#the calli g part

[trippinsorrows]

with me + part twenty two

rec listening: what dreams are made of by hilary duff (you'll know when) // words: 11k // warnings: smut, language, fluff galore, and suggestive content // masterlist

Coming off an insanely hectic week and an even more hectic weekend, your plan from the minute you stepped off that plane with Joe and Callie, who he held protectively in his arms as she slept most of the time, was relatively simple.

Very simple, actually.

Rest.

Rest for as much of the day as you could until it was time to get up and ready to drop Callie off at Kaylah’s place before your checkup.

It was a good plan, a sensible plan.

It’s also a plan that went right out the window when you wake up to find your man not next to you, not with his strong arms wrapped around you, holding you against his equally strong chest, hand on your baby bump.

No, instead you find his head in between your legs feasting on you like a man on the brink of starvation. 

“Oh my god….” You will never in your life complain about waking up this way, your favorite adult person in this life, eating you out with that tongue that could make a nun swear. Never. But, you also don’t know how this man is up at what feels like the ass crack of down ready for some pussy with the ridiculous weekend he had. 

His tongue circling your clit makes your hand shoot to his head, fingers immersed in his silky hair. “Baby…..oh shit, just like that.” It’s so hard to speak with him sucking on your pussy in the way that only he can, but you do your best to power through. “You–supposed to be—fuck—resting.”

It’s the wrong thing to say because this man clearly lives to drive you mad. He lifts his head, the sun from the adjacent window hitting him just right to illustrate the shine of your essence all over his beard. Fuck, he must have made you orgasm in your sleep already.

A damn shame you weren’t awake to experience that glory.

Smug as always, he asks, “you really want me to stop?” It’s the way he sticks his index and middle finger inside of you, watching as your back naturally arches, hand moving down to touch yourself.

Joe moves fast, answering your hand away, answering before you can protest, “the next time you come will be on my dick.”

Feeling bold while also eager for that dick, you taunt him, knowing what kind of response you’ll receive. “So what you waiting for?”

He smirks, and you know right then and there, he’s about to make you lose your fucking mind.

In a matter of what feels like seconds, he has you on your hands and knees, powerful backshots making you ready to scream his name for the entire neighborhood to know at least one of their new neighbors’ identity.

Your grip on the headboard is really the only thing keeping you upright, the force of his thrusts so rough and borderline aggressive that it has you seeing stars. One particular angled thrust forces out a louder than necessary curse that you know almost instantly he’s gonna make you pay for.

As expected, he pauses just to let his hand come down on your ass. Blood is nearly drawn with how hard you have to bite on your lip to keep from moaning. “Shut up before you wake her up.” His voice is gruff and demanding and you love it. Love it when he’s rough with you like this, when he makes it clear as day who runs shit in the bedroom. It makes your cunt clench against the girth of his dick. “Fuck, I missed being inside this pussy.”

Not as much as you missed him.

Joe plants his hand on the small of your back, pushing you down, deepening your arch. A groan of absolute bliss is all you can muster as he starts slamming against your G-Spot. “Gon make you come on my mouth and dick every fuckin day I’m home.”

He keeps you almost facedown into the mattress for a couple more minutes before he  suddenly reaches and yanks your body flush against him, again deepening his reach. 

It’s a miracle you don’t scream from that alone.

Joe grabs you by your chin and and turns your head to the wall with the full body mirror that gives you both a perfect view of the nastiness currently occurring. His mouth is by your ear, biting down on your earlobe as he instructs, “Look how fucking gorgeous you look right now, making a mess all over my dick with my baby inside you.”

It’s a hell of a view, the sight alone to make you come all over him right then and there.

His hand moves to your stomach, and you swear you hear a moan as he asks, “you gon give me another baby after this one?”

At that, your eyes go wide, because what in the actual fucking hell? You’re not even halfway through this pregnancy, and he’s already talking about the next?

But then his hand circles back around to the front of you, kneading your breast and intentionally slowing his pace for a torturously teasing second before slamming back into what has to be your stomach.

He’s so fucking deep in you.

Never a fan of having to wait, his deep voice rumbles in your ear, “I asked you a question.” And before you can try to reason with the man that is living, breathing proof God is real and so so good, that big hand travels down the slope of your belly to your pussy, fingers circling your clit. “You gon let me put a baby in you?”

There’s really only one answer you’re capable of giving. Tears down your face from borderline overstimulation, you swear over your entire goddamn uterus for this man to do whatever he wants. “Shit, yes. Oh God, yes.”

He’s visibly pleased and satisfied as he shoves you back on the bed and temporarily removes himself to adjust positions. Joe lays you on your back, legs pushed up at the same time he re-enters you with all the roughness of before. “You ain’t ever getting on that damn pill.”

That could be a problem, maybe, but it’s a problem for another damn day. 

More deep strokes build up that familiar pressure that starts low and expands high. He sees that, the same way you see and feel his end nearing as well. “Lemme see that face when you come all over daddy’s dick.” 

And like the pathetic simp you are for him, your release courses and travels through your entire body, hands squeezing at the sheets, toes curling, trembling and all.

Joe is not far behind, big body hovered over yours as he empties inside of you, sparing not a single drop of his sperm.

He drops to your side, and the two of you lay there in comfortable silence, chests heaving as you try to gather your bearings. 

It’s a couple minutes later when you notice the feeling returning to your bottom half. Turning your head to look at him, you tell him half joking, half serious, “you keep fucking me like that, and I’m gonna be pregnant every year, Joe.” Thinking back, it really is a miracle you didn’t get pregnant much sooner than you did. Granted, it took a bit for you to get comfortable enough to let him fuck you raw. Still, if you knew then what you know now, the beautiful life you’d have together, you probably would have let him impregnated you sooner rather than later.

Especially with knowing how much he’s always wanted a family.

He runs his big hand over your bump. “What’s wrong with that?”

All you can do is stare at him like he’s stupid. This man done lost his goddamn mind. After this baby, you’ll give him one more. After that, that’s it. 

Three kids is your limit.

That’s more than enough.

________

After spending the morning and early afternoon with Callie, the two of you ready her and yourselves for the doctor's appointment. As expected, Callie asks to come, something you were initially okay with until Joe voiced his concerns.

Initially, he’s a bit iffy with his explanation. You don’t follow, don’t understand why you can’t share this moment with Callie as well, letting her hear her baby brother or sister’s heartbeat for the first time.

It’s not until he says, “just want to make sure everything is alright first” that you get it, that you understand he wants to make sure everything is still going smoothly with the pregnancy. It makes all the sense in the world given everything he’s been through with this subject.

So you respect it, hoping he’ll be okay with her attending the next one, or even whichever appointment will be the one where you find out the sex.

She seems to really want a baby sister.

You’re convinced, however, it’s a boy.

It’s something you somehow feel even more convinced of sitting in the doctor’s lobby with your boyfriend, waiting to be called. 

“Looks like my mom’s flight is still scheduled to arrive on time.”

Your mother, forever the drama queen, opted to stay in Philly an extra day so she could “rest.” Rest from what, you’re not entirely sure, because her week wasn’t nearly as hectic as yours and especially Joe. But, the Airbnb was rented until Tuesday, so it wasn’t an issue for him, thus it’s not a big deal to you either. 

He nods. “I’ll pick her up.” 

“You can just pick Callie up on the way home afterwards then.” It’s less ripping and running for the man who should be resting but has been on the go since the minute his eyes opened this morning, it seems. “Give us a few hours of alone time.”

He gives you that look. “You feening already?”

“Stop being nasty,” you chide, even if he’s not entirely wrong. It’s a rarity that you get alone time with the man next to you, usually having to share, or not share, him with his possessive little twin. “I was thinking we could take a nap or something. The next few days are gonna be stupid busy and draining. My agenda is packed.”

“You created a schedule?”

“Of course.” It’s said as if it’s the simplest thing a person could ever explain. “I’m a teacher and a mama, Joe. I live my life by schedules and agenda. I’ll share the Google doc with you.”

Forever confused about modern technology, he asks, “a what?”

Groaning, head thrown back against the seat, you chide him for his outdated knowledge of technology. “You’re such an old man. Imagine Microsoft Word but better and easily accessible.” 

He’s unbothered and clearly set in his ancient ways. “I’m still stuck on the agenda.”

“Baby, if you’re gonna go all out to take us to Disney, I’m gonna make sure we’ll maximize our time there as much as possible.”

He looks like he wants to initially say something but decides on option two instead. “It’s not like it’ll be the last time, baby. We’ll go again in May if you’re up to it, and I know Callie gon want to go again and again.”

“That girl would probably live there if she could.” It’s half a joking, half a serious guess. Thinking on his words, you suggest, “if for some reason I can’t go in May, you two should go.”

He looks at you as if he’s surprised you would suggest something like that. “Yeah?”

Nodding, you grab his arm, laying your head against his shoulder. “She would love that, and with you being home, any opportunity you have to spend time with her, just the two of you, you should take.” Hand to your stomach, you add, “especially before the baby gets here.”

It goes without saying that Joe will absolutely spend as much time with Callie as he can while on indefinite hiatus, but spending said time doing something like taking her to Disney for a father daughter trip would be another level of happiness. 

For the both of them.

A couple of minutes later, your name is called. Joe easily slips his hand over yours, guiding you to the back. He’s standing at your side as the nurse takes your weight, blood pressure, and is outside the door as they take a urine sample to check for sugar and protein levels. Once in the room, the nurse finalizes her portion of questions before instructing you to undress and change into the hospital gown. 

As soon as the door is closed and you’re laid on the table, your hand reaches for his.

“Everything’s going to be fine.”

You’ve been with this man long enough to know that while he’s adept at hiding his emotions, compartmentalizing them wisely and expertly, there’s just some minor telltales that give him away his truth. Tiny little signs that you know and can recognize significantly easier than most. It’s how you know he’s fighting back unease and potential anxiety at something that’s historically been borderline traumatizing for him.  

That’s why you bring your conjoined hands to your belly, again reminding him, “we’re going to be fine.”

He doesn’t say anything, but you don’t need him to. You just need him to know that you’re here for him.

A couple minutes later, Dr. Young walks in with that same friendly greeting, introducing herself to Joe and leaving the same great impression she made during the first appointment. 

She asks all the standard questions before taking your fundal height and transitioning to the big moment you’ve been waiting for since finding out you were expecting. “So far, so good. Let’s get this ultrasound started so mommy and daddy can hear their baby’s heartbeat.” While preparing, she engages you both in conversation. “You already have one child, right?”

Joe answers. “A girl. She’ll be five next month.”

“So not that big of an age gap.” And you’re actually really happy about that, happy that there won’t be so many years between Callie and her little sister or brother. It’ll make the bonding between them that much easier.  “Planning for more after this?”

Her question makes you laugh as you gesture to Joe. “Yes, but the exact number is up in the air because someone over here seems to think I’m a baby machine or something. I’d be okay with one more. Three is my limit though.”

He chuckles but agrees. “I do think three is a good number.”

“Very fair.” Dr. Young also laughs, applying the gel to your stomach, asking the both of you, “ready?”

You give Joe’s hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze and answer, “we’re ready.”

Her smile remains as she begins to move the transducer around your stomach. Every second after that feels like it weighs 100lbs, like there’s a massive anchor attached to each passing second that crushes down on your chest. It’s important that you remain in a positive mindset for the sake of the man beside you who must be feeling ten times what you’re experiencing.

But then…..

But then you hear it.

The strangest yet most beautiful rhythmic beating expecting parents could hear. 

And then you’re crying. You’re crying because this moment means so much to you, means so much to Joe. His lips are pressed against your forehead, lingering, an unspoken I love you in the air.

It’s like you can feel the anxiety completely wash off and away from him.

From the both of you. 

But then Dr. Young’s smile dims. “Oh….”

One word, and your heart also drops. You beat Joe to it, asking, “what?” 

Her answer, in actuality, comes a few seconds later, but it feels like an hour wait. She seems almost hesitant, “is there—do twins run on either side?”

Your heart drops in a different kind of way, in a pure terror sort of way but for an entirely different reason.

“Please—-please do not tell me that we’re having twins.” That….that can’t be true. You refuse to even allow yourself to consider the possibility that it could be true. One glance at Joe, and he seems just as lost. “Dr. Young.”

She shakes her head. “No, you’re not having twins.” 

And just like that, you release the biggest, relieving, relaxing breath that could leave your body. “Oh, thank God.” Hand on your chest, you laugh a little, shaking your head. “I was about to say—”

“You’re having triplets.”

There’s one blink, two blinks, three blinks followed up with a hearty laugh. Your gaze falls on Joe who isn’t laughing, eyes instead focused on the monitor. “That’s funny.” Shaking your head, you then notice not a speck of humor on her face. “Why—why aren’t you laughing?”

She makes a face, pointing to the screen. “Here’s baby A….” Your eyes land on what you can tell is clearly a baby still in the early stages of development. She moves around the transducer, searching, landing on another indecipherable speck. “Baby B.” Again, more searching before she reaches her final destination. “And baby C.” 

You’re in a state of shock staring at the screen, partially paying attention to her words but more in a state of shock than anything. “And they all have very strong heartbeats.”

This is a beautiful thing for her to say, for you to hear, but it’s the pluralism that you can’t get over. 

“Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait a damn minute.” By now, you’re no longer crying and instead sitting up on your elbows trying not to have a goddamn stroke. “Are you serious right now?” Before she can say anything, you’re clarifying to avoid any room for miscommunication. “There are three children growing inside me?”

Dr. Young gives a nervous chuckle, offering an almost unsure. “Congratulations?”

“Oh my—” Instantly, you’re turning to Joe, punching him on his big ass arm as hard as you can. 

He has the audacity to make a sound as if it fucking hurt his built like a boulder ass. “Ow.”

“No, that’s what I’m going to be saying when I’m trying to push out three of your big headed ass children!” Just the thought of that alone makes your eyes water. “Like what the fuck, Joe!”

This man has the unmitigated gall to shrug almost nonchalantly “It wasn’t like it was intentional, baby.”

“You know what is going to be intentional?” You point to the wall opposite that’s mostly made up of a large window, providing a view of the busy Florida streets. “Me pushing your big ass out that window for doing this to me!”

Dr. Young gives an uncomfortable cough. “Maybe I should leave you two al—”

“Baby.”

“No, don’t call me that. Matter of fact, don’t call me anything, because we are through! I thought you loved me!”

“Y/N—”

“I think you need to just calm down, Y/N. I know this is unexpected—”

“Unexpected?” Ready to rip into him, a gasp escapes your mouth when a thought crosses your mind. You turn to Dr. Young and ask, “wait. We had sex this morning. Is it possible it’s just like his sperm or something you’re seeing?”

“With a heartbeat?”

You’re not in the mood for Joe’s smartass comments and make as such known. “I wasn’t talking to you, Nick Cannon.” He rolls his eyes. “Doc?”

She’s not much help either. “I’ve been doing this a long time, Y/N. I think I know what a baby looks like. That’s a baby.” She then corrects, “Three, actually.”

“Oh my god,” you moan, eyes starting to water and as you turn to him again. “How could you do this to me? Why would you do this—”

He’s trying to comfort you, voice gentle as he works to calm you down, a hopeless effort. You’re too far gone because now you’re full out crying, very little difference between yourself and Callie during one of her tantrums. “You and your stupid fertile ass super-sperm!”

“Well, I see you two have a lot to talk about—”

“Who the fuck has three kids at once, Joe?” You growl at him while also asking the doctor, “can we like space that shit out? Like I can give birth on different days?”

She seems to be trying her best to be respectful of your haywire emotions. “I don’t—I don’t think that’s possible.”

That evokes another loud sob. “My vagina is literally gonna fucking break. These big ass babies are gonna demolish my walls.”

Dr. Young remains the professional voice of reason. “Now, we don’t know the babies size just yet, so let’s not panic—”

“I do! Big!” You snap, angrily pointing at your former boyfriend. “Look at this man! He’s freakishly huge, and so is basically his entire fucking family.”

She seemingly ignores your probably hormonal outburst, redirecting to facts. “We’ll continue to monitor the babies growth, and if their size presents an issue, then we’ll discuss scheduling a possible C-Section.” She then informs of an additional change in plans. “And because you’re having multiples, I will need to see you every two weeks vs every month due to increased risk of complications with a pregnancy like this—”

“Complications?” Joe questions, and for a second, you’re able to pull away from your meltdown to be present for the possible return of his anxiety. 

Dr. Young is quick to clarify. “Looking at her medical records, the first pregnancy seemed to go relatively well medically, so we have very little reason to think this will be any different. It’s just that taking extra precautions never hurt anybody and is the medical standard for pregnancies with multiples.”

That seems to calm him a bit, as it does you, but only for a second, because you’re right back to freaking out.

“People have baby showers and gender reveal parties. Not babies showers and genders reveal parties. It’s supposed to be single, not plural!”

“Well, you said three was your limit—”

“Joe!”

________

Group Chat: SOS

Y/N: attention everyone, joe and i are no longer together as of today. we will be coparenting moving forward and ask for privacy at this time.

Joe: That’s cute you think I’m letting your ass ever leave me again.

Joe: You ain’t going nowhere.

Alexis: Is this the start of some sex skit? Cause if so, I’m so down. 

Kaylah: Ummmmm, okay?

Jadah: It’s damn near 11pm where I am. What is going on?

Bianca: Sis, did you mean to add us or??????

Y/N: we just got done with the first OB-GYN appointment…..

Y/N: THIS MOTHERFUCKER PUT TRIPLETS INSIDE OF ME.

Alexis: WAIT, WHAT?????

Y/N: YES!

Bianca: As in three children?????

Y/N: Y E S

Alexis: I’m literally never babysitting for ya’ll ever again.

Josh: Damn, Joe….

Jon: Welp….ya’ll will probably qualify for some discount at daycare. Enroll two kids, get two free.

Y/N: NOT FUCKING FUNNY!

Alexis: Ya’ll! We should help them pick out names!

Alexis: I’ll go first.

Alexis: Kelly, Michelle, and Beyonce

Bianca: Alex, Sam, and Clover

Jon: Ed, Edd, and Eddy

Josh: Theodore, Simon, and Alvin

Jadah: Earth, Wind, and Fire

Alexis: Prue, Phoebe, and Piper

Kaylah: Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles

Jon: Luke, Leia, and Han

Bianca: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles 

Trinity: Toni, Tone, and Tony

Josh: Moe, Larry, and Curly

Jadah: Left-Eye, T-Boz, and Chilli 

Bianca: Salt, N, and Peppa

Y/N: LITERALLY NEVER SPEAKING TO ANY OF YOU EVER FUCKING AGAIN

Bianca: I mean, are you really that surprised, Y/N? You’re only three months, and you look four or five.

Y/N: I just thought it was just my chubby little baby boy 🥺

Alexis: Well, it is…..

Jadah: times three***

Kaylah: JADAH

Jadah: You’ve successfully continued the lineage of light skin basketball players. 

Alexis: Warriors finna start scouting them in middle school.

Joe: Jesus Christ, Jadah.

Alexis: BUT DID SHE LIE.

Y/N: i’m literally crying right now. 😭 AND NOT BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS FUNNY.

Joe: She is. In between threatening me, of course…. 

Kaylah: Bro, can you blame her? Twins….okay. Triplets? That’s insane.

Y/N: I’m literally gonna cut his dick off when he’s sleeping tonight. 🤬

Alexis: Don’t do that, friend. You’ll miss it too much. 😫

Y/N: ….fair  

Jon: Yo, can ya’ll take that nasty shit to another chat??? 

Josh: Please. We trying to celebrate the expansion of the Bloodline! Welcome to the family Ash, Misty, and Brock! 

Joe: Those aren’t half bad name suggestions actually….

Y/N: we are not naming our babies after pokemon characters, you fucking asshole.

Y/N: i hope you still like our sofa cause that’s exactly where your ass is sleeping for the rest of your life.

Alexis: You know good and well Callie ain’t about to let you do her daddy like that. She’s #TeamJoe all day erryday.

Y/N: then she can join his ass in the living room too. we’re gonna need room for all these goddamn kids.

Joe: I’m telling you right now, my baby girl ain’t giving up her room.

Trinity: Ain’t ya’ll got like 10 bedrooms or something?

Bianca: No, but literally. 

Trinity: Anyway, congratulations, and please don’t fight in here. 

Alexis: Naw, they fuck more than they fight. That’s why sis carrying the Holy Trinity now. Wasn’t thinking about that shit everytime she was wearing herself out on BDJ dick and letting him come in her like she Cum Express.

Jon: YO! Family friendly, please! Y/N like my lil sis. Ion wanna think about her like that!!!

Josh: 🤢

Jadah: Lex ain’t wrong though 🤔

Jadah: In all seriousness, congratulations to the both of you! 

Alexis: To many more Moana looking babies!

Y/N: ALL I KNOW IS AT LEAST ONE OF THESE BABIES BETTER HAVE SOME OF MY GODDAMN MELANIN THIS TIME 😭

Trinity: Now, sis…..

Jadah: Y/N, I got a river to sell you…..

Alexis: *sings* she’s biracial. She’s biracial, girl…….

*Y/N HAS LEFT THE GROUP CHAT*

Joe: Look what ya’ll done did.

Jadah: Dude, you are literally the last one to fucking talk.

Jon: Yeah, man, you the one that did it.

Alexis: So like, did you come in her three times back to back or like spurts of cum in threes? I’m tryna see something here. 

*JOE HAS LEFT THE GROUP CHAT*

________

Joe is a good man. You know this. But, that doesn’t make you want to kill him any less for literally impregnating you with three goddamn children at the same time. Sure, he’s absolutely right in that it was most definitely not intentional, just a pure stroke of luck, maybe bad luck, but still serendipitous.

And to his credit, you can see he feels a little bad, mostly because of the increased risk for complications that this pregnancy now stands to face. Still, it doesn't stop him from clearly trying to alleviate some of your anxiety about this unexpected plot twist.

He’s overly kind and patient, offering to stop and pick up your latest craving which happens to be the 10 piece nuggets from McDonald’s. He volunteers to help Callie pack, low key a major favor in that it helps you avoid her 50 million questions she’s already asked about this ‘family trip.’ He even runs a bath for you, bath bombs, bubbles, lit candles, and all.

He’s trying. That much is more than obvious. And you appreciate it.

What you don’t appreciate though is the moment you break the news to Callie. Your mom is a lot easier, surprised but also not surprised? Apparently she was suspecting a multiples pregnancy?

She will also be added to the probation list until further notice for such subterfuge, because as her only child, you could have gotten a heads up or something.

But Callie…..sweet, sweet Callie lives up to reputation of having no filter with the first question to leave her mouth.

“Does that mean Jesus doesn’t love you since He gave you all those babies?”

Your eyes are as wide as saucers as Joe closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. 

No filter whatsoever.

And they just keep coming 

“Why are you having so many?” Callie’s questions are so innocent and sweet, and you know she means no harm, but that doesn’t stop the resurgence of all of your initial, chaotic emotions from earlier. “How are you gonna get all of them out of you, mommy?”

“Oh-kay.” Joe easily swoops Callie into his arms, explaining kindly, “why don’t we let mommy take her bath while you, me, and grandma get started on dinner, hmm?”

This successfully diverts her from unintentionally triggering you as she asks with all the excitement, “can we have spaghetti?”

“We sure can, baby girl.”

He shoots you an apologetic look before taking Callie out of the room, closing the bedroom door. You’re grateful for the dual departure, because you really just need and want to be alone for a little bit.

Stripping your clothes off, you settle into the water that’s heated at just the right temperature. Leaning more on heat than cool. Just the way you like it. 

He knows you so well.

Reclining against the back of the tub, your thoughts wander back to this unexpected twist.

You’re happy. You really are freaking thrilled to be expecting, to be expanding your family, to give Joe more children and Callie siblings. It’s just the childbirth part of it all that has you a little spooked. Callie’s birth really was non-problematic and relatively smooth.

But, it was painful, and that’s not something you’re looking forward to. 

Granted, you’re not sure someone can have a vaginal birth and not experience some level of pain. That just doesn't seem possible. It’s just that the thought of having to do that three times in one sitting is a bit overwhelming and borderline scary.

Three…

Three

For some reason, your mind briefly jumps back in time, not too long ago. Revisiting a conversation. A long overdue, heavy conversation with the one person you never thought you’d meet, let alone develop a budding friendship with.

Jadah. 

In the midst of her sharing and vulnerability, she’d disclosed her losses. Joe’s losses.

Three.

The number was three.

They’d lost three children.

Chills shoot and sprout across your entire body.

You’re not as deeply religious as your mom, but you do believe that some things happen for a reason. Some. 

Nor are you naive or ignorant enough to believe that these children could ever somehow replace the three he lost. That’s just not how life works. 

But 

There is something moving and poignant about the fact that you’re in a strange way able to offer him a different kind of restoration, a different kind of healing, and fill a different type of void.

You could never take away that kind of pain that must burn and rest deep within, but you can give him this. Give him that dream he’s always had of having a big family. Sure, it’s not exactly ideal and you’d much rather have given him three more children on three separate occasions, but that’s just not the way the universe operated this time around.

And that’s okay.

It’s okay.

The bath is suddenly less appealing, a new desire to be around the man you love, the woman who you helped you become the woman you are today, and the little sunshine you’re blessed to call your baby girl.

In under twenty minutes, you’re washed, dressed, and heading down the steps. A smile grows on your face as you walk into the kitchen. Your mom is at the stove, holding Callie as she adds seasoning, explaining to Calista the purpose of each additive.

Joe is at the sink draining the pasta when you move behind him, slightly catching him off guard. He turns and looks down. “Hey, baby.”

Hugging him from the side and burying your head into him, you feel him shift, arms around you as he kisses the top of your head. In a low voice, probably to avoid attracting Callie’s attention just yet, he asks, “you alright?”

Nodding against him, you murmur, “I just love you….a lot.” 

And you do. Lord, you do. For as long as the sun rises and sets in the sky is how long and deep your love for this man will run. He’s done so much, given up so much, sacrificed so much for you. For Callie. But for you too. 

This….this is what he deserves.

________

The four of you are up and on the road before 8am rolls around, Joe’s preference as the official start of your trip and stay at Disney for the next few days is apparently set to kick off at 10am.

The recent consistent early mornings you’ve all had the past almost two weeks make it easier to stay on track and on board, but it’s only twenty minutes into the almost hour and a half drive that things start to get a little chaotic.

Moving in your seat, you look over at Joe. “Baby, I have to pee.”

He quickly turns to you for a second before focusing back on the road. “What you mean you have to pee?”

This man is so damn irritating sometimes. “I mean, urine needs to leave my urethra.”

As if you’re a child, he asks the most obvious question. “Why didn’t you use the bathroom before we left?”

“I did!”

This doesn’t seem feasible to him as he questions almost suspiciously. “And you gotta go again already?”

Rolling your eyes, you start to get a bit snappy, because why does you needing to use the bathroom have to be such a big deal? “Well, I’m sorry your children are playing hopscotch on my bladder, alright?” You’re pretty sure the babies aren’t big enough to be the cause of that just yet. It’s most likely the 32oz cup of lemonade sitting in the cupholder you've been sipping on since you got in the Range Rover that’s got you needing to go to the restroom.

But, he doesn’t need to know that. 

Your personal little morality police then decides to chime in from the backseat where she sits next to your mom. “Mommy, you said a bad word.”

Turning around in your seat to look at her, you ask, “Callie, why aren’t your headphones on?” There’s a reason you made sure to charge and pack them for her. For this very reason.

“Don’t try to deflect. My grandbaby is right. You said a bad word.”

The love you have for your mother and daughter is endless, but the two of them together is bringing on a headache. “Mama, why aren’t your AirPods in?”

She smacks her teeth, waving you off. “Girl, I told you I don’t know how to work them things”

“Mama, you literally just put them in your ear.” Turning to Joe, you ask, “and why haven’t you stopped yet?”

He motions to the interstate asking like the smartass that he is. “Do you see an exit yet?”

“Don’t take that tone with me, okay!” Sniffling more from allergies than true emotions, you sit back in your seat with your arms crossed. “I’m sensitive.”

“Girl, you ain’t never been sensitive a day in your life.”

Yeah, mama is about to get dropped off at the first damn exit.

Forever the curious cat, Callie asks no one in particular. “What does sensitive mean?”

Joe answers with a chuckle, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “It means your mommy, baby girl.”

It would be perfect if your child was like others and accepted one answer as the final answer, but that’s too good to be true. She’s too smart and inquisitive for that. “Is that cause mommy has all those babies in her tummy?”

“Oh my—” Hand to your temple, you murmur hopefully loud enough for only Joe to hear. “We are never going on a road trip ever again.”

Callie then informs that she too needs a bathroom break. “Daddy, I have to pee too.”

“I guess I could move my bladder again....”

Your mom caving to peer pressure and getting behind you and Callie in the metaphorical line for the restroom sends Joe over the edge. He asks over a sigh, “seriously, did none of yall go to the bathroom before we got on the road?”

With all the sass in the world, you point back to each identifying party as you explain, “she’s young. She’s old. And I’m pregnant. What did you expect?” Grabbing your tumbler, you take another sip of your drink. 

Joe catches this and asks suspiciously. “What are you drinking?”

A pause. “Huh?”

He makes a sound. “Is that water?”

Another giveaway pause. “Y–yeah.”

You maybe, maybe, could have gotten away with it too if not for the little snitch in the backseat. “No, it’s not, mommy. Remember, you put the lemonade in there.”

“Callie!”

He throws up one hand from the steering wheel. “Why would you drink lemonade on a road trip and continue to drink it when you already have to use the bathroom?”

It’s hard to argue with him at that. “Okay, when you put it that way, you may have a point.” 

Joe can only laugh at the chaos of it all, reaching for your hand and bringing it to his mouth as he mutters. “you’re lucky I love you.”

Not as much as you love him.

Or maybe not as much as Callie is about to love him, does love him, because the minute you’re in the vicinity of the wonderfully colorful, large welcome to Walt Disney World Sign, and she lays eyes on it?

It’s a wrap.

With all the excitement and bliss in her little body, she nearly ruptures the eardrums of all three of you with her loud exclamation.

“WE’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!”

Joe has seemingly spared no expense when it comes to his little girl, and this trip is living proof of that. You quickly learn upon your arrival into Disney that he arranged and paid for the VIP experience, which means it’s hands on, personalized service starting with a private shuttle carrying the four of you to the hotel you’ll be staying at.

The hotel is Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, which just so happens to be the most expensive resort in Disney World. And it would clearly be remiss of Joe to not reserve the most expensive room in said expensive hotel.

The 3-Bedroom Grand Villa - Lake View

It’s fucking massive. Three bedrooms. Four full bathrooms. A full kitchen, living and dining area, washer and dryer as well as a balcony that overlooks the park.

Stunning.

Your mom is just as much in awe as you are the minute you step foot in the villa, meanwhile Callie is talking a mile a minute about all of the things she wants and needs to do once she learns this trip will be for Magic Kingdom.

Catching Joe by his sleeve, you mouth the words thank you.

He didn’t have to do this. Didn’t have to spend what you know has to be an ungodly amount of money to make this happen. There were ways to keep it nice and simple, but that’s not him because there’s nothing simple about the way he loves his daughter.

The way he loves you.

Lips pressed against your temple, he vows and says the words you’ll probably never get tired of hearing.

“I love you too…”

________

Everything about Disney is even more magical and spectacular than you could have ever imagined.

Big, majestic, magical.

It’s made even better in that this VIP experience includes a guide who’s apparently assigned to your group for the entirety of the trip, helping direct and lead you to the best and most worthwhile places.

Your agenda is not needed, clearly.

Day one kicks off with a visit to the Bippity Boppity Boutique where Joe has arranged for Callie to have the The Princess Signature Dress Package every day that you're there, the most expensive and deluxe option where she gets the full on treatment that morphs her into whatever her chosen Disney princess is.

Of course, she doesn’t hesitate to answer Moana when asked what she wants to be for day one. 

If you have to guess, you’d surmise that Tiana, 2023 Ariel, and Jasmine will be her next three, in no particular order. However, it’s an emotional thing for you to see Callie be so happy and full of glee, especially as she gets to see herself in the mirror. 

She really does look like Moana. It’s kinda crazy.

However, once she’s all princessed up and you and your mom buy and change into overpriced shirts from a nearby shop, you’re ready to tackle the day. 

And what a fucking day. You knew Disney was huge, but you didn’t know just how massive. There’s so many things and options and people on any given corner, and you’re suddenly so grateful for this ability to explore while still maintaining some level of privacy. Having the guide, Cheyenne, makes things so much smoother with even something as simple as using the Utilidors to travel to certain areas.

One thing you were a bit concerned about as the trip got closer was just that — privacy. Especially on top of the whole Mariah fiasco, your apparently being internet famous, and Joe actually being famous, the last thing you wanted was for fans who don’t recognize boundaries to be all over him.

Not when Callie is present.

But Joe probably also had that thought, hence him planning this out so well, so thoughtfully. 

And you’re grateful because it seems to make the experience even better for all, especially Callie. My God, you’ve never seen her so happy. Her smile is permanently tattooed on her adorable face as she gets to meet various Disney characters, especially the Disney princesses. Not everyone is tackled the first day, but that’s to be expected. She does, however, get to meet Moana the first day and holy shit, talk about a religious experience.

She’s damn near in tears from happiness. It’s cute and heartwarming to watch, and you’re so grateful your mother has volunteered herself to be the photographer for this experience. She captures it all. The way Joe walks hand in hand with Callie, how you and Joe walk hand in hand with Callie, all of the meet and greets with the characters, the small rides Callie asks to go on, not too many, but enough. 

It’s all memorialized via the beauty of modern technology and forever etched into your memories for years to come. 

And while Joe is primarily focused on Callie, who wants all of his attention for this experience, that doesn’t stop him from checking in on you. It’s done a couple different ways: nonvernal, verbal, little touches and kisses against your temple as he gauges your comfort level. And each time you assure him with the same variety of ways. It’s a bit of an exhausting experience, what with all the walking and Florida heat, but that’s to be expected and nothing you can’t handle. 

You've waited too long to take away this moment from Callie, from your mom who’s probably emptied her savings with her inability to not buy at least one thing from each store passed. And because she’s just as stubborn as you are, she practically slaps Joe’s hand when he reaches for his wallet to pay for her stuff. 

You’re certain he’ll find some sort of way to compensate her. 

That’s just the kind of man he is. 

The next couple of days seem to roll by faster than you realized, filled with so much happiness and fun that it feels like you blinked and the second to last day has rolled around.

When Thursday evening arrives, said second to last day of your trip, instead of dinner being shared amongst the four of you, Joe throws you for a bit of a loop, informing that he’s reserved a private room for the two of you at Cinderella’s Castle.

It’s not that you’re opposed in the slightest. If anything, it’s nice to be able to have some alone time. 

For whatever reason, your mom spends longer than what’s usual touching up your edges, almost obsessively trying to make them look “perfect.” And she says as such with a coy comment of, “you gotta look your best tonight, baby.”

One could argue you always try to look your best for special occasions, but there’s also this part of you that knows Joe’s love for you goes beyond the physical. It’s deeper than that, so so much deeper. 

As is yours for him.

Still, you tap into your inner makeup artist bag and have Callie ‘assist’ you in doing your makeup after your mom finally feels satisfied with the refresh of your silk press. Silver jewelry and some strappy white heels finish off the baby blue dress you wear that beautifully accentuates your baby bump.

You briefly considered wearing something red, but that’s for Roman. This is Joe. And the baby blue stood out because, at the time, you were thinking you’re having a baby boy. And that could still be the case, just….add on two more.

Joe looks good, but that’s nothing new. This man has never seen ugly a day in his life. 

You’re both taken to the restaurant via that private ride and escorted to the reserved room almost immediately. However, you can’t stop taking in the restaurant that is so heavily themed based on the move its title is based on.

It’s just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the inside. 

“Joe, this is so beautiful.” It feels like you’ve been plopped into a literal scene from the movie, not to mention the added beauty of having privacy away from others.

He asks, almost hesitantly, “you like it?”

“Are you kidding? I love it.” It’s almost beyond you that he could even fix his mouth to ask such a question. This trip has been a dream come true. “This whole thing….everything you’ve put into it. It means the world to me, to my mom, to Callie. Good Lord, you think that girl loved you before? She loves you more than she loves Moana now.”

He laughs. “Damn. That much?”

“That much.” Eyes softening, you say in a low voice. “Thank you, Joe. Seriously.”

He reaches across the table, taking your hand in his and responds in an equally low voice. “Never have to thank me, baby. Ever.”

The food, delicious and probably insanely overpriced, comes out sooner than you anticipated. But, it doesn't stop conversation happening between the two of you. That’s always been a thing. It’s always been so easy to talk to him, to fall into a natural back and forth dialogue. 

You could talk to him for hours and never grow tired. 

That’s how everything started, really.

Friendship.

He was your friend before anything, and even if by some 0.001% chance things ever go south between you again, that’s something you could never give up. Losing him as a partner would gut you, but losing his friendship as well would destroy you.

You can’t lose him again.

Ever.

When the table is cleared and you expect him to announce you should probably head back to the villa, he instead stands and asks for your hand. “Come on. Something I want to show you.”

Curious but trusting him, you wordlessly accept his hand and allow him to lead you out of the restaurant and into the night. You’re partially expecting to take the shuttle to wherever this thing or place is that he wants to show you, but he instead walks hand in hand with you down the cobble path.It’s significantly less crowded than the daytime, but that wouldn’t make much of difference because you’re so deeply in your own little world with this man.

It really does feel like it’s just the two of you.

“I swear my boobs are already getting bigger.”

He laughs at your random statement, asking in a sly voice, “is that supposed to be a bad thing?”

Hitting him on his shoulder, Joe laughs quietly as you murmur, “you try walking around with two melons of fat on your chest, and then see if you feel the same way.” He doesn't say anything, and you instead continue to focus on the beauty around you. Disney really is ethereal. “It’s even more beautiful at night.”

“Hmmm.”

“Do you know where we’re going?” It’s a valid question considering you just realized this is the first time you’ve explored the park without the guide. Granted, you’ve yet to find something that Joe isn’t very good at outside of modern technology, so it’s not far fetched he knows exactly where he’s going.

“Now’s a fine time to ask.”

Slapping his arm, you move into playfully defensive mode. “I have an excuse. I have baby brain.” Unable to help yourself, you add on. “Babies brain, really.”

He chuckles. “I’m still not forgiven, huh?”

Giving him a sideways expression, you decide to be at least a little fair. “You’re getting there.” Slipping into a more vulnerable place, you lay your head against his arm, admitting, “I feel a lot better knowing you’ll be home the whole time.”

“Me too,” he admits. “Your mom should still come stay with us the first couple weeks.”

“I agree. One adult per baby.” You can only imagine him rolling his eyes. “But no, we have to make sure Callie doesn’t start to feel neglected. I have a feeling she’s gonna get a little jealous when she realizes she has to share your attention with the babies.”

He sounds a bit on the defensive side himself as he reminds, “I have more than enough attention and love for any and all of our kids.” 

“I know, baby, but with how attached she is to you, on top of how young she is, that may be hard for her to grasp at first.”

It’s something you’ve thought about a lot just watching her interact with Joe these past couple days. She’s gotten used to not having to share him with anyone. With you, yes, but not with any other kids, any other siblings. She’s excited about being a big sister, yes, but you wonder how that transition into actually being a big sister could be for her.

He seems to understand where you’re coming from now. “We’ll just have to talk with her.”

“I agree.”

A couple minutes later, you’re gasping and smiling when you realize where he’s taking you. You drop your hands from his arms and reach for his hand, leading him in the direction of one of the best things you’ve seen thus far.

“It’s Cinderella’s wishing well.”

You’ve seen a couple of TikToks talking about how this is something that doesn’t get as much attention but is just as adorable as everything else. And they’re right, the design, the location so that it’s right in the perfect view of the castle.

It’s so perfect.

Of course, he has to ruin the mood by asking, “Cinderella is the black and white movie one, right?”

“Joe, none of the Disney movies you’ve seen were in black and white.” Granted, you can see why he would think that given the age of Cinderella. The animation and even voice acting are pretty aged. “This might have been the one you fell asleep on.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Baby, you were knocked out. You and your lil twin. I think I have the photo on my phone to prove it.” Reaching for your phone to show him the proof, you’re stopped by his hand on your arm. “What?”

He then turns his hand over, revealing a coin. His voice is suddenly lower, almost quieter than it was a couple minutes ago. “Make a wish.”

“Seriously?” That’s also something else you read, the fact that the wishing well is a real, actual well that visitors tend to drop a coin and make a wish with in the hopes of dreams coming true. “Joe, my ass is too old to be making a wish.”

He shakes his head, eyes so soft and focused on you. “Just….just do it.”

The strange shift in his tone, volume, and even expression takes you off guard a bit, but you could also just be looking too into things. “Okay.” Snapping your purse back closed, you accept the coin and move closer to the well. Because of the well lit spotlight, you can see a set of coins already at the bottom. 

It takes a second for you to think about just what to wish for. 

And that’s significantly difficult because there is nothing for you to wish for.

You have everything you could have ever wanted.

It takes a minute, but you finally settle on a wish. You close your eyes, take a nice, efficient breath and flip it into the well with the rest of the wishes. 

Smiling, you turn back around, ready to peer pressure him into making a wish as well. “Alright, now it’s your—”

The sentence is cut premature because of a very good reason, a reason that has your hand over your mouth, your eyes watering and your stomach doing fucking somersaults.

Being in a committed relationship with Joe was something you once dreamed about and somehow became a reality that still stuns you.

Disney has been an unexpected dream you also never imagined would be as spectacular as he’s made it. 

Joe sacrificing his title to spend time with you and Callie knocked the wind out of you.

But this? This is most definitely something you never saw coming.

You never anticipated finding Joe Anoa'i kneeled down on one knee, a small, red square box that reads Cartier in gold writing in his hand that holds the kind of promise and vow of love that’s meant to withstand time.

It’s a miracle your legs don’t give out from underneath you. “Leati…”

“I love you, Y/N. I love you in a way that I really don’t know to accurately describe and help you understand. You’re more than just the mother of my children, you’re my best friend. You were there supporting and encouraging me when I needed it the most. Everything I have now, everything I’ve accomplished, it’s because of you.”

“Baby–”

“We always talk about that time I missed out with Callie, but I didn’t just miss out on time with Callie. I missed out on time with you.” There’s no way for you to hold back the tears that partially obscure your vision as he pours his heart out to you. “And that was on me because I should have married you a long time ago. I’ve always wanted to be with you, and one of my biggest regrets will always be not fighting harder for you, for us. That time we missed out on, that’s on me.”

The emotions coursing through your body is a deep, visceral experience you’ve never encountered. It’s equally wonderful as it is terrifying. At this point, you’re just full on sobbing, no doubt your pregnancy hormones making this emotional moment heavier than what it already is.

Joe is suddenly standing before you, gently lowering your hands and raising your chin to bring your gaze back onto him.

“I should have been honest about my marriage with Jadah. It would have saved all of us a lot of heartache.” He looks so regretful, so remorseful. “Those five years may have never happened, but I can’t change that. What I can change though is how the rest of our lives play out, and I don’t want to do life without you. There is no me without you, Y/N. She was never my person. You are.”

Your eyes are closed as he rests his forehead against yours. “I loved you then, I love you now, and I’ll love you always. Whatever you want, I’ll do. Whatever you need, I’ll provide. I told you before all I needed was for you to say yes when I ask, so I’m asking, please say yes.” You look down to see he’s opened the ring box, revealing the most stunning engagement ring to ever exist. It’s absolutely perfect. “Marry me, Y/N.”

And like the night of WrestleMania, you’re putting all the pieces together. His comment about saying yes, suddenly moving up the Disney trip, your mom wanting you to look perfect.

This was his plan all along.

A proposal.

A proposal at Disney World of all places. 

His final question returns to the front of your mind, and it’s solely because of the hot, emotional mess you are that you don’t answer right away.

You had said answer the minute you saw this man on one knee.

“Yes.” His shoulders visibly relax, and it’s only then that you can see how nervous he was about this. How he could ever question himself is beyond you. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do or give to this man. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”

Joe wastes no time in sliding the stunning, expensive looking ring on your finger, and you’re so in awe. “Oh my god, Joe, it’s so beautiful.” And it is. It’s exactly the kind of ring you’ve always dreamed about but never thought you would ever receive.

“I had it made in November.” Your chest tightens. That was so long ago. “And I’ve wanted to propose to you so many times in between then and now, but you deserved your dream proposal. I wanted to make it as special for you as I could, because it’s the least I could do after making you wait for so long.”

“Joe……” Another set of tears of cascades as you reach up to hug him again, not knowing if there are truly accurate enough words to describe your happiness in this moment. “I love you.” It’s such a simple but weighty thing. No one could ever understand the depth of your love for this man. 

“I love you too.” He moves his hands to your hips as you release him from the hug, hands planted on his chest. “Am I forgiven now?”

Laughing, you shake your head, “yeah….you’re definitely forgiven.” Forever the brat, you can’t avoid using the stipulation. “For now.”

He just rolls his eyes, moving to take your hand as he nods back in the direction of where you’d walked. “Come on.”

Walking and being so close to him helps to settle you. Well, as much as possible considering you just got the surprise of your damn life.

Your body is pressed against his when a thought crosses your mind. “Oh my god, does Callie know?”

“Of course. I had to ask her permission.”

“You should have known that was a no brainer.” It must have been a beautiful, mushy sight to witness. Him asking his little girl for permission to marry her mommy. Callie was probably through the moon. “That and my mama.” Joe is old fashioned in the sense that you can’t see him not also asking for permission from your mom, and he confirms as such. 

“She loves me.” He’s so smug in how he says it too. 

But, he’s not wrong. “I swear, if she wasn’t my mama, she might try to take you from you.”

His voice is calm and collected as he assures. “That ain’t ever happening.”

Granted, that assurance isn’t needed because this man is stuck with you for life now. “Ya damn straight it’s not. All these kids we about to have? I wish you would try to leave me for some white woman who stans Taylor Swift. I’ll call Alexis crazy ass and we jumping you and her.”

He runs his thumb over your knuckles. “You ain’t ever gotta worry about that.” He then asks, “you talked to her yet about being Callie’s godmother?”

“Not yet, but I will. I can’t see her saying no. She never stays in one place for too long, but I know for a fact if she ever needed to take Calista for any reason, she’d settle down in a heartbeat.”

“I agree.” 

It’s a conversation that first came up after the Mariah nightmare and re-emerged after you started the process of removing her as Callie’s legal godmother. Alexis has been a rock for you this past couple months, Callie loves and trusts her, as do you. Joe also feels like she would be the perfect person to take on that special role. 

It’s definitely something you want to discuss with her when you get back from the trip.

Joe leads the two of you back into the castle, but you’re confused when he walks past the room you two dined in and reaches for another door. “Wait, why are we—”

 “Surprise!”

Hands covering your face, you’re buried into Joe as he laughs softly, kissing the top of your head. 

Getting proposed to at Disney essentially in front of Cinderella’s castle was the definition of a plot twist you never saw coming, but having all of your closest friends and family present for a surprise engagement party is beyond a plot twist.

It’s a dream.

Familiar and loved faces fill your vision when you finally pull away from Joe, still blotting the tears away. The room is decorated beautifully, Disney themed, blues and pinks, but it’s the people you care the most about that make it all the more special.

And inarguably your favorite little human being is suddenly running over to you, hugging your legs. “Mommy! Did you say yes?”

The fact that all these people are here is confirmation enough that they all knew what was happening tonight. That they’ve probably been known the same way they knew Joe wasn’t retaining at WrestleMania.

But, the fact that Callie knew does something to you. Makes you even more of an emotional mess.

Sniffling, you lean down and lift your left hand for her to see. “Of course, I said yes, baby!”

Gasping loudly, Callie turns to the group and shouts. “Mommy said yes!”

Laughing at her excitement morphs into laughing at the general responses to said announcement.

“Tag, you’re it!”

“It’s about damn time!”

“My baby’s getting married!”

“She better have said yes! These tickets were expensive!”

“Cue the music!”

The following exclamation is followed up with an old but familiar song filling the room.

Hey now

Hey now

It’s such a nostalgic yet hopeful experience. Celebrating your future with a song that so perfectly encapsulates the magic of the past.

Joining the group that unintentionally seems to separate between women, men, and kids, you’re met with hugs and continued congratulations, but it’s the one from Jadah, the way she whispers in your ear, “you deserve this,” that really does something to your soul. 

Pulling away, you take her hands in yours, giving a squeeze. “Thank you.”

She just gives you a wink, snapping back into her typical sarcastic space as she says, “just don’t think I’m gonna show up for all these special events all the time. I have a lovely lady back home I gotta get back to.”

“You should have brought her!” You’d be so honored to meet the woman who captured Jadah’s heart.

“Next time,” she smirks. You plan to hold her to that.

“Maybe we can have it at my place or something. An informal housewarming party.” Alexis joining the conversation isn’t surprising nor an issue, but her suggestion does confuse you.

“What do you mean housewarming?”

Rolling her pretty eyes, she informs, “I got tired of you coming after me and my non-commitment, so I may or may not have signed a lease for a townhouse about ten minutes out from your place.” An equally shocked and loud gasp leaves your mouth as you again have to fight back more tears. This whole night has been nothing but surprises back to back. “Someone’s gotta be around to help you with this village of children you got floating around in your uterus”

“Alexis…..” You pull her into a hug that lasts longer than the one with Jadah and even Bianca. A sister. Bianca may be your biological sister, but Alexis is your chosen sister.

“Yeah, yeah.” She’s never been the emotional type, but you don’t miss the gleam in her eyes as well as she redirects. “Alexis from Texas is officially moving to Florida!”

It’s the way almost all of the guys' heads snap in the direction of Alexis at her exclamation that makes you roll your eyes but the rest of the ladies feel some type of way.

“And how do you know who Alexis Texas is?” Bianca is the first to ask, which is understandable given Darius was the first to look with intrigue.

But, he’s saved when one of the kids calls out, “who is Alexis Texas?” and all of the adults wisely pivot the conversation, Trinity taking the lead.

“Let’s dance!”

That doesn’t need to be said twice, Kaylah being the one to match your energy the most as you both have a bit of a higher love of Disney than the others. Except one.

Callie suddenly runs up to you, tugging on the side of your dress. “Dance party!”

Laughing, you take her hands in yours, dancing with her, her happy laughter even more melodic and healing as the song playing in the room. 

I've got somewhere I belong

I got somebody to love

This is what dreams are made of

And it’s in the way the lyrics really hit you, the way you and Joe connect eyes and he mouths ‘I love you’ that something crashes into you with all of the heaviness of a life changing realization.

This…..

This is what you always wanted. 

Not to be married, per se.

Not to have that coveted title of being a wife,, the stereotypical white picket fence and husband who clocks in 9 to 5.

All of that is fine and having Joe’s last name truly will mean a lot to you, but it’s not the end goal you always thought it was.

The end goal was to simply be happy.

And as it turns out, that happiness comes in not just the form you’ve always been taught and fed by the media and stories where the prince rushes in and saves the princess. 

You’ve learned that love isn’t just romantic, isn’t just two people devoting and pledging their love and loyalty to one another for forever. That’s part of it, yes, maybe. 

But not all of it. 

It’s the way Joe looks at Callie at any given moment.

It’s the way Callie’s face lights up whenever she’s with you or Joe.

It’s the joy that fills your body when you think of the life, the lives, growing inside you, expanding the family you’ve always wanted, the family Joe has always wanted.

It’s the way the people you love and appreciate the most gathered here tonight to help celebrate such a special occasion, the start of a new, fresh, happy chapter. 

Love is all around.

People just have to find it.

The same way you found yours.

The End

authors note: welp, that's it for book one of reader and joe's story! thank you all so so sooooo much for giving my story a chance and seeing it through this far. 🥺❤️ sincerely never imagined so many people would read/be interested, so thanks a bunch 🥺🥺🥺

i'm also open to suggestions for if our good sis should have all girls, all boys, a mix-up......there's options, clearly. names as well 😅

i will be continuing the next chapter of their story in a sequel titled, 'without you.' i will continue to tag the same people, unless you'd prefer to leave their story as it is here, then please let me know, and i won't tag you. i truly hope you enjoyed the conclusion to part one! 🥺❤️ the first chapter should be up in the next two weeks for book 2!

[munsonsmixtapes]

Teach Me

Steve x bi!fem!reader

word count: 8,046

part one part two part three part five part six part seven part eight

Part Four: Lesson Three

“Can’t believe this is the second weekend in a row that you’re ditching me,” Eddie scoffed as he lay across your bed. He was on his stomach with his feet kicked up as he flipped through yet another one of your magazines, swinging his legs back and forth. You swore that he liked them more than you did. He loved the gossip and all the little quizzes. For the last twenty minutes, he had been trying to figure out who his dream date was going to be and was trying to decide between the final two.

“And I can’t believe you’re complaining when you claimed that you were a “proud daddy” because I was hanging out with people who weren’t you,” you retorted, throwing on a pair of shorts.

“I’m still a proud daddy, don’t get it twisted,” he stood up from the bed. “But now I feel like you’re replacing me for Harrington,” he jutted out his bottom lip. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him lately.”

“We work together, Eds,” you crossed your arms over your chest. “And I’d never replace you. You’re my best friend.”

“You know you’re allowed to have feelings for him, right? I’m not upset.” The more he thought about it, the more he could see you with Steve. And it didn’t upset him in the slightest. In fact, he couldn’t have been more happy.

“I don’t like him.” Eddie thought it was cute how in denial you were of your feelings. How it was so obvious that you liked Steve but you were the only one who couldn’t see it.

“Right,” he nodded. “You don’t have feelings for Steve in the way that I’m one hundred percent straight,” he winked. Your sexuality was one of the things that bonded you. You both had realized that you were bisexual at very young ages and had been the first people that you each came out to.

“But-”

“Don’t try to deny it, babe,” he nudged your shoulder. “Own it. He likes you too.”

“How can you be so sure?” Eddie gave you a look as if to say “really” with a hand on his hip.

“Because I can see hearts forming in his eyes every time he looks at you.” It was almost sickening, how much love Steve looked at you with. The way his brown eyes would soften and his lips would turn up into that stupid, dopey smile.

“No you can’t.” You almost wanted to believe that he was lying, but Eddie was a terrible liar and he most certainly would have never lied to you.

“Oh, please,” he scoffed. “That man is totally in love with you.” That was a hard concept for you to grasp. That anyone could love you. Especially in a romantic sense. You had always been a last choice to people so why would you have ever been anyone’s first?

“Whatever.” You turned back to your closet and went through the rack one more time before deciding on one of your old tank tops. You really needed to update your wardrobe.

“Now, let’s talk about something more important,” he reached for the magazine and held it out to you. “Do you think my dream man is Harrison Ford or Johnny Depp?”

“I can’t believe you’d even ask me that,” you rolled your eyes as you threw on the tank top. “We both know you like men old enough to be your father so you’re definitely going to choose Harrison Ford.”

“You know me so well,” he grabbed hold of your face and pressed a loud, smacking kiss to your cheek. You quickly wiped your cheek with the back of your hand with a grimace. “Damn,” he let out a whistle. “Looking to get some tonight?”

“No,” you glared. “Robin will be there too. Are you gonna be okay here tonight?” He was watching Callie for you yet again which you always appreciated. “I can stay.”

Eddie knew exactly what you were doing. You were trying to seem like you were concerned about him being able to take care of Callie, but you both knew that you were hush trying one last time to get out of your plans.

“Nope, you’re going,” he grabbed your purse and shoved it into your hands.

“But-”

“No. Callie is going to try a fishtail braid on me and you are not going to ruin that for me.” You thought that it was cute that he always let her play with his hair.

“Oh, so you have big plans,” you let out a laugh.

“That I do. Now get out of here.” He handed you your pager before giving your ass a slap.

“Alright, I’m going.” You headed for the door but he grabbed your wrist before you could. You could have sworn that he was going to give you a kiss goodbye, but he didn’t.

“Wait, hold on.” He grabbed hold of the front of your shirt, pulling the front of it down to show off some of your cleavage. “There.”

“Eddie, for the last time, I’m not getting some tonight.” You knew that he was up to something, but you were afraid to ask what.

“Sure, sure,” he winked and you made a beeline for the door, scared to know what he had been up to.

You pulled up to Steve’s once again and this time, you were grateful to have Robin there so you wouldn’t have wanted to get close to Steve. You would have wanted to snuggle close to him as the movie played; to stare at him instead of the screen, your eyes drifting to his lips, wanting to know what they tasted like.

You couldn’t let things progress with him, you just couldn’t. Denying your feelings was the way to go. Even if you had started something with him, he would just find someone new, leaving you in the dust. Everyone else did, so why was Steve an exception?

You rang the doorbell and the door opened in record time, Steve on the other side. He was dressed in a hoodie and a pair of basketball shorts, something that was definitely more casual than what he usually wore. You liked the look on him.

“Oh,” he said in surprise. “So you still decided to show up. Come on in.” You stepped inside, unsure of what he had meant. Clearly you were missing a vital piece of information.

“Yeah, we made plans, or did you forget?” You let out a laugh, but quickly stopped when you saw that he wasn’t laughing with you.

“Robin canceled and said that she was going to call you.” He closed the door before turning to face you. Now it all made sense; Eddie being weird about you “getting some” and pulling down the front of your shirt. He had been in cahoots with Robin to set you and Steve up.

“She didn’t.”

“Oh.” Steve was now finally in the loop, realizing what had happened. He couldn’t believe that he had fallen for his friend’s tricks once again. “Well, you’re already here. Do you still want to watch the movie? Or we can play a board game.”

“Or we could practice some more.” Steve liked the way you thought. He couldn’t sit next to you in that kind of setting and not think about how he wanted you cuddled up into his side. He couldn’t think about how pretty you looked and how much he wanted to run his hands along your body. How he wanted to press kisses to every inch of skin he could find. If he was teaching you how to behave on a date, then that would give him something to focus on other than your pretty, soft skin.

“That works too,” he shrugged. “I already have the whole lesson plan written out.” He wasn’t going to tell you that he wouldn’t have done that for anyone else. That you were special.

“Since when are you so thorough?” Literally never. But he would be for you. He would have been whatever you wanted.

“This is important to you and I want to make sure that I don’t leave anything out.” That was true, but he also wanted you to know how seriously he took it. He didn’t want you to think that he didn’t know what he was doing, and he definitely didn’t. At least, not when he was around you.

“That’s sweet.”

“I mean, I can’t have any potentially bad advice lead back to me.” You just laughed, giving his shoulder a shove.

“So, what’s on the agenda?” His mind went blank. Everything that he had written down in his notebook had completely vanished from his brain.

“This is the perfect opportunity to show you how to go on a date to the movies.” You didn’t like the sound of that. You hadn’t heard a single good thing about going to the movies on a first date.

“Isn’t that known to be a bad first date?” You crossed your arms over your chest.

“Sure,” he shrugged. “To amateurs.”

“And you’re not one?” You joked and he just rolled his eyes.

“Clearly not since you asked me to help you.” He had a point. You wouldn’t have asked him if he didn’t have so much experience. You wanted help from someone who actually knew what they were doing.

“Touché. So what are we watching?”

“Whatever you want.” He headed over to a cabinet that was by the biggest TV you had ever seen. You turned the cabinet and you could have sworn that it was filled with every single VHS tape ever made.

“I’m gonna grab us some snacks real quick.” Before you could answer, he fled to the kitchen. You turned to look around while he was busy with his task and your gravitate over to the sliding glass door that led out to his backyard. You got closer and realized that he had a pool. Of course he did. Rich people always had pools. The moon reflected off the water, making it look so inviting on that summer night. It looked so much cleaner than the public one in town. It looked prettier, bluer. And probably cost a fortune to keep up with. You were going to have to invite yourself over to use it sometime.

Steve came back in record speed with a tray filled with all sorts of different snacks and a couple of sodas. He set them on the coffee table and turned to your with a smile.

“Help yourself,” he gestured to the tray with his hands and you stepped forward to see what all the options were. In the center was a giant bowl of popcorn and there were smaller bowls of candies surrounding it. He took one of the sodas and cracked it open before taking a sip then headed over to his movie selection.

While Steve was going through the tapes, all you could think about was how fucking pissed you were at Eddie for his little schemes and you were definitely going to tell him as such as soon as possible. There was no way he was getting away with something like that.

You could get a date on your own. You didn’t need your best friend to help you and especially not behind your back. You supposed that in the grand scheme of things, what he had done wasn’t so bad, but it was more so that you had been caught off guard and that Steve had been dragged into it as well.

“I’ve got literally everything so take your pick.” Steve moved out of the way so you could see his collection. You stepped forward and couldn’t help but admire the way that everything was not only alphabetized but also categorized by genre.

It felt weird hanging out with someone who had things like that. You had grown up with practically nothing and so did Eddie. The two of you were eating TV dinners or food from cans and playing with old toys that were hand me downs from your parents and Wayne while kids like Steve were getting home cooked meals and the newest electronics. Being friends with Steve was like entering a whole new world that you had no idea how to be in.

You felt envious that he could have anything he wanted just by asking when you knew that just having your own bed was out of the question. You wondered what it would have been like to have your own room and where your next meal would be coming from while those were things that Steve never even had to worry about.

“Do you have any horror?” That had definitely been your favorite genre, but you were never able to watch it because Callie was always around and you definitely didn’t want her to subject her to that.

“Yeah, of course.” You squatted next to him, your hands accidentally brushing as you teetered towards him, losing your balance a bit. You liked the way his skin felt against yours and wondered if the rest of him was just as soft.

“This section isn’t as big as your others.” There had to be about ten movies on the entire shelf when the others had at at least thirty.

“Because Robin bought them all. It’s honestly my least favorite genre.” You let out a gasp, putting your hand up to your chest and he just glared at you.

“Aww, Stevie,” you rested your hand on his shoulder. There was that nickname again, but this time, he didn’t mind it. Actually, he was starting to prefer it to his actual name, but only because it was you who was saying it. “Do they scare you?”

You let out a laugh and he could have sworn he had died and gone to heaven because that would have been the only reason why he was hearing something so angelic. He didn’t care that it was at his expense, he was honestly willing to do whatever he could to hear it again.

“No,” he grumbled and you almost thought the blush creeping up on his cheeks was adorable. Almost.

“C’mon, you tell me,” you nudged him. “I won’t laugh,” you held up one of your pinkies. “Promise.”

He looked down at your finger then back up to your face, suspicion in his eyes. He didn’t know why you were offering him a pinky promise since they often meant nothing.

“Why would I believe you?” He raised an eyebrow. “Pinky promises never actually mean anything.” You only scoffed at him. You couldn’t believe that he actually thought that.

“Excuse me?” You glared. “Pinky promises are actually very serious and I would never break them.” You truly meant the words that were coming out of your mouth. You had made countless pinky promises with Callie and you’d have been damned if you had broken any of them.

“C’mon, Stevie,” you leaned closer to him so that your faces were almost centimeters apart. He was resisting the strong urge to close the small space between the two of you, slotting his lips between yours. “I won’t tell anyone,” you whispered and he thought for a second before holding his own pinky up.

Your fingers wrapped around each other and the two of you each gave your hands a shake before pulling away from each other completely.

“Fine,” he let out a sigh, letting his hand fall to his lap. “They’re a little scary.” He felt a little embarrassed about his confession and was hoping that you really wouldn’t laugh like you had promised. Robin and Eddie had already given him shit and he really didn’t need it from you too. He was just a baby at heart. He hoped that if he milked it enough, you’d pull him into your arms and let him cuddle into your side. That seemed like wishful thinking, though.

“See?” You asked. “Was it that hard?” You gave him a pointed look.

“No, but I think my ego is a little bruised.” He put his hand up to his chest and rubbed the spot as if he had been wounded. He was almost as dramatic as Eddie sometimes.

“Well, it is a bit too big so I think you can stand to be knocked down a few pegs.” His mouth fell open at your words and he realized that he kind of liked being insulted by you, feeling a little turned on by your jab. He noticed that a lot of girls felt like they needed to walk on eggshells around him as if they were afraid that they would have insulted him. It was as if he was some fragile thing that needed to be protected from any possible deflation.

“You’re mean,” he glared and you just let out a chuckle at his cute pout.

“And you’re a dingus. Oh!” Your face lit up as you reached for a movie from the shelf, turning it around so he could see the title. “This is a classic!” Steve had never even heard of the movie so he assumed it was Robin’s.

He had never seen you so excited about anything, but he supposed that it was due to a horror movie just made sense for you. He liked seeing that side of you. He liked seeing the bright smile on your face as your eyes lit up like a kid’s on Christmas morning.

He was nervous, however, to see just how scary the movie was and hoped that there weren’t going to be any jump scares. He couldn’t embarrass himself even more in front of you. He knew that you wouldn’t judge him, but he couldn’t help but want to be the protector. And maybe it wasn’t very feminist of him to want that for himself, but he didn’t care. He wanted you to bury your face into his neck, holding onto him for dear life. He was really just looking for any excuse to get close to you.

He turned the TV on and reluctantly put the movie into the VCR, putting the cover out of his line of sight even though he knew the thing would haunt him in his dreams. He turned to the couch to see that you had already made yourself comfortable there. You had curled yourself up against the left arm; the spot where he usually sat. You just looked so pretty there that he supposed that he could let you have the spot just this once.

He slowly sat down on the cushion next to yours and made sure to keep some space between the two of you. He wanted to be sure that he wasn’t crossing any of your boundaries. You pushed yourself further into the arm even though you wanted nothing more than to tuck yourself into Steve’s side and rest your head on his chest

“Alright,” Steve let out a sigh once he was seated. “Let’s get started.” He fully turned to face you, resting his hands on his thighs, trying his best to wipe his sweaty palms without being obvious.

“Let’s,” you agreed with a nod.

“So, I’m going to go through this as if you’re the one calling the shots.”

“Got it.”

“So, really, going to see a movie is a great way to get close to the person you’re going with.”

“Really?” Your features scrunched in confusion.

“Well, physically,” he specified. “Is it okay if I scoot closer to you?” You appreciated that he asked even though that was the bare minimum.

“Yes.” Your heart rate picked up at the thought of you actually being that close to him and you hoped he couldn’t hear it in the silence between the two of you.

The two of you moved into the center of the cushions so you wouldn’t be pinned to the armrest and you realized that he was one of the only people you had sat that close to anyone outside of your family in a non-sexual context. It was nice. That there wasn’t any pressure to make any moves and be smooth.

Steve’s bare thigh touched yours and your found your mind yet again wandering to thinking about his legs being tangled with yours as he laid on top of you, pressing the most gentle kisses to your lips.

You knew you shouldn’t have been thinking about it, but you couldn’t help it. Sex had become such a big part of your social life that it had been hardwired into your brain. It was a switch that automatically turned on when you were alone with someone that you felt physically attracted to.

You turned to Steve and he was already looking at you, patiently waiting for you zone back into the conversation. He always got concerned when you got that into your head, knowing that you were overthinking something or adding something to your ever growing list of responsibilities.

“So, a great way to initiate touch, if you’re up for it, is to,” Steve paused when he realized that you hadn’t been paying attention. You had turned your head to the left, afraid to look him in the eye, which he thought was odd considering you were always so good at making eye contact.

He slowly lifted his hand and hooked his finger under your chin, taking it between his pointer finger and thumb. He turned you to face him and he didn’t miss the light pink tint covering your cheeks.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, hm?” He asked, softly. Your cheeks only turned more pink and he tried to hold back a laugh at how adorable you looked.

You avoided his gaze, your eyes settling for staring at his shoulder. You had never felt this embarrassed in your life and it was in front of Steve. You were now just like everyone else and you hated that. You weren’t immune to the feeling of being emotionally attracted to people anymore. You were developing a crush, and it was on Steve Harrington.

“Nothing, Steve,” you finally got the guts to look him in the eye. “I swear.”

“Okay,” he , letting go of your chin, letting his hand fall back to his lap.

“You’re not going to press me for an answer?” Perhaps you were so confused because your parents would never let you get away with keeping information from them when they asked you a question. Keeping quiet was usually met with marks that you had to cover up with makeup and long clothing.

“No,” he shook his head. “Because if you don’t want to tell me, then I’m not going to insist.” Your heart warmed at hearing those words. It meant a lot to you that he respected that you didn’t want to tell him.

“Oh.” Your lips parted, wanting to say something else, but you weren’t sure what. You felt weird thanking him for something like that.

“Do you want to continue?” He gave you a small smile and you returned it along with a nod.

“Yes, sorry,” you shook your head, moving your hair away from your face. Steve had never seen you so out of order. Was he-was he making your nervous? No, there was no way. You didn’t get nervous, especially not around him. He was usually the nervous one.

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

“Promise?” You asked and he responded by holding up his pinky. You hooked yours around his and you both gave your hands a little shake before pulling away.

“Okay, so, again, the best way to initiate touch is just holding your hand face up, like this,” he held his hand up just like he was saying then laid it on his thigh, slowly inching it towards you. “See? This way, you can offer your hand without saying a word and you put the ball in their court.”

“Does this actually work or are you just fucking with me?”

“I can confidently say that it has a one hundred percent success rate.”

“That’s because you’re you. If just anyone tried that, they would have to relocate to a different state out of embarrassment.”

“Will you stop critiquing and just take my hand?” He gave you a pointed look and you looked down at his hand that was waiting for yours. It looked nice and soft and you wondered how it would have felt in other places.

“I didn’t know I was supposed to hold it. I thought you were just showing me.” You gingerly slid your hand into his and he was quick to slot his fingers in between yours, giving yours a reassuring squeeze.

Your heart rate picked up as you both turned to the TV screen to watch the movie that you had completely neglected. You were so aware of how his hand felt pressed against yours and it was causing your to internally panic.

It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean anything. You repeated the words in your head as he gently stroked your hand with the pad of his thumb. At that, all of your thoughts left your brain and for once, the thing was empty.

“See?” He asked, turning to you. “Just like this.” He continued to stroke your hand, keeping his eyes on the screen. You watched the scene before you and tilted your head to the side, noticing that you didn’t recognize what was happening despite having seen the movie more times than you could count.

“Oh my god,” you turned to face him, giving him glare. “You switched the movie!” You pulled your hand away from his in feigned disgust.

“Wow,” he rolled his eyes in a dramatic nature. “I invite you into my house and this is how you treat me?” He put his hand up to his chest in offense, shaking his head at you.

“Admit it, Steve.”

“I’m not admitting anything, honey.” The sudden use of the nickname made you want to melt. It was so soft and sweet just like him.

“Then how about I remove the movie and we’ll see?” You stood up from the couch but he grabbed hold of your waist and pulled you back down. The feeling in the air suddenly shifted as you locked eyes. His shifted to your lips then back up to your eyes so quickly that you might have missed it if you hadn’t been paying so much attention to him

“You know, I’m doing a nice thing for you and I’m not even getting anything in return.” His hands slipped from your waist and he crossed his arms over his chest. He did have a point, but you weren’t sure what you could have offered him.

“Well, you never told me what you wanted.” You leaned closer to him and he mimicked your actions, hypnotized by the flirty look on your face.

“How about this? I teach you and you teach me.” You didn’t know what he was getting at and were afraid to ask.

“And what could I possibly teach you?” There was nothing. You really didn't know how to do anything except draw and you didn’t think teaching him that was a fair trade.

“You’re kidding right?” He let out a laugh as he raised an eyebrow. You were still unsure of what he was getting at and just wanted him to come right out and say it.

“Just tell me,” you gave him a nudge.

“Sex,” he gave you a nudge in return.

“What?” You scoffed. Nope. Absolutely not. You were not having sex with Steve Harrington. That was where you drew the line.

“That’s the area you’re an expert in and clearly I’m lacking.” You let out a laugh at thinking about Steve lacking in sexual experience. He definitely didn’t get the name “King Steve” from being a virgin.

“Steve,” you moved away from him, tension rising in the air. There was a hesitance in your voice and he immediately regretted asking. He had definitely crossed a boundary.

“I’m sorry,” he shook his head. “I’m so sorry. Just forget I said anything.”

“Let’s do it.”

“What?” His eyes widened at your suggestion. He hadn’t actually expected you to agree. The whole thing had been a joke, after all.

“You’re right,” you shrugged. “You deserve something in return, so I’ll teach you everything I know.” You knew the mess you were getting yourself into, but you were slowly realizing that you’d do anything for Steve.

“Y/n, I was just joking. You don’t have-”

“I know,” you cut him off. “But I want to.” You rested a hand on top of his. You gave him an assuring nod but he was still unsure. He began to chew on his lip as he weighed his options.

On the one hand, he could have really used some pointers from someone who really knew what they were doing, but on the other, he knew how easy it would have been to cross a line where fake could easily become real.

Without putting much thought into it, you reached up and pulled his lip from between his teeth with your thumb before resting a hand on his cheek. It was warm and soft and you had to resist the urge to press a kiss to it.

“I teach you, you teach me?” You asked and he just nodded in response.

“Use your words, baby.”

“Yes,” he responded with a nod.

“Good boy.” He didn’t like how hard his dick got hearing you say those words.

“Well, since I taught you something tonight, it’s only fair that you do the same.”

“What do you want to know?” You were curious as to what he was

“I mean, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I’d say I know my way around a make out session, but it’s like-” he cut himself off, trying to find the right words.

“Like what, honey?” He could have sworn that he had melted hearing that nickname fall from your lips.

“It’s like I don’t know how to go all the way anymore.” He wasn’t going to tell you that you were the reason why. That he always envisioned your face anytime he would make out with a girl, automatically making him not want to continue. You were taking up every inch of his brain and he didn’t want you to stop.

“So you haven’t…”

“No,” he shook his head, hanging it low so you couldn’t see his face. “Not in a while.”

“How long is a while?” Steve knew you were just trying to get all the facts straight so you could really help him, but he still felt embarrassed. He also knew that you wouldn’t judge him, but he couldn’t help but compare his sex life to yours.

“Three months,” he let out a sigh. He hadn’t been sleeping with people too often, but even that was a dry spell for him. It was frustrating, especially since he was trying. Especially because the one woman who he actually wanted to sleep with couldn’t have been less interested.

You didn’t say anything in response. You just sat there, trying to figure how to approach the situation. You thought that maybe he had been exaggerating and that it had really only been like a week, but three months was a long time. Especially for Steve and how many dates he seemed to go on.

You felt bad for the guy. You felt bad that he had gotten so desperate for your help. If you were being honest, you had no fucking clue how to teach him without actually participating in the act. And you couldn’t. That would be a breach of your nonexistent contract.

“Do you want to start now?” He was caught off guard by your question. He thought he had more time, but he supposed that it was better to go for it then just panic for its anticipation for your next lesson.

“Can we?” He hadn't even thought that was an option right in that very moment. He was supposed to be helping you, not the other way around. But he had agreed, so he was going to have to go through with it no matter how much it scared him

“Whatever you want,” you shrugged. “You call the shots.” He didn’t like making the decisions. He just liked being told what to do.

“Okay, let’s do it. What’s first?” He was curious to see what you were going to suggest, if you would describe it or if you would actually touch him. God, did he want you to touch him.

“Well, before all of the sex stuff, we have to figure out what’s going on with your make outs and why they’re not working out.”

“How do we do that? Are we-are we going to make out?” He was trying to hold back his excitement but a small smile was evident on his face.

“Not if you don’t want to.” You swore you weren’t going to do anything but listen to his advice, but now here you were, about to make out with him and you were sure that you were going to like it. You couldn’t, though. Because then you’d want more and you couldn’t have it. It was just going to be a one-time thing.

“I want to.” So badly, he wanted to add, but he didn’t. He didn’t want you to know just how desperate he was to press his lips to yours. How much he was looking forward to sliding his tongue into your mouth.

“We’re doing this.” You scooted closer to him, hoping that he couldn’t hear your heart hammering in your chest. You had never been so nervous to makeout with someone and for once, you were afraid you were going to screw it up.

“Yep,” he let out a nervous chuckle.

“Can I get on top of you?” His eyes widened at your question and he wanted to tell you that you could do anything you wanted to him and he’d happily take it.

“Please,” he responded a little too eagerly and you took no time to straddle him and place yourself on his lap.

He couldn’t believe it. You were actually straddling him, about to make out with him. It wasn’t one of his fantasies he thought about when he was falling asleep.

You slowly rested your hands on his shoulders while his went to your lower back, right above your ass. You slowly inched your face towards his, giving him a chance to back out if he wanted to.

When he made no objection, you pressed your lips to his in a lingering peck. You pulled away for a second only to dive back in, capturing his bottom lip between your two. Steve was quick to return your kiss, your lips moving together slowly as you wrapped your arms around your neck to pull him closer to you.

Your hands ran through his hair and he didn’t even care that you were messing it up. If he was being honest, you were the only one who he’d let touch it.

Steve was honestly surprised he was able to react since his brain had short-circuited. Your lips were just as soft as he had hoped they would be and your hands were in his hair. He was just living the dream and hoping that he’d never wake up.

His hands pushed up the back of your shirt so he had access to your bare skin. Your tongue ran along his bottom lip and he opened up, letting you inside. Your tongue moved around his mouth in a messy manner, as if you were trying to taste every part of it. He tasted like the grape soda he had been drinking and for once, you didn’t hate the flavor.

His hands moved higher up your back, underneath your bra, but he made no move to remove it. Your shirt was moving higher up your waist and you were so close to just taking it off. You pulled away from him, the kiss getting too heated for your liking.

“I don’t see what the problem is, you’re doing great.” He knew that was only true because now he had the real thing.

“I think that’s because you’re a great teacher.”

“Haven’t taught you anything yet, Stevie.”

You pressed your lips to his cheek and moved your way down to the column of his neck, making sure to give each of his moles a kiss as you did so. You got to his neck, giving the spot a little love. You pressed gentle, open mouthed kisses to the skin before giving it a hard suck.

Steve let out a small whimper and that sounded like an invitation to continue. You continued to suck even harder then grazed his skin with your teeth which was followed by a moan falling from his lips.

His fingertips dug into your back and it arched at the sensation, bringing you closer to him. His nails moved down your back, scratching at the skin, just hard enough to leave a mark, but soft enough to not break the skin.

You diffused the bite with your tongue then moved back up to his lips, slamming yours to them. You took no time to stick your tongue back into his mouth, desperate to taste him more, sliding it roughly against his.

The kiss was rushed and messy as you tried to take what you wanted from him and he was there, pliant underneath you. He was going to let you have whatever you wanted, all he needed was your pretty lips.

You reluctantly pulled away for air and the both of your stared at each other, chests, rising and falling as you did so. You looked down into his eyes and could suddenly see what Eddie had been talking about. You could see the hearts. He had a dopey smile on his face and his brown eyes were suddenly the color of honey. Fuck, you were falling just as hard as he was.

His pupils were blown and his lips were swollen and pink from your kisses and you hated that he looked so goddamn adorable. So adorable that you wanted to kiss him all over again and tell him just how cute you thought he was.

“Was that okay for you?” You asked, flipping some of your hair over your shoulder, trying to play it off like you wouldn’t have been content kissing him all night.

“More than okay,” he smiled, his hands slowly slipping from your shirt. You were disgusted that you were actually starting to miss his touch. “You were-you were great.”

“You weren’t half bad yourself, Harrington,” you winked and he was trying real hard to not pull your back in for more. It was getting late and you should have headed home, but you still sat there in his lap.

His cheeks turned a shade of pink and you loved how easy it was to make him blush. How you could make him fold in just a few words. You were always flirting with people for the sole purpose of sleeping with them so you felt out of place flirting with Steve just because you wanted to. Because it was adorable seeing him stutter and become all flustered at hearing your words.

You reluctantly climbed off of Steve’s lap and he stared up at you, unmoving. Almost as if he was hypnotized. If you were able to do that to him just by making out with him, you wondered how he would’ve been after sleeping with you.

But you weren’t going to sleep with him. You couldn’t. Making out was one thing, but actually being intimate was off the table. You couldn’t do it. You wouldn’t. As much as you found yourself wanting him to lead you upstairs, you had to cut it short. Maybe it was because you felt weird because he was your friend or maybe it was because you were afraid of how emotionally connected to him you would have become afterwards.

“Well,” you sighed, grabbing your purse from the coffee table. “I should probably go.”

“Now?” He asked, quickly standing from the couch. You thought it was cute that he wanted you to stay but not cute enough to actually do it. You had to leave him wanting more and clearly from the way he was acting, you had been successful.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I need to get back to Callie.” Technically, you weren’t lying. You wanted to make sure that Eddie had actually gotten her into bed on time. He could never say no and always ended up letting her stay up because she wanted to see you before she went to sleep

“Right, yeah,” he nodded in understanding. “I’ll walk you out.”

You headed for the door and Steve trailed behind you like a lost puppy. A couple of kisses and he was already willing to do whatever you asked him. Not that he needed the kisses to do it, but they definitely helped. All you had to do was tell him to jump and he’d ask you how high.

Steve was in a daze as he followed you to the door. Your make out session was playing in his head on repeat. Your hands in his hair, your tongue in his mouth, his hands underneath your shirt, your lips on his neck. It almost didn’t feel real with the floaty-feeling state he was in. It was almost as if he had taken one of Eddie’s edibles with the way he was feeling.

He opened the door for you and leaned against the doorframe when you got out onto the porch. He was looking at you so dreamily, almost as if he had been under the influence of something. It was almost cute. Almost.

“Well,” you reached into your purse for your keys. “I had a good time tonight.”

“Me too,” he nodded. A really good time.

“You can just give me a call when you have the next lesson planned and we can work around my schedule.” He already had it planned out but he wasn’t going to tell you that. He didn’t want to let on that he was actually crushing on you. That would’ve blown the whole mission.

“Sounds good,” he nodded once more and you stepped forward to plant one final kiss on his lips before heading down the steps and to your car.

He waited until your car was on the road before heading back inside. He couldn’t keep the smile on his face as he put the videotape away and cleaned up all the snacks, putting them all in containers to save for later.

He honestly couldn’t believe that had happened. Not only had he finally kissed you, but it had also more than lived up to the hype. Your lips were so soft and tasted sweet from the lip balm you had been wearing. You had your way with him and as much as he liked a soft and gentle make out, he was beginning to think that maybe he liked it rough. He actually liked the way you weren’t treating him nicely, that your were just taking what you wanted, having no regard for him at all. He was surprised that you couldn’t feel how hard his dick was. Well, if you did, you hadn’t said anything about it, and thank god for that.

He headed into the foyer and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror by the door. He stepped up to it and could see a bruise forming on the side of his neck where you had your way with him. He turned his head to the side to get a better look and nodded to himself in approval before heading up the stairs to bed to dream about you just like he had every single night.

You headed into the trailer, immediately hiding the smile on your face. You couldn’t give Eddie any sign that his stupid scheme had worked. Despite you actually not even caring that much anymore, you still wanted him to know how upset you were with him for putting you in that position.

As predicted, Eddie and Callie were on the couch, watching her favorite cartoon when you walked through the door. They both turned to you for a split second then immediately turned back to the screen.

“Time for bed,” you said and they both whined, making no move to actually get off the couch. “C’mon, TV off.”

“Can we at least finish this episode?” Eddie asked as if he hadn’t been a full grown adult who could decide when he went to bed.

“Nope,” you shook your head. “It’s late enough as it is. C’mon, chop chop.” You clapped your hands and Callie reluctantly turned off the TV then both she and Eddie stood from the couch.

“G’night, bug,” he squatted in front of her, ruffling her hair before opening his arms for a hug.

“‘Night, Eds,” she responded with a pout.

“Oh come on. You know you can’t resist my hugs,” he still held his arms out, giving her one last chance to give in. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and his wrapped around her back before they gave each other a tight squeeze.

Eddie then stood back to his full height and headed over to you, offering you a hug as well. You took it and felt his lips right by your ear.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of telling me all the gory details. I want a play by play tomorrow,” he said before pulling away.

“No promises,” you responded as he pushed the door open and headed across the way to his own home. There was no way in hell you were telling him about your night with Steve. If you did, then he would have won. And there was nothing you hated more than admitting that you were wrong.

After Eddie was gone, you headed over to Callie who was rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, desperately trying to fight getting sleepy.

“I’m not even tired,” she whined, still rubbing at her eyes.

“I know you’re not, bug,” you replied, letting out a chuckle. She would be asleep in five minutes with how tired she seemed to be.

Once you approached her, she held up her arms as if asking you to carry her. Without protest, you picked her up and she was quick to wrap her arms around your waist, resting her head on your shoulder.

You carried her to your shared room and laid her down on the bed gently, grateful that she was at least wearing her pajamas so you wouldn’t have to fight her on changing into them.

You changed into your own pajamas and crawled into bed with her. She was quick to scoot closer to you, wrapping her arms tightly around you, resting her head against your chest. Your arms pulled her tightly to you, stroking her hair with one hand while the other rested at your back. She always insisted that the two of you sleep like this, leaving no space between you. You were convinced that she would have been attached to you if she could have been.

“I missed you,” she murmured, snuggling further into you.

“Missed you too, bug,” you stroked her hair some more before hearing her light snores coming from her lips. You were always envious at how quickly she was able to fall asleep. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out. You couldn’t say the same. You would lie awake for hours, thinking about all of your issues and your never ending to do list. It plagued your brain constantly, but especially when you were trying to go to sleep.

That night, though, all you could seem to think about was your pretty coworker. Your pretty coworker that you had formed a strange agreement with. Your pretty coworker that you kissed. And you actually liked it.

You found yourself quickly drifting off to sleep, dreaming of nothing but Steve and his pretty lips that you found yourself wanting to kiss forever. Maybe if you played your cards right, he would have let you.

[stone-stars]

Transcript:

Murph: And, you are dreaming. After days in the cold, you find yourself floating on your back in a delightfully muggy swamp. The sky above you is still cold and gray, with fluffy snowflakes falling, but the water you're in is warm and full of moss grass. It's almost like you're in a giant natural like, heated spring. Sol: (relaxed) Aw, yeah, that's the stuff. Murph: As you look up at the clouds relaxing, you feel someone floating next to you, and you hear a familiar voice go-- Swag: Yeah. Feels good, doesn't it bud? Sol: Oh, yeah. This is really-- this is really something. We gotta do this more often! (pauses) Wai-- Swag? Murph: Yeah, you look over, and you see Swag floating next to you, looking relaxed and serene. And he goes-- Swag: Yeah. Yeah. This is what it was like, uh, on the nights back in Moonstone. It's a little bit colder out here but, this is… this is it. Sol: This isn't bad at all! But-- But we can't talk about that. We're looking for you! Where are you? Can you-- Can you tell me? Murph: You see, as you guys float along, Swag begins to… drift away from you a bit. The kind of sparse moss grass around begins to grow thicker. [Caldwell: Oh.] And you begin to bob in between them. And you can still see him, but he's a little bit lost in this maze of green. Swag: Where am I? I don't know. [The Prodigal Sister starts playing.] Swag: I wanted to come here though, to-- oh! I-- I wanted to tell you something. Sol we haven't known each other long, but… I-- I just wanted to thank you. You've really helped me. Sol: You've-- you've helped me, and-- I know we've just met, but… I don't know. Hanging out with Callie and Calder and hearing them talk about their siblings, it-- it just made me really glad that I've got someone as well! That's why we're coming to rescue you! So we can-- we can still be a part of each other's lives, and you know, we can do stuff that family does, you know, I-- I'm not exactly sure what that is, but… this seems like it! We're doing it right now! Murph: He… continues to kind of… drift away amongst this moss grass. Sol: Hey, h--hang on. Swag: I-- I know, Sol, I know we didn't get to spend as much time together as we would've wanted to, but the short time we did spend together, it was-- I mean, I was part of something really, really bad. And-- and you guys, you gave me the opportunity to change that! And-- and in the end I got to do something good. I know it sounds... I don't know, childish, but you probably have a lot of the same dreams and thoughts as me. I got to be a hero at the end, Sol! Sol: Yeah. It's… it's been amazing. Leaving Ezry, realizing just truly like, what it-- what it means to be a part of something. To be a part of something big. To be a hero, but also to-- to be fighting for these bonds that you formed. I-- I get it now. I get why you left, I get why I wanted to leave. And that's why I'm still fighting, that's why we're still looking. For you, for the Ice Knife, for a way to keep everyone safe. Swag: Sol, you… you know, you've been studying the-- the bond of life and death, so you have to know you can't keep everyone safe. Murph: You see, he continues to float farther away in the moss weeds. Swag: You've gotta let me g-- [A sharp electronic glitching effect cuts Swag and the music off.] Murph: As he goes to say that, there is a sudden glitch in your vision as everything scrambles. [The Purge starts playing.] Sol: Wh-- Murph: The moss grass around you begins to wrap and pull at you, changing from grass into wires. Sol: No. Murph: And you hear Swag scream-- Swag: SOL! Sol, desperately: NO!

[non-cullable-mutations]

WWW N🏵️n-cullable-mutat🥀🏵️n 🏵️f the day: TAILS WWW

WwW Well, m🏵️stly 🏵️nly n🏵️n-cullable f🏵️r 🥀nd🥀g🏵️ and h🥀gher, 🏵️r jades because 🏵️f the🥀r l🏵️w numbers. WwW

www We all kn🏵️w ab🏵️ut ta🥀ls! M🏵️stly flex🥀ble appendages 🏵️n the l🏵️wer back. www

WwW M🏵️st c🏵️mm🏵️nly seen 🏵️n seadwellers (th🏵️ugh, n🏵️t necessar🥀ly because they have 🥀t the m🏵️st c🏵️mm🏵️n, 🥀f y🏵️u kn🏵️w what 🥀 mean). WwW

WWW Ta🥀ls, as a part 🏵️f a tr🏵️ll that 🥀s n🏵️t usually there, can resemble the ta🥀l 🏵️f pract🥀cally any an🥀mal. Th🏵️ugh they usually resemble the ta🥀ls 🏵️f lus🥀🥀 that c🏵️mm🏵️nly take care 🏵️f tr🏵️lls 🏵️f that caste. It seems t🏵️ be a f🏵️rm 🏵️f lus🥀🥀 m🥀m🥀cry, t🏵️ up the chances 🏵️f gett🥀ng p🥀cked and theref🏵️re the chance 🏵️f surv🥀val. WWW

WwW Pers🏵️nal rat🥀ng: 8/10. Harmless and cute. Espec🥀ally when they wag! WwW

Non-cullable-mutation of the day: TAILS

Well, mostly only non-cullable for indigo and higher, or jades because of their low numbers.

We all know about tails! Mostly flexible appendages on the lower back.

Most commonly seen on seadwellers (though, not necessarily because they have it the most common, if you know what i mean).

Tails, as a part of a troll that is not usually there, can resemble the tail of practically any animal. Though they usually resemble the tails of lusii that commonly take care of trolls of that caste. It seems to be a form of lusii mimicry, to up the chances of getting picked and therefore the chance of survival.

Personal rating: 8/10. Harmless and cute. Especially when they wag!

[redfurrycat]

🤠💌💬🐓Chat, Epistolary & Social Media Fic Recs🐓💬💌🤠

Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕

Ao3 Authors: Beaufoy14, Charlie_mou, Comin2U, Cryinginthebronco, Falling_mapl3, fluffypoato, Ginnydear, Nothingpreciousatall, ReformedTsundere, SunMonTue, Teacupivy, Terraces, Xihe1874, Yourstrulytay.

thirst trap fic by ginnydear {E}

boy, you blowin' up my phone

“His name is Hangman and I think he sent me a thirst trap at 3 a.m.”

make me come home faster

a companion piece to “boy, you blowin' up my phone” with a little bit of bradley's point of view on... stuff.

New Chat Created: North Island Daggers by Comin2U {T}

Harvard: why Whatsapp and not just a basic text message? Hangman: because one of us has an android and ruins the ability to message with just internet. Coyote: Screw you too hangman. * In which 12 daggers, the best of the best of naval aviators, are all a bunch of kids and thrown in a group chat.

Hang the Hangman with Love by xihe1874 {T}

Dagger Squad 🗡️✈️ [Hangman removes Rooster from the group chat] [Hangman changes the name of group chat to “Let’s find out the lucky and unfortunate bastard ”] Hangman: Soooo Hangman: guys Phoenix: ? Hangman: and gals Fanboy: what you up to this time Hangman Omaha: and why you kicked Rooster out Coyote: He wants to find out who Maverick is married to The classic "Let's find out who is Maverick's husband" bet, plus much much more shenanigans. Hangman is feeling good, Rooster is amused, and Maverick is trying his best to drop hints. Others only have eyes for money.

are you thinking about me too? ('cause i can't stop thinking about you) by cryinginthebronco {T}

Jake doesn’t have a chance to make things right with Bradley before they part ways. But with the mission still fresh in his memory, he decides to take the risk. Or, Jake and Bradley’s love story told through letters. Or, the love letters fic. Love Letters Fic on 'real' notepapers by Redfurrycat

signed, sealed, delivered (i'm yours) by yourstrulytay {T}

Jake’s shirtless but he still has his dog-tags on, and the way he’s leaning on the counter or table or whatever makes the muscles of his arms and shoulders bunch up. Bradley’s mouth goes a little dry at the miles (and miles and miles) of bare skin that are being presented to him and he bites his tongue to prevent any sound from escaping. It had been precisely this that had made him panic and hang up before, because what the fuck? aka, the social media au that no one asked for

in the grand scheme by terraces {M}

During their first stint at TOPGUN, Rooster gets a concussion. Hangman writes him a letter; Rooster writes one back. It all goes downhill from there.

Slow But Steep by Beaufoy14 {M}

Binman: 1743: Javy I need to ask you a question and I need you not to be weird Coyote Ugly: 1744: Before you do, ask yourself two things: 1: does this question really need to be asked? 2: Is there anything better I could be doing on a Tuesday evening than pestering my best friend? Featuring: The List, Phoenix's useful suggestions, Rooster lusting after cowboy hats (and the men who wear them), and Bob's Catholic guilt.

Things We Leave Behind by ReformedTsundere {T}

In a box, there lives two letters that the writers never want read.

Disaster Daggers (If found, return to COMPACFLT) by falling_mapl3 {G}

Callie ‘Halo’ Basset has created a new chat. Callie ‘Halo’ Basset has added 12 contacts. 7:57 pm Halo: Hello you guys. i figured we should make a chat and and stuff for like….. updates? Don’t feel obligated or whatnot. but if anyone needs anything just put it here.

BabyGoose84 by teacupivy {M}

As he goes through his inbox with the usual Select All > Delete locked and loaded, one preview sticks out to him. "Hey! You’re wrong about the F-14, by the way. My godfather…"

Online and Anonymous TGM by SunMonTue {E}

Years before they meet in person Bradley and Jake strike up a friends-with-benefits relationship online. And then something more like an actual relationship. A predominantly epistolary fic set in a world where papers were pulled, events of TG:M will take place and DADT exists until it is repealed at the end of 2011.

u/flyin'cowboy posted in r/Relationships by charlie_mou {_}

r/relationships • 6 d. ago u/deleted My (M31) ex-girlfriend (?32) is now a guy and I think I don't care?? (relationships) Don’t know how to explain it but I’ll try my best. Jake Seresin's Adventures on Reddit - includes Jake being dumb and confused about his kinda-but-not-really sexuality crisis, reddit detectives, and internet strangers making fun of him or an unserious addition to the (sometimes I feel) like a monkey pilot fic, aka my trans Bradley fic

Social Mania by fluffypoato {T}

Notification: 10:15 am @ tornadowranglers said: “AIN’T NO HOME IN OKLAHOMA!!! New stream in…”

u/bradbradgoose by nothingpreciousatall {T}

Rooster asks Reddit how to get Hangman back post-mission. or Rooster is still on his perch when it comes to his feelings about Hangman, so why wouldn't he tell strangers on the internet their entire history and ask for advice.

[perce-jpg]

OK WHY WAS CALLIE IMPRISONED TELL ME NOW IM NOT PLAYING AROUND PUT THE MONEY IN THE BAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOOOO BOOOYYYY ITS A FUCKIN STORY (haha) LEMME TELL YOU.

lemme backtrack and introduce another character, the main antagonist of the campaign. MISS HULLABALLOO HERSELF

(ART BY OUR LOVELY DM soupthecoolest on instagram)

so for the longest time, we had NO CLUE who she was. we just knew someone was driving the plot behind the scenes, and after MONTHS of us all theorizing and speculating she was finally revealed.

hullaballoo is the capital g God of this universe, and she runs almost everything. shes the reason the party is in purgatory (WHOLE OTHER STORY LMFAO), and the party needs to defeat her eventually to save the world and all that shit

but heres the thing- hull isnt the only god. she's part of a pantheon called "the storytellers", and there used to be a Second god on her level that ruled alongside her. a yin and yang balance situation. AND THAT GOD IS CALLIE! or. well. Was

(ONCE AGAIN SOUPTHECOOLEST)

sometime around 750 years before the plot, hullaballoo betrayed callie (aka chaos) and imprisoned him within the void so she could be the sole ruler. AT LEAST THATS WHAT WE KNOW NOW. the situation is bound to be more complex but tldr it was hull who imprisoned her

[space-woomy]

*throws pan at your head*

talk about it

please...

AUUUGH-

Okaysssssss Mooty

Basically the whole villain 4 stuff happens because Callie dies in Splat 2. Marie's low tide ink doesn't work, and agent 4 ends up using g the rainmaker, which really fucks up octavios robot...a bit too much... it explodes, and Callie ends up dieing in Fours arms.

Everyone's sad, and it hits Four the hardest. She believes that it's her fault entirely, and she quits the NSS. She eventually starts doing Grizzco jobs to distract herself. She realizes that "Ah fuck, this is like, genocide or whatever because this is a sentient species and all that." But continues anyways. She eventually makes her way up to the upperanks and meets Mr. Grizz (either through promotions or a some kinda coincidence or whatever). After a special interview, Grizz is like "wanna help me bring back Mammals? You seem like you hate the world." And Alex (4) is like "yeah. Yeah this world fucking sucks. We're obsessed with fashion, world ending threats happen every day, whole species is trapped underground, YOU'RE literally running a genocide company...fuck it, why not? I hate everyone." And they decide to help grizz with his mission.

O.E happens at the same time as this, and it plays out as it does in the games. Eight moves in with Alex, and she shows her around inkopolis and how to live in the city. Eight can practically taste all the nihilism and edge coming from her, but she sees the kindness and joy in her, and wants to pry it out of the shell of hopelessness.

Molly (3) also becomes friends with Alex, and gets a bit closer to her than 8 does. But the still has a shell up, and they still try to break through...

But before they can do that, the world tour happens! And she goes with Pearl and Marina. Alex also takes part in the memverse, with a piece of her soul getting trapped just like the game.

Now, return of the mammalians is going on, and it's all the same, except there is no Mr. Grizz...instead, there's a masked inkling that's at the top of the tower!!! Neo is able to hold them off until Cap (3) gets there, and they run away. In the end, they're able to stop the rocket from launching in the first place and they destroy it.

S.O starts more towards the end of ROTM, and ends well after it. And when 8 gets out, she can't find anyone belonging to the NSS. They've disappeared. She finds clues to go into the Grizzco headquarters. When she gets there, she finds Alex, having captured everyone in the NSS. Marie, Craig, Molly, and Neo are all tied up. Theyre all very bruised and beaten up too. There's also a big plush doll thing of Callie. Button eyes and everything.

Alex is fucking insane right now. They're all cocky and are acting like a typical Villain type. (Think Will Wood's "Main character" for this...thats...honestly what this entire thing spawned from...) and they fight eachother. There are MANY fuzzy octolings that they're fighting as well, and Alex is very dodgy and swift with fighting. It's revealed that their plan is to cover the world with fuzzy ooze with like, 12 rockets. The one in alterna was a test one.

Alex at this point has completely given up on everything, and thinks of herself as a "hero" in a twisted way. She's saving the world by destroying it, a big reset on everyone. Alex is all cocky and shit too, and is constantly talking and mocking them all. 8 eventually frees them all, but She's out if commission for a bit, and Molly steps up to take on Alex. Alex, frustrated with not being able to beat 8, has an idea. They basically Inject fuzzy ooze directly into herself, and gains claws, sharp teeth, heightend senses, she becomes digitigrade, and is stronger overall.

Now...there are 2 ways that this story goes........

""BAD"" ENDING

Molly and Alex fight, it's intense, and Molly is struggling. Alex is screaming and yelling shit like "YOU WERE ALWAYS THE BETTER AGENT WERENT YOU?!?! HUH!?!? LOOK AT YOU KNOW!!!! CANT EVEN STAND UP TO AN INFERIOUR AGENT" and "COME ON "LIVING TSUNAMI"! COME SPLAT ME!!!"

and Molly is like "...fuck dude...I really wish I talked to you more...man I Hate seeing you like this.. please...you were never the worst...why did this happen" in their head.

It ends up with Alex getting a chainsaw, and tackling Molly to the ground. She trys to push it into them, and manages to really fuck up their arm a bit, but Molly gets the strength to push it back...and gets Alex right in the neck...

She lives for a single second, with a smile on their face...and a single tear running down their face...

Molly and 8 now have double trauma. Yaaaaay!!!!!!!

Marie has even more trauma to!!!!!!

All of them do!!!!!

They stop grizzco, but they're not in that good of a mood for celebration...

(Also, I say "bad" ending because it's, like, a negative ending more like. A non-ideal ending really. I don't like "good" and "bad" endings or whatever...)

"GOOD" ENDING

Same shit happens, except Alex ends up breaking down more in the middle of the fight. She says more stuff that's more like her telling the truth about how she feels, instead of just taunting. At one point, Molly tackles her into a hug and says "Alex, it wasn't your fault! Inkopolis wouldve been attacked if you didn't stop them! Please! Callie wouldnt be mad at you!!!"

Alex breaks out, and they fight some more. Three's arm still gets fucked up, but Alex drops the chainsaw, and she dosent die!!! Yay :D!!!!!!

But she's got so much bottled up and fucked up trauma that they become physically ill afterwards. They beet grizz, and Fours recovery starts.

I've gotten all of this from Will Woods "Main character"

I keep imagining an animatic to the song where 8 and 4 fight with "main character"

And another one which is only the lyric portion of "Silly billy" from that hit single fnf mod. Those lyrics are F I R E

Thank you for hitting me with the pan AAAANDNSNFKFKKDNDNFBRBRNGLSLGJNRNSLALAKCNCNC. XBDJDJFJT9RIEIOEKSJELWLRJNFNFKVPXLABEBTKCKSNRNTJFHDHJFNFNFKGOGJVEAKFIJSHWMXNCNSHWI

If anyone has any questions, please ask!!!

[mama-qwerty]

Eclipse LIVES for any kind of positive attention. A pat on the head, being told he's doing a good job and a snack and he'll do anything for you

It had been two weeks since Callie decided to allow the little darkling to stay with her. Silver was thrilled—he liked visiting and playing with Sonic and his brothers, but sometimes got bored or lonely when he was at home and it was just him. Now he had his own ‘brother’ to play with, even if the librarian wasn’t completely, 100% on board with Eclipse staying permanently.

Truth be told, she was still a little sore at the kid for chomping her arm. Petty? Sure. But having a kid with shark teeth latch onto you and require almost two dozen stitches could make just about anyone a little wary.

Eclipse, for the most part, seemed to settle in okay. He could still spook if she moved too fast around him, and seemed more comfortable around Silver than her, but he hadn’t done anything overly threatening toward either of them for a while. The most she encountered was a bit of hissing, but even that didn’t strike her as overly aggressive. Kid was just skittish.

Today she sat on the couch, reading, as her cats lay curled next to her. The boys (and didn’t it feel strange to use the plural version of that word now?) were outside playing, and she was enjoying the quiet. Callie reached toward the side table for her drink, and only found empty air. She glanced over with a raised eyebrow, and discovered the side table empty. She checked the coffee table. No drink.

“What the hey,” she muttered, and leaned to the side to look into the kitchen. Her glass sat on the island, right where she’d put it after pouring it. She rolled her eyes at herself. She’d never brought it in with her when she sat down. And now she was comfortable, and her cats had her trapped.

So she did what any comfortable and somewhat lazy parent would do.

“SILVER!”

She bellowed it practically loud enough for the Wachowski family to hear, clear on the other side of town. After a few seconds the kitchen door squeaked open, and footsteps approached the archway into the living room.

But instead of a gray hedgehog, she spied a little black and red darkling. He peered at her around the archway, his gold-on-black eyes watching her with caution.

“Oh, hey there,” she said, a little smile on her lips. She tried to be kind toward the boy, despite her own reservations concerning his previous behavior. “Can you do me a favor, kiddo?”

He furrowed his brow, suspicious of her request.

“Can you please go in the kitchen and bring me that glass of water on the island? Carefully, so it doesn’t spill.”

Eclipse continued to stare at her, eyes narrowed in suspicion, before he turned and walked to the kitchen island. He glanced back at her for a second, before reaching up to carefully take hold of the glass of water. Walking slowly, he brought the cup to her, and handed it over without a word.

Callie couldn’t help but smile. He’d done as she asked without argument. She reached forward to gently caress his head with a hand.

“Good job, kiddo,” she said, her voice soft and kind. “Thank you.”

The boy froze, eyes wide.

“What?” The redhead furrowed her brow in confusion. “What’s the matter?”

He stared at her for a long moment, before opening his mouth to speak. A rough croak came out at first—she got the idea he hadn’t spoken much before coming to Earth—but he cleared his throat and tried again.

“G-good job?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Yeah? You brought me my water and didn’t spill a drop. You did a good job.”

He continued to stare at her. His tail gave a quick flick, and she couldn’t tell if it was from anxiety, excitement, or something else. She couldn’t read him that well yet.

“Has no one ever said that to you before?”

Nothing. Then he slowly shook his head.

Callie looked at him for a long moment, before something clicked in her head. His behavior around her was drastically different than his behavior around Silver. With the hedgehog, he was playful and energetic. With her, he was quiet and withdrawn, often peering at her out of the corner of his eye with suspicion. He usually kept to all fours around her, looking for all the world like a scared dog expecting a kick.

At first she simply thought it was because she’d swatted him with her broom at their first meeting, or maybe he felt guilty about biting her. But now, she wondered if there was more to it.

She wondered if someone had hurt him in the past. And that made her see him in a much different light.

“Eclipse,” she started, taking care to keep her voice soft and calm. “Do you want to do something else for me?”

The darkling’s brows shot up in surprise, and he nodded vigorously.

“Can you go to the hall closet and bring me a blanket?” She wasn’t really cold, but he didn’t need to know that.

The kid was off like a shot, hurrying to the closet and throwing the door open hard enough to make it bang off the wall. He flinched, casting a quick glance back to her, but she only smiled back. Eclipse grabbed for the blankets and snagged two of them, before rushing back to the couch and holding them out to her.

Callie took them with a smile, and reached out to stroke his head again. This time he leaned into it.

“Good job, sweetie,” she said, keeping her voice soft. “That was a very good job.”

A grin spread across his muzzle then, an honest-to-God smile that lit his face like a spotlight. His tail flicked in sharp movements behind him.

“More!” he cried, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “What else?”

The librarian couldn’t help but smile back. This was more animated than she’d ever seen him around her, and all because she showed him a little positive attention. She gave a little hum as she thought.

“Could you run and grab my phone? It’s on the desk over there.” She pointed and off he went.

Over the next five minutes, Callie sent Eclipse to fetch various random things; a bag of potato chips, a pair of socks, some treats for the cats, the remote control. And each and every time he successfully brought something to her, she praised him and gave him a gentle caress on his head, muzzle, or cheek. The boy’s tail whipped and snapped back and forth in excitement and happiness.

“You’re a good boy, Eclipse,” she said after the last successful retrieval. He froze again, the smile fading from his lips as he looked at her in shock. “No one’s ever told you that, either.”

It wasn’t a question. The darkling stood and stared at her for a few seconds, before shaking his head. Callie gave him a sad look, pulling her lips tight as she caressed his muzzle.

“Well, I’m glad, and sorry, to be the first,” she said, her voice soft. She leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Because you are a good boy. And I think you’ve always wanted to be. You just didn’t have anyone give you the chance before.”

She pulled back, and the boy stood and stared at her. His eyes looked a little shinier than they had a moment ago, and to Callie he looked younger than he did before. He stared at her for a while, and opened his mouth to say something when a voice shattered the silence.

“Eclipse!” Silver called as he ran into the house. “What are you doing? I thought we were playing?”

Human and darkling looked back toward the kitchen door, and found a hedgehog with his hands on his hips and a little furrow in his brow. He flicked his amber eyes between them for a few seconds, before settling on Eclipse. “Well?”

The darkling turned back to Callie, who gave him a little smile and nod. “Go on. Thank you for your help. I appreciate it.”

Eclipse looked like he wanted to say something, but then closed his mouth. He turned to walk back outside with Silver, before stopping and glancing back at Callie once more. A little smile curled his lips, and then he was gone, racing the hedgehog in the backyard.

Callie let out a little sigh. Maybe keeping the kid wasn’t such a bad thing.

She turned and reached for her water, but with all the stuff Eclipse had brought her piled around, she couldn’t quite reach it.

A harsher sigh left her lips, and she fell back against the couch with an annoyed grunt.

~~~~~

Happy birthday eve, @stillafanofsonic!

Like this? Check out my other shorties. Reblogs are appreciated!

[iamsortableelms]

Olivia Winchester

“I’m very good at getting answers, Sammy. Persuasive maybe. You can trust me. I promise.” 

-Olivia Winchester to Sam Uley

╔════════════╗

♚ G E O M E T R I C S ♚

╚════════════╝

↬ Full name ↫

Olivia Calliope Winchester

↬ Nickname ↫

OC (by Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester)

Bud/Buddy/Red/Rockstar (by Dean Winchester)

Kit Kat/Kitty/Squirt (by Sam Winchester)

Chicken/Noodle/O (by Castiel)

Little Squirrel/Simba/Marmaduke

Liv (by everyone)

Livy/Calli (by Sam Uley)

Livia/Calliope (by Caius)

Darlin/Sunshine/Bunny (by Jasper Whitlock)

Kansas (by school friends)

The Beast (when referring to her wolf form)

↬ Age ↫

17-

↬ Birthday ↫

April 1, 1998

↬ Birthplace ↫

Lebanon, Kansas

↬ Zodiac ↫

Aries 

↬ Height ↫

5’7”

↬ Gender ↫

Female

↬ Orientation ↫

Heterosexual

↬ Species ↫

Human, Part Witch, Knight of Hell (cured), Vampire (cured), Werewolf (partially cured)

Olivia is the only partial werewolf. Due to it, her brown eyes changed to an amber color. Sam and Dean believe it to be because of her part witch side that the cure didn’t work fully. Olivia is able to transform into a wolf, unlike werewolves, she doesn’t shift due to the moon.  She shifts due to anger and can’t control it. She doesn't have the infectious bite of a full werewolf and silver doesn’t hurt her.

↬ Wolf Form ↫

American Red Wolf

“Cat’s out of the bag. Or should I say wolf.” 

-Olivia Winchester to Sam Uley

╔════════════╗

♚ A P P E A R A N C E ♚

╚════════════╝

↬ Skin color ↫

Pale

↬ Eye color ↫

Green (human)

Brown (half werewolf)

Glowing Amber (changing to wolf form)

Amber (wolf form)

↬ Hair color ↫

Red

↬ Hair style ↫

Long, straight 

↬ Fur color ↫

Warm brown, hints of red, tan stomach and under jaw

↬ Body Type ↫

Hourglass, healthy

↬ Scars ↫

Small scar on her upper lip, bitten by Tyler when she got too close to him in wolf form.

Claw marks on her ribs from a werewolf before she was able to kill it.

↬ Piercing ↫

ear piercings and belly button

“I could kill you and make it seem like an accident.” 

-Olivia Winchester to Caius Volturi & Volturi guard.

╔════════════╗

♚ C L O T H I N G ♚

╚════════════╝

↬ Outfits ↫

Plus band t-shirts from every old school rock band imaginable. Thanks dad.

↬ Accessories ↫

- Anti possession necklace

- Vial of holy water on a keychain

- Lighter

- Gun, with rounds of silver and iron bullets in differently mark cartridges

- Hell forged blade, curducey of the former King of Hell himself Crowley

↬ Vehicles ↫

- Red 1992 Honda CB750

- Red 1948 Ford Super Deluxe

“I thought you loved me. Guess all boys are the same.” 

-Olivia Winchester to Sam Uley

╔════════════╗

♚ P E R S O N A L I T Y ♚

╚════════════╝

↬ Normal mood ↫

Normally curious

↬ Temper ↫

Hot headed

↬ Discipline ↫

Breaks rules

↬ Strengths ↫

Kind, physically strong

↬ Weaknesses ↫

Hurting her family

↬ Fears ↫

Losing everyone

↬ Soft spot ↫

Her dad and uncle

↬ Role model ↫

Her dads

“Who would have thought that little red would be painting the big bad wolf?” 

-Olivia Winchester to Sam Uley

╔════════════╗

♚ R E L A T I O N S H I P S ♚

╚════════════╝

↬ Father ↫

Dean Winchester

↬ Mother ↫

Unknown to Olivia, Aspen Onyx Garrett, thought to be a witch or half witch

↬ Other relatives ↫

Sam Winchester (uncle), Castiel (like a dad, Destiel is real in this story.), Bobby Singer (surrogate grandfather) ♰, John Winchester (paternal-grandfather) ♰, Mary Winchester (paternal-grandmother) ♰, Jasper Whitlock-Hale (maternal-great-great-great-great-granduncle), Emily Whitlock (maternal-great-great-great-great-grandmother) ♰, Mr. & Mrs. Whitlock (maternal-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents) ♰

↬ Friends ↫

Men of Letters, Winchester Family, Castiel, Jack, Kline, Crowley, Bobby Singer, Jo Harvelle, Ellen Harvelle, Jody Mills, Benny Lafitte, Claire Novak, Stefan Salvatore, and Damon Salvatore, Elena Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett, Caroline Forbes, Matt Donovan, Alaric Saltzman, Tyler Lockwood

↬ Best friend ↫

Charlie Bradbury, Kevin Tran, Jeremy Gilbert

↬ Relationship status ↫

Single

“If you thought I’d let you do this by yourselves you must be even dumb then everyone give you credit for.” 

-Olivia Winchester to Sam Uley

╔════════════╗

♚ P A S S - T I M E ♚

╚════════════╝

↬ Hobbies ↫

Working out, giving out nicknames to friends.

↬ Talents ↫

Running

↬ Sports ↫

Track 

↬ Occupation ↫

Student, Hunter, Woman of Letters

“Sam. Pick up the fucking phone. I need Scooby for my Shaggy.” 

-Olivia Winchester leaving a voicemail for Sam Uley

╔════════════╗

♚ H O M E   L I F E ♚

╚════════════╝

↬ Location ↫

Constantly moving from hotel to hotel until recently. Her dad, uncle and her got a job in Forks, Washington about missing people and bodies drained of blood, as well as giant wolf like creatures. They are renting  a house in the forest to keep eyes out and Olivia is going undercover as a student in the nearby school, Forks High School.

↬ House size ↫

Medium  

↬ House type ↫

↬ Indoor description ↫

↬ Bedroom description ↫

“So you’re vamp royalty. That’s almost as dumb as sparkling in the sun.”

-Olivia Winchester to Caius Volturi

╔════════════╗

♚ T H E M E    S O N G ♚

╚════════════╝

OLIVIA

one direction

01:25 ━━━━●───── 02:58

⇆ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ↻

- Katherine McNamara - 

[inevitablemoment]

“you’re doing great.”

Word Count: 818

Warnings: Nightmares, character death in dream, parenting insecurities, past parent deaths, mentions of a canonical character death, past possession/loss of autonomy, mental health issues, subtly implied past suicide attempt, mentioned ableism

Fandom: Ghostbusters

Pairings: Callie Spengler x Gary Grooberson

EEEEEEEEE! I’m finally writing for Spenglerson! I think that they’re so underrated, and I can’t wait to see more of them in the sequel to Afterlife.

Anything about Callie’s childhood that I mentioned in this fic is part of the headcanons that I created about her mother, whom I named Cathleen Paige Spengler and is depicted in my currently ongoing fic, I Want To Know Your Story.

Also, random thing, I missed seeing Paul Rudd, Ernie Hudson, and William Atherton filming at the firehouse BY ONE DAY! My parents and I joined my college’s redeye trip to New York, which meant we left Friday night, spent Saturday in New York, and were home by Sunday morning.

BY ONE DAY! I’m never going to get over this.

But, enjoy!

————————

Gary never slept well in hotel rooms, no matter how nice the most moderately priced Hampton Inn that he could find was. Besides the usual homesickness that usually arose, he was used to his bed being pushed against the wall of his room. He could share a story or two of rolling out of the bed in a hotel room

And he had struggled to fall asleep, considering that they were staying in New York. Even though he usually went to bed late, he was so jet lagged that he wanted nothing more than to sleep, but the city’s activity outside his window was too stimulating.

This time, though, the feeling of Callie in his arms had helped him wind down. The way that she had nestled herself against his chest felt like he was holding a life sized heating pad, and the rhythm of her breathing was like a lullaby.

But as his previous hotel stays had proven, it was inevitable that he would wake up in the middle of the night and never be able to wake up. Though, this time, it wasn’t because he had fallen out of the bed.

It was because he could feel Callie trembling in his arms, her hot tears falling onto his skin.

“No... no, please,” she was whimpering. “You-- you can’t! Please, stop!”

The volume of her voice began to climb, and her movements grew more erratic.

“Cals?” he began as gently as he could, sitting up as best as he could while still keeping Callie close to him.

“Stop, please!” Callie continued to cry before her words just turned into heartbreaking sobs.

“Cals...”

He turned her around so that she would be facing him. Her eyes began to open, looking into his with such... such sadness that others wouldn’t care to think that Callie Spengler could feel.

“G-- Gary...” she choked his name out.

“It’s me, Cals,” he promised.

“And... and the kids?” Callie asked.

“They’re here-- Pheebs is in the next bed, and Trev crashed in the chair,” he reminded her, gesturing to each of the children’s said position.

Callie’s eyes hesitantly looked at both Phoebe and Trevor, relief flooded through her as she leaned against Gary again.

“Nightmare?” he asked.

“The same one,” Callie answered. “When-- when that dog bitch or whatever possessed me... but it just makes me attack Phoebe and Trevor, and-- and there’s so much blood, and--”

She pulled away from him, burying her face into her hands.

“It-- I j--”

“I know, it’s horrifying,” Gary agreed. “But that’s not who you are?”

“Isn’t it?” Callie asked rhetorically, lifting her head up. “I’m a shitty, shitty mother, Gary. I just need to face it.”

“No, you’re not. You’re a human mother.”

“When I got pregnant with Trevor, I had no idea how to do it,” she confessed. “The grandmother raising me was a zealous bitch that wanted me to replace my mother for her, my dad’s side of the family couldn’t contact me in any way because my grandparents ran off to Chicago the second they won custody, my mom was dead... I had no one on my side besides my husband.”

She tried to hold back the tears as she remembered how dark those first few months after Trevor’s birth were... and how she wanted anything done if it meant that the constant numbness and exhaustion and frustration and feelings of uselessness and inadequacy would just stop.

“When Phoebe came along, I thought that it’d be easier the second time around,” she mused. “But then, when she got the diagnosis... the man that I considered the only man that I could count on, he just... checked out. He didn’t know how to act around her anymore, and... neither did I. I-- I tried to join one of those groups for moms with kids on the spectrum, but I learned what that puzzle piece on their bumpers really stood for, and I... finding resources just kept getting harder and harder as the money kept getting smaller and smaller...”

“Hey...”

His voice was gentle enough to keep her from spiraling even further. He cupped her face, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

“You’re doing great,” he said. “You’re doing better. I’ve seen you. Like I said, you’re human and you make mistakes. But you’re making up for them. I know how much you love these kids, even if it’s... it can be hard to be a mom sometimes. I may not get it, but I’m...”

“You’re empathizing with me,” Callie filled in.

“Yeah,” he said. “And I know that Phoebe and Trevor love you, and appreciate you.”

Another thought began to pick at Callie, and she voiced it before she could truly stop herself.

“You think... you think that my parents would be proud of me?”

Gary smiled at her. “I know they would. I may not have met them, but I know.”

[5sosfanfictioncatalogue]

Magic (2) Masterlist

part one

A Little Magical Assistance (ao3) - orphan_account michael/luke, implied calum/ashton G, 9k

Summary: Luke has known for a while that there is someone in the school watching over him and performing silent spells on him so he doesn’t miss the bottom stair and land on his face or lean too far over a banister only to fall and break his neck. It took him longer than it probably should to work it out, and, actually, Luke doesn’t actually realise himself until Ashton points out bluntly that you can only do a trip-fall-sprawl without actually touching the floor a few times before it’s obvious someone has their wand pointed at you, and it’s not just Peeves being abnormally friendly.

And back (ao3) - wastedheartmuke michael/luke, calum/liam, ashton/ofc G, 33k

Summary: The day Luke got his tattoo was one of his favorites, he just never thought the day will come when it'll disappear.

another human punchline (ao3) - lucashemwow luke/ashton N/R, 21k

Summary: Luke just wishes he could outrun the demons that haunt him. Ashton just wishes someone would finally see him. The crumbling mansion at the edge of the woods just might be the only safe haven they've ever had.

Babylon (ao3) - MonsterAmongCashton (IfWallsCouldMuke) calum/ashton E, 6k

Summary: “I almost pity you,” Calum whispers back calmly. “Promising me things you can’t keep just to have me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Cally,” the nickname alone forces Calum to bite back a moan. “I’m here because of a broken promise. I do not wish to stoop that low.”

could end in burning flames or paradise (ao3) - merlypops luke/calum T, 1k

Summary: People want Luke dead but Calum would give up anything to keep him safe.

every little thing she does is magic (ao3) - merlypops michael/ashton E, 3k

Summary: Mike is trying to perform a ritual but Ash just wants to kiss her skin.

Give & Take (ao3) - Anonymous calum/ashton, ashton/oc M, 13k

Summary: Calum was unsure about a lot of things in his life. School, friendships, the like. What he didn't need, on top of all of that, was the new stresses that came with pack life, something that he had been thrown into with no warning.

And, for the cherry on top, his new alpha hated him with every fiber in his being. And Calum hadn't even done anything to the guy.

So, one could say, things were just peachy for Calum Hood.

give love a try (ao3) - orphan_account michael/luke T, 9k

Summary: Luke wakes up in his bedroom, the one he's slept in for the majority of his life, only to meet himself from 2012.

And maybe Luke from 2012 teaches Luke from 2018 a little bit about love, and maybe Luke from 2018 opens his eyes and decides to face the fact that he really can't hide his love anymore.

How To Train Your Dragon (ao3) - JetBlackSunshine T, 68k

Summary: (5sos Hogwarts AU)

Keeping a baby dragon a secret in the halls of Hogwarts isn't easy...

In which Ashton and Calum come into the care of a dragons egg whilst keeping it a secret from the rest of Hogwarts and the dark forces that are after it.

i'll misbehave if it turns you on (ao3) - horriblekids michael/calum N/R, 18k

Summary: In which Calum is less than truthful with his band and may or may not have accidentally summoned a demon while drunk. Who, coincidentally, takes on the form of the person he wants most to sleep with.

It's Just A Bunch Of Hocus Pocus (ao3) - onceuponatime michael/calum, minor luke/ashton N/R, 10k

Summary: "Ashton’s grin spreads, almost splitting his face in half and Michael starts to feel a little afraid. “I dare you to break in to the old Hood house.”

Michael scoffs, standing from Luke’s lap and popping his spine. Breaking into the old Hood house isn’t that much of a dare. All the kids from Salem do it at least once, and Michael had his turn when he was like, ten. He’s a little disappointed in Ashton; he thought he could do better than that. He’s a little embarrassed for him, too, if he thought that going into that house would phase anyone over the age of twelve. “That’s it?” Michael asks, staring at Ashton with a dead expression.

“Ah, ah,” Ashton says with a glint in his eye. “You gotta break into the Hood house, and you have to video yourself lighting the Black Flame Candle.”"

Michael brings Calum back from hell as the result of a Halloween bet

I Want to Feel Your Love Like the Weather (ao3) - not_just_dreamers michael/luke, calum/ashton T, 3k

Summary: ' “Hmmm,” The boy continued to consider, now with a small smile on his face, “I’ll try a caramel tart then, if they’re good enough to steal.”

“Good man,” Calum grinned, ringing up his total and punching something else into the till, “Alright, that’ll be 50 cents.”

The boy frowned a little, “But it says-”

“I know what it says, I wrote the price cards. But you’re cute, and you looked like you were having a bad day, and I know if I’d left Michael to it he probably would’ve given it to you for free.” '

kiss you once now I can't leave (ao3) - ardenjames michael/luke G, 4k

Summary: harry potter au: Michael and Luke have been dancing around each other for years, but maybe it will take a love potion for Michael to finally admit her feelings for the Hufflepuff (featuring an excessive number of pickup lines and bad poetry).

Silver and Gold (ao3) - orphan_account michael/calum, side luke/ashton E, 40k

Summary: Michael was convinced he was normal. Until, he realized that he was as far from normal as possible. Thrust into a world he'd been forced to forget with powers he doesn't want, Michael is forced to figure out that being the Savior isn't all its cracked up to be, especially when every creature he didn't know existed is counting on his to win a long fought war. But, with a cute , not entirely human boy and two kickass Valkyries, Michael might just be able to save the world and get the boy. (Considering people stop trying to kill him first.)

The Catch (ao3) - allsassnoclass (brightblackholes) michael/luke T, 6k

Summary: Michael Clifford, the town witch and most eligible bachelor, announces that he'll only date the person who manages to get the key from around his cat's neck. Luke Hemmings, the awkward local photographer, keeps accidentally running into the cat, even though he knows he has no chance with Michael.

The Colour Of Our Mood (ao3) - Maluminspace calum/ashton G, 7k

Summary: Ashton's tutoring the current Hogwarts golden boy in charms but ends up getting more than house points out of it.

[quadrant-query]

gray,

; l;ke to cons;der myself a b;t of a "romance understander", but recently th;s has backf;red ;n the worst poss;ble way.

my matespr;t and ; are com;ng up on our one sweep, but ;'m not sure we'll make it to the n;ght. she has been attempt;ng to court a goldblood ;n the p;tch quadrant for about two per;gees now, and was com;ng to me for adv;ce on how to best secure h;s spade. unfortunately he recently confronted her about "steal;ng" one of her fl;rt;ng attempts "beat-for-beat" from a popular romcom that he had recently watched. they had a b;g blowup about ;t, and sadly dur;ng that argument ;t came out that not only was all the adv;ce ;'ve been g;v;ng her from var;ous f;lm-based sources, but the spec;al moments ;n wh;ch ; or;g;nally won her over were "plager;zed" as well. now she ;s fur;ous w;th me, ev;dently because that goldblood has conv;nced her that me tak;ng ;nsp;rat;on from my favor;te mov;es means that my feel;ngs are just as "fake".

normally ; would look to med;a for adv;ce, but now even that ;s out because no doubt ;t w;ll also be cons;dered ";ns;ncere"!!

; feel a b;t l;ke the protagon;st of ";n wh;ch a greenblood makes a l;v;ng boost;ng the conf;dence of romant;c su;tors so that they may w;n over the;r quadrants only for h;s own prospect;ve flushcrush to m;stakenly bel;eve from her mo;ra;l that he ;s ;n the bus;ness of d;sgu;s;ng sleazeballs ;n order to tr;ck people ;nto pa;l;ng them, wh;ch ;s not at all true but h;s reputat;on ;s ru;ned as well as the bronzeblood's whom he ;s help;ng to w;n over a seadweller etc"... ; don't know ;f you've ever seen that mov;e but that's bas;cally my current s;tuat;on!

what should ; do??

Holy shit, I love that movie actually. Troll Will Smith is fucking amazing in everything he does and I'll never hear otherwise.

As for your actual problem though, that sucks ass. You should try to talk this out with your matesprit, explain to her that everything comes from your genuine feelings for her and that you just like using moves from your own favorite things which you consider to be incredibly romantic on her. That's a very flattering thing to do! However maybe use your own words for it, just to really prove that it's from your pusher and no one else's.

Besides, things work out for the main character in the end of that movie. He gets to be with his flushcrush, and even the bronzeblood and the seadweller get together! (Spoilers if you haven't watched it I fucking guess, but like, that movie is so old that really it's on you if you haven't seen it).

Things will likely work out if you just explain your reasoning... perhaps to her kismesis as well, since he seems to be a big part of it. You should probably stop giving her advice for her other quadrants, though, because clearly other trolls aren't very appreciative of it.

Good luck.

[novieight]

"Blushing faces covered in pink! Rushing bombs, exploding ink!"

"Faces blush, a rush of ink! Bombs explode, no time to think!"

hi everyone!! im finally making a masterpost or intro post whatever you call it!!! so first im gonna tell about myself i guess lmao im so awkward ANYWAYS-

my name is Novan!!! im a genderfluid transmasc lesbian!!

im a MINOR!!!!!!!!!!

i go by he/they pronouns

i have a splatoon hyperfixation as well as sky: cotl, disney twisted wonderland, toilet bound hanako kun, and kid icarus!!!! talk to me about any of them!!!

im an age regressor and also part of the tk community ^///^

go follow my friend @4low3r!!!!!!! theyre super fuckin cool and their writing is really good!!!

now for some basic dni, triggers, etc.

dni if proship, prolife, anti-anti, etc. basic dni stuff

dni if homophobic, transphobic, racist, etc.

most find this strange but if you openly post about in depth religion PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU DNI!!!!! it triggers my derealization :(

i get triggered by mentions of manipulation, su!c!de, threatening one's life, etc. so please be careful with those topics around me!!

i have trypanophobia so needles and excessive blood (irl, art stuff is fine) really scares me

please dont reality check me as it really upsets me

saying this again please DNI IF YOU ARE A RELIGIOUS ACCOUNT!!!! DO NOT TRY TO "CONVERT" OR "MAKE ME REPENT" I WILL INSTANTLY BLOCK AND REPORT YOU!!!!

ummmmm what else do i put here OH I GUESS A BYF LIST IS GOOD I DONT KNOW IM TRYING TO TAKE UP SPACE HERE

i spam post like A LOT; im the type to reblog LOADS of art and fics and stuff, so if you dont like when users clutter your dash beware of me i guess lol

if you couldnt tell i get really awkward about some subjects so just i dont know just thought i should say that

i DO reblog tk content so if you dont want to see that then you probably shouldnt follow me

i also have these random thoughts and rants and stuff and yeah i can act really different at times sooooo uh yeah

i am an undiagnosed autistic; i still live with my abusers because im not old enough to live on my own BUT as soon as i can get safely tested for autism i will see about a real diagnosis

i do vent on here sometimes so if you dont want to see me talking about potentially triggering topics i would block the tag "novasvents" because i always tag my vent posts with that

i should also mention that i am part of the selfship community!! i self ship with frye and riddle rosehearts as well as a few others!!

now how about a list of the characters that i am!! (bolded = more frequent!!)

callie cuttlefish (splatoon)

hypno!callie (splatoon)

aloha (coroika)

frye (splatoon)

mei shijima (toilet bound hanako kun)

emma 63194 (the promised neverland)

lilia vanrouge (disney twisted wonderland, diasomnia)

basil (omori)

mitsuba sousuke (toilet bound hanako kun)

miko villager (bad end night by hitoshizuku x yama)

viridi (kid icarus: uprising)

ENA (Joel G)

anddddd thats about all i can think of!! stay fresh!!

[katiesharms]

you want everything live (you want things you can touch)

fandom: top gun maverick pairing: phoenix/halo rating: G wc: 2.2K

a/n: i wrote this in an hour on my phone so ignore any typos or awkward wording please and thanks. read on ao3!

Natasha is 15 when she meets the boy she will marry.

She chooses him the same way she chooses her lunch every day, with a brusque evaluation of the options and a logical determination of the best one. According to her friends, Andrew is the only cute boy in their grade with any kind of brain. So when he asks her out after third period Honors Chemistry, she agrees.

She doesn’t decide she’s going to marry him until after their third date. By then, she knows he’s nice and funny, respectful of her enough to ask to kiss her and stop when she wants to. He’s Catholic, so her mom will approve, and planning to go to Stanford, so her dad will as well. They make sense together; both are similarly ambitious with compatible life plans.

Natasha doesn’t tell Andrew all of this, of course. She knows enough about teenage boys to know they tend to freak out about mentions of marriage and the rest of their lives. But internally she accepts it. She’s happy, to have found the man she’s meant to spend the rest of her life with so early on. Her parents didn’t find one another until they were 30, but Natasha got the nasty business out of the way quickly. No stumbling through her early 20s making terrible decisions; she’s figured out this aspect of her future.

They’re steadily together through the rest of high school, even winning prom king and queen. Andrew’s by her side through the entire application to the Academy and she returns the favor for his to Stanford. They get their acceptance letters on the same weekend.

That Sunday, as they’re staring at the sheets of paper that represent their dream, Andrew decides to derail her entire life plan.

“I think we should break up.”

“What? Why?” Natasha’s primary emotion is confusion, but she’s sure, if she digs deep enough, there’s some hurt.

“Nat, we’ll be on other sides of the country from each other. And then you’ll be in the Navy, and I’ll be going to med school. We won’t be able to be together until we’re 30.”

So? Natasha wants to ask. She doesn’t really see a problem with that. That’s the whole point of this plan - to find the person she’ll be with when she’s 30 instead of stumbling through her 20s without a clue.

“If we’re getting married, does it matter that we won’t see each other until we’re 30?”

Andrew lets out a disbelieving laugh. “What are you talking about? We’re in high school.”

“So?” she does say this time. “We’re extremely compatible. Do you really think it’ll get better than this?” Because she can’t see how it will, how she’ll find another mind as smart and understanding as Andrew, who respects her at every turn.

“Nat, we’re 18. It’s definitely gonna get better than this. Do you really think I’m the person you want to spend your life with?”

“C’mon Andrew, you’re great.”

“And so are you. But we’re 18,” he repeats, emphasizing the point. “Can you really say that you want to live the rest of our lives like this?”

“What does that mean?” she asks, defensive.

“I like being with you, hanging out with you. But I don’t think we have the kind of love built to last. Can you honestly say you love me?”

Natasha opens her mouth to dispute it, but finds she can’t. It feels stupid; they’ve been dating for three years. She should know what love feels like; she should be able to feel it for him. When she doesn’t answer, Andrew gives her an understanding look.

“I think there’s some things we both need to learn about ourselves. But if you’re 30 and still want to get married, give me a call.” He shoots her one of his easy smiles. “Maybe we’ll still be compatible.

-

Natasha is 19 when she meets the woman she will marry.

She doesn’t know it at the time; she won’t know it for another better part of the decade. But sophomore year of the Academy, she’s bunked next to Callie Shen.

Callie is whip-smart and confident, but she’s not a show-off. She’s a quiet achiever, always top of their class but never bragging about it.

They fall into an easy friendship with no obligations to each other. They do their homework together in the student lounge, walk to class at the same time, and sometimes, if there’s a movie Natasha wants to see, she’ll ask Callie to go with her.

They’re not really friends; Natasha has a feeling once they graduate, they won’t keep up with each other. Something about Callie leaves Natasha on edge around her, unable to relax the way she usually does and slip into a genuine friendship. Natasha feels nervous around her, intimidated by her easy-going nature and natural charisma. Callie can captivate any room she’s in, but she has the social awareness to know when to do so. She’s just as comfortable fading into the background as she is taking control. Natasha admires it, envies it. She’s never been able to sit back. Throughout high school, it appeared on her report cards: smart, but domineering, unable to cede space to others. Callie does it easily, without a hint of bitterness.

So, even though they’re friends, they never talk about anything too real. Natasha itches to peel back the layers of Callie Shen and discover who she really is. But she’s too apprehensive about doing the same, worried about showing something to Callie that’s too raw, too real.

One night in the library, cramming for their Physics final, Callie mentions off-hand the classes she’ll have to take next semester to prep for the aviation track.

It’s the first time Nat ever gets a glimpse into what Callie truly wants, and it shocks her that it’s the same thing Natasha wants.

“You’re aiming for the aviation track, too?” Natasha asks. She can’t tell if the nervous feeling in her stomach is from excitement or worry about spending her career with Callie.

“Yup,” Callie answers, smiling as she thinks about it. “I can’t wait.”

“So you want to be a pilot?” Everyone wants to be a pilot, Natasha included. She can’t think of anything more exciting than the prospect of flying.

“Nah, I’m gonna be a WSO,” Callie answers casually like it makes sense.

Natasha furrows her brow. “Why do you want to be a wizzo?” For the life of her, she can’t comprehend why anyone would want to be a backseater when they could be a pilot.

“Someone’s gotta look out for you hotshots out there. Make you all look good.” Callie winks, that quiet confidence on display.

Absently, Natasha thinks she wouldn’t mind having Callie as her backseater.

-

Natasha is 23 when she meets her best friend.

Bradley Bradshaw (and what a fucking name that is) is warm and jovial, the life of any party he walks into, and unbelievable kind, if a bit spacey. He’s four years older than the next oldest of their flight training cohort, and Natasha has a feeling that relates to the undercurrent of bitterness that sometimes runs through Bradley.

She and Bradley are instant friends, attached at the hip through training. They push each other and support each other, understand one another with an intuitiveness that Natasha has never encountered before. Sure, Bradley isn’t the most forthcoming, but he’s funny and kind and handsome enough if she ignores his pathetic excuse for a mustache.

So she makes another logical decision. Bradley has a life that fits with hers, similar career goals, and an understanding of what it takes to achieve them. Because that’s where it went wrong with Andrew, right? It make sense to ask him, one night when they’re in his bunk going over flight details, to go out with her.

Bradley laughs in her face.

“What the fuck?” she asks, cheeks heating with embarrassment.

“Nat, you can’t be serious,” he insists. “I’m gay. Aren��t you?”

“What? No!” She feels something like fear shoot through her, but she tamps it down. “I’m not gay,” she says because she isn’t. “I had a boyfriend,” she insists, because she did.

Bradley’s face shifts from amusement to something like deep sympathy. “Right, right,” he agrees, though Nat feels he’s just placating her. “Sorry, I guess I just assumed.”

“Why?” she asks, hot with an emotion she can’t quite understand.

Bradley runs a hand through his hair. “It’s just you never flirt back with any of the guys; I don’t even think you know they’re flirting. And besides your high school boyfriend, whom you barely talk about and never with that much fondness, you don’t seem to have any men in your past. I guess I just assumed you were keeping on the down low.”

“I’m not gay,” she repeats, tone on the edge of frantic. It does nothing to change Bradley’s expression.

“Are you sure?” he asks because he has the subtly of a sledgehammer and no tact. “Just maybe, I dunno, think about it. I’m here if you ever want to talk.”

She does think about it, off and on over the next few years. Bradley was right in that she’s never been interested in boys, certainly not in the way her friends always were. But that doesn’t mean she’s gay, that she’s a lesbian. There’s never been a girl who piques her interest in that way. Well, she supposes there was Hayley in her in-take class and Jennifer in freshman year bio. Mia Hamm when she was young, and Sarah Michelle Geller during her Buffy phase. And Callie.

But Natasha, now Phoenix, doesn’t have time to figure out her sexuality. Not when she’s one of the few female fighter pilots in the Navy, trying to make a name for herself.

-

Natasha is 27 when she re-meets Callie Shen, now Callie Bassett.

Training for a suicide mission is not the ideal time to ask her about the name change, but Natasha can’t help it, not when the dim lighting in the corner of the Hard Deck makes Callie look 19 again, makes Natasha feel 19 again.

“Ah,” Callie says wryly, “I got married. Took her last name.”

Natasha doesn’t miss the use of ‘her’ nor the way her stomach swoops as she learns Callie is married.

“Oh,” she answers dumbly. Just like back in the Academy, Callie has a way of reducing Natasha to monosyllables.

“It only lasted eight months,” Callie continues. “spent more time getting divorced than we ever did married. Navy just hasn’t gotten around to changing my name back.”

“So I can still call you Lieutenant Shen?” Natasha can't help but tease.

“You can call me whatever you want.”

The way Callie looks at her reminds her of the time the two of them went out to a bar with the rest of their in-take group back in Pensacola.

It had been oppressively hot and muggy; Natasha’s black t-shirt was stuck to her skin unpleasantly, and her thighs stuck to every surface she sat on. But in the dark club they had found themselves at, Natasha could forget it all as she danced. She and Callie ended up dancing together, pressed up to one another. Natasha threw her arms over Callie’s shoulders, and Callie wrapped one arm around Natasha’s waist, pulling her in. They moved perfectly in sync, and Natasha couldn’t think about anything except the way Callie was looking at her. Not the heat, not the press of other people’s bodies, not the G-force training they had the next day. All she could think about was how Callie looked like she was going to kiss her. Natasha didn’t know what to do with it then.

She knows what to do with it now.

Two weeks later, after they land on the carrier and everyone is miraculously alive, she thinks of Callie.

Natasha waits a few days, waits until they’re on dry land, and the celebrations and adrenaline have died down. She doesn’t want to rush it, not like she used to. Trying to plan for the future hasn’t always worked out well.

After their debrief with Cyclone, Natasha stops Callie in the hallway, waiting for the guys to clear out.

“I was wondering,” she starts and realizes she sounds breathless. Natasha squares her shoulders and takes in a breath to steady herself. “Would you like to go out for coffee sometime?”

Callie smiles, and Natasha’s breath shutters. “Is this a date, Trace?”

“Only if you call me Natasha.”

Her grin widens. “Okay, Natasha. Let’s get some coffee.”

-

Natasha is 30 when she gets engaged.

Callie is the one who asks, in the middle of their kitchen, while trying to teach Natasha how to make beggar’s chicken. Her hands are covered in clay as she covers the wrapped chicken, giggling at the absurdity of it all, when she turns to grab some more and sees Callie down on one knee.

Natasha brings her hands up to her face on instinct, forgetting what she was just doing and smearing clay along her cheeks. Callie laughs fondly at the sight.

“Yes,” she says before Callie can even ask.

It’s not even a question. Yes, they make logical sense, but Callie also makes Natasha the happiest she’s ever been. If this can be the rest of her life, then she’s excited, thrilled. When Callie slips the ring over Natasha’s finger, she thinks briefly of Andrew. She’ll have to call him just to tell him he was right.

[pokedesignercalli]

G.4. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

(Last part is OOC because Calli would never awnser that on her own)

Well, I like where I got myself in life. I'm able to be able to be an elite 4 member and look good while doing so!

Ooc: Calliope is insecure about herself and how the world perceives her. She had a mindset of "I have to do everything by myself" for the longest time in her life, and while it got better, she still has trouble asking for help. She also can be extra critical on herself when she fails to do something.

[mediaevalmusereads]

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake. By Sarah MacLean. Avon, 2010.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Love by Numbers #1

Summary: Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing.

But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss—to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston—charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.

If she's not careful, she'll break the most important rule of all—the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love.

***Full review below.***

Content Warnings: graphic sexual content, dubious consent, blood

Overview: This book is something of a classic in the romance world, so I figured I should get around to reading it at some point. I can see why it might have made a splash; MacLean presents us with a heroine who wants to escape the confines that society puts on unmarried women, and it's easy to root for her. Overall, though, I found this book to be less than engaging, in part because the pacing wasn't quite to my liking. While I could have gotten into each of the individual narrative threads, there wasn't really a sense of urgency, and a lot of scenes felt like filler. For that reason, this book only gets a middling rating from me.

Writing: MacLean's prose is generally well crafted in that it's clear and precise, making it easy to digest and quick to get through. It's about what you would expect of the romance genre, and it has some moments of levity that will surely make a reader smile. I don't necessarily have anything negative to say about it.

Plot: The non-romance plot of this novel involves a number of narrative threads: Callie, our heroine, is tired of acting like a proper lady, and after ten years of following society's rules and still not finding a suitable husband, she decides to make a list of all the things she's always wanted to do. This list includes very scandalous, non-ladylike activities like gambling, fencing, and smoking cheroot, and as she sets out to cross everything off her list, she becomes entangled with Gabriel, the Marquess of Ralston. Ralston is in need of a lady with a sterling reputation to introduce his half sister to the ton, and Callie agrees to help in exchange for a kiss. However, Ralston soon discovers what Callie is up to and appoints himself as something of a protector and co-conspirator, at first to safeguard Callie's reputation (so that his sister's reputation is also unaffected). But as Ralston gets more and more involved with Callie, the two start to have feelings for one another, and drama ensues.

This plot on its face was a fairly good one in that all characters had something they were striving for. Callie longed for adventure, and Ralston was determined that his sister have a good chance at being socially accepted. However, any excitement I had for the plot was dampened by the slow pace of the novel. MacLean infuses the plot with no sense of urgency, meaning that a lot of scenes (such as going shopping) feel like filler and don't necessarily build on one another. Long periods of time would pass before Callie got to items in her list, and some of them were over and done with so fast that it felt a little cheap. I think this book would have been more successful if more emphasis was placed on the symbolic nature of Callie's list items; for example, fencing could have allowed Callie to express anger, which ladies are supposed to suppress. Maybe drinking scotch could be symbolic of rebelling against the ways women are told what to eat and drink. There's a little of that from time to time, but MacLean seems less interested in delving into what emotional satisfaction Callie gets from the items on her list than she is in setting up situations to throw Callie and Ralston together.

Romance: The romance between Callie and Ralston was... OK. There wasn't a whole lot that was wrong with it, but I also wouldn't call it very memorable. The biggest issue I had with it was that Callie seems to lose all sense of self-confidence or self-determination whenever Ralston is in the picture. She would often be well on her way to doing something for herself, but her feelings for Ralston would get her sidetracked to the point where accomplishing the tasks on her list felt cheap. For example, Callie disguises herself as a man to go gambling, but she lets Ralston take her to a private room in the men's club where they gamble just with each other and then have sex. It didn't feel like Callie was really seeking out adventure to fulfill her desires outside of Ralston, so Ralston felt like her whole world. While I understand that this is a romance, I do like my characters to be mutually supportive of the other and for them to have goals aside from boinking one another.

Characters: Callie, our heroine, is easy to root for in that she has a worthy goal. I personally like heroines that struggle against society's expectations, and it was fun seeing her take charge. However, Callie was also something of a naive pushover; while she could be determined and headstrong, she usually caved when Ralston got involved, and after a while, the items on her list felt like chores rather than things she actually wanted to do. Callie also seems to waver back and forth between wanting to escape society and wanting to conform to it; though she longs for adventure, she constantly corrects Ralston's sister on how proper ladies should act, and there wasn't really a sense that the two were putting on an act so that they could get what they wanted from society. It made for some confusing motivations.

Ralston, our hero, isn't by far the worst I've ever read, but there's not a whole lot to him that makes him memorable. He's a Rake of the highest order, but he also cares deeply for his siblings and never actually mistreats anyone - including his former mistress. That's all well and good, but some of his kindness is overshadowed by his overbearing nature. He has a tendency to be quite bossy, and I didn't especially like the way he tried to almost bully Callie into marriage.

Juliana, Ralston's half sister, is sympathetic in that she's in a new country with a family she's always wanted, so it's easy to want to see her happy. I loved that she formed friendships with both Callie and Callie's sister, Mariana, so the three of them had some comraderie that felt natural and easy. The only thing I didn't quite like was that MacLean wrote Juliana as not understanding English idioms (because Juliana's first language is Italian). While I think it was meant to be charming or funny, it instead painted Juliana as somewhat childish or unintelligent.

Mariana, Callie's younger sister, is wonderful for supporting her sister and keeping her secrets. I liked that Mariana and Callie had what truly felt like a co-conspirator relationship, and the esteem Mariana has for Callie is touching. Benedick, their older brother, is similarly admirable and I liked that he was also sympathetic; he seemed to want what was best for Callie, though he doesn't quite understand the limits placed on women. It's forgivable, though, because Benedick very obviously tries his best.

The only characters that I felt were underutilized were Nastasia and Oxford. Nastasia is Ralston's most recent ex-mistress, and at first, I thought MacLean was setting up some kind of rivalry subplot. I was glad that that didn't happen, but as a result, Nastasia felt rather hollow. She does give Callie some parting advice about love, but it doesn't seem to be relevant for long, so as a character, Nastasia feels like filler. Oxford, for his part, is actually there to drive some drama; Ralston makes a bet with him early in the novel that the latter wouldn't be able to win Callie's hand. Oxford, you see, is deeply in debt and would benefit from Callie's dowry, and he suspects Callie is desperate enough to accept him. While I didn't quite mind the bet as a source of drama, it was in and out of focus, which made it feel thrown in at the last minute for some last minute angst. Oxford himself serves his purpose well, but again, he didn't feel much like a real threat or real source of pressure on the plot.

TL;DR: While Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake is a classic in the historical romance world, there's not a lot to set it apart today, more than a decade after its publication. Though I appreciated following a heroine who struggled against society's stupid rules for women, the pacing of this book left a lot to be desired, and the fixation on the love interest made the heroine's desires feel unconsequential.