something else i didn’t pick up on?”

he smiled, “not that i care about his opinion of me, but he could’ve at least shook my hand.”

you nodded in agreement, “yeah, no, he didn’t have to be such a dick about it.”

the bill came and after trying to grab it from him for about five minutes, you finally let him pay. you walked out, letting him open the car door for you, as he always does. you two were on the way back to your house, laughing and enjoying comfortable conversation.

“so, tell me,” he said, “are you really not into the jock type?”

you nodded, “yeah, i mean, guys who i’ve met who were athletes were like the stereotypical jock type. the huge ego, kinda kept their girlfriend by their side as arm candy, never really cared about the woman they were with, you know?”

he nodded, “yeah, i don’t really get how guys can do that. any guy who doesn’t worship their girl is a dick, in my opinion.”

you smiled, “are you the type of guy to worship your girl?”

“oh, yeah,” he said, “i mean, if you don’t then what’s the point, y’know?”

“i get you,” you said, “in my opinion, taylor didn’t deserve you.”

he smiled over at you, “a lot of other people would agree with you.”

who would willingly break tom’s heart? i mean, c’mon, he’s the definition of a perfect boyfriend.

no, stop thinking like that.

he pulled up in front of the house. you looked over at him, his brown eyes meeting yours.

“do you want to come inside?” you didn’t even notice the words were falling from your lips until you heard your own voice.

“sure.” he smiled, turning the car off. he followed you inside, mia and sarah sitting on the couch.

“hey,” you said, shutting the door and locking it, your eyes falling onto the tv, “what’re you guys watching?”

“the new episode of love island,” mia said, “shh.”

you looked at tom who was smiling at you. you rolled your eyes playfully, “okay, you guys have fun. we’re going upstairs.”

sarah gave you a thumbs up as the two of you climbed the stairs. you made your way to your room and shut the door. tom took a seat onto your bed, watching as you walked over to the dresser.

“i might have a pair of sweats you can change into,” you said, digging through one of the drawers, “if you want to stay.”

he smiled, “i’d love to stay.”

you smiled back at him before handing him the sweatpants, “i can uhm, find a t-shirt or something if you don’t want to sleep in your sweatshirt.”

“i’m good for now,” he smiled, taking the sweatpants into his hands, “thank you.”

you nodded, “the bathroom is over there.”

he nodded, walking into the bathroom. you quickly changed into a pair of leggings and a tanktop, sitting on the bed as he came out of the bathroom. he joined you on the bed, putting his phone on the nightstand.

“wanna watch a movie or something?”

he nodded, “yeah, anything in mind?”

you hummed as you clicked onto netflix, “i heard the new movie on netflix is good. something about a girl who’s in fake relationship or something.”

he let out a chuckle as you smiled over at him, “how fitting. maybe we could learn a thing or two.”

you clicked on the movie, the both of you getting situated on the bed. you two were mainly talking rather than paying attention. he was propped up on his elbow, facing you as you laid down on your side.

his eyes scanned your face, “oh, you have an eyelash.”

you reached up under the eye he pointed to, attempting to wipe it away.

“did i get it?”

he smiled softly, “no, here,”

he reached up gently and pinched the eyelash between his fingers. you smiled as he scanned your face again. you did the same, his face softly illuminated from the light from the tv. he looked like a dream, his curls flopped over his forehead. you didn’t realize how close the two of you had gotten until you could feel his warm breath fan your face. he reached over and moved a piece of hair from your face.

“what’re you thinking about?” you asked softly.

“how i broke one of the rules.”

you raised an eyebrow, “which one?”

“the first one,” he said, “‘no strings attached’. i can’t help it. you’re all that’s been on my mind ever since i met you.”

you let out a shaky breath at how close he was, “i may have broken that one, too.”

he smiled, “let’s scrap the rules. i want to explore this, whatever kind of feelings we may or may not have… if that’s what you want.”

“yeah,” you said, “fuck the rules.”

he smiled wider, “is it alright if i kiss you right now?”

“please.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

💌 beings my tagged list has gotten so long that tumblr literally won't let me add it, the tagged list is temporarily closed until i can figure it out. in the meantime, be sure to follow and turn on notifications for @toms-gf to be notified whenever i post imagines :)

xoxo, jordan

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