#that’s a problem the silly little brown people are making up to make you feel bad and gain power over you

[scarrletmoon]

the reason why white liberals are often more frustrating than white conservatives when it comes to race is that the first group finds ways to convince themselves that once they know not to say slurs, their work is done

trying to explain, for example, the racism behind writing a nonwhite character as dirty and in need of white guidance, is like talking to a brick wall. sometimes POC can be messy! sometimes they have white friends who help them! you’re hurting my feelings by assuming ill intent!

i suppose when you live in a world that allows you the luxury of individuality and the privilege of never thinking about your own race, none of this makes sense to you. but if someone points out that something you did is racist, and you throw a tantrum about it or wring your hands and insist that you didn’t mean it that way — i’m so sorry, but you’re being a coward. you’re putting your own feelings ahead of someone else’s, because you’ve been taught that discomfort is worse than the actual harm you’ve caused

yeah, you didn’t mean to step on my foot. but you still did it, and it’s VERY weird if you demand i apologize for bringing up that it hurt

you’re a grown ass adult with access to the internet and countless books on this topic. the solution to that discomfort is not to bury your head in the sand and run to your white friends for comfort. the solution is to arm yourself with knowledge and unlearn everything you’ve been taught about how racism actually works

there is no quick fix. there is no youtube video you can watch that will make sure you’re never racist again. there is no class you can take or fee you can pay that will grant you Racism Immunity. sorry. you’re going to have to put the hard work in

“but what if someone says something is racist and it’s not actually!” you know, if you actually did the work and gained the knowledge, you’d know what to do in that situation

you have absolutely no idea how loud the cosmic background radiation of racism has to get before we start calling it out. if you can be angry and frustrated about trying to explain the same shit over and over again, why can’t we?

[javierpena-inatacvest]

Chapter 20 pt. 2- I Do

Summary: It's wedding time, baby.

Word Count: 17.4K (.....I'm so sorry)

Warnings: SMUT (18+) unprotected p in v sex, vaginal fingering, praise kink, marriage kink, big, fat, nasty, unspeakable breeding kink (holy SHIT you guys, I really went balls to the wall on this one, I fear), kind of semi-public sex (you already know these horndogs are going at it again), More getting caught (Steve is causing his own problems at this point), wedding things!!, family dynamics, mentions of death/grief, lots of emotions, alcohol/drinking, so many feelings (grab the tissues, friends), Javi being adorable with kids, Javi being so in LOVE it HURTS?!? So much joy and happiness because Javi deserves the world and more

A/N: HELLO. Part 2 is finally finished *insert Spongebob narrator voice* 4 years later 🫠 Omg y'all, thank you SO much for bearing with me as I finish this, it has been a labor of love like no other, but I am so excited to finally share our favorite couple's special day and finally GET THESE TWO MARRIED 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I would very much be lying if I said I didn't cry multiple times writing this chapter 🥺 I can't believe these two are actually getting married- words can't express how thankful I am for everyone who's wanted to stick around and read my silly little story to see these two make it to their wedding day- your support and kind words mean more to me than you will ever know 💛 Poorly beta'd bc I'm the worst, also, I've seen that sometimes people have issues reblogging things with comments that are this long (my apologies), but comments and reblogs make me wanna cry and throw up with joy, so it means a lot to me if you're able to leave a comment if it won't let you reblog with one!!!

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Never had you been so anxious to walk in a straight line. 

Because truth be told, that was all you needed to do to walk down the aisle- walk in a straight line. 

But when that straight line meant the walk to finally get to marry your future husband, to take his last name, to start the beginning of your forever together, not to mention kissing him in front of all your closest family and friends, you couldn’t help but feel the butterflies in your stomach swirling in anticipation as you waited for your ceremony to start. 

“You okay, Hermosa?” Javi asked, his thumb gently stroking your hand that he had been holding since the moment he saw you, almost as if he was refusing to let go. You looked up at him, big brown puppy dog eyes staring down at you with a goofy grin that hadn’t left his face, the sight of his handsome, broad frame easing your racing heart enough to help you remember that when you walked down that aisle in a few short minutes, he was the only thing that mattered. 

“I’m perfect.” You smiled, pressing up on your toes just enough to peck his lips quickly before someone in the wedding party needed to barrate you both again about saving your kissing until after you were finally married. “I don’t think I’ve ever had this many people staring all at me at once. Knowing my luck, I’m gonna trip and fall over this dress before I can even make it to you. Or better yet, with my dumbass decision to have David and Charlie walk me down the aisle, I’ll be lucky if they don’t push me to the ground first.” 

“Well, even if you did fall, you would still be the most beautiful woman on the face of this Earth. My clumsy, grass-stained wife.” Javi snickered, giving you a little nudge as you rolled your eyes, giving him a playful shove back. 

“Pendejo. You have both of our vows books, right? You promise you haven’t peeked?” 

“Yup, both right here in my pocket.” Javi smiled, patting his tux by his chest. “Promise I haven’t read it. Although for my sake I probably should have, because if I can’t even make it through seeing you in your dress, then these vows are gonna make me a fuckin’ goner.” 

“Bold of you to assume I had nice things to say about you in there.” You teased, raising your eyebrow as you smirked at him, making Javi shake his head as he laughed. 

“Alright everyone, it’s 3:00, it’s time to get this show on the road! Make sure you’re in order like we practiced, that you take your time walking down to the music, girls, please do not throw petals at each other, and make sure you all- Javi, where are you? You’re supposed to be at the front of this line, sir.” Connie sassed, proving to you that she really was the perfect person for the task of making sure that things ran smoothly today, bossing the group around like the captain of a well organized ship. 

“Sorry, I’m coming,” Javi replied sheepishly. “I love you, Osita.” Sliding the hand that was entangled with yours around your waist, Javi pulled you in for a kiss, much more obviously than he probably should have, considering the shit the two of you were about to get being literal minutes away from getting married. 

“Javier! Get you A-S-S up here! Kiss her all you want once you say I do!” Connie shouted, rolling her eyes at the two of you, Javi pulling away in defense with his hands raised, trying to prove his innocence. 

“Oh, I know what that one spells, Mrs. Murphy! That one spells-” 

“Javi? Please?” Connie asked again, quickly trying her best to cut off your niece, Olivia, before she could finish the rest of her thought in front of everyone else, making the group giggle at her matter of factness. 

“Okay, okay, I’m here!” Javi pleaded, making his way to the front of the procession, taking his place next to his dad as Connie did one more check through of everyone’s spot in line before giving the music an all clear to start playing. 

As you stood at the end of the line, you peeked up to see Javi turned around staring back at you with that same stupid smile on his face, completely enamored and awestruck by you, already convincing you that you were going to turn into a puddle before you could even make it down the aisle. 

But as you went to re-adjust your bouquet in your grasp, you quickly realized there were not one, but two things missing from your procession line, now about to start walking down the aisle. 

Your brothers. 

Despite having seen them only seconds ago, as you quickly whipped your head around, they were now nowhere to be found. 

“Charlie? David? Where the fuck did you go?” You whisper shouted, frantically looking around for any sight of them.

Suddenly, you heard a rustling from one of the bushes around the corner from where you had been lined up and waiting, followed by the all too familiar voices of your brothers up to no good. 

“Just finish it you dingus, I already drank the first half!” 

“Why the fuck did we leave this out here? It’s fucking warm. You got the better half, that’s not fair!” 

“It was warm when I drank it too, dumbwad. Just finish it, we gotta fucking go, hurry up!” 

As you peered behind the bush, you saw your brothers wiping their mouth with the back of their hands as the tossed a can of Miller Lite to the ground, freezing in fear as they saw your menacing and disappointed glare staring back at them. 

“What the fuck do you two think you’re doing?!” 

“It was David’s idea!” Charlie responded, pointing at his brother. 

“Charlie didn’t say no!” David responded back, now pointing at him. “You didn’t expect us to get through this sober, did you? You’re the one who asked us to marry you, so I don’t know what to tell ya, Cubby. Plus, we wanted to pour one out for Patrick since he’s the luckiest bastard out of all of us and doesn’t have to worry about fucking up marrying his little sister.” 

“God, you two are idiots. Well that thing you agreed to do is happening as we speak so can we go do that, please?” You sighed, trying your best not to laugh at your brother’s antics, knowing that you really should have expected nothing less from the pair after you and Javi had asked them to officiate your wedding, considering neither of you had wanted anything religious, and wanted someone who knew you to be the ones to do it. 

“Okay, okay!” They replied, one rushing to each side of you and hooking their arm around yours as you made your way back to your spot at the end of the processional line that had now begun to move forward. 

“Where were you 3 dumbbells? The ceremony is starting!” Your dad gruffed, trying his best to restrain from slapping each of you upside the head. 

“Cubby wanted a beer.” David replied, shrugging his shoulders, keeping his head facing forward, trying his best not to laugh. 

“Honey, seriously?!” Your mom scolded, looking at you with disgust. 

“I did not! I was trying to find these two idiots!” You groaned, eying your brothers as they shook you back and forth between them in their grasp. “I hate you both, I hope you know that.” 

“We love you too, Cubby.” Charlie smirked, knowing that for as much as you said it, there wasn’t a bone in your body that could hate your brothers. For as dumb and annoying as they were, there would never be another moment you would take for granted with them, knowing all too well that life was much too short to do anything but cherish your time together, wishing you had more time to spend with the brother who couldn’t be here with you today. 

Before you could respond, your thought was interrupted by the voice of the DJ through the speakers set up outside, your heart steadily beginning to pound at the reality that everything you had been waiting for was all about to become real. 

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen if you could please find your seats, we’re about to get started with our ceremony! Thank you so much, folks!” As his voice echoed through the speakers, a hush began to fall over the crowd of your friends and family that had gathered here, now anxiously alongside you for the ceremony to begin. 

A few seconds passed before you could hear the music beginning to play, the familiar melody of “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac ringing through the speakers- an easily unanimous pick for a song to walk down the aisle to for you and Javi, remembering the first night you had spent together in your apartment, making midnight mac n’ cheese and already falling head over heels in love with each other. 

As the beat began to pick up, your heart started to race, peaking over the backs of everyone’s heads to watch all 5 of your flower girls begin to skip down the aisle, throwing petals every which way around them as they moved.

You couldn’t help but laugh as all their little personalities shone through as they made their way to the altar- Olivia Murphy, being the oldest, most definitely was taking her role the most seriously, holding her baby sister in one hand and carefully sprinkling flowers evenly in front of her. Your niece, Olivia, was second in line to live up to her role, although, being the little ham she was, threw in the occasional twirl in the middle of the aisle to get people to look at her, along with her little waves to the crowd. The rest of the girls, Brianna, Abby and Madison, well, you were just happy that they made it down the aisle, thankful that their older sisters were at least on the lookout enough to keep them from running through the rows of your guests or dumping the entire bucket of flowers on themselves (you had learned your lesson from your rehearsal dinner that Brianna needed about half as less flowers as the others).

Your face lit up watching the girls, your heart filling with joy with the “awhs” and laughter from the crowd at their theatrics as they met at the altar with an impressively semi-rehearsed curtsy, followed by promptly running out of the spotlight and over to Connie who was waiting for them. 

Now that the flower girls had finished making their way down, the processional line began to shift forward once again, this time, leaving Javi and his dad to walk down together, Javi insisting that even though his mom would have been the one to walk him down if she was here, that wanted Chucho to be there in her place instead. 

“Ready, Mijo?” Chucho grinned, giving Javi a little nudge. “Am I going to have to keep you from sprinting down the aisle, or do you think you can manage walking?” 

As the pair began walking down to the melodic beat of the song, Javi couldn’t help but laugh at his dad’s comment, because as much as he wanted to tease him right back, he knew damn well he was so excited that he would have run to the altar if it meant he got to marry you even a minute quicker. 

“Javier?” Chucho asked, looking up at his son with tears in his eyes as the pair moved down the parted pathway between the crowd of guests. 

“Yeah, Pops?” 

“Estoy orgulloso de ti, mijo. Tu mama y yo. (I am so proud of you, son. Me and your mother.) We are so happy that you have found your media naranja (other half). Nosotros te amamos. (We love you so much.)” 

As Javi and Chucho reached the end of the aisle, Javi wrapped his arms around his dad, pulling him close as Chucho patted him on the back, pulling away to look at his son, tears now in both of their eyes, thinking about how far they had come to end up where they were in this very moment, thanking whatever greater power that had finally brought them and Lucia the peace they all desperately deserved. 

Javier Pena knew he was worthy of the love and happiness that his parents had longed for. He had finally proved to himself and his parents he really was the good man that he had hoped to be. 

“I love you, Pops. Thank you for everything.” Javi whispered to his dad, trying to fight back any more tears from falling down his cheeks. 

“Te amo mucho, Javier. (I love you so much, Javier). Thank you for finally realizing that who you are is enough. Now, stop crying over your old man and save some tears for your wife.” Chucho laughed quietly, giving his son another pat on the back with a soft smile wrinkling his cheeks. 

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re gonna have to worry about that.” Javi chuckled, shaking his head at the tearful mess he already was, giving his father one last hug before Chucho took his seat next to Connie and the flower girls at the front of the crowd. 

Steve was the next to make his way to the altar, Javi laughing at his friend’s goofy strut to greet him at the end of the aisle. Steve held out his hand to shake Javi’s before quickly pulling Javi in for another hug with pats to the back much harder than his fathers. 

“Listen, man. I ain’t good at this sentimental shit, but uh- I’m really fuckin’ happy for you, Javi. I know I give you shit, but you’re one of the good ones. She’s a lucky girl. And I hope you know you’re sure as hell one lucky son of a bitch. Love you, man.” 

“Love you too, Murph. Believe me, I know.” Javi grinned, giving Steve a slap on his shoulder laughing to himself as his friend sat down next to his wife and the girls, never imagining himself standing at the altar, happily waiting to get married while his former partner cheered him on, surrounded by his gaggle of giggly daughters. 

Feeling worlds away from Javi, your heart began to beat faster and faster, realizing that you were now only one pair away from making your trek down the aisle as your mom and dad walked down next, arm in arm. 

In classic mom fashion, your mother squeezed Javi so hard as she greeted him, that you were convinced that she was going to pop an eyeball out one of his sockets, thankful that your dad was there to reel her in enough to keep from suffocating him in her hug. 

“Javi. We love you so much. Thank you for making our daughter so happy. We’re so grateful she found you.” 

“Thank you. I love you both, too. Believe me, I’m just as grateful that she found me. Thanks for making me feel like a part of your family.” Javi replied to your mom, catching his breath through his smile after the death grip your mom had wrapped him in before looking over at your dad, extending his hand to meet his already outstretched one. 

“Jav, you’re a good man. I’m a guy of few words, but we couldn’t be happier for you both. Take care of her, okay?” 

“I will. I promise.” 

With a silent handshake and a nod, Javi and your dad had said all they’d needed to know that they couldn’t be more thankful for the love and support the other had brought you in the times that you had needed it most. 

As your parents made their way to their seats, standing at the opposite end of the aisle with your brothers at your side, the realization really hit you- You were the last one that needed to meet Javi. 

“You ready, Cubby?” Charlie asked, giving you a grin as he smiled down at you, interlocking your arm with his as David did the same on the other side. 

“Yeah, I’m ready. Hey, uh- I just, I just wanted to say, I-I love you guys.” 

“Gross.” David teased, scrunching his face in disgust, pretending to barf over his shoulder as you and Charlie laughed, shaking your head at your brother. “We love you too, dude.” 

With one final giggle and deep breath, you took your first step into view where everyone could see you, watching the guests rise to their feet in anticipation of your arrival, awestruck stares and smiles filling the crowd as you began to walk. 

Even though you had seen each other minutes ago, as you started to make your way down the aisle, smiling at Javi, the two of you couldn’t help but break into tears once again, laughing through your sobs that Javi broke before you did, trying to wipe his wet cheeks with the back of his hand while he watched you walk towards him. 

And even though every pair of eyes were on you, the only eyes you needed to see were Javi’s- The sweet, soft brown eyes that you had fallen so deeply in love with from the moment you had locked eyes with them all that time ago. They were the eyes of the first person who had ever truly seen you for who you were, inside and out, and you couldn’t be more thankful that when you looked at him, you saw your forever. When you looked at Javier Pena, you knew you were home. 

It almost felt as if time was standing still, that even in a crowd full of people, no one else existed besides the two of you. No one else mattered, and nothing else mattered- the only thing that mattered for you was Javi waiting for you at the end of the aisle, and you? You were going to finally be his wife. 

“You two are so in love, it’s fucking sick.” David whispered in your ear, helping to ease your tears as you burst into more laughter, rolling your eyes at your brother. 

“Oh shut up, asshole.” 

As you, David and Charlie finally made your way to Javi, waiting for you in a mess of happy smiles and loving tears, you had to use everything in you to keep from jumping onto him like a koala and kiss him all over his stupidly handsome face, resorting to reaching out to grab his hand instead, interlocking it with yours and giving it the tightest squeeze you could. 

“Hey, Mr. Peña. Long time, no see.” You whispered into Javi’s ear, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before took his other hand in yours, the two of you facing each other in front of your friends and family as David and Charlie took their place behind you, pulling out their notes that they had prepared, clearing their throats as they began to address the crowd. 

“Alright everyone, I uh- I guess we’re gettin’ this show on the road.” Speaking out into the crowd, Charlie began to flip to the right page of his script that you were relieved to see he had written out, your guests beginning to silence and bringing their attention to you and Javi. 

“Hi everyone, for those of you who don’t know us, we are the bride’s brothers, and we have the honor of our sister and our new brother-in-law being stupid enough to let us be in charge of marrying them today. Not to worry, 20 dollars and one course on the internet later, David and I are both legally ordained, so not to fear you two, this will all be legit, and hopefully not too embarrassing.” Charlie laughed, also eliciting giggles and eye rolls from you and Javi, as well as the crowd. 

“Well, we are gathered here today, because these two idiots have fallen so head over heels for each other, it's almost sickening. We’ve had the privilege of knowing our sister for the entirety of our lives. When we found out as kids that our mom was having another baby, and that it was going to be a girl, my brothers and I were disappointed, to say the least. We didn’t want a sister to ruin the bond that we had, and honestly, for a long time while my mom was pregnant, we went through a long baby boycott, and were convinced if we protested long enough, and hard enough, she would eventually turn into a boy, and everything would be fine.” David grimaced, shrugging his shoulders at you as you nodded in agreement, having heard this story from your brothers and parents plenty of times before. 

“And while at first, we weren’t really sure what to do with a sister, considering we didn’t even realize it was an option to pee sitting down until she came around,” Charlie snickered, making the crowd laugh again, aside from your mom, who was rolling her eyes so hard, they probably had made it to the back of her head, “Our sister ended up being one of the best things that could have ever happened to us.” 

Breaking your eye contact with Javi, you paused to look over at your brother, a genuine smile on his face, raising his eyebrows and shrugging as if to say I’m just as surprised that I’m saying this out loud as you. 

“Growing up with our sister has taught us a lot of things- Don’t challenge her to anything you don’t wanna lose at, because she’ll find a way to beat you, and thoroughly kick your ass while she does it, she’s got more brain cells that myself, Charlie, and our late brother Patrick did put together, she’s tougher than most guys I know, and she’s one of the biggest hearted people I’ve ever met.” Looking back at Javi, you could see his face beaming with joy, giving your hand a squeeze, agreeing with everything your brothers had to say, and how all of those traits had made him fall so madly in love with you. 

“So, like brothers do, we never assumed that there would never be anyone good enough, let alone even cool enough for our badass sister. And also like brothers do, we let her go through her fair share of duds and gave her shit, but when this guy came around,” Charlie smiled, pointing at Javi, “we knew that he was something special.” 

“Javi,” David joined in pointing, giving him a playful smirk, “Don’t think you were getting out of this so easy. When we first heard that our sister had made her way down to the middle of nowhere Texas and had started seeing you, our first reaction was instant disapproval, because if you lived in south Texas, you probably knew jackshit about hockey, and that was a no go for us.” 

“But,” Charlie interjected, “After talking to our sister more on the phone, not only was she starting to turn into the happy, energetic self we hadn’t seen in so long, we also learned after talking to her that you not only had been willing to watch hockey with her, but had began to openly express your disdain for the Detroit Red Wings, which made us change our opinions on you very quickly.” 

You and Javi looked at your brothers, rolling your eyes in laughter as they shrugged at you, the roar of cackles from the crowd making you grin, feeling the love from your brothers, friends and family swell in your chest, holding Javi’s hands even tighter, gazing up at him with an awestruck smile. 

“No in all seriousness, Jav. We couldn’t be happier that you not only have become a part of our sister’s life, but our family’s life, too. For those of you who don’t know, we um- we, uh-,” David gulped, taking a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears welling in his eyes, “our other brother, Patrick, um, passed away last year, and it uh, it was really hard on all of us, especially our sister. Javi, man, I don’t think you’ll ever understand how thankful we are that you love our sister so unconditionally. Better yet, that you love our family of idiots so unconditionally, because truth be told, we are not an easy bunch to love. While obviously, you can’t ever replace Patrick, I just, I hope you know that we’re so glad to have you as a brother, and that Patrick really would have loved you, man. He would be so happy that you’re the one our sister gets to spend the rest of her life with.” 

For what felt like the 117th time today, you found yourself in absolute tears, feeling the wetness streaming down your cheeks as you looked down at the #2 patch sewn on the bottom corner of your veil in a beautiful mixture of sadness and joy before looking up to see not a dry eye in front of you, both your brothers and Javi misty eyed and sniffling. Breaking his grasp from yours, Javi stepped towards your brothers, wrapping his arms around both of them to pull them into a long, tight hug, Charlie and David reciprocating as their arms patted his back. 

“Thank you guys.” Javi whispered, choking back his tears as he pulled away to look at your brothers, all of you wiping your wet faces with your hands to try and compose yourselves to carry on with the ceremony. 

“Damn, okay, well, sorry about that, folks, was not expecting that.” Charlie and David laughed, trying to shake off their unusually sappy sentiment, looking out at the crowd to see not a dry eye in the house. “Well um, well that’s enough of us yapping at you guys, why don’t we turn it over to the people you’re actually here for, and then you can cry even more because these two idiots decided to write their own vows, so good luck.” 

Staring up at Javi, you could feel your heart begin to race wildly, your hands nearly trembling as you reached out towards Javi to take the little notebook where you had written down your vows, feeling a little more at ease as you saw that Javi’s hands were just as shaky as yours, the two of you overflowing with anxious anticipation. 

It had been no question to either of you that you had wanted to write your own vows to one another. While it seemed to be that everyone else you knew had seemed to avoid writing their own vows because they weren’t sure what to say, or that it was too hard to think of things, you and Javi seemed to find yourselves having the opposite problem, feeling like there was too much to fit in a few short minutes, and that your vows were going to end up being the length of a college lecture. 

There had been a part of you that had worried you would be nervous to read what you had to say to Javi in front of all your friends and family, but as you stood there, smiling up at his beautiful, handsome face, you couldn’t be more excited to share all of the things you had written to tell your husband just how much you loved him.  

But as the two of you stood face to face, your vows in each of your hands, your stomach dropped in shock, realizing that neither of you was making the first move to start talking. Because for all the planning and preparing that you had done for everything else, the both of you had completely forgotten to pick who was going to read their vows first. 

“We never picked who was gonna go first.” You whispered to Javi, your voice filling with nerves every second you stood in front of your guests, neither one of you saying anything. 

“Oh fuck, you’re right. What do you wanna do? Do you wanna go? Do you want me to go?” Javi asked, his face mirroring yours in surprise, now frantically looking back and forth between you, his vows, and all of your guests. 

You weren’t sure if it was the teacher in you, or the fact that you were so flustered that you couldn’t think of anything else, but before you knew it, you were tucking your vows under your arm, holding one hand out in front of you flat and the other in a fist, signifying to Javi that your best solution to your current predicament was playing rock, paper, scissors. 

“Best 2 out of 3?” You shrugged, grimacing at Javi as you tried not to burst into laughter, Javi shaking his head and snickering, raising an eyebrow at you. 

“You’re ridiculous, I hope you know that. Do you wanna go after ‘rock’ or say ‘shoot’, then go?” Javi asked, loud enough for your guests to catch on to what was happening, giggles and laughter coming from the crowd. 

“What kind of psychopath doesn’t say ‘shoot’ first? Javier Peña, are you telling me that we need to call off this wedding right now because you don’t say ‘shoot’ before playing rock, paper, scissors? Because I will.” 

Everyone around you was now in full blown hysterics, including Javi, giving you the sassiest look he could muster through his laughter, holding his hands out to mirror yours. 

“So ‘for better or for worse’ doesn’t apply to rock, paper, scissors, apparently?” He teased, smirking at you with a subtle wink as he bit down on his lip. 

“Not if you’re gonna play like that it won’t.”  

“Pendejo.” 

“You love me.” 

“I really fucking do.” 

Giggling as you gestured at your outstretched fist, you began to countdown from your “rock, paper, scissors, adding an extra emphasis on ‘shoot’ as you held out rock and Javi held out scissors. With another laugh, the two of you started again, this time, you with paper and Javi with rock, smirking as you crossed your arms over your chest at Javi, the rest of your guests laughing right along with you. 

“Winner, winner, chicken dinner, Javier Peña. You’re stuck going second.” 

“Go for it, you dork.” 

As the laughter from the crowd settled, you opened your vows book, taking a deep breath as you stared up at Javi, who, despite your silliness, still had tears beginning to well in his puppy dog brown eyes before you could even say your first word. You took one last gulp of confidence, wondering how in the world you were supposed to make it through even a sentence through your speech without falling apart. 

“I never used to believe in fate. People would always tell me that ‘some things are just meant to be!’ or ‘it was just fate it happened like that!’ and no matter how hard I tried to believe, fate just never made sense to me. Well, that was until about a year ago, when fate decided to bump right into me when I least expected it.” You could feel your voice already beginning to shake, huffing in a quick sniffle before continuing on. 

“As fate may have it, I quite literally bumped into you when you were forced to come give a presentation to a group of rowdy 8 and 9 year olds. Thank god fate also was on my side that day- that I actually looked halfway presentable and wasn’t covered in spilled chocolate milk, glue, or the snot of whatever kid had sneezed a little too close to me that morning.” That one had the better part of the crowd letting out a laugh alongside Javi, easing your stress and tension about your speech while you carried on, reading the notes jotted in your booklet. 

“When I first came to Laredo, I wasn’t really quite sure what I was looking for. After my brother died and decided I needed to be as far away from Chicago as possible, there wasn’t ever really a doubt in my mind that here was the only place I really wanted to be. I spent the better half of my middle school and high school vacations here, visiting my best friend who had moved away. To me, Laredo was always a place that brought me such peace and comfort. I’m not really sure why, but there was always something about being here for those few weeks every year that made it feel like home, even when home was halfway across the country. But what I didn’t realize, was that in my attempt to find a new home for myself, I began to learn that home wasn’t a physical location, or a place you could travel to. After meeting you, Javier Peña, I found out that home was wherever I was with you.” 

Taking a shaky breath, you looked up from your vows to see sweet Javi, covering his mouth, as if he was trying to trap his tears to keep from completely breaking down at your words, his reaction only making you cry harder, trying your best to re-compose yourself before speaking again. 

“I spent so long wondering if I would ever find someone who would ever make me feel the way that you do- to love me for all of my flaws, to make me feel important, and even laugh at all of my stupid jokes that probably don’t deserve to be laughed at, but you love me enough to do it anyways. Now that’s true love.” You smirked, raising your eyebrow at Javi, making the two of you snicker between your tears. “You make me feel like the only person in the world whenever I’m with you. The only person who knows me better than I know myself. You are truly one of the most thoughtful and caring people that I have ever met. And while I could list off a million adjectives to describe all of the reasons I fell in love with you- smart, brave, determined, handsome- just to name a few, out of all of those reasons, the one that made me fall for you the most was your big heart. And while I know you’ll never believe me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to get you to see the same amazing man I fall more and more in love with every single day.”

At this point, there was not a dry eye in the crowd, watching how emotional you and Javi were as you tried to choke your way through the rest of your vows. 

“I will never know what I did to deserve you in my life, but promise that I will spend the rest of it letting you know how forever thankful I will always be that out of all the people in the world you could have chosen to bump into, that it was me. I am so excited that the rest of my life, all of the moments, big, small, and everything in between, will all be moments spent with you. That every moment will be spent with my best friend. I never would have thought that a little bit of fate would have become my forever, but I’ll always be so grateful that it is. I love you so much, Javier Peña. Thanks for being the reason I finally believe in fate.” 

Wiping away the wetness streaming down your cheeks, you could barely even look at Javi, who was an absolute blubbering mess, laughing through your tears almost to keep you from completely melting into a puddle. 

Reaching out to grab him, you took Javi’s hand in yours, squeezing it reassuringly as you took your other hand up to wipe the tears streaming down his cheeks, the both of you smiling as you looked into each other's eyes.

“And that’s why I wanted to go first. Good luck.” You chuckled, making Javi shake his head as he laughed along with you, taking another deep breath before flipping open his own vows, wondering how in the world he was ever going to make it through speaking, considering how easily he had fallen apart just listening to you. 

“Jesus Christ, well I don’t know how I’m really supposed to follow that.” Javi sighed, the crowd giggling at his remark as he opened up to his first page, staring at his words for a moment before looking back up at you, his deep, chocolate, puppy dog eyes melting you just as quickly as the first time that you locked eyes with him. 

“I’ve uh- I’ve never really been great speeches. When I sat down to write this, I wasn’t really sure where to start. I had no idea how I was supposed to fit all of the things that I wanted to say into all of this.” Javi huffed with a little shrug, gesturing to his notebook. 

“So I um- I figured if there’s anywhere I should start, it should probably be at the beginning. My mom was an elementary school teacher, so growing up, I spent a lot of time at Alma Pierce Elementary School. I swear, I knew that place like the back of my hand. But um, after my mom got sick and passed away, I really never thought I’d ever have a reason to back. Until one day last year, I was told to pack up my stuff to go give a presentation at a local elementary school, which turned out to be none other than Alma Pierce. My mom always used to say “La vida es graciosa, no lo crees?” (Life is funny, isn’t it?), and I never quite understood why. But as I walked back into the place where I had spent so much of my life just out of chance, I swear I could hear her laughing at me, saying “Te lo dije.” (I told you so).” 

You could hear everyone who had had the privilege of knowing Lucia letting out a soft laugh, thinking of all of the times they must have heard her say that all too familiar phrase throughout their time knowing her. 

“I had gotten to a point in my life that I had kind of just accepted that maybe this kind of life wasn’t in the cards for me. I wasn’t gonna get married or have a family, and as much as it hurt, I had learned to be okay with it. The last thing I would have thought would have happened to me after leaving the presentation I had to give that day was that I was already head over heels in love with the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my entire life, but la vida es graciosa, no le crees?” 

Giving you a little smirk, Javi could help but let a smile slowly spread between his cheeks as he looked at you, gazing up at him in complete and utter adoration, your goofy grin mirroring his. 

“Never in a million years would I have thought that I would have been standing here today, getting married to you. If you would have told me that I got to marry the most beautiful, amazing, kind, and stubbornly independent woman on the face of this earth, I would have laughed in your face. I honestly still feel like I need to pinch myself to prove that this is even real. But I guess that even if this is all a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up. Being loved by you has changed me in a way that I will never be able to thank you enough for. Being loved by you has made me a better man than I ever believed that I could be. A better man than I ever thought I deserved to be. A man who has learned to love and believe in love in ways I didn’t think I was capable of. I will never be able to thank you enough for letting me into your life and loving me for who I am, and for wanting to spend the rest of it with me.” 

Now, it was your turn to morph into an inconsolable mess, reaching out to grab Javi’s hand again, silently reassuring him that you were equally as grateful for the fact that Javi had let you into his life, too. 

“And no matter how tough, or challenging, or funny life gets, I know it can never really be that bad, because I’ll always have you by my side through it all. I think my mamá would be so proud to know I finally understand what she was trying to say all those years about life being so funny. Because it seems like life has a funny way of giving you everything you’ve ever wanted. Te amo, Osita. Gracias por ser mi todo. (I love you, Osita. Thank you for being my everything).” 

Without even thinking, you threw your arms around Javi’s shoulders wrapping him in a long, tight hug, sobbing into his jacket in a fit of happy tears, Javi hugging you right back, squeezing around your waist, gently cradling the back of your head in the warmth of your embrace. 

“Well shit… Alright, well I’m not sure if you guys are allowed to do that, but after those vows, I think we can let it slide.” David joked, trying to quickly wipe his eyes, nudging Charlie to do the same to try and pull themselves together to make sure they could finish out the rest of the ceremony. 

“Fuck, sorry.” Javi whispered, reluctantly pulling away from you, everyone in the crowd following your brothers’ suite, smiling as they brushed away the wetness welling in their own eyes from listening to your vows. 

“Well, I’d ask if anyone needs to object before we continue, but I think it’s pretty darn clear that these two idiots love each other more than life itself, so I’m just gonna skip that part.” Charlie joked, making you and Javi smirk in agreement. “Alright Miss Olivia, it’s your time to shine, do you have the rings?” He asked, your niece’s face lighting up in excitement as she nodded her head frantically, shooting up out of her seat to dash towards the two of you, carefully holding the ring box like a newborn baby bird in her hands. 

Daintily, she passed the box off to her dad before scampering over to both you and Javi, wrapping her arms around your waists to pull you close in a hug, smiling up at each of you with her toothy, goofy grin. 

“I love you Auntie Bear and Uncle Javi.” Olivia beamed, giggling in pure bliss and joy before skipping back to her seat among the guests, the both of your hearts bursting at the seams with the chores of “awhhhhs” coming from the crowd for your adorable niece. 

“Someone’s trying to get an extra slice of cake tonight huh, Miss Olivia?” David teased, your guests erupting with laughter at her not so innocent shrug to her Uncle’s question, knowing damn well she was just as much of a ham as you. “I trusted the six year old to carry these, can I trust you two not to drop them, or do you need to cry some more first?” 

“Oh shut up, David.” You sighed, rolling your eyes at your brother as you and Javi each took the rings to give one another, carefully holding the shiny gold bands in your hands, counting down the moments until you finally got to say “I do”. 

“Alright, ladies first, so I guess that means you, Cubby. You ready?” 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more ready for anything, you dingus, get this show on the road.” 

“Alright, here goes nothin’. This is the part I actually had to practice, so God forbid I mess this one up huh? Do you,” David giggled, saying your real name instead of the nicknames you had lovingly bestowed upon you for as long as you could remember, “Take Javi to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?” 

“I do.” 

Carefully slipping the gold band onto Javi’s finger, you could feel your heart bursting in anticipation, biting down on your lip to try and contain your excitement, slowly pulling your hand away to let your brothers finish the second half of the exchange. 

“And do you, Javier Peña, take our sister,” Charlie and David snickered again, having to say your full name for a second time, “to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?” 

“I do.” 

Gently grabbing your palm and gliding the glistening ring onto your finger, Javi rubbed his thumb over the pair of bands nestled together, forever making a home on your hand, his eyes welling at the sight of the sign that you would always be his. 

Intertwining your fingers together and hands clasped in front of you, you and Javi were radiating with joy, anxiously staring back and forth between each other and your brothers for them to finally say those magic words you had been waiting to hear since the moment you had met all that time ago. 

“Well ladies and gentleman… by the power vested in us, the internet and the state of Texas, it’s our honor to introduce to you the new Mr. and Mrs. Peña.” Charlie grinned at you, trying not to burst into laughter at the near panicked look on your faces, not having heard the next set of words you were more than dying to hear. 

“Well go on, you lovebirds, kiss already!” David snickered, shrugging at the pair of you with a grin on his face. 

Before he could barely finish his sentence, Javi’s hands were cupping your face, palms cradling your jaw as he brought his mouth to yours, fireworks exploding in your stomach at the electric intensity of his kiss, so soft and tender, yet so desperate and needy, like it was the first time his lips had ever met yours, and that he never, ever wanted to let them go. 

Your hands shot up to grab his face too, a smile creeping across your mouth with your lips still pressed to his as Javi dipped you down, sliding his hand down the small of your back to hold you before pulling you back up, his lips still locked on yours like glue. 

In that moment, it seemed like time stood still, that nothing else in the world existed besides the two of you- nothing else mattered besides the fact that you were here, kissing the man that you loved more than anything in the world. 

The man that you finally got to call your husband. 

Over the cheers, whistling, and hollering from your friends and family, the both of you were finally snapped back to reality as David gave you a little nudge and a look that screamed “gross, save it for the honeymoon.” 

Reluctantly breaking from your kiss, you grabbed Javi’s hand in yours, holding your fists in the air and cheering in excitement right alongside your guests before heading back up the aisle, your cheeks hurting from how hard they were smiling. So lost in your excitement, you turned your head as you felt Javi stop, tugging you back to the middle of the aisle, smirking as he pulled you close to his chest, whispering in your ear. 

“Not so fast, Mrs. Peña. C’mere.” Grabbing your face and wrapping his arm around your waist, Javi was kissing you again, swinging you down in another dip that had you erupting in giggles and your guests cheering even louder, Javi’s smooth moves soliciting a loud “OW OW” most definitely from Steve. 

“God, I love you.” You smirked as Javi pulled you back up to stand before the two of you were nearly skipping down the rest of the aisle in bliss, racing to the back of the crowd where you had entered the ceremony, turning the corner behind the house where no one could see you, not even bothering to look over your shoulder to see who’d followed you before your lips were crashing into each others again. 

This one was nowhere near as tame as the kisses you had just shared moments ago- this kiss was a tangled mess of tongues and teeth, Javi’s hands creeping dangerously close to the curve of your ass as you tugged at the lapels of his suit jacket, your mouths moving in a messy dance as you whispered muffled and muted words between your kisses. 

“Fuck, my beautiful wife. God, I’m so fucking lucky. I love you so much.” 

“I love you so much too, Javi, I’m so-” 

“Jesus Christ, it’s been 30 seconds and y’all can’t keep your hands to yourselves? C’mon, now. Y’all gotta whole week and a half to do this without having to subject the rest of us to it, Mr. and Mrs. Peña.” Steve laughed, making the both of you gasp as he slapped Javi on the back, immediately making your cheeks flush pink in embarrassment and Javi groan in annoyance at his best man’s timely (or untimely) disruption. 

“Steve, c’mon like you didn’t have your hands all over me after we got married.” Connie sighed, now smacking the back of her own husband’s head, making him wince in pain. “Congratulations, you two. We’re so happy for you.” 

“Thanks, Connie.” You and Javi smiled, Javi still keeping his hand wrapped around your waist as the rest of your wedding party started making their way back up the aisle to greet you, too.

“Also having gotten married before, you’re gonna thank me later as I make you go find your brothers to sign your marriage license somewhere that has a little peace and quiet before you get none the rest of the night. Why don’t you guys head inside and I’ll cover for you for a little, okay?” 

“You’re the best, Connie, thanks.” Javi grinned, pulling you away towards the house, quietly sneaking in through the front door to wait for your brothers, Javi looking both ways around the seemingly empty house before pulling you close again. 

“Javi, Charlie and David are gonna be in here any minute, and they’re gonna give us just as much shit as Steve, if not more.” You giggled, gazing up into Javi’s eyes, still awestruck and giddy. 

“I know. Just one more kiss, mi esposa (my wife).” Javi smirked, tilting his head down to press his lips to yours, his thumb tracing soft circles on your cheek as the rest of his fingers cradled your jaw, tilting your eyes up towards him. “Fuck, you’re finally my wife. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that.” 

“Good thing we have the rest of our lives to get used to it, huh?” 

People weren’t kidding when they said that your wedding would be a blur- From the moment the ceremony ended, it felt like everything was moving in fast and slow motion at the same time, being pulled in every direction to talk with family members, take pictures, and make sure that things were running smoothly. As much as you and Javi were both trying to soak in every moment of your special day together, it was safe to say the two of you were feeling a little overwhelmed by the time you had gotten to dinner, and couldn’t have been more thankful to have a moment to finally sit down. 

More importantly, you were so glad that you had gotten to the point where you had a drink, some delicious food in your stomach, and the best part of the night ahead of you- dancing. 

The sun was beginning to set on the horizon of the Peña ranch as dinner was coming to a close, the clanging of forks and knives against dinner plates slowly shifting to chatter and conversation that was filling the space of the white tent that had been propped up in the backyard for your reception. 

You weren’t really sure what to expect when you had decided on a backyard wedding, but with the absolutely stunning work your mom, Connie, sister in law, and Javi’s aunt’s had put together for you, they had made a white tent feel like something out of a fairytale. String lights and greenery were strung across above you, long tables decorated in candles and beautiful garlands of eucalypts, sprinkled white and pink roses from Lucia’s garden, along with cute, colorful vintage cups that the women had collected or thrifted for your guests to use. Everything about your setup felt magical, and with the sun sinking and fading into dusk, the glow and twinkles of the lights illuminating your space only made it feel that much more incredible. 

As the two of you sat at your head table, bellies full and hearts happy, feeling a little tipsy from the extra strong margaritas Javi’s cousin seemed to be making, you were a little worried as what looked like a more than just tipsy Steve approached you, slapping a stack of index cards in front of you. 

“Listen… I’m like the perfect level of drunk to give this best man speech. Any less drunk and I’ll be too fuckin’ nervous to do it, and any more drunk I’m not gonna be able to remember what I’m supposed to say. Y’all good to keep this movin’ so you can do your first dance and then we can get this party started?” 

“Jesus Christ, Murph…” Javi sighed, laughing at his friend, now sassily crossing his arms over his chest at Javi. “This speech better be good.” 

“It’s good, and Connie approved, so you know I won’t say any dumb shit. Well, not if we don’t start soon and I keep drinking more.” Steve paused, letting out a low burp, rubbing his stomach and grimacing at the two of you, snorting at him. 

“Take it away, Shakespeare.” You smiled, gesturing your arm out to the dance floor in front of the guests sitting at their tables, chatting away. You couldn’t help but laugh as Steve confidently made his way to the front of the crowd, Connie silently mouthing “I’m so sorry”  from across the room, pointing at her husband, now ready to take the stage. 

“Hey y’all,” Steve started, bellowing his voice loud enough to catch everyone’s attention, making them pause their chit chat and focus their attention on him. “I’m Steve Murphy. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Javi’s best man. Normally it’s customary for a guy like me to come up and say a few words about the bride and groom, so lucky for y’all, I’m your guy tonight. You’re welcome, Jav.” 

The crowd laughed as Javi sighed, rolling his eyes at Steve and shaking in his head in fear of what was to come, sliding your hand over to rest on his thigh, giving your now husband a little squeeze of reassurance to have some faith in his friend. 

“I have had the pleasure of knowing Javi for a long time now. It’s been, what, 17 years now, Jav?” Steve asked, turning back to look for confirmation. 

“It’s been too long.” Javi replied, shaking his head, his witty response only making your friends and family laugh more. 

“Whatever, you grumpy old bastard. Anyways, I first met Javi when I found out that I would be his partner down in Colombia working for the DEA. Not gonna lie, when I first met him, while I’ve never admitted this until now, I was pretty intimidated by the guy. He was cool, smart, respected, even though his jeans were way too fuckin’ tight.” Steve teased, winking at Javi, making you snicker from the few pictures you had seen from back in the day when Javi was in Colombia, knowing exactly what Steve meant. 

“I’ll spare you all the details of our time down there, but through all of our trials and tribulations, despite our differences and disagreements, the one thing I always admired about Javi is that he really cared about what he did. No matter what, he always cared about trying to do the right thing for the people he cared most about. Now, believe me, if you would have asked me all those years ago if I would have ever pictured Javi here today, gettin’ married, buildin’ a house and talkin’ about startin’ a family? Well shit, I prolly woulda told you that you were bat shit crazy. But, if there’s anyone in the world who deserves every ounce of all that domestic, lovely dovey bliss, it’s this man right here.” Steve smiled softly, pointing back to Javi who couldn’t help but let his heart fill with warmth at the sentiment from his friend, your hand rubbing up and down Javi’s leg, his grasping over yours to hold it tight. 

“Javi, I know you’ll never believe me when I tell you this, but I’m real proud of ya, man. And I hope you know how goddamn lucky you are that this beautiful woman has agreed to spend the rest of her life with your grumpy ass. Speaking of which…” Steve smirked, turing back to look at you with a goofy grin, making you raise an eyebrow at whatever stupid comment was bound to come out of his mouth. 

“Mrs. Peña. I never thought I’d live to see the day Javi was so in love. When he called me a few weeks after the two of you first met, and was all jazzed and excited to tell me about this beautiful girl he had started datin’ and how happy he was, I just about damn near fell down. He never said it on that phone call, but I knew that this sorry shit was absolutely head over heels in love with you.” 

That comment had you giggling at Javi’s blushing face, his cheeks turning pink at Steve’s story, even though he knew damn well it was the truth. 

“I couldn’t think of anyone who would be more perfect for Javi if I tried. When I first met you and saw how sickeningly cute y’all were together, God’s honest truth, my first question I asked Javi was when he was plannin’ on buyin’ a ring. Glad to see that sometimes he’ll take my advice. Sweetheart, I can’t thank you enough for being so good to my best friend right there. I hope he knows how lucky he is to have someone like you.” 

Grabbing your hand, Javi interlocked his fingers with your underneath the table, softly smiling at you and gently nodding his head in agreement. 

“I also need to thank you that he’s finally got someone else to worry about him instead of me. One less thing off my back. No offense, Jav. Alright, well, y’all have probably heard enough of me yappin’, and y’all are anything like me, you’re ready for more drinkin’ and dancin’. To Mr. and Mrs. Peña-” Steve paused, grabbing the nearest drink he could find and raising it up in the air, prompting the rest of your guests to do the same. “Wishin’ you two lovebirds a lifetime of happiness. I love you guys. Cheers!” 

Over the applause and cheerful shouting, Steve rushed his way back over to the two of you, slotting himself in between your seats so his head poked out between yours, wrapping his arms around both your shoulders and pulling you in for a hug. 

“Nice work, Murph.” Javi smiled, patting Steve on the back, laughing to himself at how genuinely thoughtful Steve’s speech had turned out to be. 

“Thanks, Steve. Your speech was really great. How much did Connie have to edit out?” You snickered, looking back between him and Javi. 

“... Let’s just say I left out the part about y’all horny bastards needin’ to be better about lockin’ your doors when other people are around.” Steve chuckled, shaking both of you in his grap, You and Javi’s eyes sheepishly darting to the ground in embarrassment. 

“Fuck off, Murph.” 

“Love you too, Jav.” 

With one last pat on the back for each of you, before you could say anything else, Steve was already halfway across the tent back to the bar to congratulate himself for getting through his speech without any major slip ups or major scoldings from Connie after he returned back to his table. 

“Thank God for Connie.” You grimaced, laughing at Javi whose face was buried in his palm, shaking his head at his friend, wondering why he would expect any less from him. “...He’s not wrong, though.” 

“I’m triple checking that I lock all the doors later so I don’t give him any more reasons to be right…” Javi sighed, giving you a little nudge while the hand that had been holding yours suddenly let go, resting on your thigh over your dress, giving it a long squeeze, making your heart race in anticipation, his eyes locking with yours, telling you everything you needed to know.  

Some way, some how, Javi was going to find a way to fuck you before the night was done. 

“Javi…” You whispered, heat creeping through your cheeks, trying your best to keep from blushing as you locked eyes with him, his devilish grin and lust pooling in the dark brown of his eyes entrancing you in a way that had butterflies swirling in your core and ache rapidly beginning to grow between your legs. 

“Si, Mi esposa?” (Yes, my wife?), Javi smirked back, running his hand further up your thigh and closer to your core as his other hand came up to cup your face, thumb tracing back and forth across your skin, toying just enough to tug at the corner of your lip. 

While you had gotten a little bit of alone time with Javi today, the way that the both of you had been absolutely insatiable for each other after seeing each other in your wedding attire, let alone the fact that you were now actually married? You and Javi were both dying to try and find a second to yourselves without interruption, especially from Steve. 

So caught up in awe of each other, you and Javi hadn’t even noticed your DJ, standing next to your table, quietly clearing his throat to try and get your attention. 

“Hey, uh- Mr. and Mrs. Peña?” He interjected, loud enough to finally snap you and Javi out of the horny stare down you had entered, “Are um- are you two ready for the first dance?” 

“Oh, um- yeah, y-yeah, sorry about that.” Javi grumbled, the two of you quickly trying to snap out of the thick heat of sexual tension that had been growing between you, both readjusting yourselves in your seats as you looked up sheepishly at the DJ,  “Sorry, what did you say?” 

“I asked if you two were ready to do your first dance? If you um, if you need some more time I can-” 

“No, we’re okay, thanks.” You grimaced, trying to keep from giggling and blushing as you looked over at Javi and then back at your DJ. “You ready to dance, Mr. Peña?” 

“Never been more ready, Mrs. Peña.” Javi replied, grabbing your hand as the two of you stood up, out of your seats walking to the edge of the dance floor while your DJ headed back to his booth. 

“Hello everyone! We’re going to get ready to start our first dance with the newlyweds, so if you could please direct your attention to the dance floor, we’re about to get started!” 

Before you could even take a step out onto the floor, the cheering and clinking of knives against glasses was erupting amongst the crowd, Javi happily taking the opportunity to grab you by the waist and pull you in for a long, deep kiss, making you giggle against his lips still pressed to yours as he dipped you down, before pulling you back against his chest. 

“Show off.” You snickered, raising an eyebrow at him as he finally pulled away from your kiss, staring down at you with a goofy grin. 

“Better get used to it, Mrs. Peña. I’ve got the whole rest of our lives to keep showing you off.” Javi smirked, shooting you a wink before tugging you out into the center of the dance floor, patiently waiting for your song to start as you draped one arm around his neck, Javi snaked his hand around your waist, and the pair of your other hands joined clasped at your side. 

It was then that the melodic violin entrance to “At Last” by Etta James began to play, Javi smiling down softly at your agreed upon choice for your first dance song after lots of debate and discussion the past few months. 

At last 

My love has come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

As the music began to play, you and Javi began to sway back and forth to the syrupy symphony of the song, your heart bursting and stomach filling with the same butterflies it had the first time you had met Javi all those months ago. 

“I’m glad we picked this one.” Javi smiled, the two of you circling your way around the dance floor, eyes locked on each other.  

“Me too. It always makes me think of making breakfast with you on the weekend and all the little moments I love with you.” You grinned back, letting go of Javi’s hand to drape both arms over his shoulder and around his neck. 

“It makes me think of spilling that entire bowl of pancake batter all over Bear and then having to chase him around the house to get him in the tub.” Javi sighed, rolling his eyes as he laughed to himself, tightening his grip around your waist to pull you closer. 

I found a dream that I could speak to

A dream that I can call my own 

I found a thrill to press my cheek to

A thrill that I have never known 

“Me too. God, who would have thought that a year ago we’d be having our first dance at our wedding talking about spilling pancake batter all over our dog.” You giggled, leaning to rest your head against Javi’s chest. 

“I did.” 

Looking up at Javi, you could feel your cheeks warming, staring at his big brown eyes welling with tears, trying your best to now hold back the wetness pooling under your lashes. 

“Osita, I swear, from the moment I saw you smile at me, I knew that you were the only woman in the world I ever wanted. I knew you were the one I wanted my forever with. I’ll never get over the fact that I’m the luckiest man alive. I love you so fucking much.” Javi choked back, letting one of his hands slide up your face, gently cupping your cheek as he tilted his head in for a soft kiss on your lips before pulling away for another one on your forehead. 

You smiled, you smiled 

Oh and then the spell was cast

And here we are in Heaven 

As the song began to slow, the sweet melody winding down to its close, Javi lifted up his arm to let you twirl beneath him before spinning you back into his chest and wrapping his arm around your waist to catch you as he dipped you down again, your mouths meeting in a long, tender kiss, electricity sparking between your lips and butterflies swirling in your stomach. 

For you are mine 

At last 

“I love you too, Javier Peña.” 

Over the applause of your guests, you could hear an obnoxiously loud “OW OW” from the crowd, coming from a now even more intoxicated Steve, making you and Javi laugh at his reaction, swiftly followed by Connie’s sharp jab to his ribs to get him to settle down. 

“Alright ladies and gents,” The DJ spoke over the rumble of voices at the dinner tables, “Let’s have one more big round of applause for our newlyweds!” 

As the crowd began to clap again, and Steve, threatened by another blow to his side, cheering at an appropriate volume, the DJ spoke again with the announcement you had been patiently waiting for since the ceremony finished. 

“Alright everyone, with our first dance done, it’s time for the best part of the night, the dance floor is officially open! Let’s party!” 

As the blaring intro to “Jump Around” began to blast to your speakers, your friends and family rushed to the dance floor, you let out a squeal of surprise as Javi snatched you up around your middle, lifting you up to spin you around in a fit of giggles. 

“Vamos a bilar, mi esposa.”  (Let’s dance, wife) 

The rest of the night was the best kind of celebration that you could have asked for- the joy of being surrounded by your friends and family, dancing the night away to your favorite songs, and drinking one too many margaritas with your husband was everything you could have asked for and more on your wedding night. 

It was no shock to you that your family had no problem making absolute fools of themselves out on the dance floor, happily (and drunkenly) flailing along to every single song, although your brothers’ and Steve’s enthusiastic sing-along to “Baby Got Back” was impressive, to say the least. 

And while you and Javi had expected your family to act a fool, what neither of you had expected was how excited Chucho was to bust out dance moves of his own, taking everyone by surprise as he joined all your co-workers and Javi’s co-workers (who had quickly become best friends on the dance floor), to shake his way through “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls, leaving you in hysterics, and Javi in stunned embarrassment at his dad’s antics. 

As the evening began to creep later and later into the hours of the night, a very sleepy Olivia approached you and Javi on the dance floor, gently tugging at your dress and his pants for attention with puppy dog eyes plastered on her face that almost gave Javi’s a run for his money. 

“Auntie Bear and Uncle Javi, can I pick a song? Pleaseeeeeee?” Olivia begged, pouting her bottom lip at the two of you, absolutely melting your hearts in an instant. 

“Of course, mi amor.” Javi smiled, caving immediately as he crouched down to her level, her face lighting up in delight at her uncle’s response, coming close to whisper in his ear. 

If you couldn’t have already been more in love with your husband, watching him listen intently to what your niece had to say, nodding in agreement before scoping her up to rest on his hip, you were practically in a puddle now. 

“Me and Miss Olivia are gonna go make a song request.” 

“But Auntie Bear, you have to let me dance with Uncle Javi first, okay?” Olivia quickly added, very adamantly. 

“Of course, lil Miss. Have fun, you two.” You smirked as Javi and Olivia made their way over to the DJ, watching Olivia’s face light up instantly as the DJ agreed to her request, Javi carrying Olivia out to the middle of the dance floor and setting her down on the ground as the end of the song slowly began to fade into your niece’s song choice. 

With her love for the movie, you shouldn’t have been surprised at all that her pick was “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the Lion King Soundtrack, but even though you weren’t shocked at her choice, there was nothing that going to be able to prepare you for the gut wrenching cuteness that was your now husband, dancing with your niece. 

It had already gotten to the point in the night that Javi’s suit jacket and tie were long gone, 3 buttons undone and sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and the once neat curls of his dark hair now messily sweeping his forehead from your night of dancing, and if the sight of just how goddamn handsome Javi looked, on top of the fact he was now officially your husband, paired with the sight of him slow dancing to the Lion King with Olivia? 

Your ovaries were just about shot to hell. 

As the song played and Javi and Oliva spun around the dance floor in a fit of smiles and giggles, you couldn’t help but wish with every bone in your body that it was your daughter that Javi was dancing with, nearly falling to your knees the thought of making him a dad, on top of being your husband. And if that wasn’t enough, the two of you were finally married, and that meant half of your bargain to start trying for kids was complete- and with the other half being your house finally finishing with construction which was almost close to being done as well, you were so close to start trying for a baby of your own, you could almost taste it. 

And that? That drove you crazy enough to feel like you were going to combust. 

So stuck in your daydream, you didn’t even notice Olivia running up to you, now tugging at your dress again, letting out a little sleepy yawn as she tried to get your attention. 

“Okay Auntie Bear, you can dance with Uncle Javi now. Thanks for letting me pick a song.” Olivia smiled as you sunk down to meet her, wrapping her in a hug. 

“Of course, Olivia. Thank you for being the best flower girl today. I love you, cutie patootie. Alright, I’m gonna go dance with Uncle Javi now, okay?” 

“I love you too, Auntie Bear. I think Uncle Javi misses you, he wouldn’t stop looking at you the whole time we were dancing. I think he wants to kiss you again, but that’s gross. Yuck.” Oliva grimaced, making you giggle as she stuck out her tongue before watching her scamper away back to her sisters and the Murphy girls to dance some more. 

As you turned back, bracing yourself to stand back up, you were greeted with Javi’s large palm held out in front of you, pulling you up to greet his handsome grin while you looked up at him. 

“I’ve been told I have permission to come dance with you now.” 

“It did take some persuading, I told her I’d save an extra piece of cake for her if she let me go dance with you.” Javi chuckled, pulling you back out onto the dance floor, slowly swaying back and forth to the beat. 

“Watching you two out there is dangerous.” You smirked, raising an eyebrow at Javi as he cocked his head in confusion. 

“What do you mean, hermosa?” 

“I mean,” You paused, standing up a little bit taller, throwing one arm over Javi’s shoulder, running your hand through the hairs at the nape of his neck to whisper in his ear, “Watching the two of you made me think about how much I wanna make you a dad. And now that we’re married and the house is almost done, we actually get to start trying soon.” 

It took everything in Javi not to let out an audible moan, letting out a gulp and scrunching his eyes shut for a moment to try and maintain his composure at what you had just said to him, his grip around your waist immediately tightening and eyes darkening as he opened them, staring down at you, absolutely awestruck. 

“Fuck me.” He muttered to himself, almost shaking his head in disbelief that after all of the time you had spent talking about wanting kids and nights you’ve had wishing there hadn’t been any birth control to keep you from having them were now an almost tangible reality, “Is that what you want, mi esposa? My wife wants me to give her a baby?” 

Javi’s voice rasped in your ear, sending shivers down your spine, your stomach flipping in arousal at the hot breath of his words against your skin, knowing what had started as a sweet and simple moment of Javi dancing with Olivia had quickly shifted into a desperate want, no, need, for him to give you what you were asking for. 

As the music slowly faded into the next song, bodies shuffling and dancing to the more upbeat tune that had followed Olivia’s choice, the both of your figures stood frozen on the dance floor in a silent exchange of racing hearts and yearning glances before Javi took your hand in his. 

“Follow me.” 

In an instant, Javi was tugging you across the dance floor, the two of you dodging and weaving your way through your guests with polite smiles and happy waves, doing everything you could to try and sneak away as discreetly as possible in hopes that everyone would be too preoccupied (or too drunk) to realize that you were gone. 

But at this point, you really didn’t care whether anyone noticed if you were gone or not. Truth be told, the only thing you cared about was finally getting to fuck your husband. 

Finally making it through the worst of the maze of people, you and Javi had made your way to the back porch, quietly peeking your heads through the door, checking to make sure the coast was clear before hastily slipping inside, gently shutting the door behind you before sneaking down the hall to Javi’s room, thanking whatever higher power had let the two of you get to his bedroom in peace. 

From the moment Javi had shut the door behind him, you were all over each other in an instant, hands roaming across each other’s bodies as you stumbled until the back of your legs hit the mattress, flopping down onto the bed, Javi’s body caging yours in his frame. Your lips crashed together in a hungry clash, tongues, teeth and moans melting together between your mouths as Javi hiked up the skirt of your dress, running his hands along your thighs, squeezing the soft flesh in his firm grasp before his fingers crept towards your aching core, ghosting over the white, lacy fabric covering your cunt, already soaking with arousal. 

“Fuck, you’re so wet, hermosa. My wife’s pretty little pussy all wet for me, huh?” Javi rasped, the pads of his fingers pressing more pressure over your covered clit, making you whimper in delight. 

“It’s all yours, Javi. Yours forever, baby.” You moaned, your breath hitching in the back of your throat as Javi’s fingers dipped under the waistband of your underwear, collecting the slick pooling around your folds before plunging his two fingers inside your heat and thumbing at your sensitive bundle of nerves, pure bliss running through your veins at his touch. 

Your response had Javi practically growling, a low groan rumbling in his chest as he looked down to see the golden and diamond bands glistening on your finger, awestruck at the beautifully blissed out mess you were already becoming as his fingers curled, prodding at the spongy spot inside you that he knew drove you wild. 

“You’re so fucking perfect, Osita. My beautiful wife. Fuck- I can’t believe your mine. I love you so fucking much.” Javi groaned, his words muffled between the hot, wet kisses he kept planting on your lips, feeling your cunt beginning to clench around his digits. 

“I l-love- fuck- I love you too, Javi.” You whimpered, the all too familiar tingle at the base of your spine beginning to build as Javi’s fingers pulsed in and out of your heat and thumb circled your throbbing clit, knowing with how worked up you were and how good he felt, it wouldn’t take much more before you were coming undone around his hand. 

“I know you’re close, baby. Let go, hermosa. Cum for me so I can fuck my wife and show her how much I love her.” 

“F-Fuckfuckfuck Javi. Don’t stop, baby, don’t s-sto-ahhhhhhhhh.” 

With his thumb circling faster and harder around your sensitive bundle of nerves, and fingers plunging in and out of your weeping hole, it wasn’t long before you could feel that all too familiar tingle spreading throughout your body, your orgasm flooding through every inch of you as you came around his fingers, soaking his hand. 

“That’s it, Osita. That’s my good girl. My good wife.” Javi groaned, making you whimper as he withdrew his fingers from your dripping heat, admiring the slick and shiny mess you had made around his fingers, entranced by the way your arousal had coated his wedding band as he brought his hand to his mouth, sucking his fingers clean before beginning to work at his belt. “You taste so fucking sweet, baby.” 

You sat back up, looking over your heaving chest to see Javi shuffling his pants and boxers down his thighs, leaving them to pool around his ankles, revealing his cock, already so painfully hard and weeping with precum from his tip. Reaching down to run his fingers through your folds again, he collected your slick on his hand before rubbing it up and down his length, stroking himself to line up with your entrance. 

“F-fuck, let me feel you baby, p-please.” You whined, reaching up to grab fistfuls of Javi’s shirt, tugging him down to kiss you and lay his body on top of yours. 

“Jesus fucking Christ…” Javi moaned, slowly filling you up with his cock inch by inch until he had bottomed out against your cervix, letting you adjust to the fullness as he relished in the wet and warmth of your pussy gripping around him like a vice. 

“M-move, Javi, please, baby.” The sweet sting and stretch of Javi’s length inside you already wanting to make your eyes roll to the back of your head. 

Javi began to languidly thrust himself in and out of your heat, dragging his cock almost painfully slowly against your velvety walls, cursing under his breath at the feeling of his balls beginning to tighten in his stomach, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to last as long as he would have wanted to in the moment. 

“Javiiiii” You whined, your arms wrapping around back, nails pressing into his shoulders as his cock hit the spot inside you that lit you ablaze. His hand snaked between your bodies, reaching down to rub your clit, still slow, taking his time with each graze of his fingertips as his pace held deep and steady. Every thrust in and out of his hips had you wrecked as he filled you so fully and intensely, moaning his name over and over while he grasped the meat of your thighs, pressing your knees against your chest to stretch you open even further.  

“God you’re so beautiful. My beautiful fucking wife. Gonna be such a beautiful mom for our kids.” Javi grunted, this thrusts becoming faster and sloppier as he let the reality of his marriage and actual attempts to start trying for a family burn a hole in the forefront of his mind, igniting something even feral within him, knowing he was one step closer to finally giving you and him what you both wanted more than anything. 

For Javi to get you pregnant.

The last sentence made your breath hitch in the back of your throat, whimpering at the notion that because you were finally married, there wasn’t much stopping you from tossing out your birth control tomorrow and trying to get pregnant by the end of the month. 

“J-Javi-” You whined, trying to form any sort of coherent thought as your brain short circuited from the pure bliss and heart racing thoughts running through your brain. 

“What, Osita?”  

“I-I want you- oh shit- to fuck a baby into me, Javi. I wanna throw out the rest of my birth control- I don’t care if the house- Jesus- isn’t finished. I wanna stop taking it tomorrow. I w-want you to- fuck- fill me up and get me pregnant.” 

You could practically feel the weight of Javi’s jaw dropping to the floor, eyes bulging out of his skull, and heart beating out of his chest, so shocked, he stopped himself mid thrust, just to make sure he had heard you correctly. 

“Osita- baby, are you- holy fuck- baby, are you serious?” 

You nodded your head frantically, grabbing the collar of his shirt to pull him in for an electric kiss before leaning back to whisper in his ear, your voice sultry and low. 

“I need my husband to fuck a baby into me. Please. Fuck a baby into me, Javi.” 

If Javi didn’t have his arms already braced on the bed, there’s no way in hell he wouldn’t have fallen over in pure delight at your request, his stomach now churning with the wildest mix of excitement, lust and pride, spreading up through his chest and across his face, the brown of his eyes darkening and awestruck smile widening. 

“You want me to fuck a baby into you, Hermosa?” Javi asked, almost rhetorically, a devilish grin spreading between his cheeks as he began to pound into you again, not even giving you a chance to respond, knowing damn well what your answer was.  

If his thrusts weren’t already frantically rushed and sloppy, they most definitely were now, Javi practically on the brink of his own high just from the thought of getting to fuck you, knowing there was a real, true chance of getting you pregnant, trying to fight with everything in him to keep from busting right then, needing to make sure that you came again before he did. 

The lewd noises of your moans, wetness of Javi’s cock sliding in and out of you, and his hips snapping against yours coated the walls of the room, the both of you having no regard for anyone who may have been close enough to hear you, so caught up in the moment, that at this point, you couldn’t have cared less if anyone caught the both of you. 

“Answer me, baby. Mierda- You want me to fuck a baby into you, huh? Want me to fucking fill you up and get you pregnant? Show everyone you’re mine with our baby growing inside you?” Javi grunted through gritted teeth, pounding into your g-spot with blinding force, frantically circling your clit as he felt your cunt begin to clench tighter and tighter around his cock, knowing you just needed a little bit more before he had you coming undone. 

“Y-yes- fuckfuckfuck- I need you to, Javi, p-please baby, please, please, pleaaahhhhhhh-” 

Just like that, you could feel yourself gushing around Javi’s cock as you came, your orgasm hitting you like a tidal wave, crashing through every inch of your body, euphoria flooding through your veins, screaming his name while he fucked you through your high, desperately chasing his own. 

“I’ll give it to you baby, I- fuck me- I’ll give you everything you want. I’ll give you as many babies as you want. I’ll give you a family, I’ll give you my heart, my soul, my everything, my- oh fuck!” 

Javi’s hips stuttered, forcing a low groan to rumble in his throat as he came, the hot ropes of his spend coating your walls, making sure to milk himself of every last drop inside you, still pulsing and thrusting inside you, ensuring that nothing went to waste. 

Slumping his body on top of yours, your chests rose and fell in sync, trying your best to catch your breaths as you came down from your highs, your mouths meeting in a sloppy kiss to try and ground  you back to reality. 

“Holy fuck…” You whispered through your labored pants, laughing to yourself from the pure bliss of what had just happened, staring up at Javi with a radiant grin, brushing the sweat-dampened curls from his forehead. 

Javi hissed as he carefully pulled out, leaning back enough to see the smile on your face, gently cupping your cheek as he looked down at you with a goofy grin of his own. 

“Osita… Were you being- baby, were you serious about what you said?” 

“Jav, I don’t think I’ve ever been more serious about anything in my entire life. Is-is that okay with you?” You asked, biting down on your lip. 

“Is that okay with me?” He asked, almost mockingly, chucking to himself as he shook his head in disbelief, “We can really throw it away tomorrow?” 

“Yup.” 

“And you won’t bring it with you on the honeymoon?” 

“Nope.” You replied, popping the “p” at the end of the word. 

“And there’s- holy fuck- there’s a chance you could actually get pregnant soon?” Javi asked, his face glowing brighter and brighter with each question he asked. 

“Mmmhhmmm. Well, I mean, it might not happen right away but- Ahhhh Javi!” You giggled as your husband aggressively peppered ticklish kisses across your entire face, making you squeal and squirm in delight. 

“Fuck, I love you so much. Thank you.” Javi smiled, tears welling in his eyes as he looked down at you. 

“Jav, baby, don’t cry! Why are you crying, you dork?” 

“You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted. You married me, we’re gonna have a family, it’s just- fuck, I promise, that I wanna spend the rest of my life until the day I die showing you how thankful I am that you chose me. That you gave me all the things I stopped thinking I deserved. I love you so much, it fucking hurts, Osita. Thank you for choosing me.” 

Sitting up, you threw your arms around Javi, pulling him close to you in the tightest hug you could muster, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck, feeling the weight of his body melt into yours, your bodies intertangled as one. 

“Javi, you’re the only one it ever could be. Te amo más de lo que las palabras pueden expresar. (I love you more than words can say).” 

“Hey! Lovebirds! Are y’all in here?” 

Over the music and chatter of the party outside, you and Javi had been completely oblivious to the all too familiar southern twang of Steve’s voice behind the bedroom door, gently knocking from the outside after being sent on a mission to find where in the world the two of you had been for nearly a half hour. 

“Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Peña?” Steve rapped again, getting nothing in response but silence. Steve shrugged, drunk enough to have no fear to pound on the door repeatedly until the two of you showed up, now reaching down at the doorknob and giving it a jiggle. 

Steve was shocked to find that he could turn the handle, writing off the fact that they two of you would be in a room with an unlocked door after the 10 pounds of shit he had given Javi, and with his inhibitions severely lowered, he had  no problem cranking the knob and pushing the bedroom door wide open. 

“Hello? Earth to Javi and Mrs. Peña, are y’all in here or not because I- Oh Jesus Christ!” Steve shrieked, opening up the door to see you and Javi, your dress still hoisted up to your waist, and Javi’s bare ass completely on display, making the both of you scream just as loud in surprise at your unwanted visitor. 

“Murphy! Get the fuck out!” Javi snarled, quickly scrambling to try and pull your dress back down and his pants back up. 

“Jesus Fuckin’ Christ!” Steve yelled, immediately bringing his hand to his face to cover up his eyes, trying to drunkenly stumble as quickly as he could back out of the room, but, because of his intoxicated state and self-imposed lack of vision, Steve found himself colliding head first with the wall, knocking himself to the ground before crawling across the floor like a frazzled toddler, kicking the door closed behind him. 

For as devastatingly embarrassed as you were by the whole debacle, you couldn’t help but cackle at the impeccable comedic timing of the whole thing, snickering to yourself as Javi finished buckling back up his pants and helping you up to stand before storming to the door, opening it to find Steve still sprawled on the floor in an a hysteric fit. 

“Are you fucking serious, Murph?” Javi growled, completely unamused. 

“God, I shoulda kept my bit that Connie cut in my speech. Y’all do know that doors have locks, right? Might be helpful if y’all learned how to use ‘em. Just food for thought.” Steve giggled, watching both of your faces grow beet red in embarrassment and at a loss for words. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Javi asked, pinching the arch of his nose between his fingers, shaking his head in frustration, looking down the hallway to make sure that Steve was the only presence you needed to worry about. 

“I’m tryin’ to save your asses before someone else worse than me walks in on the two of you gettin’ it on. Y’all do realize you’ve been gone for almost 45 minutes right? Being the- oh shit-” Steve paused, letting out a giant burp,” ‘cuse me, being the good Best Man I am, I decided to try and find you two idiots before people started askin’ too many questions. So, you’re welcome.” Steve grunted, pushing himself up to stand, cocking his head at the both of, hands on his hips, trying to prove his point. “Also, do you two anything else besides fuc-” 

“Steve! Jesus Christ, will you shut the fuck up!” Javi groaned, staring down at the floor, taking a deep breath to compose himself before he decided to kick Steve right back down to the ground again. 

“...It’s really been 45 minutes?” You grimaced, looking back between Steve and Javi, shrugging at your husband that any longer, your mom would have been on a search party for you, and it would have been your whole family at Javi’s bedroom door instead of just Steve. 

“Yeah, and I’m the first to come lookin’ after ya, so again, you’re welcome. Jesus, Javi, you can really last for 45 fuckin minutes? How the-” 

“Murphy!” 

“Sorry…” 

“Fuck me….” 

“Think you and your wife already took care of that one…” Steve muttered under his breath, trying not to laugh.

“I swear to God, Steve…” 

“Okay, I’m done! I’m done! Swear!” Steve held up his hands in defense, taking a step back away from Javi.   

“Will you please just give us a minute, Murph?” Javi sighed, running his hand through his hair, trying with every bone in his body to keep his patience with his drunken friend. 

“Fine, fine, fine. 1 minute. I’m counting. Use your time wisely and appropriately, you sickos.” Steve snickered, disappearing down the hallway, only to peek his head back out around the corner. “And Jav?”

“What, Murph?” 

“Your fly’s undone.”

As you and Javi sheepishly made your way back out to the backyard, you couldn't have been more relieved to see that at this point, anyone still left at your reception was far too drunk to care that you had been missing, seeing that almost all of your guests were out on the dance floor, partying away without a care in the world, or any inkling of what you and Javi had been up to. 

“Longer than a minute, but beggars can’t be choosers I guess.” Steve chuckled, creeping up behind you with two drinks in hand, passing them both off to you and Javi. “Here. Figured I owe ya a drink. These are on me.” 

“We paid for the bar, Murph.” 

“Alright, well I guess these ones are on you, Grumpy Pants.”  Steve grumbled mockingly, holding up his hands in defense, trying not to stumble over his own two feet as he made his way back to the dance floor. 

“Remind me again why I picked him to be my best man?” Javi laughed, taking a sip of his drink, the both of you snickering as you watched Steve whip out some questionable dance moves to “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen blaring in the background and Connie shake her head at her husband. 

“Because you love him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an idiot, but he’s a good guy.” You smiled, giving Javi a little nudge, resting your head on his shoulder as you looked out at the dance floor. “Hey-” You paused, holding up your glass and raising it to Javi’s. “Cheers.” 

“Cheers to what, Osita?” Javi asked, wrapping his arm around you, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead as he brought his glass next to yours. 

“Cheers to us. I love you so much, Javier Peña, it makes me sick. Sicker than all this tequila is gonna make me tomorrow after I keep drinking it the rest of the night.” 

The two of you snorted, goofily clinking your glasses and taking a hefty sip of your drinks as you looked out on the dance floor, your hearts overflowing with love and joy to know that you were surrounded by all of the people in the world you cared about most, even the ones that couldn’t be physically with you, to celebrate the biggest day of your life and the start of your new forever. 

“Cheers, Hermosa. I love you so goddamn much. Maybe the hangover will help distract the nerves on the flight tomorrow.” Javi smirked, taking another sip of his drink as he shook you playfully in his grasp, your faces both lighting up as you remembered that tomorrow, you be in the Bahamas for the next 10 days, where the only thing you needed to worry about was where you wanted to lay on the beach, what drink you wanted in your hand, and now, seeing how quickly Javi could get you pregnant. 

“Oh shut up.” You sighed, giving Javi a little slap to the chest before taking another sip of your drink, looking up at Javi with heavy lashes, batting your eyes at him. “You just have to remind me that I have to do some unpacking before we leave tomorrow.” 

“Unpacking?” Javi asked, tilting his head in confusion at you, the gears in his brain turning as you bit down on your lip, raising your eyebrow at him, waiting for him to piece together your clue. “Oh. Oh.” 

Javi’s eyes went wide as he remembered what you meant, heart racing in anticipation, never imagining before today that he would have been so excited to actively throw away birth control to try and have a kid.

“Can we throw it away tonight?” Javi pleaded, his puppy dog eyes in full effect. 

“I’m not sure what difference tonight and tomorrow morning is gonna make, but sure. Happy wedding present.” You giggled, pressing up onto your tiptoes to plant a long, hot kiss. 

“Best fucking gift I could ask for besides the fact I finally get to call you my wife.” 

As the end of the song slowly faded out, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” began to play next in the background, your face lighting up in excitement and Javi’s eyes rolling, hearing the song that had been most likely the biggest controversy of your entire wedding planning process now bumping through the speakers, followed by the cheers and hollers of your guests. 

“I told you people would want to hear this song.” You said smugly, crossing your arms over your chest, popping your hip at Javi as you sassed him, making him shake his head at your theatrics. 

“It doesn’t stop it from being a stupidly annoying song.” 

“A stupidly annoying song that people love. A stupidly annoying song that your wife loves.” You teased. “Whaddya say, Peña, can you stand this unbearably stupid song to go dance with me? 

“I’d dance to this song with you a million times if it means I get to dance with you.” 

Grabbing Javi by the hand, you tugged him out to the dance floor in a fit of giggles and smiles, jumping along and dancing to the beat song after song the rest of the night with your friends, family and husband. 

You couldn't help but catch yourself stopping now and again to smile to yourself to take everything in, feeling like you needed to pinch yourself to make sure this was all really real. Just over a year ago, your life felt like it had hit an all time low. You had moved halfway across the country to try and run from your pain, desperate to find any way to bring yourself any ounce of peace in your ocean of hurt. It felt like fate had forsaken you for the worst, kicking you while you were down, and leaving destruction in its wake. 

But never in a million years would you have believed that fate would have sent you with a one way ticket to Laredo, Texas, and that trip would bring so much more than just the glimmer of hope you longed for. It had brought you peace, comfort, the acceptance you weren’t sure you would have ever allowed yourself to feel. Laredo had brought you everything you never expected, and all of the things you never thought you deserved. 

It brought you Javi- the man who single handedly changed your life for the better, loving you unconditionally for every part of your being and piecing back together the parts of your heart you had left broken.

It brought you the man you now got to call your husband. 

Fate and life have funny ways of working together to bring you the things you need the most when you least expect them. And today, as you got to marry the love of your life and your very best friend, you knew you’d be forever thankful that fate stepped in when you needed it most. 

La vida es graciosa, no lo crees? (Life is funny, isn’t it?)

@chaotic-iguana @rhoorl @whyjuliaaa @bbiophiliaa @pertinentpostmortem @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @pedrobaby @fatima-marisa @beboldbebravethings @poodlebae @kittenlittle24 @3sriracha @jungchloee @perennialdoll247 @prettyinpunk85 @partyofone3413 @harriedandharassed @pedrohoe04 @theorganasolo @endlessthxxghts @beware-my-thorns @missladym1981 @messinadresa @milly-louise @jay-zzle @the-one-with-the-grey-color @persephone-girl @bitchesuntitled @pedropascallvr @millennial-teenybopper @nastiasnow @vee-bees-blog @hopplessilse @mxtokko @its-nebuleuse @mandoisapunk @msmorningstaarr @amyispxnk @honeyedmiller @mountainsandmayhem @picketniffler @burningnerdchild @copperhalfcent @theoraekenslover @bloodyinspirationaldemon @vee-bees-blog @amyispxnk @samgirl4life @pigeonmama @pedr0swh0r3 @survivingandenduring

[forever-rogue]

Hi if you ever get a chance could you do like a cute little fic of eddie having a major crush on reader and doesn't even try to hide it like he's always flirting with her and following her around like a lost little puppy if they are at a party at Steve's he's constantly getting her drinks and just being her bodyguard bc no one fucks with her when he's around he's always the first to give her a compliment and he's always checking in to see if she's okay etc

AN | I love this idea so much! Soft, sweet, golden retriever Eddie! Enjoy 🥰

Warnings | Language, Mention of Spiked Party Drinks

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 3.1k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Eddie Munson was so fucking in love with you. Like ridiculously so. Sometimes the sheer amount of love he had for you was shocking. How could one man possess so much love in his body and have all of it for one person? He didn’t know. But he wasn’t going to question it. 

The only problem? You had absolutely no clue. You were wickedly smart but when it came to seeing your best friend’s very obvious feelings, you were almost painfully clueless. In his mind, he took your obliviousness as rejection. He’d tried to get his heart used to the idea that you didn’t love him like he loved you many times in many ways and other people but every single time had been fruitless. Everything always came back to you. And you would never even know.

To others, there were times when it was extremely painful to see Eddie being your shadow, your little golden retriever. It just so happened to be painful to see you, just as in love with Eddie, but Eddie having absolutely no clue. You were just as tender and soft for him, always looking at him as though he’d hung the moon and all the stars. But you were convinced that he was way too cool and would never possibly be interested in you. 

Essentially, you were both oblivious fools.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You tugged up the strap of your dress and gave yourself a once over when you heard the doorbell. A small squeak of surprise escaped your lips as you glanced at the angry red numbers on your alarm clock. Finishing your make-up had taken longer than expected and surprisingly Eddie was on time to pick you up. Grabbing your cape, bag, and heels, you ran down the stairs and to the door, throwing it open in one foul swoop. 

“Hi Eddie bear,” your face was beaming as soon as you saw him. His big, brown eyes widened in surprise at your costume before his expression softened and his cheeks flushed a pretty hue of rose. You looked him over and couldn’t help but giggle at the silly little plastic fangs that were in his mouth. He was dressed in all black, with a billowy red and black cape knotted around his neck, “I like the fangs, handsome. Very intimidating.”

“I want to suck your blooth,” he tried to speak but his words got caught in his mouth through the cheap plastic. You reached up and pulled them out of his mouth and giggled at him. And oh. That sound went straight to his heart, “angel. You look very witchy.”

“Do I?” your big eyes were curious as you tied the glittery cape around your shoulders, along with the witch’s hat on your head as you gave him a twirl. It was taking every bit of strength not to grab you and kiss you then and there. When you told him you were going as a witch, he didn’t think you were going as a sexy little witch. Fuck. 

“Y-yeah,” he nodded, reminding himself to breathe and not let his mind run too wild with wickedly sinful thoughts, “you look great.”

“We both do!” your eyes were big and lit up with happiness. You thought he looked good; you were going to be the death of him, “a vampire and a witch  - they’re gonna love us, Eds.”

“I-I guess we’d better get going,” he stammered nervously, “don’t wanna be late to Steve’s.”

“Let’s go,” you slipped on your heels before grabbing his hand and lacing your fingers together as you ran towards his van, “‘m so excited, Eds!”

“Me too,” he agreed softly, already knowing that tonight was going to be the death of him if he had to see you look like that all night. He knew any guy at the part, and probably a number of girls would be all over you. And he wouldn’t be able to do anything but watch.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You were practically bouncing and buzzing with excited energy as you jumped out of Eddie’s van and almost ran to Steve’s door. You could hear the music and hum of people thrumming throughout the house. You turned around to make sure that Eddie was coming and you already found him already standing behind you with a soft little smile on his face. Unable to control yourself, you leaned up on your tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. His mouth dropped open and formed a small o as he touched the skin that had been blessed with the touch of your lips.

“Come on!” you took his hand and pushed open the door and led the way into the crowd of people all dressed up and in various stages of drunkenness. Eddie scanned through the hordes of people, zoning in on the people that he thought could lead to trouble. He wanted you to have a good time and would do anything to ensure that you did so, even if that meant he wasn’t. 

You’d taken his hand and clutched onto it tightly as you looked around for your friends. You spied tall and gangly Robin across the house, speaking animatedly with Nancy; you were ready to head over and let loose with them and see what the latest gossip. 

“I’m gonna go over to Robin and Nance, yeah?” you nodded your head in their direction, and Eddie relaxed when he saw the girls, “I think I saw Steve, Jonathan, and Argyle in the living room! Catch up later?”

“Yeah, of course,” he gave your hand a squeeze as you beamed at him, “whatever you want, angel.”

“You’re the best,” you pulled your hand out of his and a small sound of disappointment escaped his lips, thankfully covered up by the deep thumping of the bass. You turned on your heel and offered him a soft, wistful little wave before bouncing towards your friends. He had no clue how someone so gentle and ethereal could possibly be real. 

“You could just tell her, you know,” Steve had appeared over his shoulder and caused Eddie to almost jump in surprise. He turned to look at the younger man and narrowed his eyes, but happily accepted the red plastic cup of beer that was held out to him, “you’re practically drooling over her.”

“First of all, I am not drooling over her,” he scoffed, taking an obligatory swig of the warm beer, “and second of all, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mhmm,” Steve patted his shoulder, fueling the fire by simply egging him on, “whatever you say man. She does look really hot though. Do you think she’d say yes if I asked her out?”

Eddie almost choked on his sip, coughing as the liquid caught in his throat. Steve clapped him on the back but said nothing, “I dunno man.”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” his lie was so smooth that he almost believed it himself. It wasn’t that Steve didn’t find you attractive, and honestly, if Eddie hadn’t been yours in all but name, he probably would have asked you out at some point, “maybe I’ll just do it.”

“Don’t,” Eddie’s response came through gritted teeth as he turned to him, eyes narrowed and a frown tugging down the corners of his mouth. Internally, Steve was practically screaming with happiness. All he wanted to do was to push his friends together and maybe finally get the two of you over your little fears and worries, “I mean it’d just be weird, you know? Friends dating friends…and what if something happened? Things would be awkward for everyone.”

“Hmm,” Steve thoughtfully tapped the red plastic cup to the edge of his lip, “you never know. It could work out, but no one will know without trying.”

“Steve,” the metalhead practically groaned as gave his friend a small look, “please.”

“Okay,” he agreed, understanding exactly what he was trying to say, “wanna smoke? Argyle’s supplying tonight.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, hoping a good blunt would take some of the edge off this evening, “good idea.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The night had been going well…mostly. A few times you could feel an intense stare on you, and when you looked over, you found Eddie watching you closely. Despite you throwing a smile back at him, he never looked less tense. You wondered what was going on with him, but decided not to worry about it. 

After a few drinks, you felt thoroughly loosened up and dragged Robin towards the crowd of people dancing. You held her hand as the two of you danced to the music, giggling and moving as best as you could in the thick crowd of people. Eddie’s mouth had practically run dry at the sight of you moving your hips to the music, sensual and carefree. The temptation to make his way over to you to grab you and kiss you was growing stronger and stronger.  He was a strong man but even strong men sinned sometimes. 

After you'd been dancing for some time, a random guy started to come to you and every alarm bell in his body started to go off. He watched as he put a hand in your hip and started to whisper in your ear. For a moment your face narrowed in confusion but when the man pulled away he could see a smile on your face.

You looked over and caught his eyes, shrugging with a small laugh. At least one of you was amused by all of this. The man came back, and Eddie immediately decided he hated him. He was tall, tan, and handsome in that all American boy type of way. In his mind, Eddie had no chance compared to him; he was tall and gangly with a shock of messy dark curls and very little to offer. It wasn't a shock you'd never chosen him.

But when he noticed the plastic cup that was almost shoved into your hand, he knew something was up, besides the fact that he hated any man that showed you attention like he wished he could. He set his beer bottle down and crossed the room to where you were, grabbing the cup from you. You hadn’t even seen him come over and you made a small sound of surprise at his sudden appearance.

“Eddie?” you looked at him in confusion in your wide, concerned doe eyes. Those damn eyes that would be the death of him.

“You can go,” he offered the man a scowl before wrapping an arm protectively around your shoulders, “and fuck off.”

“Hey man, I was just trying to talk to her,” the man held up his hands and mock surrender but Eddie wasn’t about to back down, “didn’t know she was your girl.”

“Just trying to talk?” he rolled his eyes, disdain and distrust lacing his voice. He held out his arm, extending the cup out to him, “take a drink then. If you were just trying to talk, surely you’d both want a drink, right?”

“I’m good,” his eyes widened and his face flushed red as Eddie glowered.

“So only she should be drinking,” Eddie’s head cocked to the side, “and you should be sober, that’s interesting.”

“I was going to get a drink for myself-”

“Take this one,” Eddie insisted as you looked at the other man - Paul or Peter or something like that - in surprise, “it’s brand new and untouched. Right?”

“I don’t fucking need this shit,” he scoffed before crossing his arms over his chest, “get your whore out of here then, freak.”

He turned and stomped away without another word. Across the house Steve caught Eddie’s eye and was able to guess what happened. He gave Eddie a nod before following after your would-be assailant, ready to throw him out, if not worse. Knowing Steve and how fiercely he protected his loved ones, that man was going to be in for a hell of a beating.

“Eddie,” you had tears glistening in your worried eyes, “thank you. I-I had no clue. He just came up and started talking to me and he seemed so nice and said he’d get me a drink.”

“It’s okay,” he promised as he squeezed your shoulder with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, “I’ve got you. I’ll keep you safe, angel.”

“Eddie,” he had to close his eyes for a moment at the sweet way you’d said his name, letting it drip from your lips like golden honey. A few tears had rolled down your cheeks and he tenderly brushed them away. Without a moment of hesitation, you wrapped your arms around him and smushed yourself into this chest, holding onto him tightly, “thank you. I-I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you so much.”

“Don’t,” he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to steady his shaky breath as you looked up at him with confusion on your pretty face, “please. Don’t say those words…you’re gonna kill me, sweetheart.”

“But…Eddie,” your blood red lips formed a small frown, “I mean it. I’ve always meant it.”

“But not…you have to know, right?” he groaned as he scrubbed a hand over his face, “right?”

“Know what?” you dropped your hand from around him and he scoffed lightly, shrugging his shoulders before stepping away from you. You tried to grab his hand but he just pulled out of your grasp. 

“Never mind,” he shook his head, “I’m…I’ve gotta get some fresh air.”

He turned on his heel and headed outside without another word, leaving you to stare after him in confusion. He’d never once spoken to you in such a manner and the change was startling. Golden, gentle Eddie had raised his voice to you. 

“Babe, what happened?” Robin came back over and handed you a bottle of water, “what’s up with Eddie?”

“I dunno,” you confessed, “he basically saved me from some creep and then I thanked him and I told him I loved him and he told me not to say that. He asked if I knew and then when I said I didn’t, he got upset and went outside. I don’t know what I did, Robs. He looked so upset.”

Robin processed what you had said for a moment before she was able to put two and two together, a look of happiness and then upset crossing her pretty features. Maybe tonight was when her and Steve’s plan finally worked…even if it needed a sharp nudge in the right direction, “you know he’s in love with you, right?”

“Robin!” you hissed and shook your head, “he doesn’t! He’s my best friend, I know he loves me and…but it’s just as friends.”

“No,” she shook her head, “definitely not. Y’know how Nancy looks at Johnathan? Like they’re super in love and shit?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s how Eddie looks at you…but like a hundred times worse,” she explained as your mind started to reel in shock, “everyone knows, babe. Apparently everyone but you.”

“And he’s upset because…he thinks I don’t feel the same,” you frowned deeply, “but he’s wrong!”

“He doesn’t know that,” she spun you around and started to push you towards the backdoor, “unless you tell him.”

You swallowed the lump in your throat and nodded, already pushing your way through the crowd to chase after him. When you made it outside, you found Eddie standing by the pool, a cigarette in his hand as he appeared to be deep in thought.

“Eddie?” you asked softly as you made your way over to him, startling him as he just stared at you, his face a nervous mask as he looked at you, “c-can we talk?”

“I don’t really want to talk right now, princess,” he sighed before taking a long drag and slowly blowing out the smoke, “I’ll catch up to you when you’re ready to go.”

“Eddie-”

“I’m fine,” he insisted, an unconvincing lie, “I’m sorry I lost my temper with you. I didn’t-”

“I’m in love with you,” you cut him off before he was able to say anything else to you. He stopped with the cigarette halfway to his mouth as he stared at you in shock. When he didn’t say anything, you crossed your arms over his chest and let out a small, anxious little giggle, “umm, I just…wanted to let you know. I just never thought you’d feel the same way. Unless you don’t and then I-I’ve just made a fool of myself but ugh, that’d be okay too. ‘Cause then you know at least. But ugh…you, Eddie Munson, have never just been a friend. You’ve always been so much more.”

He was stupefied and frozen, unable to find any sort of response. Your face was warmed up in embarrassment. You took a few steps back, ready to tuck your tail between your legs and run, “y-you’re not saying anything so I umm, I’ll just go. I’m sorry for making this awkward…maybe we can pretend this night never happened?”

You turned around, ready to seek refuge inside, but before you could take another step, you felt his fingers wrap delicately around your wrist. Turning back to face him, you found that his eyes were just as nervous as you felt, but that familiar bit of him was starting to come back, “you have no clue how long I’ve been waiting to hear that.”

“March 14th, 1983,” you answered and his pretty bambi eyes widened in surprise, “that’s how long it’s been for me at least.”

“That’s the day we met,” he was incredulous as you just nodded.

“Yeah,” you nodded softly, “it is.”

“Fuck me,” he whispered as you laughed softly, letting him pull you closer. You were standing right in front of him, almost touching but not quite, “can I kiss you?”

“Yeah,” you nodded eagerly, “yes - please.”

At first his kiss was soft and timid, his lips brushing against yours so gently that it left you leaning into him and wanting more. When he pulled back, almost as if unsure it was good enough, you put a hand on his cheek and guided him back to yours, kissing him with more confidence now, making a small sound into his mouth when his hands settled comfortably on your waist. This time neither of you pulled back unless you were breathless and starry-eyed, grinning at each other shyly. 

“It was March 15th, 1983 for me,” he whispered and you cocked an eyebrow in amusement, “it took a day to process the fact that I’d met an angel and that you were actually real.”

“Eddie!” you started laughing and playfully swatted his chest, “you’re such a dork!”

“Your dork,” he said timidly, almost as if he was asking and you nodded. 

“Mine,” you agreed, “you’ve always been mine, Eddie.”

“You too,” he promised sweetly, “can I kiss you again?”

“I’d be insulted if you didn’t,” you felt his lips brushing softly against yours, “please don’t ever stop.”

“I won’t,” a soft, sweet declaration, “never.”

[hellobitchlet]

Thoughts on Kinich's quest:

- from the moment the quest started, where Kinich revealed that Trindad wants to kill the Mountain King, and Paimon and Traveler immedietaly went to "Oh no! Killing = bad!", with no mention of Enjou or Ajaw whatsoever, I knew this quest wasn't going to be as good as I hoped. I don't know why I had hope in the first place.

- I like Kinich accidentally entering a beastly rift and doing his own research on abyss stuff, without automatically knowing the names for things like most characters. It was pretty neat to watch him explain beastly rifts to Traveler and Paimon while referring to riftwolves as "purple dogs". It made me feel like I understood how his brain works a little better.

- actually, the funny thing about Kinich, as a Natlan character, being the one to do this research is that Natlan is the nation that is at war with the abyss. Like. This is literally the only nation where it would make sense for the average person to know what riftwolves are. This isn't reeeally a complaint, I just find it funny.

- I'm really not a fan of how killing the Mountain King was automatically seen as bad despite their suffering bc tradition is 'more important', but to be fair to the main conflict, it would've been much worse if we were supposed to see Trindad as a bad person. The writers didn't villainize him for not wanting his people to die bc of a tradition, and his point of view was treated as equal to the npc's that Traveler and Paimon agreed with, and that is pretty good for a Genshin npc.

- though, I am a little suspicious about how they're suddenly willing to do this for a light skinned npc, when Mualani's quest villainized a brown skinned npc in the same update.

- I do actually like the Turnfire Night plot. One of the only things I like about Natlan is that it combines the abyss lore and nation world building more than other places. I just feel like the writers can't decide whether they want Kinich to be morally gray (sending the MK to the ABYSS just to avoid killing it to Avoid Drama) or have great morals like the rest of the cast (Traveler and Paimon being so focused on killing = bad that they don't have a problem with this).

- I am extremely annoyed at the fact that a decent chunk of this quest was spent helping npc's and giving Traveler over-the-top praise while Kinich did the actually important stuff. I don't care about these guys! I care about Enjou and the abyss! This isn't even about the turnfire night! We already do this kind of stuff in every single world and archon quest, for fucks sake!

- why do we learn how Kinich and Ajaw met from a random npc? Who just brings it up out of nowhere?? Why??

- it's not that important I guess, but Kinich calling Paimon gentle natured was the stupidest thing ever. I can forgive him bc he's comparing her to Ajaw and hasn't seen her be bitchy yet, but please don't tell me that the writers actually see her like that. She's an asshole.

- in comparison to the Turnfire Night plot, what little we got of Enjou and Ajaw was suuuuper interesting. I am loving whatever they have going on (and Ajaw's lore overall), and I wish we got more of it instead of fooling around with less important npc's. I am very glad that Enjou is back, but that makes it sadder that he's probably going to be forgotten about again.

- it took me a second to realize that his name changed to The Thing Calling Itself "Sanka". That's a neat little detail.

- "cliche, I know - the hero's trusted partner sells him out to the Abyss in a shocking act of betrayal. Cue bad-guy speech and drawn-out death sequence..." "Abyss Boarding School" "I could never beat you in a straight-up fight, but when it comes to running away, I won't lose to anyone" Enjou I love you.

- my favorite part of this entire quest is probably the fact that Enjou now, officially, has a relationship to a playable character other than Traveler. And man, is it a fun one. Deadpan, serious Kinich caught between silly little assholes Ajaw and Enjou both wanting to take his body is really fun. If Genshin itself refuses to expand on his relationship to Ajaw and Kinich, then I better see the fandom doing it instead.

- back to the Turnfire Night stuff, it's convenient that the Mountain King isn't corrupted anymore and decided to live. I wonder if the ending was just done like that bc the writers weren't sure what to do with a story where one side isn't necessarily wrong. Overall though, it's not that bad, just boring.

I'm enjoying making these overall thoughts posts. Maybe I should make more? There's no guarantee of me doing every single archon quest and story quest, though. Especially when I'm focusing on both Genshin and hsr.

[sidekick-hero]

I want you to want me

(Teen | wc: 922 | steddie | prompt: open mic night for @steddieholidaydrabbles | tags: exes, open but hopeful ending, inspired by my favorite movie of all times 10 things I hate about you)

"Come on, Eddie. You've been moping around for weeks. Let's have some fun like we used to, man." Gareth was practically whining at Eddie and it was getting on his nerves.

"No way, man. I'm not moping, I just don't feel like going to some dumb-ass party to watch preppy jerks get drunk and barf in the bushes."

Never mind that the one person he actually wants to see won't be there. He'll still spend every second looking for that familiar shock of hair he loved running his hands through. He dreams about it still, can still hear the way Steve sounded when he tugged at the strands at the back of his neck.

He wonders when it'll stop hurting so much to think about him. To miss him like a fucking limb or something and still be afraid to even call him. What could he even say? I'm sorry for breaking your heart and I understand you hate me. The problem is that while acting like I cared about you for money I actually went and fell in love with you, so will you please give me another chance.

Yeah, sure.

"You're not even listening, dude. Harrington has really gotten to you," Gareth huffs, sounding genuinely upset. Eddie has hurt enough people he cares about, so he gives Gareth a look that says ‘I’m listening’ and Gareth rolls his eyes at him, but continues. "I told you about the open mic night, Will's reading one of his short stories and asked me to come. Me. This could be my chance. And you owe me man for all the crazy shit I helped you with while courting a jock of all people. So you coming or what?"

Gareth’s right, is the thing. Eddie owes him for everything, helping him in so many ways to make Steve fall for him. Coming with him to this stupid thing is the least he can do. He doesn’t have to like it though, so Eddie throws his arms up in the universal gesture of ‘fine, whatever, but I'm not going to enjoy watching you make goo-goo eyes at Will Byers’.

Gareth's rubs his hands together like some sort of super-villain with extremely fluffy hair and Eddie regrets all his life choices.

Open mic night is just as awful as Eddie thought it would be. There's this girl, something silly Thompson, and Eddie feels like he's listening to a small animal giving birth as she sings the national anthem. It's deeply disturbing.

He lost Gareth as soon as they entered the bar and Will spotted them and waved Gareth over. And that's a good thing, he's really not in the mood to watch them fall over each other.

They've been in this hellhole for almost an hour when he spots something that makes his stomach do somersaults while his skin starts to tingle all over. A shock of mousy brown hair, messier than usual, probably from Steve running his hands through it nervously.

His breath stops as he sees Steve climbing onto the stage with a single sheet of paper in his hand, chewing on his full lower lip as he stares out at the crowd. Eddie wants his eyes to find his. He is afraid that they will.

"Hey, uh, everybody. My best friend thinks I need to find some closure? Or something. Maybe she just likes to see me suffer for being an asshole in school. Anyway, I, uh, I'm just starting, I guess."

Eddie's stomach plummets at Steve's words. Closure. He should leave before he has to listen to Steve tell him and everyone in this room how much he hates Eddie.

He's not sure if he'll survive the damage to his heart, but he deserves the pain, he knows it. So he stays.

To everyone else, Steve must look calm, maybe a little embarrassed to be up there. But Eddie sees the way the hand holding the paper trembles, the way his eyebrows knit together, and the self-soothing way the fingertips of his other hand keep tapping his thumb.

I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car, I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick, It even makes me rhyme. I hate the way you're always right, I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you, Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

Halfway through, Steve's eyes find his, and even with the way Steve pinches his nose, there is no way to stop the tears from streaming down his face. Eddie's heart breaks again for the man in front of him. God, how could he have been so stupid and selfish to accept an offer from Carver, of all people, to woo Steve so he could make a move on his sister Chrissy?

When Steve’s finished, he almost runs off the stage and out the door while Eddie stands shocked, Steve's words ringing in his ears.

But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

Maybe they still have a chance.

[sillysnaildraws]

And on another note, please ramble about my favorite character Romeo and any headcanons you have about him

The silly Bri'ish man? Well, better strap in, imma ramble your ear- no, that doesn't make sense... imma ramble your eyes out??

Whatever, god. Where do I start?

TW for an abusive family near the end. if that makes you uncomfortable, don't read it because I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable. I will put a "keep reading" tab to make it easier to avoid.

I do see Romeo as a little skinnier than Xara and Fred, purely for the sake that he definitely relies on his powers a little too much. I mean, we see that in the game, he rarely isn't flying around and using teleportation. So with that, not only would I imagine he is thinner but also most definitely has very soft hands, and hands that are quite small compared to his partners, Xara and Fred. Though he kinda looks like a twink when I draw him with his cunty little poses and clothes, which was NOT intended. Sorry, Romeo..

I definitely think he hates feeling small. He isn't short in my head, compared to most characters, he is an average height, taller than most. But when it comes to taller characters like Axel, Aiden, Mevia, Xara or Fred, he looks small and he hates it. Especially compared to Xara and Fred because he only comes up to their shoulders. It's why I imagine he flies all the time, so he can be higher above people and feel big. Though there is a "good" small, as I would describe it, which is specifically when he is cuddled up against Fred and Xara. Feeling small in a more protected and loved way rather than a weak and vulnerable way.

I do imagine he is a bit insecure, which is related to his shit family, and will get defensive and snappy when someone points it out. He would probably struggle with saying "sorry" too, especially with the ego he has to almost protect himself. Romeo has this strange thing where he wants people around but also tends to push them away at the same time, which only further affects his mental state.

Like, you can't tell me Romeo is perfectly mentally well, he is quite unpredictable and definitely has mood swings all the time. Kinda like a cat but worse, he might be grumpy and not want to be touched but all of a sudden, he's draped over Fred and Xara, demanding cuddles. Though I imagine he can be a bit of a tease too, finding fun in playing little games.

After losing his powers, he definitely lost his confidence too. After all, he felt that his powers were all he had and was all that was important about him, which creates the little wet pathetic mess he becomes. But he doesn't stay like that, after a lot of time and healing, I'd imagine that confident, very close to arrogant personality of his would come back but not so... horrible? Is that the right word? I'd imagine Xara wouldn't mind putting him in his place though if he tried anything stupid. In my mind, I have an Admin oc called Amy who helps revive Fred, so the three are back together and healing with each other.

But like I said, even after they rebuild their relationship with each other or how much they love each other, she wouldn't hesitate to suplex him if he acted up. Then again, she would have done that before!

Gotta love him, even though he definitely does have tantrums. But for some reason, it works so well with a power hungry Admin who definitely has a problem with being too controlling. Which I created a whole backstory to explain why he feels the need to be in control. I'll get into that now.

I wrote about this in an AO3 fic but not in lots of detail. I see him as someone who was born into a family with brown hair and green eyes, so his unusual red hair and blue eyes are quite strange. But his family, instead of being normal and just going "Oh, cool. You have bright hair and eyes" they are dicks instead, using his differences to call him a disappointment or a freak. Though his family aren't the best, if it wasn't apparent. The parents are quite controlling, which is where I derive his need to be in control from. Trauma, put simply.

And, unfortunately, most of his relatives let themselves be basically molded into carbon copies of his parents and are quite horrible towards him, going as far as forcing his head under water before laughing at him when they let go. Though a young Alex and Steve protects him a few times when they saw it. His parents tried forcing him to dye his hair and wear contacts, which at first he refuses but eventually, once broken down, yields.

Upon seeing this, Alex and Steve are worried and Alex, being the hothead she is, goes to shout at the parents though Steve manages to calm her and instead get him away from the family, offering him a place to stay with them. A least a year goes by, and he'll be around sixteen and his red hair has grown out again. His parents find the place and the confrontation leads to him running away and meeting Fred and Xara.

[kaycode1999]

Hey there! Um, sorry if I'm barging in and your requests are closed or too busy, but can I ask for a match up?

Appearance: I have long black hair, dark brown eyes and I’m about 5'2~5'3-ish?

Pronouns & sexuality: My pronouns are she/her, and I'm ambiamorous and polysexual, (basically all genders except women) and- maybe- cupioromantic? (I'm not really sure on that one yet- so possibly QPR type thing?)

Hobbies: I really like to draw and write a lot. Staying indoors is what I prefer, either binge watching shows or hyperfixating on one particular show. Maybe either the occasional relaxing games or reading or even try out new hobbies. But generally, I usually have a lot of time on my hands, doomscrolling or daydreaming and imagining scenarios in my head.

Type: I'm not really sure? But I suppose someone easy to chat to but also able to chill with. Possibly someone who can be stronger than me- not just physically but with drive/confidence? (If that makes sense?)

My personality: I would say I'm more anxious/reserved at a first meet, then slowly letting a person know more about me bit by bit. I'm more of a lurker and a little awkward around big groups of friends and more silly with one on one interactions, but I really like listening to people speak and learn more about them, accidentally not adding onto things or, if I do manage to talk, making each talk turn into a deeper and, I guess, more intimate conversations. My viewpoint- as my friends have pointed out- is more pessimistic and disturbing, which is pretty unusual with how I would act- being somewhat bubbly. Occasional intrusive thoughts slipping out my mouth and sometimes lack of social cues, often leaving me confused on what is happening at the moment.

Characters I don't want to get matched with (That sounds so mean Q-Q): Pigsy, Tang, or Sandy. They feel like father/uncle figures to me.

Ah, so I really hope this finds you well and hope you're having a great day. Sorry, again, if this is confusing, cluttered, not giving enough info, or redundant, and also for having so many 'unsure's. Thank you for reading that much text, and I'm excited to see who I get matched with! Thank you so much! ^w^

I match you with

MK the Monkey Kid

He also enjoys drawing so that's a shared interest between you two

You two can be comfortable just hanging out and drawing together for hours. It's more about being close to each other more than doing anything specific or talking all the time

He loves just having stay-at-home dates snuggling on the couch either watching movies or binging a show

Most of the time he likes to play monkey meck but bring over a new game and he has no problem playing it

He does have to do training outdoors but he doesn't mind if you tag along and stay in Monkey Kings house doing whatever until he gets done

He's both physically strong and comes off as confident ( especially with everything he's been through his confidence is a facade and he can be quite pessimistic too when he gets into a particular mood, having you around helps him)

He's so sweet but he can be dense at times so he can also say things that can sound odd or just not understand what is going on either so he doesn't judge you at all

He also takes time to get actually comfortable around people he doesn't know because of things in his past, so he understands that well and lets you take all the time you need to warm up to him and the rest of his family but he does what he can to make you feel comfortable

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

(The following was a reply I got from a conversation that started from this post. The response I got below was from a post I made to reply to the original conversation. I’m not @-ing the commenter and I blocked out their url b/c I don’t want this to become heated, and I don’t want them to get harassment of ANY kind. I’m such a small blog that there is so little chance of that happening, but I just DONT want to risk it. I’m vehemently against harassment of ANY kind, but I feel the below needs saying and I just had to explain the reason I made the initial postc and why I thought it was important to talk about:

Well. This isn’t really about the story or the series. It’s not about Alastor’s characteristics or personality or how Hazbin’s plot progresses.

It’s about Black and Brown people’s voices being ignored and not taken seriously.

There is a group of people saying “you are taking a part of our culture and using it however you like and this is harmful to us. This is part of a larger trend that has been harmful to us in the past, please do not use our culture this way”, and their concerns about the depiction of their religion and culture are being ignored.

Now, no group is a monolith, and it’s more than possible there are Voudists who don’t mind their culture being used in media, but I’ve heard enough people from the culture say that this is bothering them and why—and I think it’s really important to listen to and empathize with them

I don’t believe that anyone from the creative team from the show meant any harm at all. But regardless of the intent, people have been saying that they don’t appreciate parts of their culture being used in the show since shortly after the Pilot came out, and for Hazbin’s official merch to still be using vévés and for Alastor to be referred to as being influenced by “hoodoo-voodoo” in interviews is extremely disrespectful.

Even if it was meant to be a tribute, black Vodouists have already been speaking out about Alastor since the Pilot, and requesting that their culture and vévés not be used. I don’t think they or I are jumping the gun when parts of their closed religion are already being used in promotional material.

The issue isn’t “the portrayal of Vodou by an outsider of the religion might be good, so we should wait and see” the issue is that people are asking for their religion, which is a closed practice, to be respected and not used by outsiders. And that request is being ignored.

I also have to say that I really don’t appreciate that you’re describing these concerns as “complaints”. It’s been pointed out to me that when racial minorities and people of color speak out about fandom racism and cultural appropriation, they’re almost always told that they’re “just complaining” or “nitpicking” or that they should just “be happy” or “grateful” for any representation they get.

I cannot imagine how frustrating that is.

This is not only about Hazbin Hotel. I brought it up because people were talking about the issue again due to the trading cards coming out. It’s just the latest example of racism and appropriation in fandom that has been a problem for a long long time.

Also. I try to assume positive intent when I can, but it’s really hard to read your last comment as anything but condescending.

The thing is, I’m okay with making mistakes. I’m okay with being seen as silly, because I’ve made a LOT of silly mistakes in my life. And I know I’ll make a lot more.

Maybe you think I’m being silly now, and that’s fine. You can think whatever you want about me.

But I don’t feel silly at least /trying/ to listen to and respect minority’s voices. Especially when they’re talking about what is and /isn’t/ okay to use from their cultures.

(Finally. Ugh. I worry that this comes off as being. Ugh. “Virtue-signal-y” I guess? But. I’ve also noticed that a lot of times when people, regardless of their race, sexuality, gender, or what issue they’re trying to talking about, people will call them “virtue-signalers” to shut them down.

And yeah, I think virtue signaling can happen…but I’m so tired of people using the term to shut down conversations about inequality and injustice. It feels like another way to say “you’re just complaining and nitpicking”. If talking about these issues and trying to listen to others makes me silly and a virtue signaler. I guess I’ll be a silly virtue signaler. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

[braceletofteeth]

catch up meme

Rules: answer + tag 9 people you want to get to know better and/or catch up with!

Thank you @notsocharmy for tagging me 💕

Favorite Color: Last time I said I was in a brown phase, right? Well, I put so much brown around me I got sick of it 😅 Now, I'm feeling more attracted to shades of red. It never happened before (it usually feels too intense for me), but recently I've realized I've been putting it everywhere too.

Last Song: Lucky Again by Louis Tomlinson. It's my favorite song from the album Faith in the Future, which I only discovered recently (many good songs there!).

The current quote in my bio is from this song.

Last Movie: I watched Uncontrolled Love 1 and 2 this week (it's a chinese BL from the time they still made those).

Before that, I also watched 10 Thing I Hate About You, for the first time (I'm a little late to the party, I know).

Currently reading: I have a book, a fanfic, and a legislation that I've started, but can't get past a few chapters at a time :( It's been hard to engage, especially with the ones I'm reading for fun. I'm too stressed to relax and properly enjoy.

Currently watching:

Never Let Me Go

It's a rewatch. I'm doing it slowly because I also wanna finish tagging and reblogging the remaining posts still in my drafts since the first watch.

Cherry Magic [Anime ver.]

Would I watch the exact same story for the third time, just in a different format? Well, of course!

Ploy's Yearbook

Would I watch an entire series for one actor? Well-

Death Parade

I found this anime in one of the polls I reblogged recently. I'm making my brother watch it with me <3

Enchanté

The people were right. Akk is hands down THE BEST of Force's characters. I'm not a huge friends-to-lovers person, but I'm having fun with this one. (I'm also using the random french words/phrases to exercise my beginner's french :)).

Currently Craving: If I mention The Heart Killers one more time someone might actually push me off the stage...

You know, what I'm really craving the most lately is to become financially independent from my family, and I'm doing everything I can in order to reach that goal, so that next semester I can finally get free. I want to move out and watch my silly little dramas in a safe environment, decorated to my taste, where I can dress however I want, learn to cook anything I wanna taste, and not worry so much all the time 😊

Coffee or Tea: Sorry. The only hot beverage I like is hot chocolate 😅

tagging: @permanentlyexhaustedpigeon247 @kdreader02 @cangse-sanren

Hi, guys 👋 I haven't known you for long, but I'd like to know more, if you feel like sharing. If not, no problem at all! Have a good day <3

[rikas-things]

Diabolik Alcoholik Part 1

•••IMPORTANT MESSAGE•••

|||Hello! It is I, Rika. I've decided to post some of my fanfics here since the site I use is no longer "usable" until I find another place to put them. For now, please enjoy this silly little story I made long ago.

Table of contents for if you want more:

"How could something like this happen?!"

A girl in pink yelled at the top of her lungs.

She was in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, with no umbrella- just a suitcase and the clothes on her back.

"I wake up and the next thing I know I'm outside! It's freezing and raining and I'm hungry!!"

She glared at the trees ahead of her as the mud-soaked into her brown fur boots.

"I don't even remember getting dressed! This sucks!"

She looked around, calming herself down by doing breathing exercises.

"Where am I anyway? There's no sign of a soul in sight."

She shivered and raised her brows with worry.

"I hope I don't get sick..."

She stopped her stroller temporarily to look down and felt at the cold metal of an ornate rosary around her neck, fiddling with its ruby-red gemstone.

"Come to think of it, where did this rosary come from? I don't remember Papa owning such a thing."

She shook her head.

"Curiouser and curiouser."

She resumed her trek, trying and failing to shake the mud off her boots in a vain attempt to make it easier to step in.

"In any case, I should look for-"

She stopped again, only this time keeping her eyes forward; just ahead was a lone mansion with trees and bushes planted all around it.

Despite the fog and ominous aura emanating from the ancient yet lovely building, she walked faster than before, happy she could find a place to rest while it rained.

"-House."

She clasped her hands together as a smile grew on her delicate face, her big pink eyes widening with excitement.

"How lucky☆!"

This girl is Yui Komori. She doesn't know it yet, but she is about to enter a world of adventure.

An adventure that will eat away at her body and soul until it has swallowed her up completely.

But, again, she doesn't know it yet.

Not yet...

After Yui struggled to get her bag up the steps, she took a breather before going up to the large wooden door and knocking on it merrily.

"Hey, is anyone there?" She called out loud enough for someone to hear but not too loudly despite the pounding of the rain.

"I was wondering if I could use your phone. I promise I'll leave after I'm done! I won't bother you after that!"

There was a pause which caused her to raise a thin blonde brow for a moment until the large door slowly...

Carefully...

Creepily creaked itself open.

The shrill whine of its hinges made her shudder even after it stopped, the door pulled open just enough for her to slip through with her bag and all.

She nervously examined it, and physically pulled back from the noise.

She then shrugged.

"Well alright then."

She proceeded to enter.

The interior of the mansion was just as breathtaking as the outer; a grand candelabra hung on the ceiling, serving as the only lighting source of the room.

The hall that led up to the stairway was draped in a fancy red carpet that had ornate wooden handrails on either side of it.

A few walls were decorated with pictures of various people Yui didn't recognize in 16-century clothing as well as random scenery.

The thought put her in the mind of a gothic art gallery.

Or a haunted house.

She shook off her anxiety about the slightly dark feeling of the house and wondered if she was breaking a trespassing law for just walking into this mansion without being invited by someone first.

Then grinned slyly as an idea came to her mind.

"Wait! This is exactly what I wanted!"

She puffed up her chest like a superhero.

"If anybody sees me, I can just get them to call the police and then my dad'll come to get me, problem solved! Easy peasy!"

Deciding to put her plan into action, she wandered deeper into the mansion's living room before getting bombarded by a hologram text that flashed in front of her.

The text read like a poem:

The more I love you the more I would like to eat you.

And once I become one with that body, would this ache, this thirst, be healed?

There was more but she turned away from it before she could read anymore; it was enough to make her feel nauseous.

What the hell was that and why was it in the middle of the mansion?! She thought to herself, a hand on her temples.

Maybe~ it wasn't a good idea to step into this place after all?

Before she could solidify an answer she heard a soft groan to her left that was coming from the living room couch.

Slowly moving towards the sound, she saw it was a boy that looked slightly older than her, his fiery purple-red hair caressing the gentle frames of his beautiful sleeping face.

His school clothes were askew, though his pose was relaxed, with one arm behind his back and the other lazily hanging off the couch's seat, with one leg bent and the other following the rule of his arms.

He looked so peaceful.

Yui held a gasp as she quietly placed her hands over her mouth, analyzing how precious he looked in his slumber.

"I wonder if I could plan something with him?"

She says with a tempted look in her eyes, her cheeks flushing red.

She then tiptoes closer to him, ever so carefully trying not to wake him up.

Calmly...

Quietly...

Stealthily until she was standing directly over him.

Then she proceeded to yell at the top of her lungs, startling him to the point that he fell off the couch almost immediately, all while holding a grin.

Yui used to do this as a kid with her older brother whenever she wanted to talk to him or play with him but he was still asleep.

Despite doing that every time, he held his anger to see what she wanted.

But that was so long ago...

The boy got up and rubbed the bump on his head before he shot her a glare, his lime-green eyes burning with rage.

"What the fuck is your prob-"

Before he completely flipped out on her he cut himself off, his face changing from rage into surprise.

After that, he sniffed her like a bloodhound.

At first, Yui just put her hands behind her head and smiled.

"Hey, I'm Yui! I'd like to use your phone, or better still, you could call the police! I'm fine with either!"

He silently sniffed her, not saying anything.

She stood awkwardly, taken aback by his lack of response and realizing his strange behavior.

"...Huh?" was all she could nervously utter as he did so.

Once he stepped back, she regretted saying anything.

Or waking him up in the first place.

His dark grin was more than enough for her to want to leave.

He placed a hand on his chin, still holding that danger in his eyes and mouth as a fanged tooth peeked from it.

"Say, you mentioned a phone, eh?"

She immediately backtracked, frantically waving her hands as if to deny anything she said as she sweated bullets.

"N-no, no! That's alr-right! I'll go get my phone call somewhere else...!"

She tried to turn away to run but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her body under him.

He pinned her arms and legs with his own.

In normal circumstances, Yui would have found it hot, but in this case, she was utterly terrified, and his deranged toothy grin didn't help.

She flinched when he leaned close into her ear, his grip tightening.

"Don't worry," he rumbled, "Cause you won't be needin' it where you're going!"

[aerospas]

Hello! :) I've really enjoyed all your posts so far. It feels like you understand these characters on an incredibly intimate level, and so many of your headcanons and characterizations hit the spot for me. Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful things you create with us! Looking through your writing brightens up my day every time.

If possible, I'd like to request a Star Trek matchup. I've only watched TOS, AOS and a bit of DS9 and TNG, but I'm completely open to any character that comes to mind regardless of series and gender.

I'm a transmasc enby and lean towards masc or androgynous presentation. I have dark brown eyes and wavy hair. I have a bit of grey hair from stress and a single dimple that shows when I smile or purse my lips. My height and build are on the lower end of average and I've been told I have fairly broad shoulders.

My MBTI is INFP. I'm reasonably sure my enneagram is 4w5, but I could be wrong. I'm neurodivergent and that factors into a lot of my personality and worldview. I'm an old soul. I have a variable social battery, but I am always there for people when it matters the most. I feel things quite deeply, but I strongly believe that emotions and logic go hand in hand, and as a result have a pretty high EQ.

I'm very easygoing and approachable, and like to make lots of friendly acquaintances in my daily life. I try to connect a bit with everyone I can strike up a conversation with regardless of age. I care a lot about people and I think people would generally consider me sweet or easy to get along with. With my closer friends, I'm maybe the dad friend counterpart to our other mom friend. I'll be silly with them but am usually the first to go no-nonsense when they need a voice of reason. My brand of humor is quite deadpan, but I laugh a lot at my friends' antics. I will only sass or give a ribbing to people I consider fairly good friends, but make sure to avoid any sore spots.

I'm passionate but not really competitive and thrive in environments where everyone really loves what they do. I have no problem taking on leadership roles or otherwise. I generally serve as a mediator for conflicts, and don't mind speaking up for other people's needs. Otherwise, I'm somewhat easily embarrassed and prefer to deal with problems myself instead of asking people to go out of their way to help me.

I gravitate towards creative mediums like art, reading and writing, music and theatre, but also have a soft spot for anthropology and biology. I really like talking to and connecting with other people. It is pretty easy for me to find beauty in all sorts of places and people and things, and one of my favorite things to do is to take things slow and focus on the little things for a while.

I'm demisexual, sex-positive, and probably ambiamorous. My love language is words of affirmation then physical touch, in that order. Gender doesn't really factor into my attraction for someone and I find people attractive because of who they are as a person, not how they present. I'm most drawn to people who are fundamentally kind but are unafraid to push me to think about things from more perspectives. I feel like the basis for my attraction is first and foremost the capacity for a strong bond built around trust and communication.

-🪁

from the original series, i'd pair you with, spock!

with your introspective and empathetic nature, spock would find himself drawn to your depth of understanding and your unique perspective on life. initially intrigued by your combination of logic and emotion, he would appreciate the way you balance your feelings with rationality, much like he does himself. your gentle demeanour and quiet strength would complement spock's reserved nature. your capacity for understanding others' emotions, despite your own occasional struggles with vulnerability, would resonate with spock's own internal conflict between logic and emotion; he would admire your ability to navigate the complexities of human interaction with grace and compassion.

from deep space nine, i'd pair you with, kira nerys!

kira would admire your courage and resilience, seeing in you someone who understands the importance of fighting for justice in the face of adversity. initially, she might be cautious around your easygoing nature, unsure of how to reconcile it with your deep sense of purpose, but she would come to trust your sincerity and reliability. your willingness to mediate conflicts and support those in need would resonate strongly with kira, who shares your dedication to protecting others.

[artist-issues]

I don't know if your still active or not, but here goes. I'm an American born and raised in america. My skin color is brown light. Every time I hear the word black people all I see is dark skin Americans from me. When I saw a character that was brown skin light like myself I saw no problem with it until someone on twitter said it was racist and made them darker. Why is that? Also I hate the little mermaid movie, I grew up surrounded by white people in schools, stores, everywhere. Not once I experienced racism. I refuse to join the whole "let's hate white people parade" and I hate when white skin Americans are starting to hate themselves. Sorry if my wording was wrong.

I think there's probably lots of reasons for people making everything about race. For one thing some people like to complain needlessly because it gets them more notice on social media. For another, some genuinely believe the lie that race matters.

Race doesn't matter. We're all people. Doesn't matter what shade of skin color you have or I have or anybody has. Geez, I don't understand why that has to be said so often.

It's like if somebody had a smaller pair of ears than most of the people in Hollywood and we all went, "well unless I see an actor in that role with ears as big as mine, I can't relate to them!"

That's just silly. It's just silly.

(Now obviously, when people have an issue with a "lack of representation in media," as they term it, they don't normally defend it as "I have to have someone of with some of the same physical attributes as me onscreen, in a lead role." What they really mean is not an emphasis on physical attributes, but an emphasis on a kind of person--a person who has some of the same experiences as them. Ancestrally, socially, ulturally--usually assuming there's some link between the physical and the experiences. Which is also silly. Because one, that's not a good correlation to make, and two, you don't have to have the same exact set of experiences as someone else to relate to them, or even to empathize with what they're experiencing.)

If you can relate to an insecure animated lion in the Lion King even though you're not a lion; if you can relate to a robot looking for love in Wall-E even though you're not a robot; if you can relate to a kid waking up with incredible spider powers and learning how to take responsibility in any Spider-Man movie, even if you're not a kid waking up with incredible spider powers--then maybe it's time to acknowledge that some things are just universal, and more important, than others.

We're all humans. That's the important thing for characters to represent.

You can relate to insecurity, to looking for love, to learning how to take responsibility--because all humans can. You don't need to relate to an outward appearance. You don't even need to relate to a culture--again, you're not a lion living on a ceremonial rock ruling over animals (like Simba.) You're not a robot built for cleaning up a higher being's mess (like Wall-E.) Yet you can still somehow relate to them--because humans can relate to anything that feels human.

Including each other, even when we aren't lions--or black--or white--or brown--or robots--or have ancestors who were oppressed--or have ancestors who were oppressive--

We can empathize with and relate to one another, because we're all made in the image of the same God.

People should stop zooming in on what makes their own experience different and alien from everyone else's, and then insisting that everyone LOOK AT IT in the form of "representation." Why do they want to scream the same "nobody understands how this feels except for people who are in the exact same racial-socio-economic-gender-political-age situation as me!"?

Why do they want to do that? Because being a victim, being different, being special, doesn't make you more relatable. It just raises you up higher than everybody else. It says "give me special attention, without accusing me of wanting special attention."

We don't want to relate. We want to be special.

We don't want to focus on what makes us similar anymore. We want to focus on what makes us different. We don't want to unify; we want to divide. We don't want to love each other in spite of past wrongs or current wrongs and differences--we want to hate each other for those things.

And if we're not in the people-group that everyone is calling "special" at that particular moment, we want to at least be associated with their "struggle" by calling for "representation."

That's the main reason why, I think, people cared about the shades of skin in casting enough to call one another racist.

[imjustabeanie]

hi! I was curious if you could do a hazbin hotel match up? <3

I go by she/they. im pansexual, im not too picky. I'm originally from Guatemala but was adopted to America! I have dark brown eyes with gold rimmed glasses with peircings; nose stud and septum. Im also a bit on the bigger side like mid size, im super insecure about it due to family problems making it worse. im getting bette with it though! I'm a Pisces and an infp. When first meeting me I'm normally shy and keep to myself and I've been told I look mean since of my resting face but trust I'm the silliest person you have ever met. when getting close; I love to joke around and I tend to be rude and "out of pocket " with my humor. (think of like smiling friends or oneyplays for reference) I love helping others if it be medically or just listening. speaking of medical; I'm almost done with schooling to get my EMT certification! I've always wanted to help someone every since I was a child. since I chose this field I am a real stickler for anatomy and physiology, with that being said I like to point out mistakes in movies which can get super annoying but it's something I love to do. another thing I love is the elder scrolls series! I love the real life inspo it's taken for the game universe, plus I love the medival vibe it has. I also love history such as artifacts from the past, historical texts, and medical practices back then. I'm a huge horror fan as well; scream, thanksgiving, SAW, Halloween, the omen. I love the classics! I also love crime cases too. I also love music,my favorites being malice mizer, gulu gulu, nirvana , ice nine kills, korn,slaughter to prevail and powerwolf! I like gothic type clothing but I normally dress in a baggy shirt and jeans so I feel out of place lol. I'm not the super touchy type (depends on the mood) because it gives me the ick. I'm more of acts of service and quality time type of lover.

I hope this is enough information! I love your writing < 3

Your hazbin hotel match is...Husk!

Your runner up is Lucifer but I eventually settled for husk.

Husk is an understanding lover who tends to be rude at first and takes time to warm up. But when he does he really cares about you in his own way.

On the outside, people really wonder how 2 individuals with an RBF got together. While in reality you two are an exemple of grumpy x sunshine. You're silly and he secretely loves it. It can be seen in the way he looks at you when you do your things. He even broke a glass once cuz he was watching you. Angel never let him forget that. Husk actually likes your jokes and always add a little comment of his own. He's also funny but in a sarcatic way if it makes sense. His humor also tends to be dark.

Husk is really proud of you for wanting to help people and for choosing your field. In his entourage, he is surrounded by selfish people (besides charlie and vaggie but they're recent and an exception). To him you're the sole light in his dark world. He always has your back, supporting you the best he can by making your life easier (he keeps the house relatively clean etc).

You two always have quiet date nights at home. He enjoys watching horror movies with you and probably has some nice horror recommendations but they're books. Those dates also include a dinner made by him or the both of you. He shows off by making some dishes only made in his time lol but you're the queen of snacks he admits it. He makes some very good cocktails for the both of you and the nights is spent watching movies and having talks that rabge from serious ones to silly talks that make him sigh lovingly.

He doesn't mind that you're not a big fan of touch and respects that. Overall he's a rough boyfriend but still very caring. He'll do his best to make you feel loved despite his flaws

[jades-typurriter]

Mori's Mementos

A little fic about a day in the life of a friend's shrinekeeper OC! He's a real cutie and @bluebearial is a real sweetheart and you should check them out <3

“MMMMMRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh,” yawned a young tanuki, followed by a little hmm! as he stretched and set his paws on his hips. The early morning sun broke through the boughs of the trees surrounding the clearing in which he stood, and he looked around at the work he’d have to do today. The leaves were starting to turn brown again, and many had piled up around the shrine he called home. Sweeping was on the list, then! Nothing else immediately seemed broken or dirty, so he’d start with that and figure it out from there. He looked behind him at the centerpiece of the shrine. It was an ornately-carved, if worn, statue of a large fox, wizened with age, each of its nine tails pluming out behind it. It was said to be very powerful, as all foxes became as they grew older, and this particular fox used that power to keep a vigil over the shrine and the mountain upon which it stood.

As he admired the visage of his patron, Mori realized that his backside hadn’t fully materialized yet. Silly him! He hadn’t walked all the way out of the statue. He shimmied down the steps, and his own spectral tails emerged from the statue in which he dwelled. He rustled them like he was shaking out a bad case of bed-headed hair. He was no kitsune, but he was proud that his own tails numbered at nine! It was nice to be similar to such a respected figure, even in such a small way.

See, this shrine hadn't been erected in the honor of any old kitsune, no–Mori was the shrine maiden (Shrine-mister? Shrine-manservant? He had no clue) of a zenko, a spirit who bestowed supernatural gifts upon those who also called this mountain home. An older visitor to the shrine had once told Mori that it was much busier, in the past. People came more frequently to make offerings to the zenko, and some even helped maintain the statue, the torii that lined the edges of the clearing, and the buildings that stood within it.

Mori trotted over to a storage shed in the corner of the clearing to fetch a broom, then scurried back to the statue. Side to side, he brushed leaves from the steps, making neat piles at the corners of the statue’s platform. Later, he’d find a sack from the shed and carry the leaves to the outskirts of the clearing; he was sure the trees would appreciate the extra food, even if it was sort of their own leftovers! As he worked, his tails flicked and flitted about his head, knocking leaves from atop the statue and scrubbing away any bits of moss that had settled since the last time he’d cleaned it.

“Older visitor” and “young tanuki” were relative terms for Mori; he never ventured far from the shrine, and certainly never to another settlement, so he’d never been taught to keep time. Still, as he worked, he wondered how long it had been since someone had made a pilgrimage here. The leaves had fallen like this more than once since then, he was fairly sure. He was used to the solitude–he had been there for as long as he could remember, and besides, the quiet gave him plenty of time to enjoy the constant chorus of nature’s voices.

But he was still just!! So EXCITED, whenever someone came to pay their respects to the zenko. They always came seeking some sort of boon, and though he had never met the kami himself–he had never even seen anything supernatural!–it was a joy to make the visitors feel welcome, and to do what he could to help them solve their problems. At the very least, he could give them some false confidence, and then they would go face down their challenges themselves, right? Gah, he had made himself miss having visitors again. Well, he was done sweeping the steps anyway, so now he had time to look through his collection! He nearly sprinted back to the shed, stopping only when he rammed the broom into the wall. Sure, he could pass through the wood just fine, but the broom? It was so easy to forget, he would run into it nearly as often as the forest’s deer ran into his laundry lines!

With the broom stowed, he traipsed along the foot-worn rut in the grass that led from the shrine to a nearby stream. Of all the sounds that the woods provided, the bubbling of this little river was one of the ones that made him feel most at peace. He stood on the bank, letting the wind blow around him, savoring the mingling of nature’s noises; it blew through his shoulder-trimmed hair and made his robes sway on his fluffy frame. Remembering himself, he filled a bucket of water from the river and hurried back.

As he neared another building, opposite the statue from the shed, his tails scooped up a bundle of leaves from one of the piles he had tidied them into earlier, as well as a few thick sticks from a stack near the door. Once inside the building–barely even a house, more like a parlor standing by itself in the clearing–he fished around in a cabinet for a sachet of tea leaves while his tails set to work arranging everything else. A third coiled around a teapot from a nearby table; a fourth set a metal stand upright above a small fire pit, and the first two unloaded their burdens beneath it. Satisfied with his choice of drink, he turned and snapped his paw, summoning a little wisp of fire and sending it drifting gently onto the pile of kindling. He set the teapot atop the stand, filled it with water from the bucket, and sprinkled in the tea leaves; then, as he left it to steep, he turned to a shelf to paw through some of the offerings that had been left at the shrine.

Most of the visitors recently were people who tended to go far out of their way. Some of them were artists, traveling painters or poets seeking inspiration in the far corners of the world–and Mori supposed that the side of a mountain was a reasonably far corner. Some were on religious journeys, secluding themselves to find the space to come to their own epiphanies, or seeking knowledge to bring home with them to their own shrines. Some of them were just plain desperate, and hoped that the aid of the zenko could save them (for these people, Mori did his best in their stead). No matter their reason for making the trek up to the shrine, they all brought some kind of offering, and Mori had kept a few of his favorites (he justified them as “adornments for the shrine”)!

The artists often left one of their works, or crafted something new specifically to mark the occasion of their visit. There were watercolor paintings of the vista from the mountain’s summit, or little wooden trinkets carved in the shape of the local animals–Mori’s favorite was a little whittled raccoon, which the donor had said reminded them of him. One particularly ambitious pilgrim wanted to leave their mark on the shrine itself, and felled a number of trees to erect a brand-new torii!

Visitors from other shrines, or from larger temples, often brought religious tokens; some of them, Mori recognized, and others were completely foreign. There was a lavish little stockpile of incense in one of the cabinets; on the wall was an ofuda, inked by a calligrapher’s steady hand, meant to ward off disaster from the shrine. He wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate to keep one within the shrine’s confines–ofuda were generally meant to protect homes, but even if he dwelled within the statue of his patron, this little tea room was something of a home for him. The torii gates were plastered with slips of paper bearing the names of visitors, offerings made simply to mark that they had been there. Hanging on the wall were a few paper pouches, bound together by string. The person who had offered them to the tanuki called them omamori. Both of them found the coincidence funny, and Mori had happily accepted them. He was told that, if he carried one with him wherever he went, they would shield him from the interference of mischievous spirits, but he had never had a run-in with a spirit anyway, and they unsettled him for a reason he couldn’t place, so on the wall they stayed.

His favorite offerings were from the poets, the authors, and those who wanted to document as much of the world as they could. While their original compositions were lovely–he could reflect on a haiku celebrating some facet of the mountainous landscape as easily as he could admire a painting–his favorites were the descriptions of the way the shrine was run. He thought of them almost like letters to the zenko, letting them know how good of a job he was doing at maintaining their home and solving the problems of their devotees in their stead. He pulled a piece of paper from a sheaf on a shelf:

…I journeyed up the mountain after being turned away by doctor after doctor–no matter how far I traveled, no matter what medicine I tried, I could not escape the feeling of my own impending doom, seemingly waiting for me around every corner. Eventually, I resigned myself: I thought that my ruin must be the will of the kami, and so I began to plead for aid at shrine after shrine instead. After months of wandering, visiting every last temple and holy place I could find, lead me here: Mori greeted me, and led me to the foot of the statue, where I petitioned the zenko for reprieve from my sentence, forgiveness for whatever transgression I had committed. The kitsune assigned the shrine-keeper (oh, right, that seemed to be the word!) to assist me in my plight.

He grinned at me, and their tails rose from their rest behind them, posturing like vipers. Though his smile was as innocent, and his bearing as devout, as when I had first stepped onto the hallowed ground, I thought that he meant to strike me. Instead of fleeing, I stayed on my knees, where I had been praying–I was too exhausted to continue running, and surely if the zenko saw fit to execute me on the spot, I was deserving of whatever punishment I was to endure.

Instead, when his tails sprang forward, I was swaddled in a soft embrace. Some of them cradled me from beneath, like a pile of blunt, velvet-lined pillows; the rest blanketed themselves atop me, blotting out the bright light of the sun and leaving me in something of a cocoon. The tanuki reassured me, told me that “getting comfortable” and “taking some time to relax” might assuage my fears; before I could protest that, believe me, I had TRIED that, the tails began to close in more tightly. His fur brushed up against every bit of exposed skin, and despite the oddness of the situation, I found myself leaning into their touch–more calming than a lover’s arms, more sheltering than any blanket. They tangled so tightly, in such a convoluted knot, that soon enough I could no longer tell where one tail ended and another began. I could no longer tell where I ended and the tails began! It was as though I had lost awareness of my own body, its sensations replaced with the gentle sensation of fur rustling in the wind.

The tanuki spoke to me again, and although I could understand his words perfectly clearly, I understood his intent on a level more direct than words could ever convey. I could tell I wasn’t going to be harmed, even if I stayed that way for a long while. And stay for a while I did: I joined the tanuki, for some time, in his daily routine around the shrine. Now ten-tailed, we completed his chores together, and I pitched in after some practice with controlling my share of his form. When he meditated, I meditated, joining him at some of his favorite hideaways in contemplation of the beauty of the mountain. When he slumbered, I slumbered; a straw mat in a shed had never felt so comfortable, and for the first time in ages, I awoke not from a nightmare, but was roused by the warmth of a sunbeam. 

When finally we separated, I felt more refreshed than I ever had. Finally, my eyes were turned to the horizon without the fear of what I might find beyond it. I was left with a tail of my own, like one of the tanuki’s, but smaller, rounder. He told me that it would be a reminder of our time together, something to hold when I felt I needed reassurance. It is a blessing I will treasure forever, and–

FfffweeeeEEEEEEEEEEEE–

Oh! The teapot! He had been so absorbed in this lovely little reminder that he’d forgotten how thirsty he’d gotten.

“Hello?” carried a voice over the grass of the clearing. “I see smoke in your window, and hear a kettle on the hearth. I come seeking the zenko of this shrine.”

A visitor!! And Mori was so missing company after all that reminiscing… Well, his patron wasn’t really here, but he could still give this traveler in need what they wanted! He vanished, crossing the gap between his tea room and the statue as a mere flicker of light, planting himself behind the statue and out of sight of the visitor. Reappearing, he drew in a deep breath, and kept right on huffing, willing himself bigger, even bigger,until he was as big as the statue! With a puff of smoke, he changed his appearance to match that of his mentor, and he strode with all their confidence out into view. He may not be a magical, boon-granting spirit, but he was always happy to help–and to make a new friend!

[majorxmaggiexboy]

15 Questions 15 Mutuals

Rules: answer the questions and tag fifteen mutuals

tagged by @beterparker shgjsghjksl!

1. Are you named after anyone?

according to my mother it’s the phonetic spelling (it is not) of Michaela Quinn medicine woman bc she liked the way Sully, specifically, pronounced the woman’s name but she did NOT want people nicknaming me Mike so fast forward to last year when one of my coworkers nicknamed me Mickey,,,,,momsauce was,,,,devastated,,

2. When was the last time you cried?

*Noir Detective Voice* Thursday, January 5th, 2022, hours before being diagnosed with COVID-19 and unknowingly six days into actually having it,,,,,ngl if i was like, a cartoon character, it would have been adorable and i find it infuriating but i fully did the, eyes swimming, valiantly holding back tears, until momsauce looks at me and FLOODGATES AND “I really don’t feel good” AND *STARTS SOBBING* 

3. Do you have kids?

yes i have two daughters, Amicia de Rune and Wednesday Addams thank you for asking

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

i don’t think what i use even counts as sarcasm, it’s too obnoxious

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

usually just that they’re in the room

6. What's your eye colour?

brown

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy Endings, though Bittersweet is also good. I like to have my emotions wrung out and turned into a baseball bat which is then used to ALMOST murder me but then the ending turns out to be a highly competent doctor which then Heals Me and waters my crops and builds me a little house in the countryside to live out my days in peace

8. Any special talents?

i think my developing-stories hobby counts as a talent? it doesn’t really qualify as ‘special’, but i do be coming up with some Stuff and can make some pretty big leaps from very small prompts on the fly, which i didn’t realize until a friend pointed it out.

oh, also don’t know if it counts as a talent since there’s no on and off switch on it but irl people tend to come tell me their problems/backstory/any Drama(tm) they have going on even if we’ve barely spoken before that so

9. Where were you born?

A hospital in Alabama

10. What are your hobbies?

Painstakingly outlining stories and then usually not writing them, daydreaming about Blorbos, analyzing fiction, crochet, painting, sewing, a few little videogames.

11. Have you any pets?

YES i have three boys their names are Norrell, Chellers, and Eggroll. Eggroll is actually the eldest, he is gray and fluffy and smaller than the others. He was an outside cat until last August, when we moved and brought him with us. He has been thoroughly enjoying his retirement from the outside cat life. Norrell is SealPoint and Squishy and has big paws and Chellers is a fluffy black cat with no bones, they’re both four. These three are perfect and silly and i love them so much

12. What sports do you play/have played?

I played Red Rover once. OH!! I did paintball once. I think we used to play foursquare fairly frequently. 

13. How tall are you?

Last time i was actually measured it was 5′1/2″ but i think it’s more like 5′2″ now, surely.

14. Favorite subject in school?

Originally it was Math but then we hit that part where Math was work and Language Arts was intuitive and it’s been Language/related ever since.

15. Dream job?

Being paid to live as Madame from The Aristocats

Tagging:

@therapardalis, @cutecutejames, @brassandblue, @poploppege, @slow-burn-sally, @castledock, anybody else who would like to!

[sweetpiccolo-blog]

Hi love! Here for the mash up!

Well, I’m a light skinned Black Latina with a big dark Afro and brown eyes. I’m about 163cm (minus the hair) and I wear glasses.

I speak Portuguese, English and French which makes learning languages a hobbie for me. I love studying, especially if it involves history or philosophy. I also love reading, watching movies and talking about them, and I’m a huge Disney fan. I also love some good homemade food, traveling and music is my oxygen - I’m into a little bit of everything.

I’m a Sagittarius with a Gemini rising — don’t ask me what that means, I don’t get much about astrology. I’m a INFJ-T and a very introverted person until I get to know someone better! Very grumpy in the morning, talkative to the extreme and sometimes funny and silly. I’m very determined and creative in my life.

My love language is quality time with a hint of physical touch. I love to spend time with the people I love no matter if it is staying in, going out or crossing an ocean to explore a new country. I love good communication and vulnerability, makes me feel safe!

I dislike petty, annoying people, repeating noises, not being heard, disorganization and lack of compromise - just to name a few!

Just please don’t match me with Max or Checo! Not my favorites hihihi

Thank you already 🤍 lots of love!

Hi love! Sorry for the wait. I absolutely love your ask because I can see some similarities we have and I tried really to work on it. Hope you like it! <3💙

This is only my opinion, so be sure to let me know what you think about it later : )

LET US GET STARTED!

Header by @dvluc

Your match is...

☆George Russell☆

You are a language girl? He loves that about you. George would start learning new languages with you. He was never really into studying, but with you it´s much more fun plus you are his motivation. You get to test each other randomly if you didn´t forget some new words. You both would encourage each other when needed to use that certain language instead of English like usually.

He would have incredible respect for your culture. He would ask you to tell him something from your history or about your traditions. He wants to learn because he is naturally curious and interested. Plus he cherishes you a lot.

Your enthusiasm with history and philosophy is great for museum dates. When he travels for a race and you are with him you totally go on dates. If the weather is bad, then you visit a gallery or museum where you spend hours. There you tell him everything you know and he listens while smiling at you. He looks at you absolutely smitten. If he wants you to talk more, he asks a question and he just lets you talk. Even if it´s something he already knows. You talk, he listens.

Disney-world trip is happening for sure - because you love Disney ofc. He takes you and Alex with Lily and all 4 of you run around the whole day. And this trip wouldn´t be a one time thing for sure. 

George would watch whatever you like and then talk about it with you for the next few days. Sharing opinions, complaining about the storyline, appreciating characters, anything and everything. 

I feel like you two would kinda have a different taste in music but that´s no problem. Listening to the songs the other person likes is your love language. Just being able to learn about each other through music is very special.

You both are a little introverted. You spend time together the most. You don´t mind being around others but neither alone, just you two together. Meeting people is not really an issue but you like being with your comfort group of homies more.

You would be silly and funny together. You make jokes with him and about him. Its the same way around. Having a laugh is the main goal. And you absolutely don´t mind. He would have you grinning like silly even making you laugh so much you are on the floor holding your tummy.

George would be the first one to speak in the morning, slowly pulling you out of your tiredness and charging you with good energy from the moment you open your eyes. He charges your social battery.

Physical touch? No problem. You want it, he gives it to you and doesn´t let you go until you say you had enough. He doesn´t mind either way. He is there for you however you want. Even sitting next to each other and watching anything in silence is fine by him.

You share determination for things you are passionate about. And that´s what always reminds you how in love you two are. Just seeing the other person not give up and try harder is so admirable.

He knows he can be himself with you so sometimes, when the racing and everything gets to him and vents a bit, he knows you are there for him. Even if there are tears, he is not afraid to show it. He sees no point in hiding how he feels. 

When someone speaks over you, George stands up for you. He makes sure you are not ignored. He also remembers everything you like or are telling him and makes mental notes not to ignore it. If there are some annoying people and he sees you in discomfort, he tries to to take you away from them. He wants you to be comfortable.

His mom loves cooking for you! Or she invites you over and cooks something with you. George can´t help himself in those moment and just fall in love with you more. 

ENJOY! 💙💙💙