#story beats: beginning Act 2

[aurrai]

Story beats: Showing the main character's mindset change at the start of Act 2

Summary of the story so far:

In Act 1, Chiyo was forced out of the Normal World of her hometown where she lived with her father, mother, and older sister into the Special World of Kyoto where she lives in an okiya, a geisha house, and is in training as an apprentice geisha. Chiyo's goal is to run back to her hometown with her sister but she is caught and sent back to her okiya where her punishment for trying to run away is for her geisha training to be forfeit and her status reduced to that of a maid. She then finds out both her parents have passed away and her sister has run off. Now she has no Normal World to return to. Here is how Act 2 begins:

From MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden, Chapter 9 pp. 105-108.

---START OF TEXT---

Around the time of my sixty-fifth birthday, a friend sent me an article she'd found somewhere, called "The Twenty Greatest Geisha of Gion's Past." Or maybe it was the thirty greatest geisha, I don't remember. But there I was on the list with a little paragraph telling some things about me, including that I'd been born in Kyoto—which of course I wasn't. I can assure you I wasn't one of Gion's twenty greatest geisha either; some people have difficulty telling the difference between something great and something they've simply heard of. In any case, I would have been lucky to end up as nothing more than a bad geisha and an unhappy one, like so many other poor girls, if Mr. Tanaka had never written to tell me that my parents had died and that I would probably never see my sister again.

I'm sure you'll recall my saying that the afternoon when I first met Mr. Tanaka was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst. Probably I don't need to explain why it was the worst; but you may be wondering how I could possibly imagine that anything good ever came of it. It's true that up until this time in my life Mr. Tanaka had brought me nothing but suffering; but he also changed my horizons forever. We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course. If I'd never met Mr. Tanaka, my life would have been a simple stream flowing from our tipsy house to the ocean. Mr. Tanaka changed all that when he sent me out into the world. But being sent out into the world isn't necessarily the same as leaving your home behind you. I'd been in Gion more than six months by the time I received Mr. Tanaka's letter; and yet during that time, I'd never for a moment given up the belief that I would one day find a better life elsewhere, with at least part of the family I'd always known. I was living only half in Gion; the other half of me lived in my dreams of going home. This is why dreams can be such dangerous things: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes consume us completely.

During the rest of the spring and all that summer following the letter, I felt like a child lost on a lake in the fog. The days spilled one after another into a muddle. I remember only snippets of things, aside from a constant feeling of misery and fear. One cold evening after winter had come, I sat a long while in the maids' room watching snow falling silently into the okiya's little courtyard. I imagined my father coughing at the lonely table in his lonely house, and my mother so frail upon her futon that her body scarcely sank into the bedding. I stumbled out into the courtyard to try to flee my misery, but of course we can never flee the misery that is within us.

Then in early spring, a full year after the terrible news about my family, something happened. It was the following April, when the cherry trees were in blossom once again; it may even have been a year to the day since Mr. Tanaka's letter. I was almost twelve by then and was beginning to look a bit womanly, even though Pumpkin still looked very much like a little girl. I'd grown nearly as tall as I would ever grow. My body would remain thin and knobby like a twig for a year or two more, but my face had already given up its childish softness and was now sharp around the chin and cheekbones, and had broadened in such a way as to give a true almond shape to my eyes. In the past, men had taken no more notice of me on the streets than if I had been a pigeon; now they were watching me when I passed them. I found it strange to be the object of attention after being ignored for so long.

In any case, very early one morning that April, I awoke from a most peculiar dream about a bearded man. His beard was so heavy that his features were a blur to me, as if someone had censored them from the film. He was standing before me saying something I can't remember, and then all at once he slid open the paper screen over a window beside him with a loud clack. I awoke thinking I'd heard a noise in the room. The maids were sighing in their sleep. Pumpkin lay quietly with her round face sagging onto the pillow. Everything looked just as it always did, I'm sure; but my feelings were strangely different. I felt as though I were looking at a world that was somehow changed from the one I'd seen the night before-peering out, almost, through the very window that had opened in my dream.

I couldn't possibly have explained what this meant. But I continued thinking about it while I swept the stepping-stones in the courtyard that morning, until I began to feel the sort of buzzing in my head that comes from a thought circling and circling with nowhere to go, just like a bee in a jar. Soon I put down the broom and went to sit in the dirt corridor, where the cool air from beneath the foundation of the main house drifted soothingly over my back. And then something came to mind that I hadn't thought about since my very first week in Kyoto.

Only a day or two after being separated from my sister, I had been sent to wash some rags one afternoon, when a moth came fluttering down from the sky onto my arm. I flicked it off, expecting that it would fly away, but instead it sailed like a pebble across the courtyard and lay there upon the ground. I didn't know if it had fallen from the sky already dead or if I had killed it, but its little insect death touched me. I admired the lovely pattern on its wings, and then wrapped it in one of the rags I was washing and hid it away beneath the foundation of the house.

I hadn't thought about this moth since then; but the moment it came to mind I got on my knees and looked under the house until I found it. So many things in my life had changed, even the way I looked; but when I unwrapped the moth from its funeral shroud, it was the same startlingly lovely creature as on the day I had entombed it. It seemed to be wearing a robe in subdued grays and browns, like Mother wore when she went to her mah-jongg games at night. Everything about it seemed beautiful and perfect, and so utterly unchanged. If only one thing in my life had been the same as during that first week in Kyoto ... As I thought of this my mind began to swirl like a hurricane. It struck me that we-that moth and I-were two opposite extremes. My existence was as unstable as a stream, changing in every way; but the moth was like a piece of stone, changing not at all. While thinking this thought, I reached out a finger to feel the moth's velvety surface; but when I brushed it with my fingertip, it turned all at once into a pile of ash without even a sound, without even a moment in which I could see it crumbling. I was so astonished I let out a cry. The swirling in my mind stopped; I felt as if I had stepped into the eye of a storm. I let the tiny shroud and its pile of ashes flutter to the ground; and now I understood the thing that had puzzled me all morning. The stale air had washed away. The past was gone. My mother and father were dead and I could do nothing to change it. But I suppose that for the past year I'd been dead in a way too. And my sister . . . yes, she was gone; but I wasn't gone. I'm not sure this will make sense to you, but I felt as though I'd turned around to look in a different direction, so that I no longer faced backward toward the past, but forward toward the future. And now the question confronting me was this: What would that future be?

The moment this question formed in my mind, I knew with as much certainty as I'd ever known anything that sometime during that day I would receive a sign. This was why the bearded man had opened the window in my dream. He was saying to me, "Watch for the thing that will show itself to you. Because that thing, when you find it, will be your future."

I had no time for another thought before Auntie called out to me:

"Chiyo, come here!"

// SCENE BREAK //

Well, I walked up that dirt corridor as though I were in a trance. It wouldn't have surprised me if Auntie had said, "You want to know about your future? All right, listen closely . . ." But instead she just held out two hair ornaments on a square of white silk.

"Take these," she said to me. "Heaven knows what Hatsumomo was up to last night; she came back to the okiya wearing another girl's ornaments. She must have drunk more than her usual amount of sake. Go find her at the school, ask whose they are, and return them."

---END OF TEXT---

Some things I noticed:

Paragraph 1: The chapter, the start of Act 2, begins with distant narration and then circles around to Chiyo's current situation.

Paragraph 2: A summary of events that have occurred so far

Paragraph 3: Introspection and summary of the rest of the spring and all that summer following the letter. Story moves forward.

Paragraph 4: Introspection and summary of early spring, also showing that Chiyo is starting to transition from child to teen through her looks. Story moves forward.

Paragraph 5: Introspection and summary of very early one morning that April. Story moves forward.

Then onwards we start to get into the scene, though there is still a lot of summary and introspection. The summary helps convey a lot of information in few words and the introspection helps make the character feel more human.

Chiyo's change of mindset explicitly stated: I felt as though I'd turned around to look in a different direction

Grounding in the new scene:

I had no time for another thought before Auntie called out to me:

"Chiyo, come here!"

Come to think of it, I think I've seen something similar in another book.

From PRINCE'S GAMBIT pp. 331-334, the start of Ch. 4

LAURENT, JUST TURNED twenty, and possessing an elaborate mind with a gift for planning, detached it from the petty intrigues of the court and set it loose on the broader canvas of this, his first command.

Damen watched it happen. It began when, after their long night of tactical discussion, Laurent addressed the troop with a portrait of their shortcomings. He did it from horseback, in a clear voice that carried to the farthest of the gathered men. He had listened to everything Damen had said last night. He had listened to a great deal more than that. As he spoke, there emerged nuggets that he could only have obtained from the servants and armourers and soldiers to whom, over the last three days, he had also been listening.

Laurent regurgitated the information in a manner that was as scintillant as it was scathing. When he was done, he threw the men a bone: perhaps they had been hampered by poor captaincy. They would therefore stop here in Nesson for a fortnight to accustom themselves to their new Captain. Laurent would personally lead them in a regime that would tax them, trim them and turn them into something approximating a company that could fight. If they could keep up with him.

But first, Laurent appended silkily, they would unpack and make camp here again, from kitchens to tents to horse enclosure. In under two hours.

The men swallowed it. They would not have, had Laurent not taken on their leader and beaten him, point for point, the day before. Even then, they might have baulked had the order come from an indolent superior, but from the first day, Laurent had worked hard without comment or complaint. That, too, had been calculated to within a hair.

And so they got to work. They hauled out tents and hammered in posts and pegs and unsaddled all the horses. Jord gave crisp, pragmatic orders. The tent lines looked straight for the first time since they had ridden out.

And then it was done. Two hours. It was still too long, but it was better by far than the sprawling chaos of the last few evenings.

Re-saddle, was the first order, and there followed a series of mounted drills that were designed to be easy on the horses and brutal on the men. Damen and Laurent had planned the drills out together last night, with some input from Jord, who had joined them in the grey hours of the morning. Truthfully, Damen had not expected Laurent to take part in the drills himself, but he did, setting the pace.

Reining his horse alongside Damen’s, Laurent said, ‘You have your two extra weeks. Let’s see what we can do with them.’

In the afternoon they switched to line work: lines that broke again, and again, and again, until finally they didn’t, if only because everyone was too weary to do anything but mindlessly follow commands. The day’s drills had pushed even Damen, and when they were done, he felt, for the first time in a long time, as though something had been accomplished.

The men returned to camp boneless and exhausted with no energy to complain that their leader was a blond, blue-eyed fiend, curse him. Damen saw Aimeric sprawled by one of the campfires with his eyes closed, like a man collapsed after a foot race. The stubbornness of character that had had Aimeric picking fights with men twice his size had also had him keeping up with the drills, no matter the barriers of pain and fatigue that he had had to push through physically. At least he would not be able to cause trouble in this state. No one would be picking fights: they were too tired.

As Damen watched, Aimeric opened his eyes and gave an empty-eyed stare at the fire.

Despite the complications Aimeric presented to the troop, Damen felt a stirring of sympathy. Aimeric was only nineteen, and this was obviously his first campaign. He looked out of place and alone. Damen detoured.

‘It’s your first time in a company?’ he said.

Here, too, the start of Act 2 begins with a new chapter

Paragraph 1: the chapter begins with distant narration

Paragraph 2: Summary of events (eg, their long night of tactical discussion,) but also moving forward with the story (Laurent addressed the troop)

Paragraph 3 onwards: Summary and introspection (Damen's interpretation) of events. Story moves forward.

Eventually the Writer grounds the scene: Damen saw Aimeric sprawled by one of the campfires with his eyes closed.

Where is the main character's mindset change? Maybe it's that Damen is starting to feel hope that the company he's found himself in might actually be able to be trained to win a fight? The day’s drills had pushed even Damen, and when they were done, he felt, for the first time in a long time, as though something had been accomplished.

So I guess this is a technique for starting Act 2 if you've got nothing else:

Start a new chapter

Summarise events in the story so far

Move the story forward by summarising some event/s leading up to the character's mindset change

Be sure to show the main character's feelings about everything through introspection and voice

Explicitly state the character's mindset change

Ground the next scene

[merlinmerlot]

I could play one of the most beautiful well crafted video games on the planet and it will never be as appealing to me as one that kind of sucks shit but has soooo much potential

[cynical-ghost]

KILLER QUEEN

Part.2

Synopsis: After being forced into being a second driver for McLaren people are irritated by her wasted potential.

Paring: Charles Leclerc x driver!reader.

Genre: SMAU-social media, slight angst?

A/n I love Lando but I needed a ‘Villain’ so I apologise 🫶

Ynforeal

Liked by Charles_Leclerc, Arthur_leclerc, yourbff and 923,157 others

Ynforeal Duty free shopping and plane ✈️ @/Charles_leclerc

Ynismymother You are gunna do great today Yn!!

Charles_Leclerc Race you 🏎️

Ynforeal I’ll beat you🫶

Gossip_grid

Liked by dramapaddok, ynismymother, F1_wags and 342,564 others

Gossip_grid Yn Ln and Lando Norris are making their way to the McLaren garage. We wish Yn the best and hope the McLaren strategists get their act together.

Ynismymother They better get their act together, since she moved to McLaren she’s been pushed to the side.

Ferrarienthusiasts They are waisting her talent by making her second driver.

Cl16YL03 Charles should tell her to take the Ferrari seat, apparently Ferrari have offered her it.

Charlexyn4eva Really? Where did you hear that?

Cl16YL03 @/dramapaddok have a post about it.

Charlesxyl4eva 🫶

dramapaddok

Liked by Gossip_grid, Cl16YL03, Charlesxyl4eva and 434,231 others

dramapaddok Yn Ln joining long-term boyfriend and fellow driver Charles Leclerc in red?

Inside sources have shared with us that McLarens second driver has been offered a seat at Ferrari.

To learn more about this story and many others click the link in our bio🧡❤️

Cl16YL03 I hope she moves to Ferrari, all McLaren have been doing is focusing on Lando and leaving Yn the 5 minute strategy’s

Ynismymother GO FOR IT YN!!!!!

YLn03first no hate to Lando but Yn is the better driver, all you have to do is watch old races when she was racing with Mercedes.

Formula1_updates

Liked by Ynismymother, user15, charlesxyn4eva and 1,264,648 others

Formula1_updates it’s yet another sad day for McLarens Yn Ln. After being told to retire the car after engine failure, Ln proceeded to walk away from the race altogether, after sitting alone yn’s race engineer had a word with the upset woman.

User15 This is so upsetting to see time and time again

Ynismymother McLaren are ruining her career at this point

YLn03first Disappointment aging and aging, my heart goes out to Yn.

mclaren

Liked by Ynforeal, ynismymother, dramapaddok and 298,743 others

mclaren We wish Yn Ln well for her future in racing.

Ynismymother FINALLY!!

Charlesxyn4eva Yn is leaving McLaren? YES🍾🎉🎉

YLn03first Finally a win for Yn Ln.

User15 this was a long time coming, I really hope she takes the Ferrari seat now!!

Cl16Yln03 Are we going to get a couple team?!!!

Charles_Leclerc

Liked by Ynforeal, yourbff, Arthur_leclerc and 546,896 others

Charles_Leclerc The season is about to begin… ❤️

Charlesxyn4eva WHAT DO THE LIGHTING MCQEEN CROCS MEAN!!!

Ynismymother Yn For Ferrari ???

Cl16YLn03 When Will it be my turn 🥲

User15 I’m waiting for Ferraris announcement of Yn joining them!!

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Plot Method

The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet was originally developed by Blake Snyder to help screenwriters plot movies, but it works just as well with novels.

It breaks down the 3-act structure into small, specific sections (sometimes just one scene long).

Each section pushes your story forward in its own way.

The exact word count/page count of each section depends on how long your novel is and what type of story you’re telling, but you can use the colored chart below and the percentages in the instructions as a guide. 

Context Note: This method is based on the concept of the Three Act Structure, which is an inherently Western approach to plot. It can be a useful way to tell a story, but it is by no means the only one.

ACT 1

Opening Image (0-1%)

Show a “before” snapshot of your protagonist and their world.

What is life like before the adventure begins?

It represents the struggle & tone of the story.

Set-up (1-10%)

Expand on the “before” snapshot.

Explore your protagonist’s life, including the internal flaws and external challenges they’ll have to overcome in order to change for the better by the end of the story.

Present the main character’s world as it is, and what is missing in their life.

Also introduce important supporting characters.

Theme Stated (happens during the Set-up)

What your story is about; the message, the truth.

Usually, it is spoken to the main character or in their presence, but they don’t understand the truth/lesson…not until later, when they have some personal experience and context to support it.

Thus, include a scene where a character says something that hints at what the protagonist’s big life lesson will be - how they’ll have to change and grow by the end of the story.

Catalyst (10%)

The moment where life as it is changes.

Examples: It is the telegram, the act of catching your loved-one cheating, allowing a monster onboard the ship, meeting the true love of your life, etc.

There’s no going back to the “before” world from here… What is the inciting incident that pushes the protagonist into the next phase of the story?

Debate (11-20%)

But change is scary and for a moment, or a brief number of moments, the main character doubts the journey they must take.

Show the protagonist questioning themselves and resisting the path ahead - wondering whether they have what it takes, or whether or they should just run home and hide under the bed.

“Should I just…?” “I really shouldn’t because…” “But what about…” Can I face this challenge? Do I have what it takes? Should I go at all?

It is the last chance for the hero to chicken out.

ACT 2

Break Into 2 (20%; Choosing Act Two)

The main character makes a choice and the journey begins.

We leave the “Thesis” world and enter the upside-down, opposite world of Act 2.

They make the choice to begin their adventure/transformation/journey/new thing.

Show your protagonist deciding to plunge into Act 2.

The Promise of the Premise (21-50%)

This is when the reader thinks “Ah, now we’re getting to the good stuff they hinted at on the back cover of this book!”

It’s also one of the longest sections in your book.

Show your protagonist getting used to their new world - loving it, hating it, making mistakes or doing well, meeting new people (see more below) and keeping the reader entertained.

This is when the main character explores the new world and the audience is entertained by the premise they have been promised.

B Story (happens during The Promise of the Premise)

This is when there’s a discussion about the Theme – the nugget of truth.

Usually, this discussion is between the main character and the love interest.

So, the B Story is usually called the “love story”.

Introduce a new character or characters who will eventually help the protagonist learn their life lesson.

Friends? Mentors? Love interests? Nemeses (nemesi?)? Who are they? How will they help?

Midpoint (50%)

This moment is when everything seems “great” or everything seems “awful,” depending on your story.

The main character either gets everything they think they want (“great”) or doesn’t get what they think they want at all (“awful”).

Either the Fun and Games section has lead to a false victory for your protagonist (they think they’ve been doing great so far) or a false defeat (they’ve been having a hard time so far).

What happens in this moment, halfway between beginning and end?

But not everything we think we want is what we actually need in the end.

Bad Guys Close In (51-75%)

Get ready for a bumpy ride. If your Midpoint was a false victory, now things start to go wrong for your protagonist.

If the Midpoint was a false defeat, well, things seem to be looking up, but the bad guys are getting closer and will have something to say.

Note: Bad guys can be actual physical enemies, but they can also be emotional enemies, like doubt or jealousy or fear.

Doubt, jealousy, fear, foes both physical and emotional regroup to defeat the main character’s goal, and the main character’s “great”/“awful” situation disintegrates.

Show the protagonist’s newly-built world beginning to unravel.

This will also be one of the longer sections in your novel.

All is Lost (75%)

This is when something happens to make your character hit rock bottom.

It’s the absolute lowest part of your novel.

Maybe someone or something dies (either literally or figuratively).

The initial goal now looks even more impossible than before. And here, something or someone dies.

It can be physical or emotional, but the death of something old makes way for something new to be born.

What does this moment look like for your protagonist?

Dark Night of the Soul (76-80%)

Your protagonist now has time to react to their “All is lost” moment, to mourn what they lost and wallow in hopelessness.

They’re worse off than they were at the beginning of the novel.

Show how low things have gotten.

Mourning the loss of what has “died” – the dream, the goal, the mentor character, the love of your life, etc.

But, you must fall completely before you can pick yourself back up and try again.

ACT 3

Break Into 3 (80%; Choosing Act Three)

The “aha!” moment; the “lift yourself up and try again” moment.

Show the protagonist realizing what they need to do in order to tackle their problems, both external and internal.

Thanks to a fresh idea, new inspiration, or last-minute Thematic advice from the B Story (usually the love interest), the main character chooses to try again.

Finale (81-99%)

The protagonist does what they decided to do in the Break Intro 3 beat, and (because of all the learning/growing they’ve done and the support or insight from the B Story), their plan works.

This time around, the main character incorporates the Theme – the nugget of truth that now makes sense to them – into their fight for the goal because they have experience from the A Story and context from the B Story.

The Bad Guys are defeated, the world is changed for the better.

What are the battles? How will the protagonist triumph (or not)?

This is another longer section, so you’ve got the space to make things dramatic and intense.

Act Three is about Synthesis.

Final Image (99-100%)

This is the opposite of the Opening Image, the “after” snapshot instead of the “before.”

Show the reader how the protagonist and their world have changed.

THE END

Sources: 1 2

[julietsf1]

Irritating, But Irresistible – Franco Colapinto X Reader

Summary: Alex Albon’s sister is not happy with Logan’s new replacement who seems to be very sure of himself.

Words: 8k

Warnings: cursing, smut after ***

A/N: this is my first time writing anything, just wanted to do something w franco since there is not much out there yet :) English isn't my first language so I hope it reads okay! smut is just the last part so you can read without and it will still be a complete story *muah*

________________________________________________________

It was press conference day at Monza, one of the busiest times during a Formula 1 weekend. I walked through the paddock, juggling my internship deadlines on my phone. Even with my hectic schedule, nothing beat being around the buzz of the F1 world, where I could support my brother Alex and enjoy the company of his friends. Today, however, my thoughts were consumed by Logan’s sudden exit and his replacement.

Franco Colapinto.

I had yet to meet him, but from what Alex had shared, I already had my preconceptions: talented, confident, but most likely arrogant—a rookie straight from Formula 2 who had taken Logan’s seat.

I had been devastated by the news. Of course, Logan hadn’t been performing as well as he did in F2, but he and I had formed a special bond over the course of the past seasons. After every crash, when Logan would be back in the team garage to sit out the race, I had been there to talk with him, and we developed a deep and valuable friendship. I couldn’t help but feel frustrated by the team not sticking with him until Newey would join next season and provide a better car.

As I approached Alex and George Russell, they were already deep in conversation, Alex’s usual easygoing grin on his face as George prattled on with his distinctly old-fashioned vocabulary.

“And I dare say, Alex, it’s an absolute travesty that the press still insists on asking the same infernal questions,” George was saying, sipping from his water bottle. “There’s only so many times one can answer, ‘What’s your strategy for qualifying?’ without going mad.”

Alex chuckled, shaking his head. “Come on, George, don’t act like you don’t secretly love the attention.”

George sniffed, clearly unconvinced. “Attention, yes, but repetitive inquiries? It’s rather pedestrian. Honestly, one would expect a touch more intellectual curiosity.”

I grinned, stepping into the conversation. “You should start answering in riddles, George. Give them something to think about.”

George’s eyes lit up, considering the idea seriously. “You know, that’s not half bad. I could begin each answer with a Shakespearean quote. ‘To pit or not to pit, that is the question.’”

Alex burst into laughter, shaking his head. “Please do. It’ll be the highlight of the weekend.”

Before I could join in with my own jab, a smooth voice with a slight spanish accent interrupted our banter. “You must be Alex’s sister.”

I turned, and my breath caught for a second. Standing before me was Franco Colapinto, and he was—well, to be honest, he was a lot more attractive than I had expected. His dark hair was fluffy and slightly tousled as if he had just run a hand through it, giving him a charmingly casual look. His eyes—bright, shining with a mix of mischief and curiosity—immediately met mine, and there was something about the way they sparkled that unsettled me.

Franco stood with a relaxed confidence, a teasing smile playing on his lips as he waited for my response.

“And you must be Logan’s replacement,” I shot back, my voice sharper than I intended, trying to ignore the little flip in my stomach.

Franco raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting that response, but his grin only grew wider, a playful glint in his bright eyes. “Franco Colapinto,” he introduced himself, extending his hand toward me.

I glanced at his hand but didn’t take it, crossing my arms instead. “Y/N.”

Franco didn’t miss a beat. He chuckled softly, undeterred by my cold reception. “Guess I’m not winning you over just yet.”

“You could say that,” I muttered under my breath, unable to stop myself from taking in his appearance again—his fluffy hair, the way the sunlight seemed to make his dark eyes even more intense.

“Give it time,” Franco said lightly, his tone soft but still laced with confidence. He shifted his gaze to Alex, giving a friendly nod. “See you up there, mate.”

As Franco walked away to the press room, I couldn’t help but stare after him, irritated by the way my heart skipped a beat. “He’s got some nerve,” I muttered.

Alex, always the peacemaker, sighed beside me. “Don’t be too hard on him, Y/N. He’s just trying to find his place.”

“Yeah, well, Logan had his place, and it was taken from him,” I shot back, folding my arms tighter across my chest.

George, ever the diplomat, chimed in with his usual formal tone. “Alas, it is the nature of this sport, Miss Albon. Drivers come and go as swiftly as the wind changes its course. It’s unfortunate, but inevitable.”

I sighed, knowing George was right but still unable to shake my irritation. I cast one last look at Franco, who was now chatting with some team members, his bright eyes still sparkling, that teasing grin still lingering on his lips.

The atmosphere that evening was electric. After a long day of press conferences and media obligations, the some of thedrivers, teams, and close friends gathered for a small party in the paddock’s private area. Music thumped through the speakers, and the energy was light despite the high-pressure weekend ahead.

I found myself by the bar, sipping a drink, trying to focus on my conversation with Lando and Oscar.

“You seriously didn’t even know how to do a basic rumba?” Lando was saying, laughing so hard he nearly spilled his drink. “Come on, Oscar. I thought Aussies were supposed to know how to dance.”

Oscar smirked, unbothered. “I’m a racing driver, not a dancer. I don’t need rhythm on the track, mate.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Rumba, Lando? That’s what you’re testing him on?”

Lando grinned, tossing his head back dramatically. “Oh, come on, Y/N. You know it’s important. It’s all about balance! Quick on your feet, suave with the moves—it’s practically the same thing as cornering at high speed.”

Oscar raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure it’s not the same thing.”

“Well,” Lando shrugged, “when the media isn’t on your back, you’ve got to perfect something other than driving. For me, it’s dance moves. For George—” Lando leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially, “it’s his ancient vocabulary. I heard him use the word ‘beseech’ in an interview once. I thought we’d time-traveled.”

I burst out laughing, picturing George in full seriousness. “Oh my God, that’s so him.”

Lando wasn’t finished, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “That’s not even the best part. He used it to answer a question about tire degradation. I swear!”

Oscar finally cracked a smile, shaking his head. “George could give my grandma a run for her money.”

I was about to add another quip when I caught sight of Franco across the room, his familiar silhouette standing out as he laughed with Max and Daniel. I quickly looked back at my drink, but Lando, ever observant, wasn’t going to let it slide.

“You keep staring at him,” Lando teased, nudging me with a smirk.

“What?” I blinked, caught off guard. “I’m not staring.”

Oscar, who had been quietly sipping his drink, glanced at me. “You kind of are.”

I frowned, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. “I’m not. I just… don’t like him, that’s all.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Lando said, wiggling his eyebrows. “You’re not usually this flustered. It's kind of cute.”

“Shut up, Lando,” I shot back, though my voice lacked the sharpness I intended.

Oscar chuckled softly, glancing toward Franco. “You talk about him more than I’ve heard anyone talk about him since he joined.”

I rolled my eyes, clearly frustrated. “He’s arrogant, alright? Thinks he can just come in and—”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it. You don’t like him,” Lando interrupted with a grin, clearly not buying it. “But let’s be real—he’s not exactly lacking in the looks department, is he?”

I felt my face flush even more, and before I could respond, a familiar voice broke into the conversation. “What’s with the staring, cariño?”

My heart raced involuntarily, and my cheeks flushed red, but I forced a sarcastic smile. “I—I just don’t like that shirt, that’s all.”

Franco’s playful grin widened as he tilted his head slightly. “I’ll gladly take it off for you if you want me to.”

Lando burst into laughter and took a step back, clearly enjoying the tension. “Oh, I’ll leave you two to sort that out.”

Oscar, ever the quiet observer, gave a smirk and a knowing nod before following Lando, leaving me and Franco alone.

“You’re way too smug for someone who just got their seat,” I muttered, crossing my arms defensively.

Franco chuckled softly, his dark eyes still sparkling with amusement. “They brought me here for a reason, Y/N. There’s nothing wrong with being self-assured.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but the words caught in my throat as I found myself staring at his eyes again—the way they seemed to shimmer in the dim light. His presence unnerved me in a way that no one else ever had.

“I’ll prove it to you,” Franco said quietly, stepping closer, his voice dropping slightly, filled with both promise and challenge. He softly brushed his hand against my arm, the touch sending a shiver through me. “Just watch.”

Before I could respond, Max’s voice boomed from across the room. “Oi, Franco! Stop flirting! I got us another round of gin tonics!”

Franco glanced over his shoulder and smirked before turning back to me. “See you tomorrow,” he said, his voice soft and teasing, before walking off, leaving me standing there, heart racing for reasons I didn’t want to admit.

Friday morning’s free practice was the perfect chance for the teams to fine-tune their setups before qualifying, but for me, it was another opportunity to watch Franco. I stood in the Williams garage, my arms crossed as I kept one eye on the lap times flashing on the screen, the other on Franco’s progress on track.

“How’s he looking?” I asked Alex, trying to keep my tone neutral, but the curiosity in my voice betrayed me.

Alex, who had already come back into the garage mid-session, didn’t look away from the data in front of him. “Decent. He’s still getting used to the car, but he’s quick. He’s got potential, Y/N.”

I raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “Potential doesn’t win races, though.”

Alex glanced at me with a grin. “You’re tough. Give him a break. He’s still new.”

Before I could argue back, James Vowles, the Williams team principal, stepped into the conversation, his voice measured and commanding, but always reassuring. “Patience, Y/N. Drivers need time to grow, especially in this environment. Franco’s performance has been promising so far, and that’s all we can ask for at this stage.”

I smirked, shaking my head. “I’m not sure Franco’s the ‘take time to grow’ type. He’s way too sure of himself.”

James folded his arms, smiling slightly while shaking his head. “Confidence is a tool, Y/N. If used correctly, it can be an asset. And from what I’ve seen, Franco understands that balance. Let’s not underestimate him too soon.”

Alex chuckled, nudging me. “Even James is on his side. Come on, give the guy a chance.”

As if summoned by the conversation, Franco’s Williams car came flying past the garage on track, a blur of blue and white as it whipped around the corner. I watched his lap times closely—each split was faster than the last.

“Looks like he’s getting the hang of it,” Alex said, raising an eyebrow toward me.

I couldn’t help but let out a small sigh. “Fine. He’s… better than I thought. But that doesn’t mean anything yet.”

After the second practice session ended and the drivers returned to the garage, I found myself lingering near the pit wall, watching as the cars were rolled back into the garage. Franco emerged from his car, pulling off his helmet, his fluffy hair tousled and damp with sweat. He was wiping his brow with the sleeve of his race suit when his eyes caught mine.

Franco approached me with that familiar, irritating grin. “Enjoying the show?” he asked, his voice light but teasing as always.

I raised an eyebrow, trying to sound unimpressed. “It’s fine. Could be better.”

Franco chuckled softly, stopping just close enough that I could catch the faint scent of his cologne mixed with the track’s lingering heat. “You’ve got high standards, I see.”

“I am just realistic,” I shot back, finally meeting his gaze. “Not sure you’ll live up to your own expectations, Colapinto.”

For a second, Franco’s playful smile faltered, but he quickly recovered, his eyes glinting mischievously. “Y/N, I’m pretty sure I can meet—and exceed—any expectations you’ve got for me.”

I crossed my arms, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Big words for someone who hasn’t proved anything yet.”

Franco took a step closer, the teasing edge in his voice never fading. “Oh, I’ll prove it. Just keep watching.” He leaned in slightly, his voice lowering to a murmur. “You’ll be impressed soon enough.”

My pulse quickened as his words hung in the air. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Franco winked and stepped back.

“You can tell me what you think tomorrow,” he added over his shoulder, walking away with that infuriating confidence, leaving me standing there, frustrated and flustered all at once.

Just as I tried to collect myself, Lily, Alex’s girlfriend, wandered over. Her soft, sweet demeanor was the perfect counter to the high-pressure environment.

“Everything okay, Y/N?” she asked gently, noticing the slight tension still lingering on my face.

I huffed, folding my arms across my chest. “He’s impossible.”

Lily smiled knowingly, tilting her head. “I’ve seen you two talking more and more recently. Doesn’t seem like you think he’s that impossible.”

“He is trust me,” I muttered, though my tone was less convincing now.

Lily gave me a soft, encouraging smile, her voice gentle and kind. “You know, sometimes it’s okay to let your guard down. Not everyone’s as bad as they seem at first.”

I looked at Lily, rolling my eyes but feeling the truth in her words sink in. “You really think he’s a good guy?”

Lily shrugged with a sweet grin. “Maybe. I think you’re more interested in finding that out than you want to admit.”

I shook my head, but the feeling that maybe—just maybe—Lily was right gnawed at me as I watched Franco walk away, his figure disappearing into the garage.

Saturday was always charged with anticipation—qualifying day. The pressure in the paddock was thick, and I could feel the weight of it hanging in the air as I wandered through the bustling paddock. Every team member was focused, every driver mentally preparing for the intense session ahead. I, on the other hand, was lost in my thoughts, trying to distract myself from the growing irritation I felt whenever Franco popped into my mind.

Why does he always have to be so smug? I thought, frowning to myself as I made my way toward the drivers’ rooms. Always with the teasing, always with that stupid grin.

I was looking for Alex, but my mind was still tangled in thoughts of Franco—how his words had lingered from yesterday’s exchange, how his presence had become harder and harder to ignore. Whether it was the playful sparkle in his bright eyes or the way his fluffy, tousled hair fell effortlessly, something about him unsettled me.

Absentmindedly, I pushed open a door, not thinking twice about it—until I froze.

There stood Franco, half-dressed.

He was in the middle of pulling on his race suit, shirtless, his toned torso on full display. His skin gleamed under the soft lights of the room, and his dark hair was slightly damp, falling in messy waves over his forehead. He hadn’t noticed me at first, but when he looked up, his dark eyes locked on mine, surprise flickering across his face. It didn’t last long, though—his expression quickly shifted into that familiar, teasing grin I had come to expect.

“Well, well,” he drawled, voice laced with amusement, “didn’t expect you to walk in on me like this, but I’m not complaining.”

I froze, my cheeks flushing as I struggled to recover my composure. “I wasn’t—this isn’t—I was looking for Alex!” I stammered, my voice sharper than I intended.

Franco raised an eyebrow, his grin only growing wider. “Uh-huh. Sure you were.”

My irritation flared, and I crossed my arms, forcing myself to meet his gaze. “Don’t flatter yourself, Colapinto. This was clearly a mistake.”

Franco took a step closer, his tone still light, but the teasing in his eyes unmistakable. “A mistake, huh? Yet, here you are. Still standing here.”

My pulse quickened, and I cursed my body for reacting to his presence. He was too close now, and the space between us felt charged, heavy with something I didn’t want to name.

“You’re full of yourself, you know that?” I shot back, lifting my chin, refusing to be intimidated.

Franco chuckled softly, his eyes locked on mine. “Maybe. But you seem pretty caught up in me for someone who claims not to care.”

I scoffed, stepping back but finding myself backed against the door. “You’re impossible.”

“Impossible?” Franco echoed, the amusement never leaving his voice. “Or just irresistible?”

I rolled my eyes, though I couldn’t hide the faint smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “In your dreams, maybe.”

Franco’s gaze softened slightly, and for a moment, the teasing edge faded. “You keep acting like this, but I see through it.”

I frowned, caught off guard by the sudden shift in his tone. “Acting like what?”

He shrugged, taking another small step closer, his voice lower now. “Like you hate me. But every time we talk, it feels like something else is going on.”

My breath hitched, the intensity of his gaze making it hard to look away. I hated that he could read me so easily, hated the way he made me feel like I was constantly on the back foot.

“Don’t get it twisted, Franco,” I said, my voice firmer this time. “You annoy me. That’s it.”

Franco smirked again, but there was something different in his eyes now—a challenge. “If you say so. But if I annoy you so much, why do you keep ending up here? In my space?”

I didn’t have an answer. Or at least, not one I was willing to admit out loud. The truth was, every time we clashed, it felt like the air between us was crackling with more than just annoyance. But I wasn’t ready to face that yet.

“I’m here because I thought this was Alex’s room,” I said finally, the sharpness returning to my voice. “Don’t read too much into it.”

Franco laughed softly, his expression softening as he stepped back, giving me some space but still keeping that annoying smirk. “Alright. But next time you want to drop by, just knock.”

I shot him a glare, my frustration flaring again. “You wish.”

With that, I turned on my heel and reached for the door, determined to leave the awkwardness behind. But before I could open it, Franco leaned in close, his voice dropping to a teasing whisper. “You’ll be back.”

I whipped my head around, my eyes narrowing. “Don’t count on it.”

Franco chuckled as he watched me go, shaking his head in amusement. “See you around, Y/N.”

The door clicked shut behind me, and I leaned against the wall, letting out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. My mind was spinning, my heart racing, and the worst part? I couldn’t stop thinking about that damn smirk.

Inside the room, Franco finished pulling on his suit, a small smile still tugging at his lips. He couldn’t help it—there was something about me that made every interaction feel like a game, one he was very much enjoying.

By the time qualifying ended, Franco had placed 18th—not spectacular, but solid enough for a rookie still adjusting to the car. The Williams team seemed satisfied with the result, and after the session, I found myself lingering in the pitlane, chatting with Oscar and Lando, both of whom were waiting for their post-quali interviews.

Lando, ever the jokester, leaned against the wall with a grin. “You know,” he said, “I like that guy. He’s got that cheeky energy. A bit like me.”

I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Great, that’s exactly what we need—two Lando Norrises.”

Lando laughed, nudging me playfully. “Hey, the world would be lucky.”

Oscar, always the calm and collected one, stood with his hands in his pockets, his expression thoughtful. “You’ve got to admit,” he said casually, “Franco’s improving. He’s faster than last time.”

I shrugged, unimpressed. “Yeah, well, let’s see if that holds up. Confidence doesn’t always mean results.”

Lando grinned, nudging me with a playful elbow. “You’re only saying that because you don’t want to admit he’s growing on you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “He’s not growing on me. If anything, he’s just growing more annoying.”

Oscar smirked, glancing between me and Lando. “Annoying, huh? Funny how you keep talking about him, though.”

Before I could respond, Franco appeared, fresh from his post-session debrief. He looked as smug as ever, a towel draped over his shoulders, his hair slightly damp. He caught my eye immediately, his usual grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

Franco approached, clearly enjoying the way I tensed up at his arrival. His grin grew wider, and I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks even before he said a word.

“What’s this? Talking about me again, Y/N?” he teased, his voice smooth as always.

I crossed my arms, determined not to let him get under my skin. “I’m pretty sure not everything’s about you, Franco.”

Lando, grinning like a Cheshire cat, leaned over to Franco, speaking just loud enough for me to hear. “Oh, mate, trust me. She’s been talking about you all day.”

Franco’s eyebrows shot up in amusement. “Really?”

My face flushed as I shot Lando a warning look. “Lando!”

Lando threw his hands up in mock surrender, enjoying every second of my discomfort. “I’m just saying what I see. You’ve been all eyes on Colapinto here. Don’t blame me for stating facts.”

Oscar chuckled softly, his quiet amusement adding to the playful atmosphere. “It’s true. You’ve mentioned him at least three times already.”

I glared at both of them, my irritation growing by the second. “You two are impossible.”

Franco chuckled, stepping closer to me, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Come on. I saw the way you looked at me this morning. You can admit it—you’ve been thinking about me.”

Oscar raised an eyebrow, watching the exchange with quiet curiosity, while Lando stood by, grinning like he was watching his favorite sitcom unfold.

“Thinking about how you’re the most irritating person I’ve ever met? Maybe,” I shot back, refusing to back down as Franco leaned in slightly, his bright eyes sparkling with mischief.

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself,” Franco said smoothly, lowering his voice just enough to make my heart race.

I was about to retort when Alex joined us, clapping Franco on the back. “Good session, man. You’re getting faster.”

Franco nodded, but his eyes never left mine. “Thanks, but it seems like Y/N here has higher standards than the rest of you.”

Lando smirked, clearly loving the drama. “Oh, she does. Don’t take it personally, Franco. She’s got high standards for all of us.”

I glared at Lando, but before I could say anything, Franco leaned in slightly, his bright eyes still locked on mine. “Good thing I love a challenge.”

I scoffed, tightening my arms across my chest. “Trust me, Colapinto, you’ve got a long way to go before you meet my standards.”

Franco’s grin only widened. “Good thing I’m persistent.”

Before I could respond, Alex laughed, clearly oblivious to the tension bubbling between us. “Alright, let’s cool it before the next round of banter turns into an all-out war. Y/N, we’re having dinner with the guys tonight—join us?”

I hesitated, my gaze flicking between Alex and Franco, who was still watching me with that infuriating smirk.

“Yeah, I’ll come,” I muttered, “just need to freshen up a bit,” shooting Franco one last look before heading toward the paddock exit.

“Fun! We’ll meet you in the lobby at 8!” Alex called after me as I walked away, while the guys gathered for their post-qualifying interviews.

Dinner that evening was supposed to be a chance to unwind after the high-pressure qualifying session, but the moment I realized Franco was joining us, my mood soured. I hadn’t expected him to be part of the group, assuming it would just be me, Alex, George, Oscar, and Lando. But as soon as I saw him enter the restaurant, his easy confidence on full display, I knew the night wasn’t going to go as planned.

Of course he’s here, I thought, rolling my eyes as he slipped into the seat across from me, wearing that same infuriating smirk.

Franco greeted everyone with casual charm, clearly enjoying himself, but every glance he threw my way felt designed to provoke me. It didn’t help that Lando, seated beside me, was in a particularly mischievous mood.

Soon enough, the waiter came over to take our orders, and things started to get even more interesting.

“Alright, what’ll it be?” the waiter asked.

“I’ll take the risotto,” Alex said, glancing at the menu one last time before handing it over.

"Might I be so bold as to request the same for myself?" George added.

Oscar ordered quickly, as calm and collected as ever. “Just a steak, medium-rare, thanks.”

I scanned the menu, trying not to think about Franco sitting directly across from me. I settled on my favorite pasta dish, handing my menu to the waiter. “I’ll have the truffle ravioli.”

When the waiter turned to Franco, I braced myself for whatever cheeky comment he was about to make.

“I’ll go for the truffle ravioli,” he said, then paused, glancing at me with a smirk. “But only if it’s as good as they say it is.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s ravioli, Franco. Not a fine wine. Relax.”

Lando, who had clearly been enjoying the tension building between us, grinned as he scanned the menu. “I’ll have the spaghetti. Extra sauce.”

“Surprising,” I deadpanned, “I thought you’d go for something a bit less… messy.”

Lando leaned back, tossing his menu aside with dramatic flair. “Messy? You must not follow the gossip pages, Y/N. I love messy. Besides, I have big plans for this spaghetti.”

Alex groaned. “Please behave.”

Lando wiggled his eyebrows, already looking pleased with himself. “Oh, just wait.”

As the waiter left, the group settled into casual conversation, the mood light despite the simmering tension between Franco and me. Alex, always the big brother, couldn’t resist dragging me into an embarrassing memory.

“You should’ve seen Y/N when she decided she was going to be an inventor,” Alex began, grinning as I sighed dramatically. “She built this elaborate ‘trap’ to catch the family cat. We’re talking string, boxes, and a broomstick involved—it looked like something out of Home Alone.”

I groaned. “Oh God, here we go.”

Alex was enjoying himself too much to stop. “She spent hours perfecting it. She swore it would work. And guess what? It didn’t catch the cat—it caught Mum instead.”

Lando burst into laughter, his eyes wide with excitement. “Y/N, an engineer in the making! I would’ve paid to see that.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t hide my grin. “Okay, it wasn’t my best idea, but it wasn’t that bad!”

Alex snorted. “Mum had to wriggle out of it while holding the groceries. To this day, she doesn’t trust any ‘surprise’ Y/N sets up.”

Franco, who had been quietly following the story, leaned forward with his signature smirk. “Sounds like I need to watch my back around you, Y/N.”

I shot him a look, my voice dry but teasing. “Trust me, I’ve improved since then. You wouldn’t see it coming.”

Franco smirked. “I’ve got my eyes on you.”

Before I could reply, the waiter returned with our food. Plates were placed in front of us, and Lando’s spaghetti arrived with an extra helping of sauce just as he’d requested.

“Oh, yes,” Lando said, rubbing his hands together like a mischievous child. “Now, let the fun begin.”

It looked like he was up to his usual antics, twirling his spaghetti with great concentration, his grin widening as he arranged the strings very carefully on his plate.

“Lando,” I said, raising an eyebrow, “what are you doing?”

Lando leaned back, arms crossed proudly as he surveyed his masterpiece. “Creating art, Y/N. Pure, unadulterated art.”

"Goodness gracious, Lando we are at a bloody restaurant!" George put on his sunglasses, trying his best to distance himself from the childlike behaviour of his friend.

I glanced down at his plate and burst out laughing. “Bunda? Seriously?”

Lando’s grin only widened. “What can I say? I’m a man of culture.”

Oscar raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Yeah, spelling ‘BUNDA’ with spaghetti really says a lot about you. Deep.”

Lando pretended to be offended, clutching his chest dramatically. “Ouch, mate. I’m expressing myself here.”

I laughed, shaking my head at the absurdity. But despite the humor, I could still feel Franco’s eyes on me, watching every move I made.

As the evening wore on, the banter at the table continued, but the undercurrent of tension between Franco and me was impossible to ignore. Every time I looked up, I caught him watching me—his eyes glinting with amusement, like he knew exactly how much he was getting under my skin. It was maddening, yet I couldn’t deny the strange pull that kept drawing my attention back to him.

Finally, unable to take it anymore, I decided to address the elephant in the room.

“So,” I began, cutting through the chatter at the table, “Franco, how does it feel stepping into a seat that wasn’t exactly yours?”

The table went quiet almost instantly. Alex shot me a look—half warning, half pleading—but I ignored it, my eyes locked on Franco. I couldn’t hold back the resentment that had been simmering for weeks. Logan had been my friend, and I wasn’t about to let Franco think he could just waltz in and take his place without any consequences.

Franco’s smile faltered for just a second, but he recovered quickly, his eyes narrowing slightly as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I’m here because I earned it,” he replied evenly, his voice calm but with an edge. “Not my fault if others couldn’t keep up.”

I didn’t back down. “I don’t think you earned it. I think you’re just here because of the sponsors. Anyone can see there are plenty of drivers with more potential than you.”

Franco’s jaw tightened slightly, and the playful glint in his eyes dimmed. The atmosphere around the table shifted, and even Lando, who had been proudly admiring his spaghetti art, stopped mid-bite to watch the exchange.

“Y/N,” Alex said softly, trying to ease the tension, but I barely registered his voice.

Franco’s gaze didn’t waver. “I don’t need to justify my place to you.”

I leaned in, my voice cold. “You don’t have to. It’s already obvious why you’re here.”

Franco’s eyes flashed with something darker, but instead of responding with the sharp retort I expected, he stood abruptly, pushing his chair back from the table. “I think I’ll call it a night. See you tomorrow.”

Without another word, Franco walked away, leaving me sitting there, my own words hanging in the air. The weight of what I had said settled in, a knot of guilt forming in my chest. Maybe I had gone too far.

Lando let out a low whistle. “Well… that escalated quickly.”

Alex sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Y/N, that was harsh. You didn’t have to push him like that.”

Oscar, who had been quiet for most of the dinner, finally spoke, his voice calm but firm. “You’re allowed to be upset, Y/N, but that wasn’t the way to handle it.”

I didn’t respond immediately. I knew they were right—deep down, I knew—but something about Franco just set me off in ways I couldn’t control.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you two,” Alex said, his tone softening as he looked at me, “but you need to talk it out before this gets worse.”

I glanced toward the door where Franco had disappeared, the guilt gnawing at me. Franco had a way of bringing out the worst in me, and now, I wasn’t sure how to fix it.

Later that night, I found myself sitting on the edge of my bed, staring out of the hotel window at the glowing city lights below. The confrontation with Franco during dinner replayed in my mind, each pass making me feel worse. I hated how easily he got to me, how every exchange with him seemed to spiral into something bigger than it needed to be. But what bothered me most was that deep down, it wasn’t just anger. There was something else beneath the frustration—something I didn’t want to admit.

A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I hesitated for a moment before standing up to answer it. When I opened the door, Alex stood there, leaning casually against the frame, his expression a mix of concern and that familiar big-brother teasing.

“Mind if I come in?” he asked.

I stepped aside, letting him in without saying a word. Alex walked over to the small seating area near the window and sat down, waiting for me to join him. The silence stretched between us for a moment before he finally spoke.

“You want to talk about it?”

I sighed, closing the door and sitting across from him. “Not really.”

Alex chuckled softly. “You sure? Because I’ve been watching you two for a while now, and it’s pretty clear something’s going on.”

I ran a hand through my hair, avoiding his gaze. “He just—he gets under my skin.”

“That much is obvious,” Alex said, his tone light but not unkind. “But there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

I shook my head, feeling frustration bubbling up again. “I thought I couldn’t stand him. He’s arrogant, cocky, always trying to show off… but today, I pushed too far. And I know it.”

Alex nodded, watching me closely. “Franco’s sure of himself, yeah, but did you ever think that maybe he has to be so overly confident? The media and Netflix are always after us already, let alone if you replace someone halfway through the season. He’s not a bad guy, Y/N. You’ve been pretty hard on him since he joined.”

I sighed, feeling the weight of his words settle on my shoulders. “You’re right. I just didn’t expect him to… I don’t know, get to me like this.”

Alex leaned back, giving me a thoughtful look. “Y/N, you’re used to having things figured out—people, situations. But Franco doesn’t fit into that box you tried to put him in, and it’s throwing you off.”

I frowned, feeling the truth of Alex’s words sink in. I had been so sure of what kind of person Franco was, but the more time I spent around him, the harder it became to keep him in that neat little box I had created.

“He’s different than I thought,” I admitted finally, my voice barely above a whisper. “He’s still confident, but there’s more to him than just the cocky guy I thought he was.”

Alex smiled softly. “Exactly. So maybe instead of pushing him away, you should try to figure out what’s really going on between the two of you.”

I bit my lip, my heart heavy with guilt. “Do you think he’ll forgive me?”

Alex chuckled, his voice gentle. “You won’t know until you try. Talk to him. You’ll feel better once you do.”

Unable to sleep, I tossed and turned in bed, my mind spinning with guilt and frustration. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the look on Franco’s face when I pushed him too far at dinner. I knew I had crossed a line, but admitting it was harder than I thought.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I found myself slipping out of bed, grabbing my jacket to cover my nightgown, and quietly leaving my hotel room. The hallway was dimly lit, and the quiet hum of the city outside felt distant as I made my way toward Franco’s room.

My heart pounded as I reached his door. I hesitated for a moment, unsure if this was a good idea. But before I could talk myself out of it, I knocked softly.

The door swung open, and Franco stood in the doorway, his expression a mix of surprise and something else—something unreadable. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and sweatpants, his hair still slightly damp, as if he had just showered.

“Y/N?” he asked, his voice low. “What are you doing here?”

I swallowed, suddenly feeling the weight of my nerves. “I—I came to apologize.”

Franco crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe, his dark eyes watching me carefully. “For what, exactly?”

I bit my lip, trying to find the right words. “For what I said at dinner. I… I was out of line. I let my frustration get the better of me, and I took it out on you. That wasn’t fair.”

For a moment, Franco didn’t say anything. He simply studied me, his expression unreadable, and the silence between us felt heavy, charged with something I couldn’t quite place.

Finally, he sighed, stepping aside and gesturing for me to come in. “You might as well come in. We shouldn’t do this in the hallway.”

I hesitated, but eventually stepped into Franco’s room, the door clicking shut behind me. The air between us was thick, the unspoken tension hanging like a storm ready to break. Franco leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he watched me carefully, his dark eyes searching my face for something I wasn’t sure I could give him.

“I didn’t expect you to apologize,” he said finally, his voice quieter now, softer but still holding that familiar edge. “You’ve been pretty set on hating me.”

I shook my head, my voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t hate you. I was just… frustrated. I thought you were just this arrogant guy who didn’t care about anyone but himself, but you’re not like that. You surprised me, and I guess I didn’t know how to handle it.”

Franco’s expression softened, but there was still a teasing spark in his eyes. “Surprised you, huh? So I’m not as terrible as you thought?”

I couldn’t help but laugh softly, despite the tension in the room. “Not completely terrible I guess.”

We stood there in the quiet for a moment, the weight of the apology settling between us. His eyes never left mine, and there was something in his gaze that made my heart race, something that had been there all along but that I’d refused to acknowledge.

“You didn’t have to come here,” Franco said, his voice low, a slight vulnerability in his tone that caught me off guard. “But I’m glad you did.”

My breath caught in my throat as the distance between us suddenly felt smaller, more intimate. The tension that had simmered for so long now felt like it was about to snap, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. But I couldn’t move away, couldn’t bring myself to break the moment.

Instead, I took a step closer, my heart racing as our eyes locked. The silence between us felt heavy, full of things neither of us was willing to say, but we didn’t need words. I could feel it in the air, in the way his gaze softened, in the way my pulse quickened.

Franco reached out, his hand brushing lightly against mine. His touch was hesitant at first, almost as if he was waiting for me to pull away. But I didn’t. Instead, I took another step closer, closing the gap between us, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure he could hear it.

When he leaned in, it wasn’t sudden—it was slow, deliberate. His lips brushed against mine softly at first, a hesitant kiss that quickly deepened as the tension between us finally broke. My hands found their way to his chest, and I felt the warmth of his skin beneath his t-shirt as his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer.

The kiss was everything we had held back, all the frustration and unspoken attraction we had been pretending didn’t exist. It was slow at first, then more urgent, as if we were both trying to make up for all the time we had wasted fighting it.

Franco’s hand moved to cup my face, his thumb gently brushing against my cheek as he kissed me, and I felt a warmth spread through me that I hadn’t expected. I didn’t want to admit how badly I had wanted this, how much I had been waiting for this moment, even though I had denied it to myself for so long.

When we finally pulled apart, we were both breathless, our foreheads resting against each other as we caught our breath. My hands were still pressed against his chest, and his arms stayed firmly around my waist, neither of us willing to break the connection completely.

Franco was the first to speak, his voice low and filled with a soft amusement. “So, I guess that’s one way to make up.”

I laughed lightly, my heart still racing. “Maybe.”

He pulled back slightly, just enough to look at me properly, his gaze more serious now but still holding that familiar teasing edge. “You know, I didn’t think this would happen.”

“Me either,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “But I’m not mad about it.”

Franco’s lips curved into a small smile, and he leaned in again, this time pressing a softer, lingering kiss to my forehead before pulling away entirely. He didn’t let go of me completely, though, his hands still resting on my waist as he looked at me, his eyes searching mine for something I wasn’t sure I could name.

“We don’t have to figure everything out tonight,” he said quietly, his voice gentle but filled with something deeper. “But I think we both know there’s more going on here than just… whatever this is.”

I nodded, unable to find the words to respond. He was right, of course. This was more than just the heat of the moment—it had been building for a while, even if neither of us had been willing to admit it. But now that the tension had finally broken, it felt like there was no going back.

“Yeah,” I whispered, my voice soft. “There’s definitely more.”

***

He looked me deeply into my eyes before closing the space between us again. When our lips met again, it wasn’t the tentative kiss from before—this time, it was full of fire, all the pent-up tension and frustration we had been holding onto. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer, and my hands slid up to his shoulders, fingers threading into his hair.

Everything felt heightened—the softness of his touch, the warmth of his breath, the way my body responded to every move he made. There was a sense of inevitability between us, like this moment had always been coming, but now that it was here, it was overwhelming in the best possible way.

As we stumbled backward toward the bed, the kisses deepened, more urgent now. Franco’s hands found the hem of my dress, his touch both careful and eager, as though he wanted to savor every moment spent undressing me. My heart raced in anticipation, my skin humming under his fingertips.

Franco softly pushed me onto the bed, taking a few seconds to admire the sight before him before taking off his shirt and lowering himself onto me. My breath hitched as Franco’s lips trailed down my neck, each kiss sending sparks through my body. 

“Fuck you are so beautiful.” He softly mumbled, making heartbeat race even faster. What was this man doing to you?

His kisses softened around your inner thighs. 

“Do you want me to keep going?”

Awakened from my trance, I opened my eyes and looked down to meet his. “Please, don’t stop.”

That same cocky grin reappeared on his face. “Are you expectations as high as they are for my driving?”

I rolled your eyes. “Stop with the jokes Franco, I need you, please!”

“I’ve been waiting to hear that all weekend”

Without hesitation he roughly pulled down my lacy black panties, inserting one finger into my core while his tongue worked my already swollen clit. 

Sweet moans filled the room like music as he added another finger inside me. I could feel him smile down there.

“Can’t believe how wet you are for me. It’s so sexy.”

Soon my back started arching involuntarily. My hands, that were softly stroking through his hair as he worked me, now began gripping his dark brown locks tightly.

“Fuck Franco I’m so close.” I moaned, heart racing in my chest. 

To my disappointment he pulled away. Before I had the chance to start whining, he pulled down his sweats to reveal his huge dick. With lustful eyes I looked the beautiful man standing in front of me up and down. He looked incredible, the messy hair making him even sexier. 

He climbed back on top of me, softly kissing me, leaving me to taste my own excitement on his lips. 

Leaning over, he gently kissed my ears. “I want to feel you finish around me.” he whispered in his low husky voice.

Before the excitement had even reached my core, he slid his dick in, leaving no time for me to adjust to his size. He started ramming into me at dangerous pace, leaving me to cry out from the mixture the pain and pleasure. 

Franco’s hands roamed over my body, exploring, claiming, as though he had been craving this moment for too long. Every touch, every sound was laced with the weight of everything we had been holding back.

My breath hitched as he pulled out and flipped me over. His hands gliding over my ass while he repositioned himself in front of my entrance. 

“Where do you want me to cum later?” he asked, while grabbing my hair, giving it a little tug.

“In my mouth please.” My voice was hitchy from the thrill. 

I felt Franco’s dick twitch against me. He pulled me up to him by my hair and began kissing my neck more, his free hand playing with my boob.

“Is that so? And are you going to swallow it for me?”

I moaned. “Happily.”

He let go of my hair which led me to fall back on all fours on the mattress. I felt the palm of his hand smack hard against my ass, breath caught in my throat, my body trembling in response to his. He slid in and sweet sensations filled my body yet again. 

As the intensity built, Franco’s voice dropped to a whisper, his breath hot against my skin. “I’ve wanted this… wanted you… for so long.”

My only response was a soft gasp, my body arching toward his. I could feel the raw need in every movement, in the way his hands gripped mine tighter, his lips tracing fire along my skin. The tension that had been crackling between the two of you for weeks finally exploded in a wave of release, leaving us both breathless.

“Franco I-“ I couldn’t finish my sentence as a wave of pleasure went through my body.

He kept going as I completely soaked him, the wet pounding and both of your moans being the only sound in the room. 

When he was close, he flipped you over again to face him, stroking his long dick a couple times while I opened my mouth for him.  While I looked deeply into his glistering eyes, he released into my mouth. The warm salty taste made me ecstatic, sucking him off to make sure I had every last drop to swallow. 

Exhausted, we both let ourselves fall down on the bed. Heavy breathing filling the room.

“Such a good girl for me.” Franco smiled as he brushed through my hair. He pulled me closer in his muscular arms, our bodies still pressed close, the remainder of the storm we had just weathered lingering in the quiet of the room. Franco’s fingers traced light patterns along my arm, his breath still uneven as he looked at me, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” he murmured, his voice soft and full of something deeper than just satisfaction.

I smiled, heart still racing but in a calmer, more settled way now. “Neither was I.”

We both didn’t need to say anything more. The silence was comfortable now, the tension replaced by a quiet understanding that whatever had just happened had changed things. As the two of us lay together, the connection that had once been full of conflict now felt like something new, something Franco and I both wanted to explore.

[k-aay]

WHAT... MY GIRL?

synopsis :: when their friend confesses to liking a certain someone that they are very familiar with. but they cannot do anything since they're supposed to keep the relationship a secret. and it's someone they'll never let go no matter how close they are. so what do they do in that situation? featuring :: gojo, geto, nanami, choso, toji, sukuna (part 1/2)

☆ GOJO

As he walks over to his friend through the crowded party, he notices him staring intently somewhere. Being the nosy little brat he is, he decides to search where his eyes meet. So he traces it through his eyes, finding the "entertaining" sight his best friend has his eyes on. To his surprise, he didn't like where this was going. He was admiring you as you talked with other people, of course Gojo couldn't blame him for staring at you like that. But, he had to be sure before he did anything stupid.

"What's so interesting?" he questions, tracing his fingers over the rim of the red, plastic cup. His sudden question snaps his friend out from dazing off in you. "Oh- uh." He sighs, taking a moment to think before speaking. "I shouldn't be telling you this," Geto begins. Gojo's heart started beating faster, feeling nothing but nervousness was over him. "You know y/n, right?" Then, he feels his heart shatter. You walk towards the table with all the drinks where they were, causing the two of them to go more silent. "...Yeah?" he answers. "I think I like h-"

"Stop." You hear the sudden seriousness in your boyfriend's tone, causing you to wonder what the two of them were talking about. "What?" Geto was confused at the quick mood-switch in his best friend. "I shouldn't be telling you this but y/n and I are together." You flinch at the confession he made loudly to his best friend. He knew what he was doing and knew that he was going to get an earful from you later on.

But when it came to the idea of someone-even his best friend-being with you, he couldn't help it. "She's off-limits."

☆ GETO

For him, it was normal for his best friend to be with a different girl each week. Geto knew that he would never take any of them seriously and would end their relationship once he felt bored. Which was very often. So when he saw him attempting (key word: attempting) to flirt with his new target, he thought that it was nothing out of the ordinary. Until he noticed the beautiful and memorable figure he could never forget, the one of his own girlfriend.

It killed him that he couldn't just punch Gojo in the face for even thinking about you in that way. It wasn't just the fact that you were already taken by him, but the fact that even if you weren't, Gojo would get bored of you after a week and toss you to the curb like all the other women he played. And to Geto, you weren't just some random source for his best friend to get entertained by. You were his girlfriend. He walks up to the two of you, not even planning on the move he's going to make once he reaches you.

"Hey, what are we talking about here?" he interrupts Gojo from telling the same story he told all the other girls he's flirted with. You could see the irritation in his eyes and how his fists were clenched, physically restraining himself from making a scene. As Gojo continued blabbering, Geto wrapped his arm around your waist. "That's great, man. But you're going to have to find someone else, y/n over here isn't available right now."

"Why are you acting like this so suddenly, Suguru?" he smirks, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Because this is my girlfriend that you're flirting with right now. Fuck off."

☆ NANAMI

Nanami isn't one for getting into unreasonable trouble unless, in his opinion, the situation absolutely calls for it. He's not one to stoop so low to be jealous. He had no reason to. That was until his friend walked up to him, looking all giddy. He rolled his eyes, knowing it was going to be something stupid. But he let him share his thoughts anyways. "What?" Nanami questioned. "Hmm? Nothing," Ino spoke. "Okay," the man spoke flatly, not having the energy to pursue this further.

"Fine, I'll tell you." The shade of pink painted Ino's cheeks as he was smiling uncontrollably. It felt like he was a middle-schooler confessing to his crush. "You know that one girl," he begins. "You're going to have to be more specific. There are many women on this planet." Ino rolls his eyes, "y/n. She's so pretty!" This is when the situation called for "unreasonable trouble." He didn't know what to say, many thoughts rushed to his brain as he thought of the best response.

"I heard she had a boyfriend," he says. The sparkle in Ino's eyes flashed away. "Really!?" he yells. "Who? How do you know? Who told you?" Nanami knew he dug the hole deeper when the mountain of questions were spat at him. "Umm. I'm not sure who her boyfriend is and I heard it from one of her friends." Ino took a moment to think before he shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe her friend is lying to you. I'll just ask y/n myself."

"No!" Nanami yells suddenly. Even he was taken aback from his sudden reaction. "Damn, are you okay?" Ino flinches. "Yes, I'm okay. I'm not sure it's a good idea to ask her though." He fixes the positioning of his glasses. "Why not?" Nanami's cheeks started turning a suspicious shade of pink. "She's... in a relationship. With me. So don't ask her out."

[babyleostuff]

holding hands with seventeen | OT13

☾₊ ⊹ currently playing: Hug by Seventeen

─･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* ── ･ ｡ﾟ☆:───

𓆩♡𓆪 CHOI SEUNGCHEOL 

A professional hand holder. No matter where you are and what you’re doing, you can be 100% sure that Seungcheol is going to hold your hand. It makes him all fluffy inside each time he reaches for your hand and intertwines your fingers. In public, it’s his way of keeping you protected and making sure you’re always by his side, especially in big crowds where he could easily lose you. But dare to let go of his hand, and he’ll throw a tantrum. 

𓆩♡𓆪 YOON JEONGHAN 

It’s his silent way of saying how much he loves you. As a person who likes subtle acts of affection, he and holding hands is like a match made in heaven. He holds your hand gently, and caresses your knuckles with his thumb from time to time. Will not shy away from grabbing your hand whenever he desires, no matter how much you complain - he will hold your hand, end of story. Also, if you wear rings, you can be sure he’s going to play with them. 

𓆩♡𓆪  HONG JOSHUA 

Holding your hand grounds him, you don’t necessarily have to talk, feeling your hand in his is enough for him. As the gentleman that he is, his grip on you will always be delicate, but sure. Squeezes your hand to reassure you that he’ll always be by your side, and you can always turn to him if you’re feeling upset or uncomfortable. Always intertwines your pinkies when you’re walking around the city.  

𓆩♡𓆪  WEN JUNHUI 

It’s his way of making sure that you’re still by his side. Loves being reassured through holding hands, even though it makes him shy as hell, especially in public. In the beginning of your relationship, he would blush every time you’d grab his hand. He’d never admit it to you, but he gets upset when you let go of his hand. He’s probably trying to figure out a way to grab it again, but in the most low- key way possible. 

𓆩♡𓆪  KWON SOONYOUNG 

Grabs your hand and drags you around the whole house. It’s like an instinct for him to just go for your hand, definitely feeling like something’s missing when he’s not holding hands with you. Gets all giggly and smiley whenever you caress his knuckles but insists that he just remembered a funny joke. Will not let go unless you do it, and when you do, he gets all dramatic that you don’t love him anymore. 

𓆩♡𓆪   JEON WONWOO

Acts annoyed, just to hide how flustered and shy he is. Each time you reach for his hand to intertwine your fingers, he can swear, he feels his heart beat faster. As your relationship progressed, he got more and more bold, and now holding hands has become a habit for him. Always reaches for you when he’s feeling stressed or overwhelmed, your touch and soft hold reminding him that he’s not alone. 

𓆩♡𓆪  LEE JIHOON

The main member whose nr.1 enemy is physical touch. In the beginning, you were very careful with your touches, minding his boundaries. As he started to warm up to your affection, you tried out holding his hand, which he grew to (secretly) love. Now, he’ll never ask you to hold his hand, but it’s like you know by now when he craves some affection. You simply grab his hand, and do not comment on anything, not wanting to scare him off. 

𓆩♡𓆪  XU MINGHAO 

Always has your hand in his - during your daily strolls, when you’re sightseeing, walking through a museum or sitting in a cafe. It’s his low- key way of saying “look how in love I am”, and uses it to show how much he appreciates you. It never fails to make you so soft and protected, knowing that you can always count on him. Grabs your hand on a random Saturday night, and drags you to the middle of the living room to dance. 

𓆩♡𓆪  KIM MINGYU 

Professional hand holder, part 2. Always drags you around, forgetting he’s (probably) taller than you, so you have to move at the speed of light after him. When he’s in an extra lovey- dovey mood, will swing your hands back and forth (probably skipping like a 5 year girl). Always reaches for your hand whenever he gets startled or scared, you’re his safe space and even a simple touch from you is able to calm him down. 

𓆩♡𓆪  LEE SEOKMIN 

Whenever you grab his hand, his day becomes ten times better. Holding hands, in his opinion, can solve any problem, and that’s why when you’re having a fight or argument, he insists on holding each other's hands. It keeps you grounded and connected, making you think about the other person's emotions. Will happily follow you, as long as your fingers are intertwined, and in case you get overly excited he can pull you back to reality. 

𓆩♡𓆪 BOO SEUNGKWAN 

Gets so dramatic, if you let go of his hand. Is petty, and acts as if it was the end of the world. You basically have to force his hand into yours to shut him up, which works every time. By now, you can recognize some differences in his hand holding, so you can easily tell if he is feeling sad or upset. Grabs your hand under the table at a dinner with your friends to let you know that he’s there for you anytime you need him (no matter how dramatic he is). 

𓆩♡𓆪 CHWE VERNON 

At first he was like: “you want to do what?”. But now holding hands is his absolute favorite way of showing you affection. It’s just so simple and low- key, no one can really tease him for that, and feels 100% comfortable with having your hands in his. Definitely a hand holder during your movie nights. Sometimes, when he gets too engrossed in the movie, he starts to caress your knuckles and doesn’t stop until the movie ends. 

𓆩♡𓆪  LEE CHAN 

Would hold your hand 24/7 if he could. Likes having your hand in his in public, especially during parties, as it is a subtle way of saying that you’re taken, and he’ll fight anyone who’d dare to make you uncomfortable. Similarly to Mingyu, reaches for you whenever he’s scared, squeezes your hand tightly and holds it close to his heart to calm himself down. Has a habit of playing with your fingers when you’re cuddling (the type to compare your hand sizes). 

[lov1ngreid]

BOYS LIKE YOU | 2

back to PART ONE

(pairings): highschool!spencer + cheerleader!reader

(warnings): none <3

(word count): 4K

(author’s note): hii i’m so happy to see all the love on part one! i’m so sorry this took a little longer than usual to be posted i’ve had a busy few days, i’ve got plans for one more part for this series, i hope you’ve enjoyed so far 🩷🩷 also I don’t know how i feel about the end of this part, so let me know any feedback!!

listen to what i did when i wrote this! ➘

Quickly, you opened his bedroom door to stand at the top of the stairwell, scanning over the living room with ease considering how high up you were. Making sure both your families were occupied with whatever thanksgiving nonsense had presented itself.

Quickly turning your head back to Spencer who stood in the doorway of his bedroom incredibly confused, you silently gestured to him to follow you with the nod of your head, it takes him a few seconds of internally fighting himself before he follows your lead, hopping down the stairs a few beats behind you before the both of you reach the bottom.

“You ready?” You say, getting on your tippy toes to whisper it quietly in his ear, you almost had forgotten how tall he was.

Confused, Spencer’s brows furrow before answering “ready for wh- Ow!” He groaned, hunching over a little at the pain, you felt a little bad for kicking him in the ankle with your boot, but you knew he deserved it a little for being so mean about your cupcake.

“Oh no!” You exclaimed, obviously acting to Spencer but you seemed to have convinced everyone else “I think Spencer sprained his ankle!” Gasping you pretend to comfort him moving him to the dining room chair as he glared at you from the side of his eye, almost instantly his parents had rushed over to the both of you instantly drowning him in worry.

“Are you okay sweetie?” Diana rushed reaching down to touch the ankle he had his hand over, he took a second to look up at you before answering.

“I don’t think so, it really hurts” he huffed rubbing the ankle in question, it shouldn’t have made you smile, but you thought it was sweet that he was going along with your plan and not immediately telling everyone you had just kicked him in the ankle.

It was like when you were kids creating elaborate stories as to why you needed $20 from your parents, claiming it was so you could buy a new textbook for class, when you really just bought Call of duty and played it in his room.

“I can take him to the ER” you offer looking down at Diana “he really shouldn’t be walking on it” nodding, you look between her and Spencer, attempting to read her facial expressions for any suspicions that this one really one big lie.

She looks up at Spencer for a moment, breaking her gaze with him to look at you before nodding “I think that’s a good idea” she smiles reaching up from Spencer to grab your hand in hers, you feel her soft warm palms grasp yours before she rushes to the kitchen for a moment.

Having both your families huddled around the both of you made keeping up the facade incredibly difficult, sure, you could lie to just about everyone and anyone, but lying to your family who knew you more than anything was beginning to become a little difficult.

Diana rushes back with an ice pack before leaning back down to Spencer’s ankle to press it against the bone softly. “Here” your dad mumbles, fishing his car keys from his left pant pocket before tossing them in your direction, so unexpectedly that you barely catch them, fumbling them in the process which causes Spencer to laugh a little beside you.

The first time you had heard him laugh all night, the first time you had heard him laugh in years.

“You’re dead if you scratch that car” your dad sternly tells you before he takes another swig of his beer, pressing your lips together nodding quickly, you glance back down at Spencer for a second seeing a small smirk grow on his face knowing everyone had believed your little coordinated stunt.

After a few moments of hustle, you recruit Brodie to help hobble Spencer out to the black suv as both your parents follow behind, you were still shocked that the scheme had even worked, and that Spencer had gone through with it.

“Why are you here?”

“I thought I’d come along?” Brodie shrugged, clicking his seatbelt before switching his gaze from the backseat between both you and Spencer.

“Get out” you smile nodding for him to leave.

“Why?” He spits, suspicions growing in his mind as his gaze flicks faster between you and Spencer “and since when are you guys even friends?” confused his mouth agape while memories of both Spencer and you being absent from the night caught up to him, if you were going to get away with something, it wasn’t going to be with brodie, that boy was seemingly always one step ahead of you.

He continues to look between the both of you as you both stammer for a response “Oh gross!” He exclaims unbuckling his seatbelt in an instance “are you guys hooking up?” His mouth drops, absolutely staggered by his own conclusion.

Seemingly one step ahead.

You and Spencer stare at each other mouths agape before Spencer begins to loudly, and rudely start fake gagging in response to Brodie claims, shocked you slap Spencer on the shoulder shaking your head in offense, there is no way on earth that boy was seriously fake gagging at the thought of hooking up with you.

“I don’t think there’s a single universe where that would happen” Spencer presses his lips together rubbing his arm where you had inflicted your second act of violence against him tonight.

“Oh?…” Brodie trails off, still incredibly confused on what sort of game you both were playing here.

“I’ll you don’t leave I’ll tell mom how you accidentally linked her credit card to your ark account”

“Okay see ya!” His eyebrows raised before scurrying out of the backseat of the car slamming the door behind him.

You and Spencer sit in comfortable silence for a moment taking deep breaths, both shocked your plan had actually worked.

After a few minutes you break the silence “by the way, in that alternate universe where we don’t hook up, is because I rejected you not the other way around” you point at him before buckling your seatbelt, Spencer only responds by holding his hands up in defense.

The car ride was almost silent other than the sound of the radio quietly playing and your blinker clicking away at each turn, Spencer spent the time gazing out the passenger window watching the houses zoom past him and watched the trees sway in the wind. His mind catches up when he sees the familiar 2 storey white paneled house with your baby blue volkswagen beetle convertible parked in the driveway.

“Why are we at your house?” Spencer questions, concerned, every possible situation flashes through his mind, were you pranking him? Were all your friends waiting there to laugh at him?

You switched the car off before turning to answer “did you think you were going wearing that?” Raking your eyes across his outfit, cringing again at the sight of it “it’s thanksgiving, you’d think you’d at least wear something nice” scoffing you open the drivers seat door before hurrying into your home.

Spencer opens his door before rushing to trail behind you “this is my nice doctor who shirt” he mumbles looking down at his own outfit, ignoring whatever loser sentence had just come from his mouth you push open your door nodding for him to follow.

You don’t turn around to make sure he’s keeping up with you before you hurry up the stairs making a beeline for your bedroom, once Spencer realizes where you’re headed, his footsteps behind you slow down a little only causing you to turn around confused.

“Um I don’t think I should go in there” he mumbled, staring at your bedroom door like he had just seen a ghost.

“Why?” You question, confusion painted over your face.

“It’s just- I don’t know, I just don’t want to” he rushed, face turning pink in embarrassment, it was as if any sort of confidence he had before completely diminished in front of you.

What if he was right? All your friends were sitting in there waiting for him to enter obliviously. He could only imagine how loud their laughs would be, he could almost hear it ringing through his ears.

Tilting your head you watch Spencer as he stands in shock staring at your door, you wave your hand in front of his face, clicking him out of whatever world he had entered “You’re scared of my room?”

“No- no… there’s no one in there, is there?” He sheepishly responds, pink traveling up to the tips of his ears.

“Yeah Spence the whole cheer squad is in there” the colour instantly drains from his pink embarrassment ridden face “no, there’s no one in my room… weirdo” you whisper pulling the door handle to swing it open, Spencer almost flinched at the sight of your bedroom.

Unlike his, your room was completely re arranged, the colour of your walls even had even been painted from pastel pink to light grey. He took a moment to scan around the room, everything had a place, every colour cohesive. He paused a little when he glanced at the numerous photo frames scattered across your bedroom, frames that once held photos of you at dance competitions, photos of you and Spencer riding your bikes or at your birthday parties, had been replaced by photos of your cheer team or you and your group of friends at parties.

Except for the picture frame on your bedside table, inserted with a photo of the both of you from science camp discovering how hydrogen peroxide and potassium iodide reacted for the first time.

He felt his heart unwillingly tighten at the thought that you still cared about him at least a little.

“Alright” you mumble digging through your wardrobe drawers completely oblivious to Spencer wandering your room deep in thought “here!” You exclaim pulling the grey hoodie from the bottom of your drawer, you chuck it at Spencer unexpectedly causing him to stumble backwards a little at the impact.

“Who’s is this?” he wonders, holding the hoodie up to see the garment, which was evidently much too large for you.

“Mine” you answer, while you tried to tidy up your now messy wardrobe, he shoots you a look, and despite you not being able to see, you could feel it by the silence “I like to buy boys hoodies” shrugging you stand back up brushing past him to Brodies room, in search of some pants, letting out a little ‘aha!’ when you found the one nice pair of jeans brodie owned, which you had bought.

You tossed the jeans at his chest which is he surprisingly caught this time around. You stood in the doorway of your room for a moment while Spencer held the pile of clothes in his arms, stunned like a deer in headlights.

“I’m gonna go downstairs so you can change” you nod before closing the door and hopping down the stairs before he could respond.

You hadn’t even had time to check your phone since you had gotten to thanksgiving, switching it on, the screen filled with numerous group chat messages and texts from your friends asking if you were still coming, which only earned a groan from you, you loved your friends, really, but sometimes it felt like they always wanted something from you.

Snapped out of your thoughts by your door snapping closed, you look up from the kitchen island to see Spencer’s black converse stepping down the stairs.

You’d never actually seen him wear anything other than graphic T-shirt’s and sweaters before, and although you thought those were indeed very him. It was like you were seeing a completely different version of him.

a version that didn’t dress like a clone of your brother.

“I feel stupid” he chuckles looking down at what he was wearing.

“You look cute” you smile at him laughing a little before switching your attention back to your phone.

Although a small gesture from you, your words made Spencer huff with a loss of breath, not one person in his entire life besides his mother had called him cute, other than you.

He stood there reminded of the times you used to ensure he looked cute while wearing a tree costume for the annual middle school play, or when he broke his arm and you had to convince him he looked fine with his cast, although he felt stupid you had told him he looked cute, you even drew pink hearts on his cast to make sure he knew.

But you called everyone that, he knew it was your favourite adjective.

“Alright” you chirp snapping him from his thoughts “you ready to go?” Spencer fizzles out from his thoughts to respond with a nod, which you return with a smile grabbing your keys from the kitchen bench.

The car ride remained silence for the most part, ears filled with the speakers softly playing Faye Webster and the sounds of cars buzzing around you.

“You know, you’re a lot quieter then when I tried giving you that cupcake” you chuckle turning for a moment to look at Spencer’s jawline as he gazed out the passenger window.

You only watched him shrug from the corner of your eye before responding “I feel safer in my room… in my house I guess” mumbling Spencer looks down at his lap before he starts to pick at his fingers.

You glance over again, watching how the red like from the traffic light shone over his face, you lick your lips before answering “I like it when you’re nice to me” you admit sheepishly snapping your head to meet the road again.

“I’d like it if your friends were nice to me” he mumbles again not daring to meet your eyes scared of your reaction.

“What?” You respond furrowing your brows in confusion “are they not nice to you?” A concerned look shoots through your face turning to face Spencer once again, this time his gaze meets yours simultaneously.

Spencer’s face reads confused as well, why were you confused? You’d been at high school for almost 4 years at this point, you’d had to be stupid to not realise the social ladder that your peers had created to make people like Spencer feel inferior.

“Are you kidding?” He responds, same confused look painted across his face “they’re not nice to anyone but themselves, you’d have to be blind not to see it” convinced you were playing some sort of game, he doesn’t show any sort of affection in response, but he knew you weren’t stupid.

You both sit in silence for a minute before you muster up a response, you weren’t stupid, you knew your friends weren’t the nicest to everyone but you convinced yourself that if you never indulged it didn’t count, you were never mean to anyone so you never felt as if you had their words on your conscious.

Selfishly because they were never mean to anyone you really cared about, you thought.

“Am I mean to you?” You questioned quickly, searching his face for a reaction, it only twisted in question before he responded.

“I don’t think so” he whispers softly which you barely register over the music.

You knew you were, not outright mean but mean by association, you never stopped their comments about passing by students, you usually never indulged but you were just as mean for letting them go so nonchalantly, cause although not about Spencer, they were about somebody’s Spencer.

It’s almost like you could feel Spencer’s heart beating yourself, the view of the 3 storey modern shaped grey and white home was enough to make Spencer’s heart beat spike while he watched people run in and out of the house, people he knew, people he had classes with.

You couldn’t help yourself but reach over to grab Spencer’s cool hand “you’ll be fine” you nodded giving it a squeeze before letting go to unbuckle your seatbelt.

His heart did something other than beat profusely, it tightened as you dropped his hand, and he hated it.

Trailing behind you like a lost puppy he took a moment to examine his surroundings, he recognised almost every person stumbling in and out of the house from classes or kids he tutored.

Almost instantly, you were embraced by a wave of girls who he had recognised as your cheer friends, laughing and giggling while they squealed about your outfit and hair, he stood behind you feeling like he was made from glass being absolutely ignored by anyone in his vicinity.

He stood staring at the tops of his laces for a moment, the sounds of loud music and chatter filling his ears as he waited for you to turn your attention to him instead.

“Ready?” You chirp as your friends wondered off in different directions, you told them not to wait up, and frankly they were much too indulged in themselves to even register the 6 foot boy hiding behind you like a child.

The last time you had asked if he was ready, you sent your shoe straight to his ankle so he shot a confused look in your direction.

Noticing his concern you chuckle before grabbing his hand to drag him through the sea of drunken teenagers.

He looked down at your hand, your cool rings flush against his own, his eyes widened a little when he felt his heart beat a little faster at the contact, and god he couldn’t stand it.

Eventually you dragged him to the kitchen where only two people had occupied, you dropped his hand behind you to embrace the girl sitting on top of the kitchen island, Spencer recognised her, you and Gianna had been friends since the first day of high school, and she was the only one of your friends Spencer could stand.

“Oh hi Spencer!” She smiled after breaking from your hug, she took a swig of her cup before taking a chance to scan over his outfit “not to be mean or anything, but did you get invit-” although she asked innocently you slapped her in the arm before she could continue.

“I have a love story to witness” smiling you nudge Spencer in the shoulder a little only earning his cheeks to turn pink as he looked down at his shoes a little longer “Sadie Keller has a big fat crush on him and so does he” you laugh making your way over to the fridge to pull out a bottle of water, Spencer only nervously laughed at your words.

“Sadie Keller?” Gianna questions tilting her head a little earning a shy nod from Spencer “oh! are you her tutor?” She points at Spencer grinning a little.

“Um..” he mumbled turning to face you “yeah”

“God, she doesn’t stop yapping about you” giggling she takes another sip from her cup, she turns around for a moment scanning through the crowd “Sadie!” She yelled flailing her arm to grab her attention.

Almost frantically he turns to you who looked more than entertained seeing how embarrassed he got, you both look up at the sea of people watching as Sadie’s cherry red hair gets closer and closer pushing through the crowd of teenagers.

Spencer jumps a little at the grasp of your hand again, smiling up at him for a second giving his cold hand a squeeze “good luck Spence” you nod before you beckon Gianna from the kitchen island to leave spencer to fend for himself.

Spencer’s eyes follow you as you walk to the direction of the pool arm in arm with Gianna, before snapping to the pretty girl in front of him.

Your heart tightens just a little as you leave him there, furrowing eyebrows as you notice the feeling, the same feeling you had in seventh grade when he got partnered up with Ava Milligan instead of you.

The sounds of the thumping music fades out at you both walk to the pool outside taking a seat on the edge, it was typical for you and Gianna to sit at the pool together at parties, she was the only person that agreed the party scene wasn’t her favourite, you both were homebodies, but high school hustle made not attending parties sound like social suicide.

Giggling as you slipped your boots and socks off to dip your feet in the cool pool you both sit for a little leaning on each other in a comfortable silence in each others company.

You can’t help but glance through the glass doors into the kitchen, and feel the way your heart thumps at the view of Spencer and Sadie sitting on the kitchen island giggling at god knows what.

What could they possibly be laughing about? what could she have possibly said to make him laugh?

“Okay spill” Gianna mutters, snapping you from your Spencer induced trance, you only shoot her a confused look back “You show up at a party with the boy you’ve been in love with for like forever, I know something’s going on in that pretty little head” she chuckles nudging you a little, causing you to laugh in response.

“I’m not in love with him” you mumble back turning your attention to your feet swaying in the cool water, she raises an eyebrow, obviously not believing a word coming from your mouth.

“Okay, you keep thinking that” she smiles slinging her arm over your shoulder while your heads lean together gazing at the blue water “I just didn’t think you’d pass him off so easily… you know he looks at you the same way you look at him, deny it all you want” she whispers, only the faint sounds of the party and the small water splashing occupying your ears.

You knew she was right, god you were in love with Spencer Reid no matter how much you wanted to deny it, that’s why you kept his stupid photo on your bedside table, and why you made cupcakes every thanksgiving, and why him completely shutting you out hurt so much.

Giannas head lifts from your shoulder at the sound of the glass door snapping shut, your eyes raise to meet Spencer standing there smiling a little at you “my queue to leave” Gianna laughs before leaving a kiss on the top of your head before hopping up from the pool edge grabbing her shoes in one hand nodding at Spencer as they brushed past each other, she turns around to mouth a quick ‘good luck’ before returning to the commotion of the party.

“How’d it go” you beam as he made his way down to sit next to you criss cross at the pool.

“Good… I think but she asked me to go ice skating” he mumbles furrowing his brows a little.

“That’s great!” You foreign excitement reaching to grab his shoulder “why do you look so sad about it?”

“God..” he groans reaching to rub his face with his hands “I can’t ice skate”

You giggle a little at his despair “sure you can… we went together in sixth grade remember?”

“I broke my arm that day”

“Oh” you respond, memories flashing through your head “you did didn’t you, you had that cute little cast I used to draw hearts over” giggling at the memory you continue to swish your feet in the water.

There was that feeling again, his heart thumping a little louder than before, it was like anytime you said something about him that he was sure you wouldn’t remember, his heart skipped a beat, and he could feel his palms get warmer.

“I’ll teach you” you smile pulling him from his thoughts “I don’t think Sadie will want to drive you to the ER for another broken arm” you chuckle bringing your lip up to your teeth for a moment.

“Think of it as a practice date”

“A practice date it is” he chuckles smiling back at you, you both meet each others gaze for a moment, you felt a pit grow in the bottom of your stomach as you both sit in silence searching in each others eyes.

You never could admit it, but he was still the boy you fell in love with in fifth grade, and you were still the girl in love with him.

PART THREE

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[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 19, Unfriended - Pt. 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language, yelling, mentions of violence against women.

Word Count: 1.9k

Previously On...: You showed Nat and Wanda the texts. They were as bad as you thought.

A/N: You guys sure know how to make me give you whatever you want with all your flattery! I am WEAK. Keep it coming ;) Also, this scene is the very first one that came into my head during the creation of this fic, one of the first I wrote for it. It had to be redone a lot as the story changed, but I like to think I kept the beats and emotions the same as I first intended to be.

NOTE! The tag list is a fickle bitch, so I'm not really going to be dealing with it anymore. If you want to be notified when I update, please enable notifications from my Blog page!

Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917!

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

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Once inside the conference room, your friends made sure to sit you between the two of them, so that Bucky couldn't park himself next to you. Unfortunately, there wasn't much they could do to keep him from taking the seat across from you.

"Hey," he said as he sat down, "I've been trying to call you; thought we could go get some lunch before returning to our previously scheduled activities. Where've you been?" You acted as though you hadn't heard him, pretending you were extremely interested in something on your phone. It didn't escape your notice, however, when Jade entered the room and sat down in the seat next to him, Bucky instinctively shifted his seat away from her slightly. She glanced between the two of you, a smug smile playing across her lips.

"Bucky," she greeted. "How's things?"

"Carthage," he huffed in response. You made the mistake of catching his eye for a brief second, and he offered you a tentative smile before you immediately hardened your expression and turned away.

Nat jotted down a sentence in her notebook and slid the paper over to you. Your puppy looks like you just kicked him in the face and he can't figure out why.

You suppressed a snicker and wrote back I can't reward a mongrel for indiscriminately humping bitches, can I? You quickly worked to scribble over your words as Natasha positively cackled at you, drawing everyone's attention.

"You alright there, Nat?" Tony asked as he entered the room, moving toward the front of the space and getting ready to begin the meeting. Nat coughed and took a sip from her water bottle.

"Just peachy, Tony," she answered, stifling a smile. "Just peachy."

"Okay, good. Let's get this started, then." He opened up his tablet and flicked a projection over the table. It was a series of photographs of about two dozen or so young women, all looking to be in their late teens to early thirties. "These women," Tony began, "have all been reported missing from the vicinity of Atlantic City over the last eighteen months. They've all got a history of either drugs, prostitution, or both, so the local police aren't interested in wasting valuable resources tracking them down. Fortunately for them, my resources are endless." He gave a sad smile, then with another flick of his wrist, brought up a three-dimensional schematic of a squat building. "This is called the Wiggle Room. It's a Russian-owned club where at least half of the missing girls were dancers at some point in the last three years."

"You're thinking trafficking," you spoke up. It wasn't a question. You knew the signs too well, after all. Tony nodded.

"That's horrible," said Jade "but, I mean, we're the Avengers. Isn't trafficking kind of... I dunno, below our paygrade?"

If looks could kill, you and Natasha would have murdered her on the spot. Bucky rolled his eyes before leaning over and murmuring something to Jade that you couldn't quite hear, but you had a pretty good idea what it was when her face turned red and she looked at the two of you and muttered "Oh, sorry-- I didn't know."

Your next murder-by-death stare went to Bucky. How fucking dare he divulge your secrets to her, especially when you told him he was only one of three people on this entire fucking planet who knew them? You told him that in confidence. He had absolutely no right. He just shrugged at you apologetically. Fucking shrugged. You were going to throw up. How many times was he going to betray you?

"As I was saying," Tony continued, as though Jade hadn't interrupted him, and you were grateful for it, "we want to put a couple of people on the inside, work there for a few months, see what they can find out."

"Oooh!" said Jade, bouncing in her seat and raising her hand like she was in grade school. "I volunteer!" She turned to stage whisper to Bucky. "Wouldn't I make an absolutely adorable stripper? It would be so much fun!"

Bucky had the good sense, for once in his life, to roll his eyes at Jade as Tony spoke up: “You’re benched, Carthage,” he said matter of factly. “Which reminds me; we need to have a discussion about how you managed to sneak your ass onto the Russia mission.

You felt a sick sense of satisfaction when you saw the look of chastisement cross Jade’s face, and were overcome with a renewed curiosity over just how she happened to get herself on that Quinjet in the first place. Not that it mattered, not anymore.

"So, do you think you'd be up for it, Pocket?" Tony turned to you. "Willing to dust off those pasties and jump back on the pole one last time?"

You smirked, having suspected that the ask was coming as soon as he mentioned a strip club. "What can I say, Boss? It'll be like riding a bike."

"Good, because maintenance is putting a practice pole in your room as we speak. Don't want you looking rusty undercover."

"As if I could ever!” You pretended to be affronted.

"Hold up," said Steve, and suddenly, you could feel all eyes on you. Oops. You’d forgotten that part of your history was also not common knowledge. You glanced around and everyone was staring; Sam's mouth was even hanging open. "Are you saying Pocket used to be a stripper?" Steve whispered the last word, as though it was naughty and he'd get in trouble for using it.

"Hey," you said nonchalantly, shrugging your shoulders, "MIT ain't cheap."

"I'll have you know, Cap, that exotic dancing is a craft, and our Pocket here is an artist." You beamed at Tony's words, pride flushing through you. Your past as a dancer wasn't something that you necessarily led conversations with, but you weren't ashamed of it. The money had been excellent, and you'd been good at it. Damned good.

"You've seen her?" Sam asked, mouth still hanging open.

"How do you think we met?" Tony asked him, as if it was the stupidest question in the world.

"No," said Bucky, out of nowhere, his voice hard and angry. He stood up, fists planted on the table, glaring at you.

"It was definitely while she was working at a strip club" Tony said, deliberately mistaking Bucky's meaning. "It's not everyday you get a comparative analysis of the weaknesses of your company's firewalls at the same time you get a lap dance; tends to leave a lasting impression."

"No, I mean Pocket's not going undercover. She's just a civilian and it's too dangerous. Send Natasha or Jade in, instead," Bucky bit out through gritted teeth.

"Excuse me?" You stood up, as well, mirroring his stance and matching his glare from across the table. "You do not get to determine what missions are too dangerous for me, James. You're not my father."

"But I'm your boyfriend," he said, and the fact that you had called him 'James,' and not 'Bucky' or 'Barnes' wasn't lost on him. "And I care about whether or not you get hurt."

You laughed, cold and mirthless. "Since when?" you spat, letting every ounce of pain you felt at his betrayal into your voice. He looked back at you, hurt and abject confusion clouding his features.

"If you're so worried about her, then you can go, too," Tony said. "Go as her boyfriend, get a job at the club as a bouncer. We need multiple sets of eyes."

Bucky seemed almost mollified by this suggestion, but you were not going to allow it. "Absolutely not," you said, the conviction ringing in your voice. "Sam'll come with me."

"What?" both Sam and the super soldier asked at the same time.

"Barnes is way too identifiable with that metal arm," you offered by way of explanation. "No way in hell I'll keep my cover if I walk in with the fucking Winter Soldier by my side."

"She's got a point," Steve said, scratching his chin. "But Pocket, language, please." You stole a glance at Bucky, and his eyes were full of pain. You'd called him the Winter Soldier. Out loud. You'd never done that; you knew how hard he worked to differentiate himself from the monster Hydra had turned him into. It was a low blow on your part, but you couldn't find it in you to give a shit.

Tony clapped his hands. "All right, then it's settled. Pocket and Sam will go to Atlantic City. It's strictly an intel-finding mission, only. No heroics, got it you two?" You both nodded in agreement. While you were excited to go out into the field in an undercover capacity, you had no desire to see combat. Sure, you could more than handle your own if it came down to self-defense-- Nat had made sure of that, but there was a reason you were the computer girl and not an actual superhero yourself. "Pocket, get practicing. You've got about a week before we’ll be sending you and Sam out; don’t want you embarrassing me up there. Any questions? No? Good. That's it, then, class adjourned. 

"Oh, and one more thing," he said before everyone could collect themselves, "don't forget, our girl's turning 35 on Saturday. The party starts at eight. Dress to kill, because I'm going all out for this one."

You couldn't help the blush that crept up your face, despite the rollercoaster of anger and agony you’d been feeling. When Tony had approached you about throwing you a birthday party, you'd demurred, telling him you were too old for one, but he had insisted that, since you'd missed out on so many childhood experiences because of what your parents had put you through, you were going to get a party to remember.

You got up and gathered your things, purposefully avoiding Bucky as Nat and Wanda glared at him while they waited to escort you out. You were eager to get up to your new room so you could start researching the missing women and this strip club and, a part of you admitted with a smile, get practicing your old routine and come up with a couple of new ones. It was just the thing you needed to take your mind off of your current troubles.

“Pocket, Sam,” Tony called, catching your attention, “hold back a minute; I want to go over some details with you.”

Nat and Wanda looked at you, but you encouraged them to go on; Steve had made a beeline toward Bucky after the meeting had been adjourned and, despite Bucky lingering, obviously waiting to speak with you, had managed to steer him out of the room to discuss something you couldn’t give a shit about. “It’s fine, guys,” you told your friends. “He’s gone; I should be able to get back up to the room without trouble.

They exchanged a glance, then looked back at you. Nodding, they left.

“Pocket,” Tony said, once the conference room was clear and it was just the two of you and Sam remaining, “care to tell me why FRIDAY says you’ve moved rooms?”

“Not at the current moment, Boss,” you said. You didn’t want to rehash the drama you’d been thrown into against your will, let alone in front of a completely innocent bystander. Instead, you encouraged him to get on with whatever more he needed to tell you and Sam about the parameters of the mission. Hopefully, it would distract you enough to take your mind off of the sheer agony you felt inside.

<- Previous Part / Next Part ->

[yenonnoff]

TEACH ME HOW TO LOVE!

atsumu miya x fem!reader

⌒☆ synopsis : when y/n l/n, a rising actress, decides to star in a romance film that could make or break her career, she’s unable to showcase her skills, revealing her inexperience within the romance department instead. worst of all, atsumu miya, her co-star and the main lead’s love interest, seems to hate her guts! with absolutely, unbearably zero chemistry between the two, an idea was proposed: spend time with one another in the upcoming weeks. will y/n be able to ignore her professionalism and listen to her heart? and will she, a clueless romantic, be able to pick up on the signs her co-star is sending her?

⌒☆ content: actors/celebrity au, social media au, modern au, enemies (got off on the wrong foot) to friends to lovers, slow burn (sorry 😞), mild angst, fluff, crack/humor

⌒☆ warnings: she/her pronouns used, contains a lot swearing, mentions alcohol/alcohol consumption,

⌒☆ status: on hiatus; started (07/18/23)

🎬 chapter names may change as the story progresses + unless stated differently, ignore all timestamps

🎬🎧 — playlist

STARRING:

｡ｏ♡ HOT dummies // mentally sane + atsumu ig? ｡ｏ♡

( minor chars! )

LIGHTS:

01. vengeance (like batman)

02. vroom vroom! im here (୨୧)

03. wtf is love

04. sweet dreams (or not)

05. hi, mr. charismatic

06. give me a break (୨୧)

07. morning madness

08. you ruined my coffee with your scowl (୨୧)

09. emergency conference meeting!

10. strangers (?) at an amusement park (୨୧)

11. perhaps a malfunction?

12. a mistake, 100% a mistake

13. your words

14. message sent, message received

15. tolerate! tolerate! tolerate!

16. me, you, and a beautiful sunset (୨୧)

CAMERA:

17. snap out of it!

18. brewing up a storm

19. do not disturb

20. conversation over coffee

21. cat chase (୨୧)

22. 2 people, 1 truth (୨୧)

23. the act of kissing (୨୧)

24. plans & precautions

25. fame is not for the weak (୨୧)

26. a pro’s guide to scandals

27. stranger danger!

28. what comes after heartbreak? (୨୧)

ACTION:

29. mission failed (unsurprisingly)

30. 10 things i hate about you

31. i hate unrequited love tropes

32. beachside lesson on romance

33. seashells and slackers

34. to the miya’s (୨୧)

35. wait a minute, you what?!

36. mondays are for bad luck

37. anything for you (୨୧)

38. clown circus clown

39. love is when two hearts beat the same (୨୧)

ENDING CREDITS:

40. to new beginnings

41. i want to call you mine (୨୧)

42. choices with lovely outcomes (୨୧)

43. gross! lovebirds!

44. co-star to your main event

EXTRAS:

45. a lovely tryst

46. clueless romantic, but i love you

a/n: hi!! this is my first ever smau + my first time posting on tumblr so pls be patient if smth looks off (and if smth does, pls kindly inform me!!). i want to thank @idlerin for inspiring me to make this, so many thanks to syl!! u should check out her smaus and other works, theyre all amazing!! asides from that, i want to give the fattest biggest thanks to my best friend may (@kqbukimono) for putting up w/ my spontaneous questions and for giving the best advice ever (ure the best ig 😜). she also helped me choose the title! ok im being too nice, he might make fun of me. thank u so much to everyone who is planning on reading my smau!

taglist is open! dm or ask to be a part of it!

[twirlingsmilingwriting]

Tolerate It pt 2 || Young! Coriolanus Snow X Reader

"Now, you're runnin' down the hallway and you know what they all say You don't know what you got until it's gone" You don't need to read pt 1 to understand whats happening but if you want to ITS HERE

https://www.tumblr.com/twirlingsmilingwriting/737294906027098112/tolerate-it-youngcoriolanus-snow-x-reader?source=share

TLDR: Truly feeling like the luckiest person alive when your former classmate and short term boyfriend asked you to marry him. Not even a year into the marriage and also a year into his presidency does the original love and admiration you felt from him start to dissipate. You can't help but feel trapped and tricked into a marriage in which he may have never loved you to begin with.

Warnings: Angst, Love-Bombing, marriage, gender ambiguous reader, typical snow tags (manipulation), alcohol, alluding to sexual acts but not described at the end, kissing, unclear motives, capitol parties, crying

Word count: 3k

a/n I was not going to make a part two to this story originally because I thought it was a one shot but some people asked for a part two and my big juicy brain started making up ideas!! lowkey wanted to title this one "You're Losing Me" for the next part but then it'd be hard to find. Let's pretend its called "You're losing me" :') ~

Dazzling lights decorated the gardens of the capital. I stood on the balcony feeling the wind blow through my hair and the satin of my frilly and extravagant blouse. The sounds of music and people chattering from below filled my ears. I closed my eyes and hummed tuning into the moment. I could hear his voice. He was talking to guests in the plaza. I could hear the smile on face in his voice as he charmed the guests, his charisma grew with each passing day. It was the same charm that led me down the path of falling in love with him. I exhaled the breath I didn't even notice I was holding and opened my eyes to take in the sight again. My eyes followed the sound of his voice and I spotted my husband down by a catering table. His tall, slender figure danced delicately through the air. His posture was different from when I first met him. He was always confident but the air around him felt different now. His aura was different but I truly had no right to judge the character of a man I rarely spoke to these days.

A heavy, dragged sigh escaped my lips and I sat back and watched his tantalizing smile and words tease and enchant the party guests. He parted his hair a different way today. I noticed every aspect of him, the way his shirt fit so snugly around his broad shoulders and draped over his thin waist. The gold watch decorated his wrist ever so gently. Truly, his beauty was delicate. He had such a whimsical and frail appearance but his energy made him seem like he was three times the man he was, the man he wanted to be. His head tilted up and his eyes met mine. I froze like the ice the color of his eyes were. His smile dropped and he nodded at me, letting his eyes do the talking.

'Smile more and come down here'

Instantly, a curated diamond-encrusted smile plastered my face and I dusted off my satin shirt and walked down the stairs of the balcony to the main area ever so carefully. Floating down the steps and through the crowd, my body finally reached his side and I interlocked my arm with his. He smiled down at me and I felt my heart beat a little faster. It felt real, at least to me. I loved it when we had parties because Coryo would adorn me with the affection I missed from him. His hand smoothed down to the small of my back and I looked over to smile at the party guests.

"Good evening y/n, you look dazzling," the capital man said, I'm sure I knew him from somewhere but his face was unrecognizable from the copious amounts of fillers he had put in it. I bowed my head to thank him without saying a word. I wasn't too sure if I was allowed to speak yet. That question would soon be answered when I felt a tug at my arm and I looked up to see my husband smiling at me.

'talk more smile less'

Swallowing my breath, I turned my attention back to the man. "Thank you, you also look fabulous, it is my pleasure to be able to serve such fine guests such as yourself at this party tonight," I spoke softly and confidently. I felt Coryos' nails dig slightly into the flesh of my hand. 'you're talking too much'. Mild frustration bubbled in me but it was cut short by the laughter of the party guest. "wow Snow, you truly know how to keep your partner in check huh?" He joked and Coryo started to laugh too before brushing off the comment and continuing to chat with the man about business, politics, and violence. I started to feel a little awkward but once I felt my husband release his hold on me and tap my hip three times, I knew I was done being his arm candy in this moment. Bowing my head, I excused myself and made something up about how I had to 'tend to the roses'.

Walking through the crowds of people I made sure to smile and wave at the happy partygoers while parting through them like the Red Sea. Arriving finally at a bowl filled with some sort of fruity and alcoholic concoction, I flimsily started to fill myself a cup. Leaning against a pillar by the bowl, I started to sip my drink and watched the people dance when suddenly, I heard a man's voice speaking to me. My eyes drifted to meet his and he started to walk over to me extending his hand out for a handshake.

"Wow... truly I am delighted to be in the presence of the right hand of the ruler of Panem. Hello, y/n, It is truly an honor to make your acquaintance" He said, a cheeky smile spread across his face. His orange curls decoratively fell upon his forehead and he had a certain glimmer in his eyes. He was clearly overjoyed to see me and that made me feel... nice?

"Oh goodness please, save me the formalities. And what might your name be?" I asked taking his hand in mine and shaking it. "Curtis"

"Short and sweet, I like that name"

He smiled even brighter than before and laughed, throwing his head back and retracting his hand from the handshake. He was tall, very muscular, and he just had the most shimmery of brown eyes out there. His appearance almost reminded me of a former classmate of mine, Sejanus but ginger. I smiled back and started to giggle a little from just his laughter.

"Have you been enjoying the party?"

"I've been trying, isn't the night just gorgeous?

"Pardon my boldness, but it truly doesn't compare to the beauty that you are. The night looks good on you." His words were stern and it felt like his voice was dripping in honey. A soft blush danced across my cheeks. It had been so long since the last time I received a compliment that felt so genuine. I chuckled a little and shifted my eyes away from the ones of the man with all the right words to say.

"Coriolanus is a lucky man in so many ways but truly, ending up with you must be his proudest achievement. I'm honestly shocked that you're standing by yourself here now. He is a smart man but not a wise one to let you start to slip away" he continued. I was truly at a loss for words. I felt my heart start to beat faster and I felt guilt bubble up inside of me. I was married and this stranger of a man was making me feel a way I hadn't felt since my wedding day. A chuckle escaped my lips and my eyes reconnected with the brown ones of the man in front of me.

"Please don't flatter me here... I can assure you my husband is a talented, smart, and wise man."

My breathing started to slow down as I tried to calm myself down so the obvious blush would remove itself from my face. I toyed with the cup in my hand and took the last sip. He noticed the cup was empty and offered his hand out to take it from me. He said he could refill it for me and I cautiously handed it over to him watching as he poured me another cup of the fruity drink.

"Here you go"

He handed it back to me with two hands and let his other hand rest on top of my own when he handed it back to me.

"Thank yo-"

My words were cut off quickly by the feeling of cold slender hands on my waist, pulling me back. "y/n, darling, I was looking for you" Coryo spoke lightly and spun me around to face him. His hands ran up my body and rested on either side of my face. His blue eyes stared into my own and a soft smile met his lips. "We have a toast to make sweetheart, who is this?" His cold fingertips rubbed either side of my cheeks and I melted right back into his touch. "This is Curtis, I assumed you invited him." I spoke gently and watched his face. He glared at Curtis and his Adams apple bobbed while he clenched his jaw. He tilted his head slightly at the man then brought his gaze back to me and then looked back at Curtis. His fingers interlocked with mine and instantly a joyful light-hearted feeling filled my body. It was the hand Curtis was just touching so I knew Coryo was trying to prove a point here but god, it felt so good to have him touch me so intimately again. "Well Curtis, I'm a little shocked no one ever told you to stay away from things that aren't yours." His words spoke venomously in my ears and a shiver went down my spine. Mild anger was spread across his face as he held me even closer. The ginger man said something in response but I was too enchanted by my husband to process any of it.

Coryo brought his attention back to me and I felt his hand slide up my body and hold onto the back of my head. It happened so quickly when he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine harshly and aggressively. I gasped into the kiss and brought my hands up to either side of his face, holding him ever so gently to not overstep my place. His other hand went right onto the small of my back and he leaned forward more, dipping me. This felt like a scene out of a movie. Warmth started to build up in my breathless figure and he pulled away slowly, scanning my face before he smirked slowly. Some time during the kiss, the man had left and it felt like it was just me and Coryo in the crowd now. I felt a little dizzy, dazed, and confused. My thumbs continued to rub little circles into his cheeks and I smiled and whispered, "I love you." His smirk dropped and he pulled away fully and looked around. I felt his fingers wrap around my wrist and he started to drag me to the stairs leading up to the balcony.

I was stumbling over my feet a little trying to keep up with him. When we reached the top of the balcony, Snow looked over at me. His cool and calculated eyes looked me up and down to make sure my appearance was on par with his standards. He exhaled heavily before turning his attention to the people still partying. His booming voice halted the night and the music stopped. The capital guests turned their attention to us in confusion.

"Everyone, I am sorry to end this night so early but I'm afraid circumstances have mixed with their consequences. Before you all disperse, I'd like to make a toast. First, a toast to my beautiful spouse whom I could truly not do anything without"

My heart melted and a warm smile spread across my face. Coriolanus only glanced at me before continuing.

"and lastly, a toast to you all for attending tonight."

He picked up a glass cup that he had resting at the top of the railing and lifted it to the sky. Everyone toasted and took a sip of their drinks. Coryo not so subtly didn't but he placed the cup down and issued another goodbye to the guest before turning to me and placing his hands on my waist again and looked down on me. His expression was unreadable to me. The rest of the party guests started to file out. I heard one masculine voice start to cough violently but as I started to turn my head to look over at the source of the sound, Coriolanus took me by the hand again and dragged me into the house.

He dragged me up to the bedroom and slammed the door. A thick silence started to fill the room. His head was tilted down low, staring at the ground. I stood still and started to fidget with my sleeve. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Do you make me out to be a fool, y/n?"

"W- what?"

"Oh don't play stupid with me now. You have one job and it is to be my partner and I leave you alone for a second and you know what you go and do? You disrespect me. You so aimlessly let another man flirt with you in front of everyone at MY party"

"Coryo I love you so much, another man could never replace you in my heart I promise. I am so lucky to have you" I started to ramble and stammer over my words. He brought his head up slowly to look at me from his side of the room. He looked haunting.

"Look at your hand" he demanded. Nervously, my gaze dropped down to my hand and I noticed it.

"You're not wearing your wedding ring. You can't even try to pretend you like me. That ring shows a promise that we are supposed to be together forever, you are supposed to serve me forever, and you go around, letting other men flirt and flatter you and without your ring above all things. Clearly, this means nothing to you. How am I supposed to tolerate this kind of behavior. You ungrateful piece of-" Tears were welling up in his angry eyes as they threatened to spill from mine. I yelled so loudly I scared myself,

"Stop! Stop! please stop I can't take it! You're losing me Coryo you're losing me! I don't understand. I have given you everything. I have given you the best of me, I polish everything in your life to paint you a blue sky and you have done nothing but blow dust onto the pages of what was supposed to be the story of our love. I don't understand how I am letting myself stay with you, with this man, no this stranger who is nothing but an empty shell, a reminder of what used to be and the relationship I was manipulated into. Coryo I- I want out. I can't be with you anymore" I was crying furiously and shaking. I moved to sit on the edge of the bed and tried to recollect myself. Coriolanus said nothing for a moment before I heard a crack in his voice.

I hadn't noticed that he had moved his way across the room and he now stood by my feet at the edge of the bed. Hot tears streamed down his face. It didn't feel angry anymore though, it felt sad. He suddenly dropped to his knees in front of me and held my hands in his. He cried into my knees and I felt my heart shatter.

"I- I'm so sorry y/n... I had no idea you were feeling like this. This is my fault I should be a better husband. Please don't leave, I'll give you everything, every last breath in my chest if I can, I love you... I love you... I love you..." He cried out desperately and I started to cry more too. His sobs were being muffled by my legs. My fingers reached his hair and started to stroke it softly.

"Coryo.... Coryo I love you too... I love you so much. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'd never leave you I promise." He slowly looked up at me with his bloodshot and puffy eyes. His plump lips were lightly parted and his eyes searched mine. I blinked away another tear and reached my arms out to hold him close. His eyes welled up with tears again and his lips pressed downwards into a frown before he stood up again and he leaned down into my arms. I stood up to try and match his level and started to cry into his chest while he cried into my shoulder. His behavior was like a switch, one moment he was angry at me and the next he was so incredibly sad. I can't stand to see Coryo hurt. I love him too much, need him too much. Our bodies rocked back and forth before I whispered another "I love you" into his chest. I felt his lips on my neck for a moment when he smirked against my skin and stopped crying. I was still sobbing into his chest and whispering a mix of sorry's and sweet nothings. Coryo kissed my neck and pulled back.

"It's okay... stop crying, you're an ugly crier for a beautiful face. I love you" He said softly. I couldn't process the legitimacy of anything in this situation. His face relaxed fully and he was looking at me with a blank expression now. I wiped my tears and he smiled weakly before planting a gentle kiss on my lips. I fell into his warmth and fell in love with him all over again in that moment. He pulled back and gave my forehead a little peck.

"Let me show you how much you mean to me darling..." He spoke softly and I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug he mumbled a word into my skin but I couldn't make it out.

"easy..."

~

PART THREE

[vanessa-parker]

Hawks' Pretty Bird

Hi guys! This is my first story as to what I think being with Hawks is like! If you like it and want another chapter please let me know! It starts off pretty risky as that's how I think it would actually be lol

“Hey hottie”, you say landing after spotting the number 2 hero perched on a building. Hawks turns towards the sound an eyebrow raised “Jeez, way to make a guy blush, sweetheart. Not to sound cocky, but I take it you're a fan of mine.” He says with his signature grin. He notices the wings behind you are similar to his except for the color. Your wings are beautiful shades of blue. You blush as he stares “I'm guessing you have a bird mutation quirk like me?” You nod “I sure do! Except my feathers are prettier,” you say a hint of playfulness in your tone. Hawks can’t help but smirk “Well, aren't you a confident one. If you keep talking like that, you'll make me act a bit territorial and get possessive of my feathers.” You shrug “What can I say, I do think those eyes of yours are beautiful,” you say with a wink. Hawks laughs “Well, looks like we got a charmer on our hands. You keep up this flattery and I'll end up inviting you back to my place.” You grin back at the #2 hero “Maybe that’s what I’m trying to do but I kinda wanna see this possession you have of your feathers.” Your heart is racing you’re usually not this bold but after your last relationship, you decide on a different approach. “Heh,” he laughs “careful what you wish for. But just a fair warning, once I lay a claim on something it's usually a done deal. You sure you can handle it?” You smirk and the man’s cockiness, trying not to lose your own you reply allowing your feathers to glide under his chin “Show me what you got bird boy” and with that, you launched yourself into the night sky.

“Oh man, you did not just call me "bird boy" and then fly off like that. You're going to regret that comment once I catch up to you.” He mumbled to himself Keigo's wings flap rapidly as he propels through the night sky, trying to keep up with the speed of your flight. He can't help but wear a competitive grin on his face as he chases after you. “Looks like we got ourselves a little speedster over here.” He says his tone teasing, you laugh once more “Come on #2 I thought you were the fastest hero” Keigo grins as you laugh, the competitive fire in his eyes growing stronger. He pushes himself harder, his wings beating fast as he catches up to you. “Oh ho, so now you're teasing me. I'll have you know I'm the number 2 hero, and I can prove it right now. You might be fast, but there's no one faster than me.” you suddenly stop facing him flapping your wings to keep you afloat you laugh as he crashes into you allowing you both to free fall. Keigo lets out a surprised yelp as you suddenly come to a halt, causing him to crash right into you. His eyes widen in shock as the two of you fall through the air. He quickly regains his composure, grabbing onto you to stop your descent. The thrill of the adrenaline rush was coursing through his body, but also he couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed at being bested so easily. "What the hell was that for?" you laugh rolling out of Hawks's grasp and begin flying next to him poking at his side “I wanted to see how fast #2 was” Keigo rolled his eyes at your teasing, but he couldn’t help but let out a slight chuckle. He continued to fly alongside you, his wings flapping swiftly through the night sky.

“Oh, so you chose the most dramatic way possible to test my speed, huh? You’re quite the mischievous one, aren’t you?”

“What can I say” Keigo chuckled at your response, a sly grin playing on his lips. He continued to fly alongside you, occasionally flicking his wing feathers in your direction to tease back. “You know, if you wanted to test my speed, we could have done something a bit less reckless. Like a race instead of a free-fall.” you giggle at the sensation of the feathers “I thought you’d like a challenge” He couldn't help but let out another chuckle as you giggled at the sensation of his feathers. He took a moment to glance over you, his gaze lingering on your form for a brief moment before returning his attention forward. “A challenge, huh? Well, I can’t deny that I do enjoy a little competition. But if I win, you owe me something special.” 

"You’re on" Keigo’s competitive spirit flared up at your acceptance of the challenge, a cocky smirk now plastered on his face. "That’s the spirit! You’re in for it now. The winner gets a special prize, deal?" "Deal race you back to your place" you laugh as you launch further into the sky Keigo let out a low chuckle at your quick exit, his eyes narrowing in focus on the challenge at hand. He pushed himself forward, his wings beating faster and stronger, propelling him forward through the night sky toward the direction of his home. He called out to you as he flew. "You’re gonna eat your words, sweetheart!" you laugh at his words, with his apartment in sight you dash towards the open window not seeing Hawks suddenly arms wrap around you as you crash land into the apartment. Keigo lets out a victorious chuckle as he wraps his arms around you, and crash landing together on the floor of his apartment. He pins you down, holding you in place. His breath comes in short pants as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He looks down at you, a sly grin on his face. "Looks like I win." You blush at the position you’re in "Technically it was a tie"   Keigo lets out another chuckle, feeling your body beneath him. He shifts his weight on top of you, not bothering to release his grip just yet. "Tie, huh? I don’t remember agreeing to a tie. A deal is a deal, sweetheart. I think that means I get my prize now."

You roll your eyes, "Yeah yeah what is it?"

Keigo grins down at you, his eyes raking over your form. He continues to keep you pinned beneath him, savoring the moment. "Hmm, let's see... I do love the feeling of victory. So maybe I'll take some credit for the prize." He lowers his face closer to your ear, his breath sending a shiver up your spine. He whispers into your ear. "How about I claim you for tonight?"

[gigabyte-flare]

He Comes Alive (Part 8)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Summary: You find yourself in an abandoned house that Leon has dragged you to, where you come to realize the nightmare has only begun.

Word Count: 5.9k

Pairing: vampire/plagas!Leon Kennedy x fem!reader (afab)

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Actions depicted in this story are not condoned in real life. You are responsible for your own content consumption. If any of the following warnings trigger you, please read at your own risk. Minors do not interact, this story is 18+ only.

Warnings: Biting, blood, gore, murder, unprotected p in v, masterbation, oral (m and f receiving), stalking, pet names, kidnapping, breeding kink, blood play/kink, age gap, dubcon, pregnancy, monster f*cking, body horror, lactation kink, unaliving attempt DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT [More warnings may be added in future entries]

There is a unaliving attempt in this part. I have marked the beginning and end of this part with ✧⭒⭒✧ that way it can be skipped if it is triggering

A quick reminder that I no longer do tag lists

The soft sound of a fire crackling slowly pulls you from your sleep. Your eyes flutter open and take in your surroundings. It’s dark; there’s a lit fireplace and you’re laying on a beat up couch wrapped in a thick wool blanket. Despite this, there is a noticeable chill in the air, causing you to shiver and wrap the blanket tighter around yourself. That’s when you notice a figure sitting in front of the fireplace on the floor, wearing gray sweatpants that are torn from the knees down. One leg is propped up for his arm to rest on the knee while a long, black tail is laying on the floor, curled around him, occasionally patting itself onto the floor. It’s Leon, and suddenly the memories of what had happened at the BSAA headquarters comes rushing at you.

Hearing you stir, Leon turns around. Much to your relief, his face appears to be normal, not that grotesque thing you saw before. His eyes, however, were still that glowing crimson and his exposed skin covered in those inky veins. A soft smile spreads across his lips. 

“Angel… you’re awake!” he exclaims, moving himself from in front of the fireplace to in front of the couch, his hand running through your hair, “how are you feeling?”

You flinch away from him, sitting up and moving to the other side of the couch, away from him; the blanket still tightly wrapped around your body, “what the hell are you?”

Leon frowns, standing up. He doesn’t approach you, however you watch as his back claws come out of his back, flexing; almost like he’s trying to impress you. 

“I am your mate,” he replies, stepping closer to you.

You let out a pathetic sob, pressing yourself against the corner of the couch, your body trembling. You can’t take your eyes off him, you don’t dare to. 

“Don’t come any closer!” you cry out, tears pooling in the corners of your eyes.

“You have nothing to fear from me, Angel. I did what I had to; to protect you and our offspring.”

“You killed them… the hikers… MY FATHER!” you scream, the tears pouring down your face now as the reality of everything that has occurred in the last few days sinks in.

“Your Father was hurting you!” he practically roars as he climbs onto the couch towards you, “and he was keeping me from my mate!”

His mouth is clenched in a snarl, giving you a close up view of his long, sharp incisors. His breaths are hot and heavy against your face, one hand gripped into the arm of the couch while the other is gripped into the back of it with his back claws acting as a cage around you.

“I did what I had to…” he continues, bringing his lips within an inch of yours, “because I love you.”

His lips softly seal themselves over yours and you immediately feel yourself melting into him. You close your eyes as one arm wraps around you, holding you protectively as the kiss deepens. You feel his other hand place itself on your swollen belly beneath the blanket, feeling your unborn child stir in reaction to him. You’re completely lost in the moment, forgetting that the man on top of you isn’t entirely human. That is until you feel his tail brush up against the side of your body, causing you to flinch and push him away abruptly.

Again, Leon frowns, still caging you beneath his body. After a moment of staring down at you, he stands up, turning and walking into another room. You watch his back claws sink into his back, leaving small scar-like marks where the claws were, his tail gently moving back and forth as he walks. You take this moment to yourself to really look at your surroundings. The building you're in is just as dilapidated as the couch you’re laying on; you’re in an abandoned house with no indication of where exactly you are.

You jolt when you hear a door slam, Leon must have gone outside. From where you’re sitting, you can see that the trees outside are heavily covered in snow. You shiver from the cold again, standing up from the couch to walk behind it, pushing it closer to the fireplace before walking back around to lay back down onto it. As you stare into the fire, you run through all the events that led you to this exact moment.

“I should have stayed in college…” you mutter to yourself, your eyes growing heavy from fatigue. 

You don’t realize you fell asleep until you hear a loud thud hit the floor in front of you, causing you to jolt awake. Leon is looming over you, his mouth, chest and arms covered in fresh blood. He points to the floor in front of the couch.

“Feed.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, your eyes following his gesture, startled when you see a dead deer on the floor, a large wound in its neck where you assume Leon fed from it. You look back at him, confused.

“Leon I… I can’t just eat a whole deer, it’d have to be cooked--”

His eyes narrow threateningly at you for a moment before he reaches down, grabbing the deer and dragging it off to another room. You do your best not to listen to the sounds of Leon gutting the animal. After a few minutes, Leon walks back in with a cut of meat stabbed onto a thick branch. He goes to sit on the couch; you move your legs a little to make room for him to sit. Using the stick, he holds the venison over the fire, occasionally turning it. 

His tail is still out, draped over your legs and onto the floor. Against your better judgment, you reach out with your hand to touch it. The outer shell is hard, reminding you of a crustacean or an insect. Your eyes trail down the tail to the end where it ends in a blade-like tip. It’s as horrifying to you as it is fascinating. When your eyes turn back to Leon, his crimson gaze is locked onto you, a subtle smile on his lips before turning his attention back onto the venison he’s cooking for you. 

He pulls the venison from the fire’s heat, handing the stick to you, “here, it should be cooked enough for you to eat.”

You hesitate at first, but you end up taking the stick from him and biting into the meat. It’s still quite rare, but you continue to eat it anyway; you have no clue when you’ve eaten last.

“Thank you… Leon…” you say between bites.

“No need to thank me, I’ll do whatever it takes to be the best mate for you,” he replies before leaning over you to kiss your forehead, undoubtedly staining your forehead with the blood on his lips. 

After you finish eating, you discard the stick onto the floor. Leon suddenly moves closer to you, snuggling behind you even though there isn’t nearly enough room for both of you on the beat up couch. His arm wraps around you, laying his hand on your swollen belly. Nuzzling his cheek next to yours, you can feel him smile when you feel the baby kick.

“Daddy loves you too, Nora,” he whispers, rubbing your belly gently.

Nora? He’s already named the baby…

His tail, which has been draped across the floor in front of the couch, suddenly starts retreating, making a sickening wet sound as it slides back into his body. Your gaze shifts to one of the windows, the first signs of the sun peering through the snow covered trees, making them sparkle. You feel Leon’s body relax onto yours as he falls asleep, trapping you next to him. Your mind races, trying to figure out what to do next. You know one thing for certain: you cannot stay here.

Over the next several days, you learn Leon’s new routine. For the most part, he sleeps during the day and at night, he either hunts or spends time trying to make the abandoned house more livable. There’s no electricity and the only heat is from the fireplace, but even that doesn’t put out much heat, especially at night. For some reason, he expects you to follow his sleep schedule, however, your days are spent mentally planning how you’re going to get away.

You need to get back in contact with Clive and get back to the BSAA, but how? You haven’t the slightest clue where you are or even how far away from civilization you are. On top of this, you know it’s only a matter of time before Leon attempts to give you his ‘gift’ again, which terrifies you. You don’t want to be turned into some vampire-bug thing and that’s not a life you want for your child, either, regardless if the alternative is to put them out of their misery.

It seems that when Leon does go hunting, he’s only feeding off of large mammals, you reckon that’s to not attract the BSAA’s attention, he’s made it very clear to you that he has no intentions of getting himself caught again. You finally deduce that your only chance of getting away will be when he’s asleep during the day, but he usually has you wrapped in his arms when he’s asleep. You’ve noticed, however, that he is an extremely heavy sleeper. Your tossing and turning doesn’t wake him. You can use this to your advantage.

As another morning creeps in, you decide it’s either now or never. You wait until Leon is completely asleep before you attempt to maneuver yourself from his embrace, gently lifting his arm off of you before you carefully roll yourself off the couch. Once you're on the floor, you stand up, quietly making your way into what you believe used to be a kitchen to see if you can find any supplies. You don’t find anything in the kitchen, but in one of the old bedrooms you do find an old beat up backpack. 

With that, you pack some blankets and some of the venison that Leon has cooked and preserved for you, as well as other supplies you stumble upon. You walk back into the living room quietly, standing in the threshold as you watch Leon sleep on the couch. Your stomach sinks when he suddenly stirs in his sleep, his arms go to squeeze you tight only to realize you’re not there. You suck in a breath as his eyes open.

Oh shit, oh shit oh shit…

His brilliant blues look around the room, finally settling on you just standing there with the backpack slung onto your back. He yawns, sitting up on one elbow.

“What are ya doin’?” he asks, his voice slurred in fatigue. 

Quick, think of something!

“I-I… I was getting restless so I… thought going on a walk would help,” you reply, trying to disguise the nervousness in your voice.

Leon stares at you for a moment and to your relief, he lays back down, closing his eyes, “don’t be too long.”

You let out a long exhale in relief, “I won’t, I promise.”

Not wasting this opportunity, you walk out from the living room threshold, quickly finding the front door and walking out. The house sits in the middle of a very dense, snow covered forest. You can see the remnants of where Leon has gone out to hunt for wildlife. You decide to go in the opposite direction. You reckon where there's no wildlife, there’s bound to be civilization.

You’ve lost track of how long you’ve been walking. Much to your relief, the forest floor doesn’t have a ton of snow on it, helping to cover your tracks. You grab clumps of snow from the trees for water, stopping occasionally to rest and nibble on the venison you brought along, but you don’t ever stop for long; you know Leon’s going to wake up and realize you’re not back yet. 

The sky begins to turn an intense shade of orange as the sun starts to set, scattering God rays all around you, but it quickly starts getting dark and just when you decide you should probably get some rest to conserve your energy for the next day, the most agonizing pain you’ve ever felt courses through your whole body. Your limbs convulse and you go into a coughing fit, causing you to fall onto your hands and knees. You bring one hand up to cover your mouth as you cough. When the coughing fit finally subsides, you move your hand away only to find it’s covered in blood. 

Your eyes widen, staring down at your blood covered hand in horror, your hand trembling. You clench your hand, finding a spot of snow to wash your hand off in before standing back up. You take this as your sign that you definitely need to stop and get some rest. Much to your relief, you find a cluster of rocks that create a cave-like structure; a perfect place for you to take shelter in for what’s going to be a very cold and miserable night. You crawl inside, slipping your backpack off to grab the blanket out of it, wrapping yourself in it.

You somehow manage to doze off, however you’re suddenly jolted awake by the most gut-wrenching sound you’ve ever heard; it almost sounds like a roar, but way too high pitched to be a bear or a coydog. The pain from earlier comes rushing back, causing your body to convulse again. Your immediate instinct is that it’s Leon, so you waste no time stuffing your blanket back into your bag and crawling out of the cave. 

The awful sound continues and it’s coming from the direction whence you came, seemingly miles away, so you make a run for it in the opposite direction. It’s dark, but thankfully the moon is giving you a little bit of light to navigate your way without hurting yourself. You go into another coughing fit again as you run, tasting the blood in your mouth as you cough, spitting it out. After what seems like an eternity of running, you hear a sound you never thought in a million years you’d be happy to hear: a semi-truck horn.

Despite the strain in your legs and the pain coursing through your body, you press on with renewed determination to get to this road that is close by. By now, you can see lights peaking through the trees and as you burst out of the tree line, you stumble upon the source. It’s a rest stop with a diner attached to it, with a highway separating you and the building. You look both ways before running across the road, staggering through the parking lot before pushing the doors open to go into the diner. You make a mental note of the large number of cars with Pennsylvania license plates.

As you walk in, an older woman, clearly a waitress, looks over and smiles at you, “hey sweetie, what can we get you?”

“Um… do you have a bathroom I can use?” you ask timidly, unconsciously rubbing your pregnant belly.

“Absolutely, it’s right in the back, help yourself!” the waitress replies as she points to the back of the diner.

“Thank you…”

You stumble into the bathroom, the pain now completely overwhelming you as you catch yourself on the bathroom counter. You start coughing again, blood splattering into the sink as you cough. You look down at your hands, freezing up when you see dark, inky veins sprawled across them. You quickly slip your bag off, turning to the side as you look in the mirror and pulling your shirt down where Leon had bit you at the BSAA lab. The bite wound is still there but it’s almost completely healed. Hesitantly, you turn to your other shoulder, pulling that side down, your eyes widening when you see a newer bite, this time it has those inky veins sprawling out of the wound.

You’re infected.

Your mind races trying to figure out when he had infected you, and you realize it must have been after you fainted in the BSAA building. As you continue to stare in horror at the wound on your shoulder, a searing pain goes through your skull, causing you to grab your head with both your hands and that’s when you hear a voice, Leon’s voice. 

W̷͓̽ḥ̵͝y̷͓͝ ̷͚͒á̸͜r̴̻̉ȩ̶͝ ̴̮̿y̷̖̍o̴̖̚ȗ̴̢ ̴̘̽a̴̬̕f̴͚̈r̷̘̉à̸̰ḯ̴͉d̶͍̄ ̵̺̔ö̸̼́f̴̞̽ ̷̯͌m̷̱͝ë̴͚?̷͊͜

“Stop!” you cry out, still grasping your head as the pain in your body worsens; it takes everything in you to stay standing up because you're trembling so much.

Finally, the episode subsides. You pull your shirt back up and sling the backpack back over your shoulders before rushing out of the bathroom; you need to get away from here as fast as possible. Leon could be here any minute and you know with all these people here, it could be a bloodbath. You run back out into the parking lot, finding a group of vehicles in the back of the lot and try opening the doors. Luck is thankfully on your side, because a red Ford pickup has its door unlocked. You toss the bag into the passenger’s seat before getting into the driver’s seat, taking a deep breath as you recall something your father had taught you right before you had left for college.

“Now, I’m going to teach you something that you are only to use in emergencies! I don’t want to get a phone call from the police telling me my daughter stole a car for fun!”

You reach down, pulling the panel under the steering wheel out and finding the ignition switch that your father had pointed out to you. Once you had the correct wires disconnected, you put them together. The truck immediately starts turning over and comes to life. You feel a rush of relief fall over you as you throw the car into drive, before pulling out of the rest stop. You look down onto the passenger’s side floor, seeing a large hunting knife, a pistol and a wallet; they must have gotten knocked down there when you threw your bag into your seat. Lady luck is definitely on your side.

You have no clue where you’re going to go, but anywhere is better than here.

He believes she had gone into the diner but he couldn’t just walk in to investigate, especially while wearing nothing but torn sweatpants caked in blood. So he bided his time, waiting in the darkness of the parking lot, his crimson eyes scanning the area for anyone who was close to his normal clothing size. He doesn’t have to wait long; a blue Honda Civic pulls into the parking lot, a man getting out of his car and complaining to himself how he has to take a piss. 

He’ll do.

A smirk crosses Leon’s lips as he watches the man go into the diner. Making sure no one is around, he stalks over to the man’s car, using the blade on the end of his tail to dig into one of the man’s passenger side tires: not too deep to make the tire deflate prematurely. Once Leon is satisfied, he returns to the darkness of the parking lot, waiting for the man to return to his car. Within minutes he comes back out, getting in his car and driving off. Leon returns to the forest and follows the car; he’s able to keep up with him with ease.

As Leon planned, the tire suddenly pops, forcing the man to pull over and inspect the tire. Leon watches the man bend down, running his hand through his hair and cursing. With his back to the forest, Leon is able to walk up to the man and grab him, his clawed hand covering the man’s mouth as he drags him into the forest. Leon wastes no time snapping the man’s neck, killing him instantly before laying him down onto the ground to remove his clothing.

Getting the clothes into a pile away from the body, Leon uses this opportunity to feed. He had been feeding on animals for so long he forgot how euphoric human blood tastes. He groans as his teeth sink into the man’s flesh, the blood rushing into his mouth, swallowing greedily. The man’s blood completely drained, Leon mutates back into his human form, pulling off his sweatpants and putting them onto the dead man before getting dressed into the clothes he pilfered.

Leon walks back out of the forest, grabbing the car keys from the ignition and unlocking the trunk to grab the spare tire and car jack. After changing the tire, Leon puts the ruined tire in the trunk, slamming it shut before climbing into the driver’s seat and turning the car back around to go back to the rest stop. He pulls into the parking lot, parking close to the front of the diner before getting out and walking inside. 

The morning sun is rising on the diner when Leon walks in. He notes that there are several police officers talking to an older heavy set gentlemen, his face red in rage as he addresses the police officers.

“I’m telling you, that pregnant bitch that came in here and ran out stole my truck! My wallet and my hunting gear are in there! You need to get it back NOW!”

“Larry, don't be ridiculous! There is no way that sweet girl stole your truck. You're the idiot that was stupid enough to leave his stuff in his truck with the door unlocked!” the waitress calls out to him from behind the diner bar, noticing Leon had just come in, batting her eyelashes at him as her eyes look up and down his body, “hey there handsome! What can we get you?”

“Did he say a pregnant girl came in here?” Leon asks the waitress as he walks up to her.

“Yeah, she came in about three hours ago, used the bathroom and left in a hurry. Larry thinks she stole his truck but I’m telling you, there is no way she stole his truck. That’s just not something girls do, you know?”

“Of course not,” Leon replies, giving the waitress his sweetest smile, “that actually sounds like my wife, her car broke down and she must have come here to use the bathroom before walking back home.”

The waitress pouts briefly before continuing, “oh… are you looking for her?”

“I am; seems like I just missed her. I’ll see if I can catch up with her. Thank you miss!”

Leon walks back out into the parking lot, looking around to see if he could sense her nearby.

She definitely stole the truck, Leon thinks to himself, especially with her father having been the local mechanic in Oakvale, he can imagine he taught her how to hotwire a car at some point.

With the sun coming up, it’s difficult for him to use his gift to pinpoint his mate but he can tell she’s nowhere in the area. Walking back to the car, he climbs back in and starts it, pulling out of the rest stop and getting back onto the highway. As the sun gets higher in the sky, his grip on his gift becomes non-existent, making it impossible to track her now.

“What was I thinking, letting her go outside for a walk…” Leon says to himself, his lips twitching in frustration as he tightens his grip on the steering wheel. 

He never thought in a million years that she’d run from him, especially since giving her his gift. It seems to be taking an awfully long time for it to develop in her; then again, this is the second time he himself has passed his gift along to someone, the first attempt being a failure, so he has nothing to base that off of. He had given his gift to her while she was unconscious. He didn’t want to do that, he wanted to make giving her his gift a special occasion, but after what had happened while he was in captivity, he had no other choice; she would have certainly run from him otherwise.

A motel in the distance catches Leon’s attention and he pulls into it, figuring he can sleep there until nightfall when he can properly track his mate again. The man’s wallet was thankfully in the back pocket of the pants that Leon stole. He pulls out the wallet, finding about $100 in cash as well as his driver’s license inside. The guy, named William Bachmann, had a slight resemblance to Leon, but not enough to pass off as him realistically. Leon gets out of the car and walks into the office of the motel. 

The man behind the counter, a scrawny gentleman with an unshaven face with coarse salt and pepper hair looks up, groaning as he stands up from the stool he was sitting in, “what can I do for ya, strangah?”

The man has a thick accent, reminding Leon of the merchant that he encountered while he was deployed in Spain to rescue the president’s daughter, causing him to smirk a little.

“I’d like to rent one of your fine rooms, mister,” Leon replies, leaning his arm against the counter as he addresses the man.

“I’ll need ya driver’s license, mate,” the man retorts.

“I unfortunately don’t have that on me, I’m only going to stay until tonight. I don’t want any trouble, pal.”

The man narrows his eyes at Leon, thinking for a moment before clearing his throat, “fine, what’s ya name?”

“Bill Bachmann.”

The man pulls out a ledger, jotting down the name that Leon gave him before handing him a key with a number tag on it, “ya in room numbah 10, last dooah on the left when ya head back outside. Ya bettah be gone by mornin’, strangah. 20 bucks.”

Leon grabs the key from him, handing the man $20 before turning to walk out of the office and to his motel room. Unlocking the door with the key, Leon steps inside the musty room, shutting and locking the door behind him. The first thing he does is close the curtains, trying to block as much sunlight he possibly can. Once he’s satisfied, he walks over to the full size bed, practically collapsing onto it. The bed is not nearly as comfortable as home, but it’s better than the beat up couch and that awful bed at the BSAA lab.

There’s TV across from the bed, Leon finds the remote on the nightstand next to the bed, turning the TV on and mindlessly searching the channels. He stumbles onto The Price is Right, deciding that this would be a good show to try to fall asleep to. An advertisement comes on for flower delivery for Valentine’s Day, causing Leon to raise an eyebrow.

“It’s already February? Shit…”

His thoughts immediately turn to his angel, his mate. He misses her terribly even though she’s only been away from him for less than a day. Even when he had brought her to that abandoned house he found, she kept herself distant from him after she woke up. Any attempt at initiating intimacy was met with her pushing him away. He was hoping his gift would eventually get her to come around but unfortunately for him, it’s not developed enough in her to have an influence on her yet. 

He then contemplates what he’ll do when he catches up to her, which he is confident he’ll be able to; each day his gift grows stronger inside her. He isn’t angry at her, he knows she’s scared. People are naturally afraid of things they don’t understand. He remembers how uneasy he’d become when he had been given the gift. The president’s daughter, Ashley Graham, had attempted to use the same machine that he used to remove the gift from her, however, she had failed and he didn’t realize it had failed until he returned home to the United States.

It wasn’t until the gift fully consumed him did he realize how good the gift was, how strong and agile it had made him; so he tried to make himself disappear, knowing if the government had found out he was still infected with the gift, he’d be executed. Having to feast on blood was an unfortunate side effect, but one he could live with if it meant having his amazing abilities. Once again, his thoughts return to his angel, continuing to think of what he’ll do to sway her into not being afraid.

I’ll take her on a nice date for Valentine’s Day, maybe even show her how I hunt… show her how I’ll be able to provide for her and Nora… show her that the gift is nothing to be afraid of…

Thinking of her is getting him worked up. With one hand, he begins undoing his belt and pants, reaching inside to grab his half hardened cock, stroking it slowly as he continues to think about her. He closes his eyes, leaning his head back against the pillow, softly moaning as he pictures her beautiful pregnant body. He moans her name out over and over as he bucks his hips up into his fist. It doesn’t take long for him to push himself over the edge, spilling his warm seed all over his hand.

Using his other hand, he tucks his softening cock back into his pants before getting up from the bed to clean his hand off in the sink. Once in the bathroom, he looks at himself in the mirror, letting himself relax as he washes his cum off his hand in the sink. The black veins sprawl across his neck and face, his crimson eyes taking in the unshaven look of his face. He smirks devilishly at his reflection.

I’m going to show you how beautiful our gift is, angel…

You’ve lost track of how long and how far you’ve been driving. You were able to confirm that you are somewhere in Pennsylvania, having stopped at a couple gas stations along the way to fill the tank in the truck. With the sun now setting, you decide you need to stop somewhere and take a break, however you haven't come upon another rest stop. To your relief, you see a large JCPenney department store, pulling into the parking lot and parking the truck in the back of the lot under one of the parking lot lights. 

When you kill the engine, you simply sit there with your hands on the steering wheel, staring into space for a moment before eventually breaking down, your body shaking as violent sobs come out of you. You rest your forehead on the steering wheel, tears dripping down your face and landing on your dirty jeans.

How could this have happened? How did you manage to get yourself wrapped up in something so insane. First you dropout of college and now this; you truly have awful luck…

✧⭒⭒✧

You shift your bloodshot gaze over to the passenger’s side floor, seeing the pistol and hunting knife laying there. Your mind begins to spiral; you’re carrying a child that you’re not even sure is entirely human and you are slowly being turned into a monster. You lean over, grabbing the pistol. You hold it gingerly in your hands; the kindest thing for you and your unborn child is to put both of you out of your misery.

With trembling hands, you grasp the pistol with both hands, pointing the barrel towards you; you take a couple of deep breaths before placing the barrel of the pistol into your mouth. Tears are now pouring down your face, you close your eyes, your thumbs pressing against the trigger. You brace yourself before finally squeezing the trigger with your thumbs. You jump, however the only sound that is heard is the click of the empty chamber of the pistol.

It’s not loaded… of course it’s not loaded…

You let out a frustrated cry, throwing the pistol against the passenger’s side door before collapsing your upper body onto the steering wheel. You remember the hunting knife is also on the floor, so you reluctantly lean over and grab that. Holding the blade towards you with both hands and you go to pierce it through your heart, however, you’re stopped. You find yourself fighting against yourself for control of the knife. Your head starts pulsating and you watch the inky black veins appear on your hands once more.

D̸̩̤͐ó̴͉̆ṉ̴̖͛'̵̹̊t̸̏͜ ̶̤͛͛d̷̲͝ǫ̵͕̒͑ ̴͎̟̾̃ṱ̷̓h̸͚̦̕̕i̴̟͝s̵͓͉͊.̸͇͙͒.̶͍͌͜.̷͔̣̚ ̵̡̺̓t̵͔̃̅h̴̤̖̄͝è̶̢͓ŕ̵̬ḕ̸̙ ̶̹̀̐í̶̡̠̎s̵͉͎̓ ̵̼̹͘n̸͍͒́ọ̶̈́͘ț̴̍h̷̳̽̓i̵̳͉̐̚n̵̠̣͛̒g̸̱̈́̕ ̵̘̑t̸̺͓́͠o̵̼̹͗̊ ̷̲͈̀̍f̵͔̙̓ẽ̸͎͘ȧ̶͎̯r̸̩̊ͅ.̴̜̎ ̴̭̤̎͘Ọ̴̅̋u̴̗͍̓r̴̡̐ ̶̡͚̇g̸̳̈́i̸͔̒͊f̸̞̪́͠t̷̞͂̋ ̶̟̈́ỉ̴̩̼̐s̴͍̎ ̸̨̀͋a̸̞͊͜ ̸̙͆͜b̴͕̫̋ḛ̷̦͂̀a̶̳̤͘ů̶̱̤̈́ṯ̶̆i̸̡̛̥͌f̵̬̖̐ů̶̼͜l̴̘͍̃ ̸̦͊̔t̶̤̬͊h̶͉̩̓̕i̴̦̍n̴̲͌g̵̰̀.̸̜̫̎̉ ̵̝̲̃I̸̠͘'̸̻̌̏l̷͇̲͆ḻ̸̻̆͑ ̴̲̓͠ś̸̫h̷͍͆ö̷͉͌w̷̛͎͒ ̸̨̛̝͘ỷ̵̳õ̷͔ủ̶̞̊,̴͚̭̍ ̶͙͆͒Ǐ̷͚̭ ̴̟̓̂p̶̾̽ͅȑ̷͈ỏ̴͍̟m̵̝͗i̸̹͌s̸͉̀̌e̸̤͗.̸̺̩̃͑

✧⭒⭒✧

With the realization that Leon himself is stopping you from doing what you feel needs to be done, you punch the steering wheel, crying out in pain when your knuckles scrape across it. You decide the best thing for now is to get some sleep, then come up with a plan in the morning. You lay yourself across the seat of the truck, propping your back against the driver’s side door while keeping the knife clutched in your hands.

It takes a while, but your eyes eventually grow heavy and you manage to fall asleep. You dream of your father, of the times he’d take you hiking on the Franconia Notch trails and stopping to go see the Old Man on the Mountain; a natural rock formation on the side of Cannon Mountain that looks like the side profile of a man. You’re both laughing and smiling until something suddenly bursts through your father’s chest, spilling blood everywhere.

Your father’s eyes are locked onto yours, mouthing the words ‘I’m sorry’ before he collapses onto the ground. Leon is behind him, causing you to stumble backwards, pressing your back against a tree. You watch Leon pull his tail out of your father’s lifeless body, bringing the bladed end to his lips, licking the blood clean off of it before approaching you. His crimson eyes bore into you and you watch as his jaw splits in half, revealing rows of teeth as four mandibles come out from the depths of his mouth. The mouth opens, letting out a horrendous screech--

Then a series of loud knocks rips you from your slumber, causing you to jump. You scramble forward towards the passenger’s side, gripping the knife in your hands as you turn to face the driver’s side window. There is a woman outside of the truck with short black hair; she appears Asian but it’s hard to tell behind the dirty glass of the window. She’s wearing a red v-cut top and you can see she has black gloves on as she continues to knock on the window.

“Hey! It’s alright! I’m from the BSAA,” she says, her voice muffled behind the glass; you watch her pull out what appears to be a badge, “the name’s Ada. I’m here to help.”

'Glitch' text translation: Why are you afraid of me?

Don't do this... there is nothing to fear. Our gift is a beautiful thing. I'll show you, I promise.

Part 9

[makncheese12]

Top Shelf pt. 7

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Summary: being the kid of a well-known book store owner was easy, so was running into famous people. But being book smart doesn’t make everyone people smart.

A/N: a short chapter but it’ll get better 🫶🏻

Warnings: my writing, language, suggestive shit

Jenna Ortega x reader

“I’m going to kill you,” you watch Lyle’s eye twitch a few times as he stares at you from the other half of your bed. “And then I’m going to kill myself so I can beat you in hell.”

You groan out, picking up your pillow and shoving it onto your face. “I’m sorry!”

“No you’re not! You got your kiss!” He says yanking the pillow off your face. “You couldn’t even tell me before so I could at least be excited to hear about it!”

“It just happened!” You groan out kicking your legs and rolling onto your front, already regretting telling him about your first kiss with Jenna. So much for bestfriends. “You guys were asleep so I brought her out onto the fire escape so we could talk, I didn’t expect to kiss her! Or for her to kiss me back!”

“Pathetic!” He yells out as he begins hitting you with the pillow. “Expect the unexpected! I could have told you that you both wanted to kiss each other!” He hits you one more time harshly as he says the last words, glaring down toward.

“Ow!” You say, hitting his arm as he settles down.

“And then what?” He demands, eyes wide as he hugs the pillow.

“We talked for a bit then she left.” You mumble, playing with your hoodie strings with a small pout on your face.

You couldn’t say you weren’t expecting more to happen, anything at all. You didn’t care as long as it didn’t make the whole situation awkward. God, you didn’t want to make it awkward. Maybe you shouldn’t have kissed her, then you wouldn’t have to worry about it.

You just hoped things would stay the same with some exceptions of course. Like the kiss, oh you definitely wanted to kiss her again.

“That’s it?” He asks, disgust written all over his face as he speaks. “Are you hiding some details from me? Thats not all that could have happened?”

“What do you mean that’s it? You want me to fuck her on my fire escape!?” You ask, sitting up quickly to stare wide eyed at the man.

“No! It’s too early for that!” He rolls his eyes and throws your pillow off to the side. You groan loudly as you let yourself fall back onto the bed, hands dragging down your face as you feel it beat up.

“Oh, calm down.” He rolls his eyes again and waves his hand toward you. “Don’t act as if I haven’t told you about all my sex stories.”

You glare at him through your fingers but he isn’t exactly fazed, he seems more amused by it all. Great not only are you embarrassed, he’s making fun of you while you are.

“I don’t want you to fuck her, yet,” he mutters the last part in hopes you wouldn’t hear but you hear it loud and clear, feeling your cheeks warm up. You roll onto your side so he can see your face as you glare at him.

“But I do want you to talk to her.” He says as he begins fixing pieces of your hair that are sticking to your forehead and on places they should be.

“See what the feels are.” You cringe at his words, nose scrunching up as you stare at him through your side eye view.

“Tell her your feelings, I’m sure she’ll tell you yours.” He says getting out of your bed and walking toward the bathroom.

You lay there for a moment, thinking about how it would come out to be. She could reciprocate your feelings and all could go well or she could just tell you it was an accident and she was just drunk, which was doubtful but still possible as you all were drinking before hand. You definitely liked the first one better.

“What if she doesn’t have ‘the feels’.” You say, making a hand gesture as you lay on your stomach to look up at him as he starts getting undressed.

“Yeah, she definitely kissed you cause she doesn’t like you back.” He says, a snort coming out after as he looks back at you with a smirk.

You narrow your eyes at him before speaking after a moment of silence. “What if I don’t like her?” You rest your chin in both of your hands as you watch him finish getting undressed leaving him in his boxer — well, yours you let him borrow for the not.

“Don’t bullshit me.” His face is blank when he says still but there’s still a glare on it as you roll onto your back to let him finish getting undressed.

You smile as you do so, he was — for once — right. But that didn’t make you any less nervous about doing any confessing.

“And then, once I’m proven right, you can ask her out on a date. A real one not that shit you two have been doing.” He calls out from inside the shower and you huff out as you grab your phone.

You tap the back of case as you stare at your message screen with Jenna. There were so many text — more than you’d like to admit as you’ve been texting for the last few months — and even more where you’d both text back to back.

It was embarrassing at first when your friends would catch glimpses of your message thread that never seemed to end but now it only made you smile.

You just stare at it before just deciding to send the message to get it over with.

————

You had gotten a response way to quick. You didn’t have time to process before the message bubble popped up, it was as if she were in the same predicament as you. You began to wonder if she too was degraded by a friend.

So, here you sat, music blaring in your ears on the subway going halfway across the city to see her as a man in his baggy spider man costume tries to give you a lap dance from the stanchions in front of your seat.

A sight to see as you lean more into your seat watching the man try to flip on the pole.

As soon as the bell rings your up on your feet and off the train before he can do anything else. You make your way up the stairs and maneuver your way around the large crowd and into the bustling Manhattan.

The snow was completely melted — well, almost. —which left mushy puddles and dirty streets and side walks, it didn’t help that the large chunks that were left looked like boulders as they sat frozen solid until it was warm enough to melt. The sign of the end of winter in New York, one no one who lived there enjoyed.

You let out a loud huff as you check the location one more time before setting off toward her hotel. You knew exactly where it was, coming often to do various things in the big city.

You’re quick to move past people and the angry traffic as they lay on their horns on the particularly busy day and time. You didn’t let that stop you from getting to where your supposed to, Jay walking when needed and ignoring people when they yell things and flick you off.

And soon enough your in front of the large hotel, standing not too far the doorman stands watching you closely too see if you’ll walk toward the doors or not.

You check your phone one more time just in case.

You

So I just.. walk in?

You text before looking back up at the hotel.

Jenna

Yeah, they should just let you in I called before hand

You

I don’t know, this guy looks like he’ll fight me if I get to close.

You look back up toward the doorman who continues to eye you.

Jenna

Would you like me to come down?

Jenna

I could even hold your hand if you’re really scared.

You

Haha, no I’ll just come up shaking in my boots.

Jenna

The offer is still open if you get too scared

You press your lips together before looking back up toward the doorman who narrows his eyes at you.

You narrow them right back as you move toward the door, keeping eye contact even after he opens the door and you move to go inside.

Once you enter you’re only met with the beautiful entrance and reception. Mostly old people lingering around speaking to one another while people in suits signed in or out.

Fancy. You thought as your eyes landed on the elevator. You make a bee line for it, letting the few people inside go out first before entering yourself along side an older couple who seemed to be having a bit of an argument.

“I just don’t see the problem.” The man rolled his eyes as the elevator dinged causing the woman to snap her head toward him.

“You don’t see the problem?” She asked exasperated. “You we’re sitting there with me while flirting with that waitress.” She says sharply and you press into the corner of the elevator, watching the numbers go up with anew found eagerness.

“No I wasn’t.” He rolls his eyes once again.

“Yes, you were!”

“We’re not doing this here.” He says as his eyes travel to you causing you to simply send him a glance as you look around as if nothing were happening.

“We’ll do this we I say we this!” She yells and as soon as that bell dings and the door opens, you’re out before it could go any farther.

You walk down the long hallway scanning the doors carefully. One side having B’s and the other having A’s. Jenna’s was 654B.

As you continue down the hall you can’t help but feel more and more nervous about how the talk will go.

You count down the doors until you reach 654B, seeing the number only making your heart race faster.

You take a moment to just stand there and contain yourself, breathing in and out slowly as you just stand and stare. If anyone were to see you they’d think you’re crazy and call security.

The door finally opens and you’re met with Jenna, face bare of any makeup baggy sweatshirt that almost hits her knees with a pair of shorts just hitting under it.

Her smile grows instantly at the sight of you, dimples that came whenever she would fitting perfectly with her freckled face.

The nervousness only made your heart beat faster at the sight.

“Hey.” She says, and a shy smile forms on your face as you look down at her.

“Hey.” You say back as she moves aside and opens the door a little more for you to enter.

The actress' hotel room is spacious and luxurious, with tall windows overlooking the city. The furniture is modern and sleek, and there's a faint scent of vanilla in the air.

Fits her just nice.

“Glad you could make it, was wondering if I was the only one who made it to this exclusive meeting.” She says with a teasing smile that makes your heart skip a beat before it starts up again, beating much faster than before.

Teasing was a good sign though. Right?

“It’s definitely a step up from my apartment.” You say as you look around the small seating area, her things litter around the room, not in a messy way though. It just seemed like she was staying her for a few months.

“Don’t let this celebrity glamour intimidate you, we’re still two people having a normal conversation.” She says it so effortlessly as if it didn’t bother her. As if she had this entire thing calculated in her head and was ready to talk about it.

She leads you toward the couch, it was white leather. You thought? It was slick like leather and it was pretty damn white. It was a miracle she hadn’t stained the thing yet.

“I guess we can get straight to the point and talk about the elephant in the room.” You say after taking a seat not too far away from her on the couch.

“Right down to it, huh?” She sighs out but nods none the less. Perhaps she didn’t have everything calculated.

Her leg bounces a little as she takes a moment to think of what to say, biting her lip lightly as she zoned out for a moment.

“I didn’t know you could be so nervous.” You smirk lightly as you lean back into the couch as if you weren’t having a heart attack in your seat as of this moment. A little light teasing should ease it and make the conversation easier.

“I didn’t know you could be such a smart ass.” She hits you back almost instantly coming out of her zoned out state, a smirk of her own as you nod slowly, narrowing your eyes at her.

This was the Jenna you were so used to. Confident and quick with her words. It was very charming.

“Touché.” You reply as you wait for her to speak or come up with something on your own without sounding to weird.

She breaks the silence with a sigh. "Okay, let's cut to the chase. What are we doing here?" she asks, trying to keep her voice soft and casual, despite the nervous pit in her stomach.

You take a deep breath, summoning your courage. "Well, I've kind of been wondering the same thing," you begin, your voice trembling slightly. "I mean, I'm not exactly a celebrity, and I'm sure you have other people you could be dating."

The actress rolls her eyes playfully. "Oh, please. Don't sell yourself short. Sure, I may be famous, but that doesn't make me any better than you."

You manage out a small smile. "Thanks. But still, I'm not sure what you could see in me."

Jenna leans forward slightly, placing a hand on your knee, the simple action making your heart jump into your throat. "What I see is someone kind, intelligent, and genuinely funny. And that's more than enough for me."

Your cheeks turn red, but your smile grows wider. "That’s pretty sweet, especially after being berating my Lyle all morning."

The actress chuckles, the thought of the younger man making her smile. "Just calling it like I see it. But seriously, what do you think about all of this?" she asks, gesturing between the two of you.

You take another deep breath before speaking. "Well, truth be told, I've been crushing on you for a while now. And when we kissed last night... it was… amazing."

The actress smiles softly. "I felt the same way."

Your heart skips a beat at her words once again. "So, what does that mean for us?”

The actress takes a moment to think. "It means we can take it slow and see where this goes. I don't want to rush into anything, but I do like spending time with you, we can still be together just taking things slow."

You nod slowly, a small smile on your face as her mini ramble. "I agree. Let's see where this takes us."

It wasn’t a bad idea. Seeing as you two finally got your feelings out

As you think the actress suddenly remembers an important detail. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something," she says, looking at you with a serious expression. "I'm actually leaving the city in a week.”

Your heart sinks at the news. You had been hoping that the friendship between them could blossom into something more, but now it seemed like it was all about to be cut short. "I see," you say, trying to keep your voice steady. "Where are you going?”

"Back home," the actress explains. "I’ve been doing a lot of stuff here lately and I think it’s time for me to go back to do some other stuff as well.."

You nod slowly, knowing that you can't ask her to just stay with you rather than go home and do her career. But you also know that it's going to be hard saying goodbye after spending so much time together.

"I understand," you say after a moment. "I'm just glad we got to meet each other while you were here."

"Well, I actually have one last thing to tell you," Jenna says, giving you a small smile. "I was invited to the Met Gala next week."

Your eyes widen in surprise. "The Met Gala? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," she replies, a proud smile on her face that gives you a warm feeling in your chest. "And I was wondering if you'd come, even as a viewer or something. Then come to the after party with me if you can."

Your is speechless for a moment. You had never imagined that they would have the chance to attend such an exclusive event, let alone with someone as famous as Jenna. Hell, you never even thought you’d meet Jenna.

"Of course, I'd love to," you say finally, trying to hide your excitement. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

"You're welcome," Jenna says with a large smile. "It'll be a night to remember, that's for sure."

You nod in agreement, already thinking about how it would go. You feel like your life is about to take a very exciting turn with Jenna.

You really can't believe your luck. You’ve never wanted to really attend such a big event, but to get to go with one of Hollywood's biggest stars must have been something straight out of a movie.

"I can't believe you’ve got me going to the after party," you say, still trying to process the information.

"I know, it's crazy," the woman replied with a smile. "But I promise you, it's going to be a night you'll never forget."

The bookstore owner nods, excited but also a little nervous. You’ve never attended an event like this before, and you don't want to make a fool of yourself.

"Actually, I have one more thing to tell you," Jenna says, a twinkle in her eye. "And it has to do with our outfits."

You raise an eyebrow, confused. "Our outfits? What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been thinking about what we should wear to the Met Gala," Jenna explains. "And I think I have an idea, I’ll have to speak to my fashion designer but you’re going to have to trust me on this.”

You narrow your eyes at her, slightly concerned with the mischievous look on her face but let it go.

"Well, I'm open to anything," you say cautiously.

"Great!" the actress says, a knowing smile spreading across her face. "I'll leave the rest a surprise, but trust me, it's going to be perfect."

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hi :) Perhaps an odd one, but I was wondering if you had any recommendations of games to play out events that have already happened? The end game has been predetermined, but the events that lead to it are more mutable? I'm running a dnd game with a group that has been very open to trying out different systems and I was thinking it could be very fun to put the player characters back in time into the shoes of other characters during the campaign's inciting event. Thanks!

Theme: Recalling Events

Hello friend, so there are definitely games that allow you to do something similar to what you’re looking for. There are games that go back in time, games that flashback to previous events, and games that take place at moments in our real-world history that have already happened. I don’t know if any of those games exactly work for what you’re looking for, but they might be interesting to look at in order to ask yourself how you want to run something in a timeline that you’ve established for a specific setting.

Ten Candles, by Calvary Games.

Ten Candles is a zero-prep tabletop storytelling game designed for one-shot 2-4 hour sessions of tragic horror. It is best played with one GM and 3-5 players, by the light of ten tea light candles which provide atmosphere, act as a countdown timer for the game, and allow you to literally burn your character sheet away as you play. 

Ten Candles is described as a "tragic horror" game rather than survival horror for one main reason: in Ten Candles there are no survivors. In the final scene of the game, when only one candle remains, all of the characters will die. In this, Ten Candles is not a game about "winning" or beating the monsters. Instead, it is a game about what happens in the dark, and about those who try to survive within it. It is a game about being pushed to the brink of madness and despair, searching for hope in a hopeless world, and trying to do something meaningful with your final few hours left.  

There is only a few facts pre-determined at the beginning of this game, but those facts are important: all of your characters will die. Over the course of the game, you will slowly blow out ten candles as your characters grow closer and closer too their doom.

However, the nature of that doom can be altered. I’ve seen it done for the Locked Tomb, for example, and you can set it in a modern world, a futuristic world, or a fantasy world if you like. If you want to hack this game for your group, I’d recommend playing out a scenario that involves characters that you don’t mind saying goodbye too - perhaps a catastrophe your party heard about, and you can role-play the last moments of some people they failed to save.

Firebrands Games

Mobile Zero Firebrands is a game about mech pilots getting into fights and falling in love, but more importantly, it’s a game that guides the group through mini-game-like scenes that are common tropes in various stories. The beginning scene and the end scene are usually pre-determined, but all of the other scenes happen in whatever order you prefer.

The original system has been hacked a number of times, so you might find a game or genre that works for you - perhaps you’d like to play pirates in One Particular Harbour, or gods and heroes in Divine || Mundane. You could play members of a religious order looking for a new leader in Hierophants, or look into the complicated lives of mages in Hearts of Magic. If you don’t find anything that works for your specific tastes that already exists, you could also hack the system to make it fit for your specific group.

Eat the Reich, by Rowan, Rook & Decard.

Eat the Reich is a tabletop roleplaying game in which you, a vampire commando, are coffin-dropped into occupied Paris and must cut a bloody swathe through nazi forces en route to your ultimate goal: drinking all of Adolf Hitler’s blood.

This over-the-top, ultra-violent game is designed to be played from beginning to end in one to three sessions of carnage, blood magic, meaningful flashbacks and hundreds upon hundreds of extremely dead fascists. It tells one story, it tells it loud, and it tells it brilliantly. Think Wolfenstein crossed with Danger 5 and you’re not far off the mark.

Eat the Reich both happens at a very specific point in time - WWII - and also has a mechanic that allows characters to flash-back to various points in their shared backstories in order to play through a high-action sequence while still getting to know the characters. Your vampires have been working together for a long time, and while Eat the Reich is meant to be rather fast, these flashbacks allow you to speed up that relationship-building by letting you fill the details in backwards.

Eat the Reich started out as a hack of Havoc Brigade, if I remember correctly, so the system is definitely hack-able: perhaps you can think of a big event that happened in your party’s past or even in another part of the world, and then design characters that represent folks who were behind the big event. I think this kind of game would work best for heists or high-stakes assassination - anything that expects your players to put their lives on the line for a big, sweet payoff.

Retrocausality, by Weird Age Games.

Retrocausality is a tabletop RPG about time travel adventures, in the vein of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure or Back to the Future.

It uses a rules-light, card-based system that lets you decide how time travel works. Whether you have a specific movie you want to emulate, you have Opinions on the Novikov self-consistency principle, or you prefer not to ask too many questions, Retrocausality can make it happen. Even better, the rules are so light you can use Retrocausality to run a time travel adventure in a different game. That's twice as much game.

Many of the examples shown in Retrocausality indicate that the time travellers you play will be messing with a timeline, and since the rules can be ported into a different game, that tells me that you could use this for any genre you like. This of course, means that you’re not just telling a story about your characters’ pasts - your characters are actually going back in time to a specific part of history.

I suppose you could use this to either bring your characters back to a time period before they were born, or maybe instead you’re interested in taking new heroes back to a point in time when your characters were doing something significant off-camera.

Houses of the Sun By Night, by Emily Zhu.

These are 13 houses of the underworld that the sun passes through at night.

These are 13 minigames you can play in specific situations, during your other games or on their own.

This is how the dead come back to life.

This series of games is explicitly designed to be hackable, with a setting that can be ripped apart if you like. The original setting is a nod to the underworld of Egyptian mythology, but the moments themselves can be zoomed in on a small moment or used to navigate a special event that may have big effects on the larger story. I think you can use some of the games in here to re-visit moments of your characters’ pasts, or reference events that may have happened to NPCs that the characters were not necessarily witness to.

If you want to learn more about this set of games, you can watch Aaron Voight’s review of the game on Youtube!

Other Games To Check Out

Feng Shui 2, by Atlas Games.

Time Travel Recommendation Post

[lostdreamr-blog1]

A Misinterpreted Loss

Summary: Bradley finally asked you out, but what happens when he walks out with another girl? Running to your best friend seemed like the only logical answer.

Pairings: Jake Seresin X Bestfriend!reader / Bradley Bradshaw x female!reader

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, baby swear words, fluffy fluff.

Word count: 1.5k

A/N: I have a million WIP’s but this idea came to me today and I had to get it out. Possible part 2? As always, my inbox is open for you all. Thanks for reading!!

Jake opened the door to find you standing there, eyes red and puffy with tears running down your face. Panic flooded his system as he looked you over for any obvious signs of injury. Seeing you cry was a rare sight and he was preparing himself for the worst.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” His body was tense as he was ready to act on a moment’s notice, trying to keep a calm exterior while he waited for your answer.

“He left with another girl.” The words came out as a near whisper, but he heard every one of them. Which is why he was more confused than anything.

“What do you mean? Who left with another girl?” His focus was fully on you as he was trying to piece things together.

“Bradley. I thought things were going well, but I clearly misread the situation.” The sorrow was quickly turning in to anger and Jake picked up on the swift change in emotions.

“Have you been drinking?” A simple head nod confirmed it, and he ran a hand over his face.

“Jesus Christ, Y/N. I thought you were actually hurt or something.” Any other time you would’ve felt slightly bad for sending him into a spiral of worry, but tonight your mind was on other things. Which is why you lightly hit his arm in protest.

“I am hurt! My heart literally tore in two tonight and you don’t even care!” His lack of empathy for the situation had you walking away from him. A hand gently grabbed your wrist, halting your retreat.

“Calm down, killer. Come inside so we can talk about this.” You let out a huff and allowed him to lead you inside his apartment. You took residence on the couch, curling your knees into your chest. Jake sat down next to you and told you to start from the beginning.

You leaned your head back on the cushion behind you and closed your eyes as you started explaining what all happened to lead you here.

“We had gotten done with our training for the day and he asked if I wanted to grab a drink. Of course, I said yes, happy that we were finally moving in the right direction. We were there about an hour before I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came out, he had his arm around another girl’s waist and was walking out of the bar with her. Long story short, I took a few shots that I know I’m going to regret in the morning and called a cab to bring me here.”

Jake listened to every word, trying to figure out why Bradley would do that. He knew his teammate was crazy about you and it took three of them to convince him to even ask you out in the first place. So why the hell did he walk out with another girl? Your whisper of a voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

“What’s wrong with me? Why doesn’t he care?” Jakes heart broke at the questions, and he was at a loss for words. You always carried yourself with your head held high. Nothing ever seemed to get to you, or at least so he thought. But hearing the words laced with pain had him more worked up than when you first got there.

Any other guy and he would’ve run out that door to beat some sense in to them. But he couldn’t touch a teammate, no matter how pissed off he was. Helpless was the word that kept running thorough his mind.

“Come here, sweetheart.” He pulled you into his side, letting you rest your head on his shoulder as his hand rubbed comforting circles on your arm.

“I’m only going to say this once, so listen closely. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are one of the strongest women I know, and any guy would have won the lottery if you gave them the time of day. I don’t know why Bradley did what he did, but don’t ever let a man decide your worth.”

More tears spilled onto your face, and you pressed yourself into him more. Trying to steal as much comfort as you could from the one person in your life who had always been there.

“Let’s get you to bed.” You felt him start to move and you tightened your grip on him.

“Please stay. Just for a few more minutes.” The desperation was clear, and it had him rethinking about hurting a teammate. Bradley couldn’t be a part of the team if he couldn’t see clearly out of his eyes to fly a plane.  

“I’ll stay as long as you need me to.” You relaxed a bit at his words and whispered a thank you. He gave you a kiss on the head in return and you knew you made the right decision in coming here. No one knew you like Jake did and in this moment, all you needed was your friend.

After some time had passed, you squeezed his arm letting him know you were ready to move.

“Let’s get you to bed.” The drinks had long worn off and the only thing you were left with was a throbbing headache. Another thing to blame the Hawaiian shirt pilot for.

It took all of seconds to fall asleep once you were settled in bed. Jake ran a hand through his hair, trying to work out what he was going to do in the morning. You both had to be at base for training, but he already knew you weren’t going to be in it tomorrow. Maybe he can tell them you have a stomach bug. Something to give you the much-needed day off.

Jake went to slide into the bed next to you when a frantic knock on the door had him turning around. He already knew who it was before he even opened the door. He had to stop a second and take a few deep breaths, willing himself to calm down.

“The hell you think you’re doing here, Bradshaw?” Jake took one look at the pilot and knew he was having just as rough as a night as Y/N.

“Is she here?” Bradley tried to look around Jake into the apartment, but Jake stepped into his line of vision.

“You have 30 seconds to explain what the hell happened before knock that stupid mustache off your face.” Bradley took a step back, putting a little bit of space between him and his fuming teammate.

"She went to the bathroom and this girl came up trying to hit on me or whatever. She was wasted and I knew if I didn’t get her out of there that someone was going to take advantage of her. So, I walked her out and straight into a cab. When I came back in, Y/N was gone. I’ve spent the last hour trying to find her and she won’t answer her phone. I have no idea why it took me this long to realize she would’ve come here.”

Jake stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him, not wanting to wake you up for this. “She said your hands were around that girl’s waist.”

Bradley shook his head, “Man she couldn’t stand up straight. That’s how drunk this girl was. I figured the least I could do is make sure she got home safe. No one should be left alone like that.”

Jake watched for any signs of him lying, but only saw concern and worry. Something he had been feeling since you got there. “She thinks you left with that girl. Came here more upset than I’ve ever seen her.”

Bradley leaned against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. “I never would’ve done that to her.” He opened his eyes and looked straight at Jake. “She’s it for me. But one misinterpreted situation may have cost me everything. What do I do?”

That desperation he heard in Y/N’s voice earlier was mirrored in Bradley’s now. He knew he had to do something, but he couldn’t be seen as taking his side over yours.

“You better fix this and soon. That girl in there was asking me what was wrong with her. She’s so damn crazy about you, that you managed to break her beyond belief. I don’t know what you have to do, but so help me God, you sure as hell better do it soon or else your time as a pilot is about to come to an end.”

There was a few things Bradley had learned during this assignment. One: you and Jake were inseparable and winning you over meant winning him as well. Or else life would suddenly become very hard to live.

Two: you were everything he dreamed of in a girl and more. It was almost embarrassing how easily he fell for you and this night showed him how hard he needed to work to get you back.

And that’s exactly what he planned to do.

Thank you so so much for reading!!! You all are what keeps me writing!