#this is not what I actually expected when I started watching the show 4 years ago

[isaangie-art]

Dummy question, guys:

How exactly we went from "Two teen superheroes with 'mahou shoujo' stereotype fighting a 40 y.o. supervillain who only wanted to bring his wife back and have a happy family"...

... to "Sentimonsters, evil rich people, and 2 love-thirsty teenagers that still need to stop an idiot powerful white haired man who now wants to control everyone" as main plot??

Like, what xD

(Sorry for my bad english btw)

[demilypyro]

So I've seen a few too many people on twitter talking about The Kiss Scene from the new Scott Pilgrim anime. People saying it's fetishistic and indulgent, people calling it male gazey, etc. And while the kiss itself is certainly a bit exaggerated, I felt like writing a bit about why I disagree, and why context is important, like it always is. But it basically turned into an extended analysis on the metatextual treatment of Roxie Richter. So bear with me. It's a long post.

What really matters about this scene is not the kiss itself, but what precedes it. Not even just the fight scene just before it, but what precedes the whole anime series, really. And that's the Scott Pilgrim comic book, and the live action movie. Because in both, Roxie is a punchline.

She's a joke. Her character starts and ends with "one of the exes is actually a girl, I bet you didn't expect that." Jokes are made about Ramona's latent bisexuality, the movie especially treating it as funny and absurd, and her validity as a romantic interest is entirely written off by Ramona as being "just a phase." There's a fight scene, she's defeated by a man giving her an orgasm which implicitly calls her sexuality into question (come on), and the movie just moves on. It sucks. It really, really sucks.

The comic fares a little better. It never veers into outright homophobia like the movie does, and while the line about Ramona having gone through a phase remains, Roxie actually gets one over on Scott when Ramona briefly gets back with Roxie. But Roxie is still only barely a character. Like all the other evil exes, she's just a stepping stone towards the male protagonist's development. She barely even gets any screentime before she's defeated by Scott's "power of love." But Roxie stands out, since she's the only villain who is queer, or at least had been confirmed queer at that point (hi Todd). In a series that champions multiple gay men in the supporting cast, the single undeniable lesbian in the story is a villain. She's labeled as evil, made fun of, pushed aside in favor of the men, and then discarded. Her screentime was never about her, or her feelings for Ramona. It was about the straight, male protagonist needing to overcome her. And that was Roxie Richter. An unfortunate victim of the 2010s.

Fast forward to current year, and the new anime series is announced. Everybody sits down to watch the new series expecting another retelling of the same story, and.... hang on, that straight male protagonist I mentioned just died in the first episode. And now it's humanizing the villains from the original story. And there's Roxie, introduced alongside the other evil exes in the second episode, and she's being played entirely straight, without a punchline in sight. No jokes are made about her gender, no questions are made of her validity as one of Ramona's romantic interests. The narrative considers her important. In one episode, she already gets more respect than she did in either of the previous iterations of Scott Pilgrim. And this isn't even her focus episode yet... which happens to be the very next one.

The anime series goes to great lengths to flesh out the original story's villains and to have Ramona reconcile with them. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Roxie gets to go first. While Matthew Patel gets his development in episode 2, Roxie is the first to directly confront Ramona, now our main protagonist. This is notable too because it's the only time the exes are encountered out of order. Roxie is supposed to be number 4, but she's first in line, and later on you realize that she's the only one who's out of sequence. She's the one who sets the precedent for the villains being redeemed. She's the most important character for Ramona to reconcile with.

What follows is probably the most extensive, elaborate 1 on 1 fight scene in the whole show. Roxie fights like a wounded animal, her motions are desperate and pained. Ramona can only barely fight back against her onslaught. Different set-pieces fly by at breakneck speed as Roxie relentlessly lays her feelings at Ramona's feet through her attacks and her distraught shouts. And unlike the comic or the movie, Ramona acknowledges them, and sincerely apologizes. And the two end up just laying there, exhausted, reminiscing about when they were together.

Only after this, after all of this, does the kiss scene happen. Roxie has been vindicated, she has reconciled with the person who hurt her, the narrative has deemed that her anger is justified and has redeemed her character. And she gets her victory lap by making the nearest other hot girl question her heterosexuality, sharing a sloppy kiss with her as the music triumphantly crescendos.

It's... a little self-congratulatory, honestly. But it's good. It's redemption for a character who had been mistreated for over a decade. And she punctuates the moment by being very, very gay where everyone can see it, no men anywhere in sight. Because this is her moment. And then she leaves the plot, on her own accord this time, while humming the hampster dance. What a legend. How could anything be wrong with this.

[queuestarter]

imbrued

(finnick odair x reader)

cw: stab wound, vomit, mentions of prostitution, murder, blood, death

link to the request → reader and finnick are in the quell together and reader gets injured. finnick does everything he can to protect her

open to submissions/asks !!

You never expected to be back.

Why would you? After winning the 68th Hunger Games, you thought you were free from the torment, but that was never the case. After winning and gaining the favor of the capitol, you were immediately thrust into the spotlight, being sold off to those who could afford you. You were given a slot each week on television, showing off baking recipes that you had no interest in making. 

And now, your name was called once more from the pool of victors, placing you back to where you started when you were just sixteen years old, only this time with your boyfriend Finnick by your side.

The events of the weeks leading up to the start of the Quarter Quell passed in a blur. Things only start registering with you when you’re finally in the arena, eyes searching frantically around your surroundings to try and figure out what’s going on.

You can see water immediately in front of you with trees just beyond it, which is more than ideal since you’re from District 4. In your first games, you had to trek through fields of tall grass for miles before there was a place to take shelter.

After you find your bearings on the platform, you immediately begin to search for Finnick. You spot him across the water, the distance upsetting you, but Johanna is on your other side which is slightly comforting. 

When the gong sounds, you immediately head for the Cornucopia. You thrived in the bloodbath in your last games and you plan to do so again. Finnick didn’t want you to put yourself at risk, but you have a reputation to uphold. You know the only way that you’re going to get any sponsors is if you put on a show.

Due to your strong swimming skills, you and Finnick get to the golden Cornucopia first. You barely have time to send a smile his way before you’re grabbing weapons- small knives to strap onto your body and a metal spear to hold. You feel a sick sense of satisfaction when you’re forced to use your newly acquired spear on another tribute, proud that you protected Finnick from a man that was going to kill him.

It’s only when you are finally forced away from the Cornucopia by Finnick’s strong hold on your upper arm that you have the time to talk to him. You can tell by the slight frown on his face that he’s not very happy with you.

“What were you thinking? I told you not to go to the Cornucopia.” He’s still holding onto your arm as you make your way through the jungle, Katniss and Peeta in front of you.

You roll your eyes and smile at him. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Finnick only frowns at you more. “I’m trying to protect you, here. Something bad could have happened.”

You actually laugh at that. “I know you remember my games, Finn. The Cornucopia was mine in the last games. Don’t worry so much about me.”

He sighs, but drops the subject. The two of you fall silent.

The next few hours are terrible. Peeta’s near death, the acid fog, the monkey mutts that killed the poor morphling from District 6 and claimed your spear. The Quell is moving at a much quicker pace than any of the games have in the past and it’s worrying you. 

Things only start to look up after Katniss uses Wiress’ cryptic words to discover that the arena is set up like a clock.

Finnick, ever inquisitive, says, “I’d like to go to the Cornucopia and watch. Just to make sure we’re right about the clock.” You all decide that it’s a pretty good idea and walk the short stretch over to the golden horn.

The others begin to talk mindlessly as you and Finnick branch off into your own conversation while you patrol the border of the Cornucopia. “It’s interesting that there’s nothing but weapons here this year. They’re really trying to get this over with,” you comment.

Finnick nods. “They want us dead. Good thing we know how to fish,” he smirks.

You shake your head in slight amusement, carefully toeing closer to everyone else. As you get closer to the group, you look up from your feet to see Gloss creeping up on the rock wedges, getting closer to an unsuspecting Wiress.

“No!” You scream, pulling a small dagger from your belt. “Wiress, move!” You try to close the gap between you and her.

But it’s too late. You watch in horror as Wiress’ throat gets easily cut by Gloss. Without much thought, you finish the sprint to Gloss, your blade swiftly leaving your hand and ending up in his neck. His eyes widen as he grabs at the handle but before doesn’t pull it out, instead he jumps towards you.

You almost don’t realize what happens. As Gloss lands on top of your body, the same knife he used to kill Wiress ends up in your lower abdomen. You scream, but in the chaos of trying to kill the rest of the careers along with the rapid shifting of the Cornucopia and surrounding waters, the sound gets lost.

It’s only after Finnick grabs your hand and begins to drag you off the island that the reality settles in. You were stabbed in the abdomen and you are losing blood. You put your hand over the wound and keep walking.

“Are you okay?” Finnick asks you once you are back on the beach. “Are you hurt?”

You debate lying for a second. The last thing anyone needs right now is another injured tribute. Beetee is barely hanging on as it is and Peeta is constantly slowing down the group, there doesn’t need to be another liability. But Finnick knows you and he would know if you lied to him.

“I think Gloss stabbed me,” is what ends up coming out of your mouth. You almost wish you lied when you see Finnick’s reaction.

His face twists up in a look of sheer panic, pupils blowing. His hands run across your body until they meet your own hand, holding firmly onto the meaty flesh of your lower torso. “Here?” He asks, gripping your red fingers. “This is where he got you?”

Tears welling up in your eyes, you nod. You can’t help but feel like a disappointment. You thought you would be able to absolutely dominate in these games based on your last ones, but you completely overlooked the fact that everyone else here is a victor, too.

“Okay, baby, let me look,” he gently commands. His eyes turn even wilder when you shake your head. “I need to look. I can’t help you if I can’t see it.”

Your hand drops from your side. Finnick wastes no time in unzipping your jumpsuit, pulling it below your sports bra and to your hips. He bites his lip as he assesses the damage. With a gentle hand, he prods at the tender flesh. A second later, you push him away and throw up.

You can hear him cursing behind you as you continue to retch. You don’t know why you’re sick, but you know that it cannot be good. 

When your sudden sickness is over and you turn back to Finnick to assure him that you don’t know what that was, that you’re fine, you see the rest of the group staring at you, Katniss hands Finnick a mound of what looks like moss in one hand and a small tube.

“I know this isn’t the best option, but it’ll help. I’m sure someone will send us something better soon,” he sends you a small, still panicked smile.

You just nod your head. You’re embarrassed and tired and you want everyone to stop staring at you. You allow Finnick to lead you to where the spile has been hammered into a tree, rinse your wound, apply the medicine, and pack it with the moss. After a few minutes, you feel as good as new.

“Thank you, Finn,” you smile at him. He wraps his arms around you tightly.

“Of course,” he breathes into your hair. “Anything for you. I can’t believe I almost lost you.”

You press a kiss on his collarbone. “That was nothing. I’m not going anywhere.”

“We need to get out of here. You need a real doctor.”

You nod into his shoulder, not too worried anymore. “Soon.”

“Soon,” he repeats back.

And he keeps his promise. The rest of the plan plays out, although not perfectly. You and Finnick are both evacuated and he makes sure you see a doctor, for both the stab in your stomach and the gash in your arm where you cut the tracker out.

You know there’s still more to do, but you feel safe knowing Finnick will be there to protect you.

-

[ef-1]

Transcribed Excerpts from Christian Horner's hour long Interview that are batshit insane and so narratively dense you'd think they're lifted wholesale from a book, featuring:

The most in depth, behind the scenes view of what transpired in 2018

Fords CEO getting in touch with Dax to gush about how much he likes Daniel

Christian feeling vindictive towards Daniel

Christian comparing Sebastian and Max

Christian comparing Daniel to Roger Federer

How Christian had to mitigate Helmut's shitshow and personally asking Dietrich to give Daniel everything he wanted

Hilarious rapid fire in the end and his perspective on the failure of Ferrari

●●● <- indicates a time skip

Dax: In tennis you see guys when they lose steam, they break apart.

Christian Horner : you see that with checo.

●●●

[Dax mentions that in Christian's position, a lot of people would not have invited Daniel back into the family. "Because Daniel turned his back on the family." ]

Christian: Daniel's a great guy. Very badly advised in his early career. Everybody fucks up at some point. I think he recognizes that he made a mistake. He didn't have good advice around him at the point he left us. Having spent time outside the family he realized what he had here was actually good. It was horrible to see that it got worse and worse after us. It was actually this time last year in Mexico where I sat down with him in my hotel room, I told him you need a complete reset- take a year out. Come back to us.

Dax: He's such a win for you guys.

Christian: Totally.

Dax: you sent Daniel to Jim Farley [ CEO of Ford] and I know Jim Farley and he got in touch with me and told me "That Daniel Ricciardo guy is the greatest!" I'm like to him: he's the dream, send him anywhere.

●●●

Christian: He's [Daniel] a confidence driver, when he's got his mojo, he one of the fastest guys on the grid.

Dax: he's lethal.

Christian: yep.

Dax: he's got that magic thing that people either have or don't have in my opinion which is: there are winners and there are not winners

[you're not ready for this lol]

Christian: He came to us, he's one of our juniors, I remember going to watch him in formula 3, he really stood out. Very smooth. Just great. Naturally. Like a Roger Federer kind of style behind the wheel, very very classic. Light touch. Great, great skill. And then he came through the system [RB program] when we had Sebastian Vettel, 4 time world champion- Mark Webber retired. We chose Daniel as the Junior, with no expectation on him and he started beating Vettels ass. he won 3 races in 2014 when we had FAR from the best engine, Sebastian never won a race that year.

Dax: Even his time at Mclaren, it sucked for him but he's the only one who won a race.

Christian: He IS the only one who won a race.

Dax: and for a long time now.

Christian: and Renault he had great performances. [...] he's got to feel the love. He's got to feel comfortable in the environment that he's in. Some of his races for us were- absolutely outstanding.

●●●

[Christian about the 2018 negotiations]

Christian: I asked Dietrich to show Daniel love. Helmut was obviously pro Max, I said if you could just balance things out, let him [Daniel] know you want him. Dietrich said "no problem, I'll talk to him" so he took Daniel upstairs after the race in Austria to talk to him, and they were there for well over an hour.

Dax: To the point you were nervous?

Christian: I thought SHIT! But they reappear, and they're both smiling, I tell him: "Dietrich, how did it go?" He says,"No problem, don't worry about it. It's not even a question [that daniel would leave]"

Christian: Then we went to Germany, and his engine blew up. His engine kept letting him down, letting him down, letting him down. But from there, we went to Hungary, and we got his paperwork [Daniel's contract] for a TWO year deal all sorted out. Daniel's manager came to me and said 'listen Daniel is nervous about the engine' because we were going to switch to Honda so his manager said: 'he'll do ONE year' I thought wow. That's not really what we talked about, because in 6 months we'll be having the same conversation. So I remember I went back to Dietrich, and I said, "it's about relationships. It's NOT about contracts. If he wants a one year contract, give him a one year contract," so at this point: he's got everything he wants. Also, at that point, Daniel was doing a test for us after the Hungarian race, I thought Daniel will sign the paperwork on Monday, suddenly Monday goes and he's in the car on Tuesday. I'm starting to smell something because this is an enormous deal, you'd have thought he'd be in a rush to sign this contract. And he didn't sign the contract before he got in the car in the morning and I thought he'd sign by lunchtime but it didn't happen. He had to get out of the car and go straight to the airport because he's flying from here to LA and I thought he'll call me. I'm feeling something at this point.

Dax: you know you're about to be broken up with.

Christian: yeah.

Dax: if your girlfriend didn't show up to lunch then dinner-

Christian: exactly. So- he [daniel] rings me, I was in the car with Geri, he tells me "I just got off the plane, I arrived in LA, and I've been thinking on the flight, all the way here- I'm not going to sign the contract. I'm going to take another contract. [...] he tells me Renault? The engine that let him down for 2 years? I was convinced, I was CONVINCED- because Daniel has got a sense of humour- I thought- he's taking the piss. I thought come on. I told him: come on. There is no way. You're not going to Renault, stop fucking about, just sign the contract. After 10 minutes he finally persuaded me that he was going to Renault. It was disappointing.

Dax: I wanna applaude you, because a lot of people who go through that experience think: fuck you.

Christian: there was an element of that. I thought: go and suck on a lemon for a bit. But actually during the pandemic, I remember he called me and said "Christian I hate to say this to you but you were right"

•••

Christian thinks Max > Vettel

Christian about Alex and Pierre being teammates with Max: he broke them

[Very confused in this part because Christian like? Says the best thing for Checo to perform is to forget about Max, stop trying to compete with him, stop looking at his data? Girl you are NOT selling it rn]

•••

When Christian is asked to analyse Red Bull's champions, he thinks Sebastian and Max are diametrically opposed . Sebastian is your stereotypical German, he would be at the track until 11 to analyse data. Max is not interested in all the detail [devasting news for all the bitches who spent years trying to dunk on Daniel by calling him not technical, Christian seems to think that Daniel and Max share a natural ability that doesn't rely on data.] He [Max] Gives you just what he needs to go faster. Max hates testing, has no interest in it.

●●●

Christian confirms he has a lucky toilet.

●●●

Christian says in 2014-18 Red Bull came this 🤏 close to selling to Audi.

●●●

Christian: Drive to Survive is the Kardashians on wheel

●●●

Christian: You get characters like Gunther Steiner. How scary is he. He used to work for us, I had to be the one to fire him.

●●●

Christian on why he believes Ferrari have failed over the last 15 years: Ferrari is a national institution instead of a Team. It needs to become a racing team again. Too many people have input at the top.

[deadghosy]

🍃🍂🍃🍂

BEING ROOMMATES WITH COLLEGE MODERN AU! AANG:

𓇢𓆸°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･prompt: in a world where the Alta world didn’t have a war and it was just a peaceful modern life.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚being roommates with the avatar as you are just a non bender is either peaceful or chaos.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚oh you’re sleeping in? If classes were cancelled, he’s sleeping in with you as a appa and momo plushie is beside you. If classes weren’t cancelled, he’s sending a light blast of air to your bed to lift you up. You were startled and immediately started chasing Aang around pissed off while he laughs his ass off.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚movie nights are an absolute must. Cause Aang is a person who likes to hang out with people he feels comfortable with. So you better expect him to ask you to choose, he loves to know more about you.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚this man deadass almost burnt the dorm room down and you were panicking until he put it out with his airbending. Aang looks back at you still shaken up. He sighs going over to you, making sure you were okay. He hated to see you scared and he apologized by ordering your favorite food instead.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚Aang could possibly teach you history if you asked him. I mean, he was sealed in ice 100 years ago at most. You would hesitate as this bald headed roommate of yours just wait with a patient smile.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚he does take you to visit the air temple he came from. At the southern air temple, he shows you how he did the air scooter. You laugh and smile until he sped past you making you fall. You got up angrily and chased after him as he laughs.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚this little Mr clean ripoff asshole ate your leftovers once. And for once Aang saw death himself seeing you actually catch up to him around the apartment. AND HE WAS IN AVATAR STATE TRYING TO DODGE YOU THROWING SHOES AT HIM. 😭

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚one peaceful day/night was when it was just raining that whole time. You had told Aang that rainy days/nights make you tired fast. So when you fell asleep on the couch while watching tv and listening to the rain, he laid beside you. Having his tall body on you as you snore peacefully. Even momo joined, leaping on Aang’s head. It was just a calm moment the whole night/day.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚if you’re stressed and overstimulated by your classes and work. Aang is literally gonna hug you, and might as well try to do your work for you. He’s such a good friend and roommate. He looks behind him to see you sleeping peacefully with momo. He smiles, feeling happy that you are getting the rest you need.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚now if Aang seemed tired or overstimulated. He’s either being alone, or going into your arms for a hug since a hug is what everyone needs sometimes. He is deadass having his head in your neck and passing out. I feel like the reason why he is just tired is trying to keep the peace in the 4 nations to not make a war happen just in case.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚arguing over who’s answer is right is everyday of your life with him as your roommate. He’s somehow got 11 as an answer on a math question while you got 80 as an answer. You two were about to throw hands until Zuko came by and told you two dumbasses that the real answer was 20…

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚if you’re sick at dorm, he’s blowing up your phone while he is at class taking notes. He doesn’t care if he gets scolded or made fun by the gaang for worrying that much about you. He just wants you to get better so he can hug you without getting sick himself. Aang might as well make momo force you to medicine.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚you once accidentally snored on him, Aang snickered of course. But he wrapped his arm around you gently to make sure you won’t wake up or feel uncomfortable. He’s smooth like that.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚after being roommates for like 2 semesters, you guys became close friends. You would wear matching hoodies, shirts, etc. cause Aang is an affectionate person, he wants to make sure you have a friend to lend a shoulder on. He’s that guy who you could talk and rant to for hours and he will listen to you closely.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚you still smack his head as a joke to hear that impact. And yes Aang will blast your ass away from him and put you in ice prison or rock prison from his bending. He’s not playing games. See if you were heavy handed, it’s justified to have you in prison of rock or ice. Now if you were to have your hand wasn’t heavy but light, even if you try to hit hard. Aang is making fun of how “weak” you are.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚imagine how chaotic it would be at night if you two did a horror movie night. Screaming together and just start tweaking out at each jumpscare and every time the suspense was too much. Yeah both of you didn’t sleep until you guys were holding each other closely. With Aang having his arms wrapped around your waist and you having your arms around his neck. You jumped scared at a jumpscare, making you shiver into Aang’s neck. Aang had enough and turned the movie off, picking you up bridal style and taking you to bed.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚that time when Aang had his hair grown out, you tried to do small baby pig tails with his short hair. Aang relaxes at your touch as he almost falls asleep until you were done. “Ta-da! I’m done, go look bro.” You say patting his cheek. He lifted his head from your lap and walked to the bathroom mirror. He must say, he did look absolutely funny. But he looked “fabulous” is what you said. That was until he shaved his hair again to match his culture.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚i feel like being roommates personally with Aang would actually be calm sometimes. Considering you two have such chemistry together during these college times. He definitely has an album of you on his phone. He’s the type of friend to remember everything about you specially. And not in a weird way but like a “okay noted, get them this favorite snack when they are in a bad mood” way. But mostly he takes selfies with you by his side. Hide all you want. You are not missing this selfie.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚if there’s a fair around, he’s getting you all the stuff animals. You would have to drag him away from his yellow and red hoodie from the shotgun game. You were embarrassed by the stares people got at how the avatar was getting dragged by a simple adult man/woman like you. But honestly it’s fun with Aang at a fair cause he makes sure you have fun as well. Sharing cotton candy was the first thing in his mind as he pays the person and holds the cotton candy. You felt flustered sharing the cotton candy cone from his hand as he just laughs at how cute you seemed.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚Aang and you definitely had been asked if you guys are together. You would immediately try to tell the person no as Aang is trying to either process the accusation, or make it worse by telling them that you both are. Playfully of course.

🎐˚｡⋆୨୧˚taking calm summer walks, and that summer air just hitting your face and his. It’s just relaxing. You two talk to each other, probably wanting to go to republic city for shopping for more groceries or such. You notice the sun setting as you smile, the golden ray of sun hitting your face. Aang looks at you lovingly while you talk about how beautiful the sun is. Aang agrees, still looking at you whilst you two sit down on the soft green grass.

[levisrations]

Dad'Levi in the Morden au?

Dad Levi in a modern au is against ipads. Refuses to let your child use one. The occasional miss rachel on tv but that’s it.

Am i completely pushing it by saying Levi would love to be a stay at home dad? He would love his routines with his baby. But he will feel relief when you get back to take over once you’ve showered and changed.

This is me projecting by I love the thought of after dinner, everything is clean, all three of you spend time together in the living room while you play a video game and the baby rests on your chest. Baby is comforted by the two of you just talking about your day and you play your video games.

Levis the hot dad at baby swimming classes. Everyone swoons at him and are shocked by how hands on he is.

Constantly has to take away remotes and phones out your babys hands/mouth. Finds it amusing when the kid dramatically falls and starts crying over having something taken away. He just sits there and stares until the kid calms down, offers options so they can forget what they were even crying about.

Shopping with your kid is actually fun. A well behaved baby. Sits in the cart(which levi disinfected like crazy) and babbles and points at things. Baby loves to smile and wave at strangers which forces levi to interact with strangers (not a fan of that but his kid is happy)

Levi would most definitely be looking into prestigious pre schools as soon as he learned you we’re expecting. You would go tour the schools and he would have a million questions. Particularly how do they keep clean with a bunch of 3 to 4 year olds.

Very into your kid’s interests. Whatever they may be he would look it up so he can talk to your kid about it, buy him things about kid’s interests, take them places like museums or pop ups of whatever it is they’re interested in. He would love it because it’s bonding time.

And lastly Levis phone would be all pictures of your kid. It was pictures of you and your cats but it’s been overtaken by your child. Videos of your child being silly that he watches on a bad day, shares them with you while you’re at work or shows them to you before bed and you both laugh at them.

Levi absolutely loves being a dad, loves raising a child with you. He was absolutely nervous in the beginning i mean who wouldn’t be but he got the hang of it really quick and now can’t even think of a time when he didn’t have your child in his life.

Perhaps not what you asked for anon but appreciate the request nonetheless! 🫶🏽

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not wanting to play DnD with a teenager?

So I (22F) am in college and after classes I like to play DnD with four of my friends, Ricky (21M), Tara (21F) Lola (22F) and Julie (20F)

Well recently Tara's little sister Ashley (15F) has been hanging out at Tara's apartment, where we usually have our game sessions, after school. Like for about two weeks now. Tara says its because her mother got a new job and doesnt get off work until 7pm so Ashley stays at the apartment from 4pm till about 7:30pm when her mother comes to pick her up.

4 pm is when our game sessions start most of the time (depending on if any of us have night classes that day or not) which means we now have a literal child watching us play. And because of that Tara has asked that we tone down the game sessions to be more "appropriate" and we also cant get drunk until Ashley leaves (which is stupid because Julie is under 21 and we can drink around her just fine but whatever) frankly I didnt mind the constant audience since Ashley was far more interested in watching us play than watching TV or playing on Tara's switch.

Well apparently just watching wasnt good enough for the brat because when i got to Tara's apartment for a game, Ashley was sitting at our table, excitedly filling out a character sheet while chattering nonstop with Ricky and Lola (Julie wasn't coming this time she had the stomach flu)

I naturally asked what she was doing because she normally just watched. Ashley gave me a confused look and said that she was joining our game like we had apparently talked about in our groupchat the night prior. Ricky and Lola both backed her up and showed the groupchat.

I had seen the messages but I thought Tara was joking about adding a literal child that doesnt even have a learners permit to our game that we had been continuing for three months now. I naturally went to go confront Tara.

She said that I agreed to let Ashley join in and if I didn't want to play with her I could've just not come.

Is she fucking serious?

What kind of sane person would want to play with a literal child and its edgy as fuck character (like the character was a wolf necromancer dressed in all black with two random scars across its chest. You could smell the hot topic radiating from this cringefest)

Tara refused to listen to reason and instead insisted that Ashley can play just for tonight and if i didnt like it I could leave.

I had no choice to stay and play

It was so fucking miserable.

The brat was constantly making stupid mistakes and dragging the whole party down with her. We constantly had to stop so Ricky (our DM) could explain things that should've been obvious because Ashley was too stupid to actually figure it out. My character was having to bail her's out near constantly. It was getting to the point where I just wanted to legitimately slap Ashley. I didnt because Tara would absolutely murder me but oh the temptation was strong.

And the worst part? I was the only one who seemed to be upset that our game was being completely thrown off course. Ricky, Lola and Tara took all of Ashley's many many fuck ups in stride and actually seemed to be enjoying it.

I have no idea why, that game was a train wreck

After an hour of hell Ricky called it quits for the day.

Which was weird because we usually go well into the night most of the time. Once the game was over Tara grabbed me by the arm and led me to the kitchen.

She asked me what the hell my problem was because it was apparently MY fault the game went so poorly and not the literal child's.

So I let her have it.

I told her it was a stupid idea to let her dumbass sister play with us, that Ashley shouldnt be playing with adults and its stupid to expect us to bow to the whims of a fifteen year old. I told her I never wanted to play with stupid bitch ass of a sister ever again.

I left the apartment after that.

This morning I was removed from the groupchat and all my friends have blocked me

Except for Lola, who has been going off on me in dms all day, calling me a horrible person, transphobic, a bully and a bitch. Every name in the book. None of them are talking to me and Julie, who wasn't even there keeps calling me an asshole and says i should apologize

AITA? I dont think i did anything wrong but everyone else thinks I did

What are these acronyms?

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - All's Quiet on the BL Front

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

May 2024 Wk 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Godday (Sat YT) ep 3 of 12 - I love how were getting a solid depiction of two queers just genuinely enjoying sex with each other. That’s actually rare in BL. In this case, it manages to also be weirdly adorable and cute.

Dee is such a tease. I guess Y likes a brat? 

LOOK at those bedroom eyes!

Linguistics corner: when these two are being serious, sweet, or flirty with each other they use rao/nai which is kind of old fashioned and charming and not common in BL. They move pretty seamlessly into gu/mueng and back depending on the style of convo, tho. It's FUN to hear them talk.

Let the fake relationship commence!

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 4 of 12 eps - I HAVE THOUGHTS. I'm really enjoying the sinister backbone of this show. I hope they have the courage of their convictions in that regard and lean into a kind of sexy evil revenge narrative. It was a pleasure to watch the break up and I do not want a redemption arc for Ming or a romance for us. Fuck 'em, let’s just ride a revenge train, okay Joe baby?

That’s said, I totally sniffled at the ending scene where Ming (for two years!) has been paying penance cooking for two and waiting alone. Excellent pathos. Now, I understand how they're gonna make this a full 12 eps. And I’m excited about it. Carry on!

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 7 of 16 - I wasn't a fan of Winny & Satang in My School President but I'm loving them in this. The thing with Q, Toey, and Chain had me hooting with laughter. I think I’m finally just easing into the relaxed absurdity of this show. The key is not to expect anything from it. Just them being tiny gay idiots.

Two Worlds (iQIYI) ep 10 fin - Someday I’d like to really enjoy a MaxNat show, but today was not that day. (I feel like ever since Between Us I’ve been generally disenchanted with established OG pairs and what they’re bringing to the table. Perhaps that’s a discussion for another day. Cherry Magic excepted, of course.) 

OK, so this final episode, they sure tried to fit a lot in. But that made the pacing better for me. So I kinda liked this weird cliff notes resolution to the story.

In conclusion:

MaxNat do a credible job with a messy script about parallel worlds, gangsters, and strange diseases cured by forest fruits. It sounds confusing because it is. The chemistry is excellent the side pair is entirely forgotten about, and one could drive a Tardis through the plot holes. Still, I found it modestly enjoyable if not at all rewatchable. 7/10 

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 6 of 12 - I do love how bold and brash Moo is. He’s truly a great character, such an utter outgoing sunshine puppy focused on his pursuit of his older boy. I'm charmed by his utter harmlessness. They gave us a sweet coming out scene, and an awesome supportive mom. Frankly GMMTV has a good track record with moms. (With a few noted exceptions, of course.)

That said, I do keep forgetting this is a GMMTV offering. It just doesn't FEEL GMMTV. Just me?

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ????) ep 1 of 10 - Starts tomorrow, will report on sitch next week. LeeFrank are back - not unlike the undead. But how do we feel about it? Unsure given their track record.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - I like it. I like our sulky 2nd lead. He’s pouty, adorable, brash, and adding some much-needed tension to this narrative. The blurring lines between show within a show is a lot of fun. Probably the best I've seen done in BL so far.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - I like that we got backstory, but we also sort of already knew it. So this ep felt a bit like filler. They are wonderful when they’re on screen together but when they aren't it's a bit dull. I hope we just get them together for the next 4 eps. But this is Japan, so I doubt it.

Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 1 of 6 - The image resolution on this show (via Iqiyi ) is terrible. Meanwhile, awkward crush. Jock nerd pairing. Dorky. Maybe a bit too much awkward/dorky for me? I'm not sold on this one.

Meanwhile the ordering then not eating or drinking of food continues. Very upsetting.

Boys Be Brave (Korea Viki) eps 5-8fin - This show was just never sure what it wanted to be. Slacker sunshine KiSub moves in with nerd JinWoo, mostly because he knows JinWoo likes him but won't confess and that's never happened to him before. It reminded me of some earlier KBLs like Behind Cut, yes is had bones but not much flesh, so it only just hung together and progressed through not very much plot in a jerking rattling fashion like an animated skeleton. All the story and chemistry was with the side couple and none of the screen time. That just annoyed me. What did this BL want to BE? Who tf knows. I, for one, don’t care, and resolve to think no more on it. 6/10 

Blue Boys (Korea Sat YouTube) - This ended at 4 eps on a cliffhanger. Since this is a very small studio I don’t have a lot of faith in there being a part two. But they have bundled both this BL, and the GL, bingable chunks on YT. So if you want to binge it, it’s there. Just be aware that it ends on a cliffhanger.

My thoughts?

Promising reunion romances full of class and coming out struggles but I grade with what we got, not on expectations, and you know I HATE a cliffhanger. So yeah, it HAD promise but as of now it gets a 4/10 - fatally flawed. I reserve the right to change my mind if they amend for damages.

It's airing but...

You Made My Day (Thai YT) ep 1 of 5 - mini series staring the I Will Knock You couple Tar & Bom, started but I couldn't find it. I also didn't try very hard.

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

A Balloon's Landing (Taiwan movie) trailer - A frustrated Hong Kong writer, Tian Yu, meets a Taipei street gangster, Xiang (Fandy Fan from HIStory2: Crossing the Line), and the two of them embark on a journey to find the Bay of Vanishing Whales. Along the way, they discover unexpected twists and turns and close bonds, which brings out the message that "there is always someone like you in this world who is waiting for you. This released to cinemas in Taiwan, no word on international release.

In case you missed it

A really really thorough and fascinating article on 2 Moons 2 and what happened.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

May Releases

VBL (Taiwan) is releasing 4 'Special Episode' epilogues to their 4 2023 shows every Friday this month on Gagaoolala, Viki & Viu. Not sure on search terms or how to find these. (Or, frankly, if we need them.)

5/10 – You Are Mine

5/17 – VIP Only

5/24 – Stay By My Side

5/31 – Anti Reset

5/25 The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer - HoTae & DongHee are back but unfortunately not in a cinema near me. Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS.

5/28 My Biker 2 (Thai movie YT?) - trailer

5/30 Knock Knock Boys (Thai Thurs WeTV) - I'm hoping I can get it elsewhere since my WeTV account is inactive, but I do love Best and I'm interested in seeing him in a new pairing. That said, I'm not wild about Seng... so I won't be too cut up if I can't get hold of this. More here.

5/31 The Time of Huannan (Taiwan movie) - May not be BL

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I'm a sucker for this king of casual claiming. (Only Boo)

It me! (Wandee Goodday)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @sunflower-positiiivity @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[alargehunkofdebris]

the necessary anguish of the Good Omens 2 finale

Ah ok. So after 4 years of waiting post Season One and ten cumulative years of bookish fannery, I watched bonified New Content of Good Omens. And when those credits rolled, I sat there, not in my expected state of pleasant satisfaction, but in a state of abject shock.

I actually don’t know if I’ve ever had such a reaction to a show before. Or, rather, that I could still have such a reaction. I’m thirty, for goodness sakes – I was planning on being thrilled and charmed and entertained, not having my hands shake so much that it was hard to type a text. I wasn’t planning on losing an entire night of sleep because my heart wouldn’t stop pounding really hard, Neil. This was not expected. I had an estate sale to run the next day – by God, I needed that sleep.

 Anyway. These are my thoughts on the season, and on this upswell of mourning/unhappiness at such a gut-wrenching ending. As always, this are my dumb opinions and nothing more; take with a grain of salt, etc. 

I have seen a lot of suffering on Tumblr today. Everyone is in pain, and it makes sense. I, too, am in pain. But I might be in the minority, because I thanked God/Mr. Gaiman when things turned to pure pain in the end. Because narratively, despite the anguish we all feel, this is how it needs to be. And I was getting real worried there for a second.

When we have a mini-series (ie, a show with a set number of seasons) it can’t act the same as a series without a set end. We’ve got three potential seasons; therefore, they logically should behave like a three-act play, or the three acts in the standard Western movie/book plot. This middle season is the middle act, the second act. While it definitely doesn’t work exactly the same way, and needs its own story arc to work as a season, it is still functionally the middle part of one overarching plot.

And what usually happens near the end of the second act? All Is Lost, and the Dark Night of the Soul.

We NEED this to happen. This is what makes a plot delicious. If we’d had this perfect, lovely, romantic season where the stakes aren’t raised one bit and everything is fixed at the end, we would want for nothing and the gorgeous tension that keeps us waiting and watching would be lost. We wouldn’t feel that drive to create fanfics and fanart, we wouldn’t have the need to speculate or dream, because most of the tension was eased, and you just can’t have that if you want a highly anticipated third season. We’d have nothing huge and concrete to look forward to.

In fact, I was getting really worried once the Ineffable Bureaucracy started happening on screen, because I could see (I thought) past that bend in the road toward the end. I could see how this season might conclude, with big happy confessions of love and hugs and handholding (that’s all I expected, because I only expected the same chaste level of affection with both angelic/demonic couples) and then…then it’d all be over. What more could there be? I mean, there certainly could be more, but THIS is the main thing people waited for. The Happy Confession. The hug. The handholding. Whatever we got. And in my mind, having it now, at the end of season two, just wasn’t adding up – it did not fit. It couldn’t. No, we can’t have this now. It doesn’t work.

I get this peculiar thing that happens when things start getting too “everything is great!” in a story. I get the “someone needs to die” instinct. Instead of pure happiness that things are going great, there’s this feeling of intense discomfort, because I feel the weight of the shoe that’s failing to drop. I need it to drop, or else it throws off my entire standard-Western-narrative-trained brain’s balance. In the build up to The Scene, when things seem to be going swimmingly and heading directly towards the happiest and syrupiest of endings, I had to pause and pace my living room and roll around on the floor to alleviate the sheer build up of stress. Things can’t go this well. They can’t. There hasn’t been enough bad things, this is too sweet, too much. Can’t handle it. This can’t just be pure wish-fulfillment at this point; Good Omens shouldn’t work that way, it never has. We’d be happy in the moment, but then it’ll ultimately be a let down. No more danger. Nothing keeping them apart. No more tension, no more story. It was all too easy.

And then, finally, that shoe dropped. After a season of mainly getting along and being just thrilled with each other, they began to really argue. Things got horrific and serious, and I literally let out a breath of relief. I was able to watch without pausing every two minutes for a breather. Ok. Things weren’t over. This wasn’t the end. We had more to wait for.

And then it went on. The confession started, but in that gorgeously wrong way. And for the first time that season, I was actually feeling the stress of the story. Yes, there was danger throughout this season, but it was always layered with humour and wit. You didn’t get a demon scene without them doing something hilariously stupid. You didn’t get an angel scene without them being delightfully out-of-touch. The stakes were high, but they weren’t allowed to get EXTREMELY high. We never thought there was any question of them getting out of scrapes unscathed, because it was never all serious.

Never…until now. There was zero humour at this point. After 6 episodes of being pleasantly delighted, I was feeling the dread. However, I still thought I knew where it was going.  

See, I thought I had it figured out. If I had any extra money, I would have bet some of it. I knew that, whilst they’d likely have some kind of subtle confession of love and caring, and perhaps a touch – a hug, or a hand-hold (like Gabe and Beez) – I knew we couldn’t expect a kiss. This is a story thirty-three years in the making, and it’s always been in that grey area. They weren’t humans; they didn’t necessarily show affection that way. Besides that, we’ve had so many TV shows that get close, but rarely ones that go all the way to smoochville. OFMD was one of the very first, but it was new. It wasn’t an old, established story from the 90s like this is. It didn’t have decades-old fans waiting with bated breath for canon content. For Good Omens, we heard it time and time again in interviews; it’s a kind of love story. They had this kind of marriage. They cared for each other. They had a bromance. It’s close, but never quite there. So I thought I knew exactly how this would go, and would be thrilled with what we got. 

And then it absolutely didn’t go that way. It went exactly as far as so many hoped. And it went there like a knife to the gut.

And it was perfect.

Goddamn, what a season ending. Despite my lack of appetite and failure to sleep, I could not be happier with what Mr. Gaiman did. I am screaming crying throwing up and I’m thrilled about it.

The middle of a story is typically what drags; it never holds the highest stakes. Lord knows what we’re going to get in season three (knocking on wood), but I can only expect it to get bigger and heavier. And by God and/or Satan, am I prepared, in this deliciously painful purgatory, to wait and see.  

[zuhaism]

⊹ ｡˚ 𓂃 ♡ MMTG ?! ┊ lesserafim ⁺

[ navigation | corso ]

you and the members were in hybe’s lobby. you were sitting between chaewon and jaejae for the interview. many laughs were exchanged here and there as jaejae interviewed each members.

“when do you use it?” asked jae jae when the topic came to slangs. “for example ‘what are we going to eat for dinner?’ IDC. with a shoulder tilt” everyone did it together. then yunjin spoke up. “y/n is the only one who never uses slangs.”

“why why why” jae jae was bewildered. “arent you american too?” she had a shocked look on her face. “what ! no i am!” you paused because you were laughing too hard “it’s just that my mom said i shouldn’t talk like that. she says it sounds rude.” you answered with a sheepish smile.

the members nodded in agreement. “y/n’s actually very polite and has great manners, she just doesn’t talk.“ chaewon intervened and gave a thumbs up to the camera. jaejae continued interviewing yunjin.

“y/n! the other american. an all star basketball player! our nations little math nerd” and it showed a picture of 16 year old you about to do a three pointer and you after winning the mathematical olympiad. the interview finally got to you. you closed your eyes in embarrassment. everyone laughed in unison. “wah our y/n looks so cute.” eunchae spoke up.

“i heard you got recruited when you were playing basketball?” jaejae looked at you for confirmation. you chuckled before answering. “yeah actually i got scouted when i was on a school trip…” everyone was silent expecting you to continue but instead you stopped there. “ah” jaejae spoke amongst the silence “ah i guess thats all okay! its alright if you dont want to continue!” everyone bursts out laughing “no no no i can explain! sorry, sorry i thought you wanted to add something.” you tried explaining yourself. after the laughter died down and them teasing you, you started talking again.

you went all the way back to when you were 17. you and your other matheletes teammates won first place in a competition and got to go to Seoul as the winning prize. one night during the trip u got bored and sneaked out the hotel to a basketball court you saw nearby.

while you were shooting three pointers by yourself you noticed someone from the corner of your eye watching you. you got scared and ignored it hoping it wasn’t an entity from another dimension. the person stayed there for far too long and you started getting creeped out even though you were a whole feet taller than them.

you started packing your things up. putting everything in faster when you heard footsteps close behind. you were ready to book it when someone tapped your shoulder. you turned around and was met with a card in your face. the person said nothing as you took it and walked away.

it was a business card. as you examined it you noticed ‘you’re perfect for us. please come and audition tomorrow’

“and then i had a free day the next day so i went.” you ended your story with a small smile as everyone stared at you in awe. “you rapped to corso by tyler the creator am i right.” jaejae spoke up. you looked at her in shock “how’d you know.” she looked to the camera with a smug face and shrugged.

“y/n ! you once went live and answered all the fans math questions.” jaejae suddenly changed the subject as you sat up straighter. the members burst out laughing while you turned red from embarrassment. “wah y/n you’re really good at math aren’t you!” jaejae praised you.

“what. no no” you declined. “no! you’re really good. you just lack confidence.” jaejae ended her sentence and signalled for you all to look at the screen. it was showing a clip of one of your lives where you answered fearnot’s math questions.

“i think the x is 4 but i dont know” you said with your eyebrows furrowed moving closer to the camera to read the comments. “i dont know guys dont listen to me i might be wrong.” you said looking back at your paper, checking your answer again while scratching your head.

“you’re really cute.” said jaejae.

“stop flattering me”

the topic moved on to you being heartless but caring. you never knew you had this title. you never even knew you were caring you just did what you felt right. now that the topic changed everyone was giving examples on how you speak louder through your actions rather than words.

“one time, after coming home from a schedule. i went to my room and slept in the mess i made in the morning because i was too exhausted. the next morning i woke up to a clean room.” sakura started she said after that, she asked who cleaned her room and y/n only shrugged while zuha confirmed it wasn’t her. “it really warmed my heart because we had the same schedule.” sakura ended.

“no unnie it’s because you’re getting older.” eunchae teased the oldest. sakura gave eunchae the stink eye.

“oh! when we arrived at japan it was pouring and y/n unnie was beside me. she took off her jacket and wrapped me in it, holding an umbrella and then we walked together to the car.” eunchae expressed. “and in the car i noticed her shirt was half wet and i was like ‘so this is love’” eunchae announced softly with a dreamy look on her face as she looked at your red face.

“wow y/n you seem like you’d be a good boyfriend” said jaejae while you protested. “you’re right. you’re right sometimes even i want to date her.” chaewon voiced. chaewon started telling about the time after a schedule, when she got out the car her feet was hurting so bad. she was at the back struggling to walk through the pain. she saw you stopping and waiting for her at the parking lot entrance.

when you noticed she was hurting you immediately crouched infront of her. “what?” chaewon asked. you signalled her to piggyback you. “i am not doing that. we’re wearing the same shoes! you’re going to-“ she got cut off when you moved back and carried her anyways. she held onto you tight when you lifted her and she stayed that way until you guys went up to the dorm.

“wah y/n noticing the small things. we need more people like that.” jaejae added. yunjin and kazuha started talking about their loving experiences with you. yunjin stated that she’d only watch a horror movie only if you’re there. yunjin said when you’re with her, she feels safe. probably because whenever there’s a gory scene you’d mutter ‘that’s so fake’ under your breathe. but that’s besides the point. you’d rub circles on her hand and make her feel reassured.

for kazuha, you’re her debate mate. you talk the most when you’re with her. you don’t know how her mind works but you sure know how to handle it. like the other day, she asked which is the strongest : rock, paper, or scissors. you had to explain to her how its neither and rock, paper scissors is just a game of luck.

she also mentioned how you’re always helping her in korean and you’d go for convenience store runs whenever she gets a question right. you treat her so well.

“in conclusion! y/n is a great person to date.” jaejae ended

“not the dating part” chaewon muttered.

[cutielando]

the smooth operation ~ carlos sainz

Summary: You reminisce about the start of your relationship with Carlos, which he likes to call "the smooth operation."

Words: 1.1k+

Other works: my masterlist

♡♡♡♡♡

Present

"Remember when we first met?" you randomly asked Carlos as you were laying on the couch together, watching the new season of the Formula 1 Netflix documentary.

"I do, why?" he asked, confused.

"Just thinking about how far we've come" you shrugged, snuggling further into his warm chest.

"I did make you a deal that you just couldn't refuse. The Smooth Operation of Carlos Sainz was a success" he proudly stated, making you laugh.

"That was the farthest thing from smooth, mi amor" you said between giggles, watching his now offended face.

"How dare you, I was the smoothest gentleman ever" he tried to sound serious but you knew he was trying to hold in his laughter as well.

"Whatever you say, amor"

"Do you remember when...?"

♡♡♡♡♡

Flashback ~ 4 years prior

The paddock was busier than you ever expected. If you thought the teams looked busy on the livestreams and TV, it was nothing compared to real life.

"Hello, can I help you?" a red-haired woman snapped you out of your thoughts, looking at you with a confused face as to why you were in the Ferrari garage.

"Sorry, my name is Y/N, I'm the PR intern. I was supposed to find-"

"Me. You were supposed to find me. Welcome aboard, Y/N. Buckle up, this is going to be a bumpy drive" she said and motioned for you to follow her.

You took one last glance at the busy garage full of engineers back and forth before you followed the woman. 

Having been so focused on not getting lost, you didn't even realize where you were going which led to you crashing into a very toned body. You would've fallen had the stranger not caught you.

"Careful there, Miss" the strong Spanish accent spoke in your ear, instantly making your eyes widen.

You could've recognized that voice in a million, the accent making it obvious. You had just crashed into Carlos Sainz, the Ferrari driver.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't watch where I was going" you excused yourself once you stood on your two feet, finally looking up into his warm chocolate brown eyes.

"I haven't seen you around here" he noted, his expression cutely confused.

"I'm the PR intern. I was supposed to follow this red-haired woman down to her office but I lost sight of her and now I don't know where I'm supposed to go" you smiled sheepishly, making Carlos chuckle and nod.

"I can take you there, come on" he put a hand on the small of your back and started walking with you.

He didn't realize it, but his hand on your back was making you lose your mind. THE Carlos Sainz was actually talking to you. No, he was TOUCHING you.

You could've fainted at that alone.

"You don't have to, I'm sure you're busy with other stuff. I'll manage on my own" you hurried to say, knowing he most probably had better things to do than parade around with you.

"Nonsense, it would be my pleasure" he explained, flashing you a big smile as you continued to walk through the garage.

After a minute, you stopped in front of an office, and you could see the woman you had talked to earlier sitting at her desk and talking to someone on the phone.

"Thank you for showing me around" you said, turning to face him.

"No need to thank me, it was my pleasure. I'll see you around" he said and leaned in, kissing your cheek before walking away.

Your face was red as the Ferrari colors, your cheeks were warm and your eyes were wide, staring at the spot where he last stood.

You reached down and pinched yourself, making sure that what just happened wasn't all in your imagination.

♡♡♡♡♡

Flashback - 4 years ago, 2 weeks after meeting

Your belly hurt because of how much you had been laughing, Carlos following suit.

He had asked you out for dinner a couple of days prior after he had won a race, and you didn't have the heart to refuse him and celebrating his win with him.

"I don't remember the last time someone made me laugh so much" you said once your laughter died down, the smile still prominent on your face.

"I could say the same, it's been a while since I've been out with someone" he confessed, leaning back in his chair.

You admired him for a moment, taking in his beautiful facial features, admiring the way his white shirt hugged his toned body, the way his hair looked so soft and fell so beautifully on his eyes.

In your opinion, he looked just like Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid, your favorite childhood story.

"You're an amazing man, Carlos" the words rolled off your tongue before you could even realize what you were saying.

The smile that appeared on his lips was so radiant, making you feel all fuzzy on the inside knowing you were the one who caused it.

"You're the most wonderful person I have ever met" he took your hand that was resting on the table and brought it to his lips, kissing it lovingly.

Your eyes were stuck on his, a subtle blush coating your cheeks.

Before the night ended, Carlos walked you to your hotel room where you were staying, wanting to make sure you got there safely.

"I had a wonderful time tonight" you confessed once you stopped at your hotel room door, leaning back against it.

"Me too. I hope we can do it again" he proposed, making your heartbeat quicken and your palms sweaty.

"What will the team think of this? I practically work for you, this goes against work ethics. They'd make us stop seeing each other" you wondered out loud, the question having been nagging at you ever since you agreed to go out with him.

"They wouldn't and they won't. If they see we are happy together, they will leave us alone. Plus, they know better than to piss me or Charles off. We could walk away any time, they wouldn't risk it" he explained, making you bite your lips and chuckle.

"Okay then" you said and leaned up, pecking his lips slightly before hurriedly opening your door and stepping inside the room.

Once inside, you rested your back against the door and bit your lips, trying to suppress the stupid smile that was fighting its way to your lips.

♡♡♡♡♡

Present

"We've come a long way since then" you commented as you found yourself back in the arms of the man you love, smiling at all the memories.

"We have. And the future is only just beginning" he said and kissed your head, burying his face in your hair.

Maybe your relationship wasn't the most perfect all the time, but it was yours, and you wouldn't trade it for the world.

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[saiidahyunie]

to the world! (interlude) 

minatozaki sana x soccerplayer!reader (pt.2) ; fluff ; angst if you really squint 

synopsis: winter is finally here bringing in colder air and the new year is also beckoning, calling for bittersweet endings in trade for promising beginnings. what would you do if the dreams you deeply desired were right at your doorstep? 

wc: 12.7k

warnings: a little overboard with the soccer exposition (but i gave a thorough explanation for you guys to understand so don’t worry) ; cursing ; pacing is a bit slow for this part sorry ; mentions of food ; slightly suggestive (?) ; lots of guy names but the reader is gender neutral ; i badly need sana period.

pt.1  pt.3 pt.4

a/n: the long awaited second part of the series is here!! i was debating on when i would have this posted before sana’s bday or not but the best things always come when you least expect it. ^_^ 

i will try to have this series updated as soon as i can, the ideas for both soccer and loving sana moments are just *chef’s kiss* 

thank you guys for the overwhelming love and support in the first part and i hope this one gets the same treatment if not more!! 

(also, credit for inspiration goes to @spidergirlanon ft. jihyo! please give that a read as well!!!) 

enjoy!!

—

“you’ve garnered a lot of attention with your showing at the academy exit trials.” the finely dressed woman said to you, kim sejong, a representative with one of the soccer clubs who are vying for your signature. you sat in between your parents whereas sejong was sitting across the dining table, dex standing alongside sejong facing you, wearing a smug look on his face. 

“i assume that dex has mentioned my name to you at least,” sejong started off saying, looking at dex who glanced quickly at her and back, nodding his head as he was still paying attention as you recalled the brief moment of dex mentioning that he was talking to someone when he visited one of your practice sessions about a couple days ago. 

“yes, i remember,” you said as you scratched your temple, “i know that he couldn’t disclose the specifics of who or what he talked about on the phone, but he did bring up your name to me.” sejong flashed a smile as she slid over a clipboard that had a preliminary contract draft that showed all of the different clauses that you would have to follow eventually when signing the real one. 

you always talked about it with dex and some of your teammates, about how you could go from watching the premier league and champions league matches from your room or couch to actually being on the field playing in front of thousands of fans. some thought that you were crazy while others stood behind you. the hard work and dedication along with the burgeoning talent oozing out didn’t not go unnoticed as now you had two contract offers from two teams. you had to pinch yourself when dex said the two teams that were interested. 

the first team to have serious interest in your talents was brighton and hove albion f.c, a team that has gained a huge reputation for finding young, upcoming players in uncommon parts of the world and turning them into absolute monsters. you were amazed with the work that they did with the previous players that used to play for the club that went on to bigger clubs later in their career. dex claimed that their development program was on par with the other teams with the likes of pep guardiola and jurgen klopp who always had an opportunity to show the youth talent in the premier league so it was pretty convincing and high praise to say the least.

as for the second team, you didn’t think that they would have the slight bit of interest in you or your talents, but wow you were so wrong. the team that you supported all the way back when you first kicked a soccer ball; manchester united, the club with the most decorated trophy cabinets with two champions leagues and twenty league titles to their name. the very same club that chanted those famous names you’ve heard and watched growing up: beckham, keane, giggs, van persie, rooney, and ronaldo. the inner voice in your head would’ve said to sign for united in a heartbeat.

but you knew that it wasn’t gonna be that simple to do.

“i know that we can’t disclose the other team that approached you for confidentiality reasons, but the development coach has seen your match videos and is captivated with what you can potentially bring to the team moving forward.”

sejong adds as you sat there with a dumb look on your face, “i hope you can take our offer into consideration y/n, your name and reputation precedes what you can achieve in the future as a player.” 

“is there a grace period for when i can make my final choice?” 

“no, not at all! negotiations wise, we can agree to terms here in principle. consider this to be the first round of talks so nothing is entirely set in stone yet,” sejong answered with a firm sense of persuasiveness. 

you leaned back in your seat as you looked at both your mom and dad who were simply nodding at you, reminding you of the support they always had for your soccer career. you looked down at the contract draft, amazed with the fine printed text font filling the paper with the club badge sitting in the middle at the top of the paper. this was nothing like the paper you signed when you first joined coach rain’s soccer club, the same club that won back to back titles in your time there.

it wasn’t an “all you” show however, as there were also a few talented players on the team that were also candidates at the trial. both your teammates rin and blake who attended the trials with you gave high praises when the other potential candidates asked about you because they were afraid to approach you, which was odd because you knew that you were able to socialize with others but you simply played it off while those who did talk to you tried not to freak out internally.

nothing but positive remarks were said in not only how extremely gifted the way you played, but also how you led the team to those winning titles as well. you wondered if those two got offers from teams as you looked at dex who came back with a contract that you assumed was manchester united’s offer to you. 

before you could say anything though, sejong’s phone vibrated, “sorry, i have to take this. you can continue to look at the offer while i’m gone.” she said as she stood up from the table and headed outside your house to answer the call. 

dex took sejong’s seat as he slid manchester united’s contract over to you next to brighton’s with a smile plastered on your face still. “this is still a really good thing y/n! i knew you had a major pull at the trials with your overall ranking but i didn’t think it would be this big of a deal!” dex said to you as you smiled right back trying to relish in the moment right in front of you. 

“i know but just wow, i’m actually really surprised that they would actually offer-” 

“you’re not the only client to get an offer from brighton especially.” dex added, “rin is actually overseas right now finishing up the final terms.” 

“oh my gosh he’s signing with brighton?!” your mom asked with a hand covering her mouth. 

“i just got off the phone with him before coming here! they just finished the last round of talks, now it’s only a matter of time before they announce the signing in the next few days.” dex replied showing a picture of rin signing the contract. 

“holy shit.” you couldn’t believe that one of your teammates was bound for the premier league. out of the thirty candidates at the exit trials, you and rin both took the top two rankings. that didn’t necessarily mean that you and him had a better chance at offers but it definitely increased the likelihood of teams looking more closely at you and rin. 

“you don’t have to make a decision now of course, but i know that you’re aware of both teams' situations in the league currently.” dex chimed in as he put his phone back in his pocket while you switched between the two contracts laid in front of you. 

you and dex kept a close eye on what was happening in the premier league between brighton and manchester united. your mind was listing the facts but your heart already made the decision of which team you were going to sign with. 

midway through the premier league season, both teams are sitting at fifth and sixth place respectively, with brighton taking the fifth spot with a five point gap ahead of manchester united. brighton had just lost one of their key midfielders recently to an acl injury and are looking to fill that hole in as soon as they can to ensure their push for a high finish in the league table with the prospect of playing in a european competition next season.

you were amazed at what roberto de zerbi was envisioning over there and you knew that you could gain a lot if you played under him. you were also following the narrative that was building over them about being on a tear the last few weeks by winning against the more bigger teams in the league that they’ve already played at least once so far this season. by playing for brighton, this meant more chances to play and really get some solid minutes of soccer under your belt. 

as for manchester united, the inner child inside your head was screaming to take up their offer, but you toned down the fangirling as you ran through the current progression of your favorite team. they weren’t doing too bad, nor were they doing as good as you wanted them to be. they were also struggling in every aspect; from the back, the midfield, and even the attack all seemed to be lackluster combined with no set of direction on the field.

not only that, but it was becoming a depressing trend of decline happening behind the scenes in terms of the board and management that was riddled with a new story filled with drama week in and week out. it sucked that your team was being mauled over by greedy owners that are only using the team as a business brand rather than a soccer team that was meant to win trophies. 

you looked at the different clauses on the manchester united contract, sighing with a disheartening expression on your face realizing that you’d be signing your own death sentence for your career before it even started. the money was good, but you had a mantra of how it was never about the money, but by having a big paycheck you would have little to no playing time in return.

you were fond of manager erik ten hag’s glory days with ajax with that remarkable champions league semi-finals run a couple years ago, but this was manchester united, a team that is always subject to expectations, and even a good manager like him was struggling to get the gears running with the team.

sitting sixth in the league heading into the winter portion of the season and out of the champions league competition, they could really only focus on getting a high finish in the league while also dealing with the numerous injuries all throughout the squad. sure you could get playing time, but you also remember the various players that had a youthful upstart at manchester united only to have their career go sideways and you didn’t want to follow that same path. 

“i know it’s your favorite team y/n, but you see the stability of how they are right now. it’s not great for what you can do with other teams.” 

“but out of all the possible teams, it’s just these two? there’s really no other option for me?" you asked dex as he crossed his arms, tapping his finger on top of his left arm while you continued to read through the contracts once again. 

“it’s normal to have second thoughts, i can also give you the option to wait until the window opens in january for more teams to approach you.” dex states, “but knowing you already it’ll be impossible to keep you here when i have phone calls coming in at six in the morning!” you and your parents laughed at your best friend’s remark as you looked at your mom who was slapping your arm while your dad got up to get a glass of water for everyone. 

a light hearted moment lit up the house once again. as the laughter died down while sejong came back from her prolonged phone call, wearing a perplexed look on her face filled with curiosity as dex looked over, shooting straight back up from the chair for her to sit as he stood over her again, exchanging smiles with you as a reflection of the rapport that you and him have built from when you were kids. 

“i assume everything went well with the discussion?” sejong asks, looking at the second contract on her left side in confusion, which left dex to grab it quickly and put it behind his back. “sorry, sorry.” dex said looking all dumb now, “we were just going over his options while you were out and-”

“you’re good dex don’t worry.” you said to him comfortingly, returning your look towards sejong across from you. “i’ve carefully considered your offer and i’m really pleased with what you’ve presented to me.” you firmly said with a sense of professionalism that even the big time hot-shot young players wished they would have. 

a slight bit of suspense spread across the dining room and kitchen as your dad overhead you, racing back to sit next to you as sejong leaned in with an intrigue to what you were about to say, “oh really? what that might be?” 

you looked at both of your parents, who knew that you weren’t a kid anymore as you looked at dex with a simple nod to him as you inhaled through your nose with the next set of words marking another monumental step towards your blossoming soccer career. 

“i think i’ve made my decision on who i’m signing with.” 

—

*ping* *krsch*

you huffed out a puff of warm air from your mouth as you steadily stood up after belting a ball into the top corner of the goal, getting a sound of amazement by someone standing next to you as you backed up with another ball for the next shot. 

“is there anything you can’t do y/n?” kang daniel asked, juggling a ball while you racked in another goal for the fourth time. this one being a knuckleball that wobbled in the air for a few seconds before deflecting off of the goalpost and inwards. 

“apparently beckham freekicks aren’t my specialty.” you chimed as you rolled another ball from your bag, checking to see if it was properly pumped up with air,“even for someone like me that’s seen to be a so-called midfield general.”

daniel laughed at your self observation as he too shot a ball in short distance, lightly jogging back to you, rolling another ball towards you to kick aside as you prepped up for another shot. 

“if i had an inkling of your talent and skills, i would’ve made it to the lineup but instead coach has me playing sixth man off the bench.” daniel said with a slight bit of disappointment in his voice. 

“hey, your playstyle actually helps with buildup play in the final third. mingyu is a solid makeshift centre back turned defensive mid, but his long balls are way too powerful for dk and shotaro to link up on the wings.” 

“ooof, glad he isn’t here to hear that!” you look over to see dk’s arm wrapped around your shoulder, cheesing a smile before waving at daniel and his girlfriend jihyo next to the goal keeping his soccer bag against the fence. 

“you’re late as always.” you said as you elbowed dk’s stomach, getting an instant flinching reaction from him as he set his bag down on the field. 

“i thought we were just shooting for fun today!? did i miss the memo in the group chat?!” dk asked in confusion as daniel laughed at dk’s distress. even though there was no practice since coach rain out of town to help one of his close friends oversee some trials with another soccer club, you still thought it’d be a good idea to fill the time during the week to at least play for one day or two. 

“y/n!!! these shots aren’t helping me!!” you look towards the goal to see a girl laying face flat with her head looking in your direction. “tzuyu if you’re gonna say that you got the goalie position by just dumb luck then say it!” you shot back as she stood up, clapping her hands together telling you to bring it on. you look at daniel and nodded as he took another shot only for tzuyu to parry it away off the right side.

“see?! you can handle our shots!” you laughed with pride while jihyo was sitting close to the goal cheering at tzuyu's play. “more of that please!” tzuyu yelled back as she stretched her arms for another shot lining up. “alright tzuyu take a quick break. i don’t want your hands to be beet red by the end of our sesh.” you said as she nodded while taking off the gloves and went towards jihyo before meeting up with everyone else sitting on the edge of the box. 

you sat down to take a quick swig of water while daniel was walking towards jihyo and tzuyu. as for dk, he slipped out of his shoes into his new adidas boots that he bought yesterday to break them in. 

“wasn’t hyunjin gonna be here today?” dk asked. “i thought so too.” daniel also replied now with jihyo under his left arm.

“didn’t he tease you about sana at the end of practice the other day?” dk also asked, now sitting with his new boots on his feet. you were taken aback by his question as you choked on your water bottle in response.

“i- yes and no!” you spat out, wiping your mouth of the drops of water that dribbled over your chin. you heard nothing but laughs and gasps as you try to recover from your embarrassing act.

you really need to get a grip, but at the same time you wanted to take pride somehow and soon. 

“don’t try to play it off y/n, i’ve seen how you look at sana at school.” dk said as he flashed an eyebrow at you, “i didn’t notice at first but now i’m invested to see what’s all that about.” 

“i swear to you, there’s nothing happening between us! i don’t know why everyone is saying that there is!” you defended yourself as you put your hands up slightly, claiming your innocence. “jihyo, you know how sana is with you guys so help my case here!” jihyo’s eyes popped open as she sat down with tzuyu doing the same, “sana is normally friendly with everybody here, but you’ve known her longer than i have so i wouldn’t know what it’s like.” 

you hung your head in defeat as daniel hovered over you, placing his hands on your shoulders in comfort, “don’t feel bad y/n, you know that’s just how hyunjin is anyway.” you look up to daniel who was smiling as he stopped his little massage, pulling both of his hands back into his track jacket. “i am curious however, is there something happening between you and sana that we don’t know about?”

“no there isn’t.” you sighed out, “what we have is really a platonic friendship, there’s no romance attached between us.” you stated even though you were also lying through your teeth, just partly, but you looked around the set of eyes placed on you as you fished your water bottle back into your bag. 

“booo, that’s the wrong answer ow-” dk exclaimed as jihyo smacked his head, shutting down his antics completely. 

“sorry y/n, we didn’t mean to pressure you or anything,” jihyo apologized as daniel sat down next to her, leaning his head on her shoulder while jihyo tilted her head to the left to meet with daniel’s. 

“it’s fine you guys, i’m not one to talk about anything love related anyway…” you replied back looking at the lovely couple sitting across from you. 

“i’m sure there’s someone for you y/n, we’re just saying that sana is literally the top candidate for you so i don’t know what needs to happen there, ” jihyo said as you simply nodded, oblivious to what you were thinking. you were aware that you alone would be the clear person sana would want to be in a relationship with. nobody else was in the running for her.

the problem is, you were running out of time to carry out the feelings you held within you for so long since you’ll be going away when the new year rolls around. nobody here knew that you accepted the offer to play professional soccer in england, until all of you heard a voice coming from the benches.

“hey! did i miss the shooting clinic!?” 

the group looked at each other in question as everyone turned their attention to a single figure making their way closer to the edge of the eighteen yard box. “where have you been man? i called you twice today?!” you screamed out as you shot straight up to dap up blake in a hug, who you haven’t seen since the exit trials. 

“i got backed up with traffic on the way here, but i see that you guys took a break so technically i made it on time.” 

“that’s what happens when you wake up late dude!” you retort, breaking the hug with one of your well known teammates of three years. “how else am i gonna carry over the passes to the forwards if my left-back can’t even wake up on time for practices and games?!” 

“yeah blake you’re always late, it’s either you or ni-ki that’s always the last one to show up for stretches!” dk shoots out, getting up to warm his legs up and rolled a ball over for him to do light movements. 

“shut up dk! isn’t ni-ki our main striker up top? how did i get roped into this for already having a bad habit before the regular season started?” blake retaliates, kicking off his slides and setting his supreme bag on the ground as dk scrunched his face mischievously.

“how did the exit trials go? i heard you got fourth in the top ranking assessments!” daniel asked as jihyo and tzuyu both gasped in surprise, “speaking of which, didn’t you place high on the ranks y/n?” daniel added on, now bewildered waiting for your answer. 

you and blake looked at each other, asking each other telepathically if it was okay to tell everyone what went down at the exit trials. you primed your lips back while blake pouted for a quick second before the both of you nodded at each other. 

“so…all three of us got placed in the top five rankings.” blake said as a wave of gasps swept across the group. daniel and dk’s mouths dropped to the floor in shock as jihyo and tzuyu shrieked in celebration, proud of what their friends just achieved by the announcement they just heard. 

“no way, even rin got a high rank!?” daniel asked in astonishment, “yep, i got placed fourth while rin took the second spot out of the thirty candidates.” blake continued as you scrunch your nose while smiling since you knew that blake had lost a bet between rin about who would be placed higher in the trials, the others weren’t aware of that since rin wasn’t here but in england using his remaining vacation break sightseeing through london, sporadically sending you and blake pictures of the football stadiums that were there. 

“wait, if rin got a higher rank than you blake, where did y/n place?” dk asked, staring at you with laser focus, “i think it would be better for y/n to break the news to you guys.” blake brightly said as he looked towards you as everyone was left in question for your unknown position to be answered. you simply put both of your hands in your pockets and inhaled a breath before exhaling to build suspense. 

“i was the one who got the top ranking spot….” you declared as everyone collectively was left in complete disbelief. the choir of “huhs” and “what” broke through the air as you jaws dropped and hands on mouths while blake simply looked down smiling at their reactions. it took a couple moments to process what you just said as you nonchalantly juggled a ball before anyone said anything. 

“i don’t know why i was expecting someone else to take the top prospecting spot, but jesus christ y/n!” 

“are we really that surprised with what he’s capable of? this dude is literally our fucking captain for a reason!?”

you smiled at both daniel and dk’s compliments as blake crossed his arms, now in his nike boots tying them up with double knots on both feet. tzuyu and jihyo were left speechless, they too had seen the games you guys have played and it was always an enjoyable show to watch because of how unbelievably good everyone was at what they did with you, blake, and rin included. 

—

there were a few instances where the girls took every opportunity to come to any practices to watch you guys go through drills or five on five scrimmages and even the coaches jabbed jokes towards you and the rest of the team grabbing all the ladies. 

“we didn’t have this much interest back when we were playing!” coach key said as rain was practically laughing his ass off after seeing the entourage of girls just sitting at the bleachers during one of the practices a month or two ago.

the team was running through some one-two passing drills with shooting as the finisher and ni-ki just went ahead of you. before you could do the drill, you quickly glanced over at the bleachers to see who showed up this time.

there was jihyo, nayeon, tzuyu, mina from chem class, momo had just walked over a second later, and of course sana, who looked extra cute wearing those slightly thick nerdy glasses again which were a backup pair since she forgot her go-to pair at home that day. 

again, you got caught in sana’s ethereal features for a few seconds as you got struck in the back of the head with a ball by dk snapping your attention facing forward as coach rain was barking at you.

“what the hell are you staring at y/n?! you’re holding the line up lets go!!.” 

“shit…” you mutter as ran ahead while dk, mingyu, and blake chuckled at you while completing the drill. after drilling the ball past rowoon in goal, you walked back scratching your nose, still embarrassed with what you did. 

“is something the matter y/n? you look a little more pinkish than usual.” coach key asked as you furrowed your eyebrows together trying to cover the light blush, wiping your face in quick succession.

“i’m all good coach, don't worry about me.” you responded quickly.

“are you sure? i think the others say otherwise.” key says picking up on the scattered “pffts” and giggles heard behind you. 

you sigh and look at your teammates with a blank expression - clearing your throat as everyone immediately shuts up, gaining another laugh from coach rain who was watching the whole thing next to key. 

“that’s exactly why we made you captain of this team.” coach rain praised the present aura shimmering around you as he tapped key’s shoulder before walking away toward the half of the field to meet with the defensive coach bradley who was working some of the other reserve players. 

as you lined back up for another round of drills, blake tapped your shoulder with a slight worry. which was natural for him to check up on you as he was the right hand man / vice captain of the team. 

“are you good though, really?” he asked behind your ear.

“i’m fine blake it’s nothing.” you shot back, attempting to shut him down asking anymore questions.

“if you say so. kinda weird for you to act this way, i hope it’s not the girls since that would make sense-.”

“they just showed up, so i was wondering who came along this time!” you slightly raised your voice as blake chuckled at your reason.

“sure, but i don’t blame you for staring though.” blake simply said as you two continued to move up in the line. you sighed as you continued to reflect on what had happened, placing a hand on your chest as you felt a slight tug from within when you thought about sana. i’m not usually like this for some reason but why do i feel this way? 

—

the short memory flashes out of your mind as dk kept asking questions to blake about the trial. 

“so did you get approached by a professional team?” 

thrown off by dk’s captivating question you look at blake in a slight panic as you knew the rules about transfers, especially how players aren’t allowed to disclose negotiations to individuals who are outside of the said party. blake however, didn’t fully grasp the seriousness of this as he looked back at you in confusion, only realizing what he was about to do. 

“oh, we weren’t allowed to say this to anyone yet?” he asked.

“well this is news for me too soo…...” you replied back as blake was mumbling to himself, determining if it was a good idea to announce it to the group here right now or not. 

“how bout’ this, if you say yours, then i’ll say mine. it’s only fair.” blake proposed after a few seconds with you puckering your lips together, tempted at the indirect dare he made. 

“deal, but you go first since the vice cap gets minor priority.” you announce as everyone sitting in front of you two paid close attention. “so to double down on dk’s question, did you get signed by anybody?” 

“i did.” blake announced, “but it’s with a team in germany.” wow, you didn’t see that coming as you were suddenly interested to see where he was going. 

“it’s frankfurt.” he continued, “the aaronson twins are there too getting some playtime so it won’t be as boring.” 

“i bet they’re still salty they lost to us in the finals.” daniel butted in after hearing the last bit from laying down on the grass. 

“that was a year ago anyway so i doubt it.” you acknowledged as jihyo and tzuyu clapped their hands, proud of blake’s announcement, showering him with “woops” and “yays.” 

“alright now it’s your turn y/n, did you get signed?” daniel asked now with everyone listening in once again. 

“I actually did just yesterday.” you proclaim as everyone gasped in a slight shock with how fast the process was. 

blake tilted his head in genuine wonder, “okay, now you’ve got me over here thinking, by who!?”

“brighton, it’s brighton.” you said in a serious tone. 

“no shot…” dk said as a jolt went through his body that caused him to drop his water bottle. 

“wait, you’re gonna be playing in the prem?” daniel now with a distressed tone to his question. 

“yep.” you said simply, “who would’ve thought huh?” 

“a straight ticket to the premier league? what the fuck are you y/n a robot?” blake questioned as he shot back up with the fingers on his right hand kneading his forehead, still trying to relish in your announcement.

“so that’s like the best of the best in terms of competing?” jihyo asked as tzuyu was just left speechless.

“it’s one of the top five leagues across europe! they’re super competitive over there!” dk exclaimed as he was visibly shaking in his hands, trying to calm down in a frantic motion. you waved your hands in an up and down motion towards dk, trying to make him return to his normal breathing state as everyone wanted to know more details about your announcement that you were supposed to keep under wraps. 

“there’s still some things left to be worked out with the contract, the bottom line is that they want me over there to start playing as soon as possible.” you continued as everyone pulled their attention back.  

“yeah it would make sense for them to make a move since enciso will be out for the season indefinitely right?” blake asked, “i read that he’ll be undergoing surgery for his acl rupture.” 

“i also watched some of his matches and considering your playstyle is very similar to his, brighton have done wonders with their scouting once again!” daniel added in exhilaration.  

“exactly.” 

“who else knows about this?” tzuyu asked, who had been quiet for a majority of the conversation.

“aside from my parents, there’s you guys and rin that’s all.” you answered.

“have you told sana about this yet? does she know about the whole academy trial thing?” daniel asked as jihyo ooohed next to him, bumping his arm.

“she knows about the whole trial thing but-” you stopped for half a second. shit. your mind panics at the fact that you haven’t broke the news to sana yet. before your thoughts could fall into defcon 1 protocols,

“i was gonna tell her but she stayed over at momo’s place going over their japanese project for class,” you said as you scratched your head, saving your own skin from any additional suspicion. 

“ah i see.” dk replied again, now itching to get some shots up as he continued to roll a ball around his feet. picking up on this, you clapped your hands together and coughed slightly.

“alright! what are we sitting and standing here for? i thought tzuyu needed practice against us shooters!?” tzuyu looked shocked as she shot immediately straight up, bolting for the goal collecting laughs from everyone because of her eagerness. 

as everyone starts to get up from the grass with soccer balls rolling about, blake walks over to you and clasps your shoulder,

“so if things play out this season, i bet we’ll play against each other in one of the european competitions.” he vexed as you scoffed at his interesting speculation.

“who knows, i’d smoke you anyway! do i have to remind you about our one v ones?”

blake cocked his head at your remark before patting your shoulder again, acknowledging that you were the one always winning in the end when it came to competing between you and him. 

“we’re getting food after this right?” he asked.

“if everyone else is down then yes.” 

—

a jazzy tune is softly blasting on the speakers as your mom hummed to the speaker while cooking you dinner. you were sitting on the kitchen island with your laptop watching the highlights of the manchester city vs chelsea game from earlier, which was a thriller with both sides sharing four goals each at the end of added time.

you had a journal out in front of you that was a birthday gift from sana from last year while she was out of town for the week visiting her aunt when you got randomly sick despite being perfectly fine the day before. go figure. she also wrote a short note on the first page when you opened the journal which makes you crack a small smile every time you read it. 

“to my superstar y/n, i hope this journal will be an extension of myself and my heart for you to pen your thoughts. enjoy the cute koala plushie i picked out for you as well as some of the other favorite things i got that you love. happy birthday again baby and i’ll see you very soon.”

xoxo ~ sha <3 

even if she had an astonishing way of words, she still made sure to put a touch of flirting any chance she could. sana was the only person who had access to this journal besides its writer and you intend to keep it that way. flipping through the pages of your journal that was filled with paragraphs of your thoughts and feelings, or reflections of past soccer matches with a mix of sana’s doodles here and there whenever you two would be hanging out or studying. 

the latest entry you wrote in was the contract offer as well as your own thoughts about the whole situation. nothing too extreme as you were excited and happy that this path was now forming as you were walking on it, but you wrote wondering if it would be too late to somewhat confess to sana before going overseas. the chances are good–but why was the risk holding you back? 

you snapped out from staring at your journal when you hear dex singing the same song coming from the speaker as he walked into the kitchen / dining area. turning around to give him a quick dap before hugging your mom who had just finished cooking.

“well if  it isn’t my big time client now!” dex exclaimed as he made his way back to you, clawing your head with both of his hands playfully as waved your left arm over to make him stop, laughing at his infectious approach. 

“did you forget that you’re always on the clock when you come here?” you asked.

“hey! even agents need to have their time off so bite me.” dex shot back, wearing a yeezy gap hoodie that you gifted to him as a christmas gift paired with washed baggy jeans with slim shoes. you and dex always had a fashion off over who had the better outfit, but usually it’d be all even between you two because of how similar the clothing styles you rocked. 

“how’s your mom dex?” your mom asked as he slid a plate of homemade tacos over for you and dex to eat. 

“she’s doing well actually! my mom says congrats to y/n for getting the contract thanks to yours truly.” he replied as he bowed at the end of that sentence which earned a laugh from your mom as he got the sauces from the cabinet. 

you closed your journal and put it away in your bag while your laptop was showing another premier league match that caught dex’s attention as he sat down, reaching over for a taco. 

“i hate how you practically live here.” 

“oh shut up y/n, it’s not my fault that your house is directly right across from mine.” 

you chuckled at his argument as you too grabbed a taco to eat, your mom placing glasses of water for the both of you. “thank you mrs. l/n!” dex said as your mom just simply hummed in response before walking towards the dining table to finish her teacher related work. 

“so when are we leaving for england?” you asked, finishing a bite of your taco as dex took a swig of water. 

“our flight is on the third of january, so just right after new years,” dex replied as you looked slightly puzzled while nodding. 

“they’re still trying to iron out the details with the league, but your official documents are set to be signed within the first two weeks following your arrival.” 

you sighed at the realization once again, the mixed feeling of accomplishment and disbelief cooled over your body. 

“i still can’t believe we made it…after everything that we’ve been through together…” you sniffed, internalizing the countless hours of practicing and games along with the decisions that carried the guilt of sacrifice in order to make it this far. 

hanging your head down with a slight dejection, dex smacked your back, cheering your mood up as he saw a goal being scored. “oh shit!-my bad y/n.” he yelled, realizing that he spaced out from your laptop, proceeding to give you light taps on your shoulder this time. 

“don’t get all sappy now, we aren’t even in the good parts yet!” dex said as he continued to comfort you while eating another taco he grabbed. 

“we’re about to enter a whole new echelon of your dreams.” 

“that’s what i’m afraid of…” 

“don’t be, you’re not giving me enough credit for getting you signed as it is anyway!” 

“i will literally toss your ass out of this house if you don’t shut up! leeching off of me like your life depended on it!”  you cried out chuckling as dex laughed at your banter towards him, cooling off after a few seconds. 

“so have you talked to sana about it?” dex asked.

“i haven't been able to, she’s been staying at momo’s since tuesday but we’ve been texting.” you replied showing an image that sana sent to you of momo laying flat next to the couch with the coffee table plastered with papers and stationary items.

“she said she’ll be back home tomorrow hopefully.” you gleamed putting your phone flat on the table.

“her birthday is coming up no?” dex asked quizzically.

“it is.”

“do you have anything in mind you want to do for her this year?” 

“nope, not in the slightest.” you replied leaning back facing up to the ceiling. 

you and dex sit in silence with the roar of the crowd blasting through your laptop speakers. a few seconds later and you jolt your head forward with a lightbulb going off in your brain. dex picks up on your sudden action and conveys a “hmm~” 

“you thought of something, didn't you?” 

“indeed i did, i need your help along with a few others.” 

—

not to your surprise, sana didn’t come back the next day. she stayed a little bit longer at momo’s until that friday at the end of the week, claiming that the project had to be redone because momo had a completely different prompt than the actual one they were supposed to do. 

you couldn’t help but laugh at sana’s reason since she sounded like a little kid complaining that they didn’t get what they wanted at the local grocery store, looking at her with more admirability than usual as you laid on her couch with your left arm draped over sana’s left shoulder while she was sitting on the floor, various makeup items scattered across the coffee table as the tv was on playing blues clues out of all shows she could’ve watched. 

“when i told you that momo messed up big time, i meant she messed up big time.” sana said, who complained about the small incident of starting the project over since momo basically procrastinated the whole assignment altogether. 

while she was doing that, you couldn’t help but laugh at her slight distress as she was scrounging up scattered items on the table and next to her. 

“well good thing she had you as a partner otherwise she would’ve failed that project regardless.” you said as you sat up, scooching over to the perpendicular end of the table to get your fruit tea drink from chae’s. 

sana leans her head back on the seat, sighing with a slight ache in her voice as she finished her last minute gift for an event you had to drive her to. you didn’t have any plans anyway so even if you did, sana’s event that she was invited to was strictly girls only-which meant that you didn’t have to dress casually as you wore a dark blue fleece sweater with baggy black sweats in comparison to sana who sat there wearing low waisted jeans with a cropped shirt, she had one more article of clothing behind her and slipped it on, which turned out to be one of your old soccer jerseys in tandem with a grey long sleeve under it as an additional layer.

“so what time are we supposed to leave for this so-called party?” you asked as sana kept shuffling around stuff around her. 

“we’ll leave in a bit, i just have to-oh wait! you think you can help me with some makeup really quick?” sana inquired as you looked at her with a small surprise to her question. “what do you mean, help? you have some of the things here already why can’t you do it yourself?” you protested as you matched her height by sitting on the floor with her. 

“most of the makeup i need is up in my room! i don’t need to do much i just need your help with one thing!” sana shot back as you limped your body at her while she whined at your action.

“y/nnnn, do me this one favor pleaseeeeee?!” sana pleaded, making her voice babyish to appease you.

you groaned at her adorable act, knowing that she’ll always have her way no matter how big or small the task was. 

“fine since you don’t want to do it for me, i’ll do it myself then.” she mumbles.

“wait sana no, that’s not what i meant.” 

“it sure sounds like that to me, y/n.” sana says with a pout directly at you. 

“just come scoot over and i’ll help you.” you ordered.

“nope! you said that you didn’t want to, so there goes your chance.” sana retorted. claiming her small victory as she smiled proudly. 

you huffed out a heavy sigh of hair as you reached over to grab a lip brush that was on the table in front of you. sana looks at you, questioning what you were trying to do as you sat back on the floor again now with your left knee upwards parallel to the leg of the coffee table. shifting your upper body soon after and reaching with your arm to grab sana’s wrist, pulling her towards you while sana was caught off guard with your action. you overestimated your used strength as sana almost toppled you over, bracing herself by placing her left hand on your knee. the arm you pulled her with was almost all the way back, putting her face just mere inches away from yours, breaths hitching for just a slight second at the sudden closeness. 

“sorry.” you mutter, loosening your grip on her wrist. 

“it’s okay, i just need a touch up of lip blush, that's all.” sana mumbles as she adjusts herself more steadily. nodding at her request, you propped yourself up, extending a pinky to her jaw as you prepared to brush her lips. 

tension hung in the air as you carefully took your time with sana’s lips, ensuring that there was no missing spot as you added a little more blush. her lips were amazingly perfect, almost a perfect oval shape with every nuance in both her upper and lower lip made it seemingly sculptured flawlessly. the pounding of your heart rang in your ears more loudly than usual, making you make accidental eye contact for a millisecond. sana catches you staring as you tilted your head left and right as a poor cover, stopping for a second to lock with her eyes-giving you a seductive smirk as your face exploded with redness. few more moments passed as you ensured her lips were properly touched up, placing the brush down back on the coffee table, content with your work. 

“done.” you simply say. cheeks still flushed as you place your fingers under sana’s chin, checking if there were any mistakes, not noticing that sana’s cheeks were flushed pink as well. 

sana makes eye contact with you again as you return her stare with your lips slightly agape, silence filling the room as you and here were staring into each other for the nth time. sana blinks twice, inching closer and closer to your face before your phone vibrated, indicating a call from either dex or your mom most likely. 

sana then gets up as you answered the phone who turned out to be nayeon, who was asking where you and sana were, indicating that sana would be late for the start of the party. after a quick interrogation over the phone, you ended the call and headed toward the kitchen where sana was, preparing a small batch of brownies she baked to bring for the party.

you saw her shuffle the foil around the container as you stood across behind the kitchen island, staring at the back of her head while internalizing her small but cute stature. 

“sha.” you called out to her, the nickname that very few people know her by, you having the most exclusivity to it however. 

sana turns around, stopping whatever she was doing to give her full undivided attention to you, ensuing that this was something serious that you were about to tell her. 

“yes y/n?” sana asked with a slight worry on her face. you chuckled at her expression, waving your hand in response. “it’s nothing bad i promise.-” you said to add more suspense, sana tilts her head in anticipation of what you were going to say to her. 

“i got a contract offer for a team.” 

sana’s eyes shot wide open at your news. 

“i know the timing of this is weird and all, but-” 

you were cut off suddenly as sana jumped at you, exclaiming in noises that could only be seen as happy and delight. your hands found their place on her waist as she tightly wrapped her arms around your neck.

“you should’ve told me sooner!!! that’s great news y/n!!!” sana exclaimed as she mushed your face with her hands, bursting out in laughter immediately after as she went for another hug with you holding her tightly this time.

she stays stuck to you for what feels like over a minute, but eventually she loosens herself off of you and stands in front of you, hand latched to hers. 

“sorry for not telling you sooner sana, i just had to make sure it was all official before you know, announcing it and all.” 

“it’s okay, you have your rules so i understand.” sana replies back with a smile still on her face. 

“you do know what this means right? you asked, “we talked about if i did get a contract somewhere i would have to-”

“i know.” sana states firmly, knowing the gravity of your situation, “you explained it to me a while back so you don’t have to worry.” you dropped your shoulders at the thought you just spoke out, but you brushed that off aside with a sharp inhale before clicking your tongue. 

“should we get going?” you asked sana again as she hummed in response to you, realizing that you’ve spent a little too long stalling sana away from nayeon’s girls night party as the two of you grabbed the essential items you needed before heading out the house.

—

a week passes and sana sits at her desk placing her legs on the bed in lieu of her usual footrest sitting below her which she found more comfortable. it’s just past noon and sana had just finished eating her late birthday lunch with her mom and dad downstairs who were cleaning up around the kitchen. 

she scrolls through her phone at the multitude of notifications of birthday texts and birthday reposts on social media stories, making an effort to reply to almost all of them as she continues to tap away on her phone. her phone dings as she quickly swipes through the apps to see who had texted her, eyes widening at the message she just received. 

y/n 

happy birthday sha sha~ !

just finished practice, will come over later. 

sana smiles like a fool at the text, noticing the nickname you coined for her back in middle school that only came up for sentimental moments like these as she presses her thumbs on the touchscreen.

sana

sounds good! 

not going anywhere today

can’t wait to see you againnnn

y/n 

shut up, you literally saw me last night 

did i not drop you off after our boba run with momo and seungkwan???

sana 

my bad not remembering, sorry 

y/n 

i live on the right of you i- 

forget it lol 

sana lets out a small laugh before switching back to reply to more stories on instagram, only to be interrupted by her mom calling from downstairs.

“sana! you have some visitors!” sana’s mom yells as the doorbell rang for a second time. “coming!” sana says as she speeds down the steps, opening the door wide open only to be surprised by the girls.

“surprise!” 

“you guyssss.” sana whines as she was startled at the sudden appearance of momo, nayeon, jihyo, and dahyun who had various small items that looked like sweets and presents, with dahyun holding a small bouquet of lotus flowers as sana’s hands cover her mouth. a quick exchange of hugs as the four of them were invited in to chill for a little bit, conversing about the gifts that the girls gave to sana

“did you guys plan this?” sana asks jihyo, who was the natural leader of the friend group.

“well not exactly, but i did help with some of the stuff.” jihyo replied as nayeon nudged herself next to her on the couch. 

“there’s more where that came from just letting you know.” nayeon adds in as sana wore a puzzled look on her face. 

“what do you mean more?” she asks as the whole group of girls are startled by the sudden sound of the window - which turned out to be jeongyeon as she laughed hysterically, followed by a couple more people after her

“jeong you can’t scare us like that!” momo exclaims as the door opened revealing dk, bang chan, jeongyeon, miyeon, and dex. the living room flooded with hand daps, hellos, and hugs as there were quick exchanges of how everyone was doing.

“you should’ve thrown a party sana!” bang chan exclaims as he hugged sana, moving side to side since it had been ages since she last saw him.

“what are you doing here?! i thought you weren’t coming home until next week!? she “angrily” said with a light voice, punching his arm as bang chan laughed, “well surprise!!” going in for another hug after not seeing her close family friend for a long time since he was abroad or his studies.

“is that everyone?” mingyu asked, looking at the abundance of people now sitting in the living room. 

“i think so, this is it for now.” jihyo replied, sipping a glass of water and placing it back on the coffee table as the room filled up with more talking. sana sees dex heading on his way out the door, stopping him as he was about to answer his call. “where’s y/n?” she asked, with a worried pout in her voice. dex chuckled at sana’s antic, “she said that something came up, so i’m going to help her real quick.” sana nodded as she hugged dex again, thanking him for coming over to the surprise gathering before going back to the group to take pictures that her mom was offering as dex walked out the door. sana glances out the window, wondering if you were going to show up later or not. 

—

a couple hours had already passed and it was nearing sundown, sana went back up to her room after everyone had left almost two hours prior, having the small snacks that dahyun had brought as well as some of the cookies your mom had made for the entire group. 

looking at the pastel blue sky as it started to turn pinkish toward the horizon, she couldn’t help but feel a growing hole in her chest as she trudged over to her bed, lying face flat for only a few seconds before hearing the doorbell downstairs. sana assumed that her mom would answer the door right away - only to hear her yelling for the second time today.

“sana! you have one more visitor!” her mom yells as she makes her way down the stairs again. sana wonders who would come at this hour, the thought tells her that it would be dex since he left his glasses on the coffee table after playing jenga with dk and mingyu but she could worry about that later. 

her hand reaches for the doorknob and twists it, opening it to see the one person she had hoped to see all day, you. 

you stood on the other side of the door wearing your glasses with one of your hands behind your back. sana tilts her head at the arm as you flashed it out - a bouquet mixed with roses and bouquets. sana gasps, putting her hands to her face at the surprise you had in front of her. 

“sorry for being late, i came to pick you up.” 

“where are we going?” sana asks you as you put a finger to your lips.

“shhh, you’ll see it when we get there now go get ready.” you reply back as sana turns around and dashes up to her room to get changed. 

sana returns to her usual passenger princess mode as she enters the tesla. as you and her buckled yourselves into the seats, you stop for a second to fish something in the center console, grabbing a blindfold which was a sleeping mask. sana looks at you with a raised eyebrow, taking the hint that you were “implying”. 

“it’s not what you think it is, you pervert.” you say as you hand the blindfold to her, sana punching your arm immediately after your dirty thought.

“hey! i didn’t even say a word!” she retorts as you chuckle at her light blush flooding on her face, humming at her answer before driving the car out the driveway. you stop the car before you even pass your house, sana looking at you with a stale expression again. 

“keep that blindfold on until i tell you to take it off.” you instructed. 

“is this the part where you take me to your special room like in fifty shades of grey?” 

“god no, and you know i despise that movie anyway.” you immediately respond as you roll away while sana puts on the blindfold, still wondering where you were taking her. 

—

the drive to your secluded spot for your special surprise to sana was filled with flirty exchanges and multiple “are we there yets” pushing you to the brink of insanity but something that you were used to with sana as you arrived in the back section of a hill facing the brimming sunset. 

“we’re here.” you say as you set the tesla on park with sana looking around, blindfold on her face, laughing as she kept frantically looking with a smile on her face. you exit the car, catching dex at the spot on the hill that you and him set up together, essentially leaving him while you pick up sana on the passenger side, guiding her toward the picnic blankets. 

“where are we y/n?” sana asks as she continues to walk forward, your hands placed on her waist nearing closer to where dex was standing. 

“almost there just a few more steps.” you answered, finally arriving at the spot. dex rolling his eyes at you as he watched your dumb smile at the plan you devised last week. 

“here we are. you can take the blindfold off now.” you told sana as she pulled down on the sleep mask, gasping at the cute picnic setup you took a couple hours to perfect. the spot on the hill had a perfect view of the sunset just before touching the horizon.

the picnic blanket had a bottle of red wine, along with a basket that had various snacks that you and sana liked when eating together. in addition there was a charcuterie with cheeses, saltine crackers, some salami, and small slices of bacon. topping it off another bouquet of flowers laid on the blanket with your portable speaker playing soft classical music. 

sana was left in amazement at your surprise, hugging you tightly after, burying her head in your chest and stayed there for a moment. you signaled dex to get the last few things from his car as sana pulls away from you, “let's sit down, i have dex getting something for me really quick” 

“you really planned all this for me?” sana asks as she takes in the various items that are laid out on the blanket, “i was wondering why you couldn’t come over earlier with everyone, and dex helped you?” 

“yes he did, he did most of the heavy lifting well not really but still.” you reply back as dex comes back with a small bag with more snacks inside of it. 

“thanks again for guarding this dex, i owe you big time.” you say as dex chuckles at you, grabbing a quick bite of the chocolates inside the bag, “oh you definitely do, the next meal we get together is gonna be on your tab.” he states, fistbumping you before leaving you two alone to enjoy your special birthday date. 

“so was this everything like you imagined for a surprise?” you asked sana as she shuffled herself into your left arm, sighing in content with what you did. 

“this was amazing y/n. i couldn’t have asked for anything more. thank you.” sana replies, hugging you again, inhaling the sweet cherry scent of her hair before pulling away. “are you sure we’re gonna be able to eat all of this?” she asks again, grabbing another bite of the saltine crackers as you laugh at her act. 

—

after going through multiple snack bags and half the bottle of red wine, you and sana were talking about the various gifts that she received earlier in the day - how she got various gift cards from family relatives to use online and noting how she got a betty boop handbag from one of her other classmates who stole it after her modeling gig a while back. as she told these stories from earlier, you kept your attention on her with so much affection pooling through your eyes. the way that she was cutely layered with a brown overcoat with a hoodie underneath, the light breeze passing through her hair making her more ethereal than she already was. 

she goes on with her tangent for a few more moments before returning eye contact with you, getting lost in your eyes before looking away, your face getting slightly red as well as hers. 

“so…do you have a gift for me?” she asks, returning her gaze on you as you scrunch your face at her.

“of course i did.” you reply, fishing through your bag to get two small boxes that were black, one being longer compared to the short one that was in your right hand. sana looks at you confused, slightly anxious to see what you had for her this year.

“so i kept your present from last year into consideration.” you started off saying, opening the first box to reveal a necklace with a wax seal on it showing a simple heart with a message coating it. sana lightly screams at one of your romantic gifts as you take it out to give her a better look.

“the meaning of the wax seal means, my heart is eternally yours - given to that special someone you value everything that you are and what you do.” sana pouts at your sentence as you motion her to come around and put the necklace on her, brushing her hair onto one side to make it easier for you. soon after it’s on, she looks at it while you fish out the same necklace hidden in your crewneck to match hers.

“aw, matching necklaces? what’s the other box for?” sana playfully asks as you grab the other box from behind you, opening it to show matching rings. you smirked as sana was left speechless with her flawless guess, while you took the bigger ring out for you to wear on your right ring finger.

“matching rings, and this relates to what i’m about to say” you reply as sana leans in, now fully interested with the possible thought of what you might be doing, shifting her body closer to you as you showed her the simple but sleek ring you were wearing. 

“you have been a constant pillar of support i can always rely on for as long as i remember aside from my own parents of course,” you say confidently despite your heart gradually accelerating by the second.

“i love what we have going on already between us, all the sweet and happy moments that are always filled with a brand new adventure every single day.” sana scoots even closer as you take her hand, clasping it with yours. 

“whenever i’m with you, there’s a few seconds where my heart just starts beating like crazy - and at first i thought it was weird at first, but then the more and more it happens whenever its us hanging out like this or whenever we’re with everyone else and-” your mind was short circuiting as sana lightly laughs at you with your head in between your arms, you then look back up inching your face closer to sana’s, your heart pounding in your ears at 150%.

“soooo what’s your point y/n?.” sana asks you, slightly oblivious and in a slight instant — you couldn’t contain yourself any longer. 

“this.” you simply replied, lightly placing your fingers under her jaw, breath slightly hitching as you leaned forward, catching her off guard as you placed your lips on hers. 

sana hummed in surprise as she was unprepared, but was able to catch on kissing you right back, eyes slowly closing as she cupped your cheek. senses overloading at the new sensation acquired as you notice the slight taste of peach chapstick on her extremely soft lips and you wanted to remember how your lips fit perfectly with hers. you pull away for a second to catch your breath before sana pulls you right back in for more, tilting heads in interchanging directions as you slowed the pace of your second kiss together, taking more and more time passing as you and her try to keep this moment from ever ending. it was then sana’s turn to stop, eyes fluttering open as they meet yours as you went for another slow, intimate kiss, pulling on her left thigh to bring her closer to you as she wraps her arm around your neck, right hand tangling with your hair before sharing one more final kiss and pulling away soon after. 

you finally did it, and she couldn’t be any more happier. 

hands lingering on each other’s body as you stare into sana’s eyes again, lips brushing together slightly parted as your hearts could basically flatline at any given second. sana then lightly pecks your lips before placing her forehead against yours. 

“two years,” sana begins saying, “two years is how long i’ve waited for you to do that.” you softly laugh at her observation. “god you’re so cute.” 

the beating in your heart calms down after cashing out all of your feelings you’ve had for sana, the realization of what you did finally registering in your head as you look away from sana for a second, cheeks completely flushed before coughing because of the small specks of pollen that went up your nose. 

‘i have a really bad thing with timing, so i hope this isn't too late.” you mumble, recalling what will eventually happen when the new year rolls in the next couple weeks. sana notices the tone in your voice, now worried about your expression,

“when do you leave?” she asks.

“two days after new years.” you answer, sana’s face somewhat crestfallen after hearing the news, “but we still have time until then, i just wish i did this sooner…” your voice trailed off with regret carried with it. 

sana sccoches herself to you again, placing her head on your shoulder as she hugged you in comfort, sighing out at the beautiful view set in the distance while grazing her fingers on your hand. 

“i think this is perfect already.” sana says to you, looking at her with a puzzled look on your face. 

“really?” she hummed at your simple question. 

“i’m not mad at you, nor will i ever be mad at you for anything y/n. i’m just happy that you and i can finally let out our feelings together without having reservations.” 

a warm smile riddled across your face as you leaned in to press another soft peck onto her lips. sana giggles after you pull away again, grinning, 

“hearing the things you say give me so much confidence, knowing that i can take on the world with my girlfriend right beside me.” you say as you stood up with your arms out wide, mimicking a goal celebration while sana laughed at your act.

not long after the first hours of the evening, you walk back sana to the front door of her house, turning around to you with inviting arms for a hug, gladly accepting the offer as you open your arms for sana to slot herself in. circling your arms around her waist as her arms hooked onto your back, your chin touching the top of your head, indicating the cute height difference between you and her like a sculpture that should be showcased as the main centerpiece of an art museum, letting the silence fill up with the brightly dimmed light sitting just above you two. 

she looks up at you, pursing her lips together for a kiss as you cup her cheeks, pressing your lips onto hers again for one more smooch that was now filled with love and butterflies, pulling away staring into sana’s eyes that look like they could be filled with stars. 

“best birthday present ever.” she hummed as you kissed her forehead, hugging her tightly once more before stepping back.

“had to save the best for last you know?” you amusingly as sana chuckled at your quick remark, having her head over heels for you once again as placed your hands behind your back as you walked down the steps of her house. 

“let’s do something tomorrow?” sana asks as you turned back around immediately after her question. 

“of course, i’m always down to do anything with you.” 

—

the airport terminal was a little bit busier than usual as you stood there at the rotating door, endlessly spinning as people weaved in and out of it. this was it - “d-day” as dex called it, where you finally leave the hometown you have stayed at for almost the entirety of your life before embarking on your dream head on. 

your two cases of luggage and backpack were all that you brought along with your parents who came to see you off while dex kept it simple with his single carry-on bag. dex and rin’s agent yujin had managed to come to an agreement for you and rin to live together, making it more convenient and the transition more smoothly since both of your living habits were strikingly similar. 

“alright, that’s everything that we brought yeah?” dex asks you, turning to your left side facing him. 

“our flight is in two hours, so i think we’ll be fine.” you reply back, pulling the handles of both of your luggages. a voice calls you from the distance, making you look the opposite direction, tilting your head at the small entourage of people approaching you; dk, mingyu, yuta, jihyo, daniel, tzuyu, han, hyunjin, dahyun, miyeon, and lastly sana. 

“you guys really don’t know when to give me space do ya.” you say as you dapped up daniel as the others started to form a crowd behind him. 

“don’t think you can leave without saying goodbye y/n!” dk chided, beaming his smile at you as you facepalmed at his comical stupidity. “either way, you will come back home regardless so you’ll know where we’ll be at.” he added as you nodded. 

“that’s why i made you captain, i know the team will be in good hands with you leading.” you replied back as you stepped forward for a hug, patting his back firmly. you pulled back and looked at everyone else who came, content with the turnout.

“thank you guys for coming. it really means a lot to me and i promise i’l come back in once piece.” you said as you picked up a sniffle coming from tzuyu, leaving you in a small shock as you went forward to hug her in comfort. soon after everyone picks up on tzuyu crying, everybody went in for a group hug as sana was the second person after you to hug tzuyu from behind. after a few moments had passed, the group hug broke as you started to hug everyone one by one again.

“this won’t be a goodbye, but we’ll definitely see you soon in the matches!” yuta exclaimed as mingyu pulled you in for a headlock, tapping his arm frantically while everyone laughed at you struggling. 

“you’ll be sending us stuff right?” jihyo asked you with an eyebrow raised at you.

“of course i will, you just gotta wait for them.” you answered as you started grabbing your luggage. most of the group had begun to go back home all except for one person–sana, who was standing in front of you with a simple smile on her face, wearing both the necklace and the other ring in her left ring finger you gifted to her on her birthday. 

you pulled her in for a hug, caressing her hair as she nuzzled into your right collarbone. taking in the last whiffs of your cologne and the way your body felt on hers as she hugged you.

“i already told you that we’ll keep in touch, right?” you asked as she looks up at you with a pout that could snap your heart into multiple pieces, lip quivering slightly as you pulled her in for another hug. 

the day before celebrating new years, you and her talked about how this new relationship would be handled, planning a bunch of contingencies in case one would miss the other person greatly. you and sana had spent all the time you could before this moment, doing everything possible–the only change now was the increase of skinship and small kisses that you and her shared together every chance possible when hanging out. 

you and sana rarely ever fight against each other, but there were many tests and trials that would be overcomed together. a long-distance relationship would be the ultimate test for you two, the contrasting work schedules, time difference, match days, the list went on and on but you and sana were determined to make it work. 

this was a completely new circumstance, you and sana were slightly worried of what might happen but were very confident in the road that lies ahead for you. 

“i will miss you being around here.” sana says, tears welling up in her eyes as you wiped them off her, pulling her face in for a long kiss, wanting to not part away from her face. you then retreat your head back with thumbs massaging her cheeks. 

“you probably know this, but i love you.” you say as sana laughs out, lightening up the mood as she hugs you for one last time. 

“promise to call me when you get settled in?” 

“you don’t even have to ask.” you say as dex taps your shoulder, “y/n, time to go.” you nodded at him as your parents handed you your luggages, giving them another loving hug with your mom fighting back tears as your dad rubbed her back. 

“my baby is all grown up now.” your mom says, pressing your face together.

“ma, i’ll be back before you know it.” you say, shutting down her worries as you hug both of your parents for one last time, walking away to the rotating door of the entrance. you stopped in your tracks as dex looked at you with your back turned to him, walking up to sana to give her two more kisses, the second one being a short, subtle peck. 

“i love you.” you whispered to her, your voice giving endearing confidence, “i’ll see you soon okay?” 

sana nods as she lets go of your lingering arm before watching you and dex enter the spinning door, waving to sana and your parents, smiling for one last time as you walk deeper inside the concourses of the airport, europe bound, and facing forward to your lifelong dream. 

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man Part 5

Summary: Steve ‘the Hair’ Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you’ll wingman for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie.

Chapter Summary: Ranting about Ozzy Osbourne counts as flirting, right?

5.7 words

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a/n: I wanted to get this chapter out before Flight of Icarus on Halloween. I am MILKING that preview we got for all it's worth. I want y'all to know in this chapter I am projecting HARD on what I think the book will be like and how it will affect Eddie. Also say thank you to @hellfiredarling and @crocwork-clockodile because without them, this wouldn't have gone past 2 chapters. Also shout out to @hellfiredarling for letting me borrow her OC Tara for this fic as well. 💜

WARNINGS: This chapter discusses the Ozzy Osbourne Bat Incident. Nothing is really talked about in graphic detail, but I figured I'd throw that out there, just in case.

Eddie Munson would never consider himself a homewrecker. He was a lot of things; a freak, a metal head, the occasional dealer, a musician, but never a homewrecker. 

But he’d be lying to himself if he said he didn’t enjoy flirting with you as Steve was right there. Steve hadn’t even made any sort of move to make it clear that you were actually on a date anyway. Eddie had expected some sort of reaction from Steve from the banter that bounced between the two of you, but he’d only sat back and watched. 

You were far too good for Harrington anyway. 

But he could have figured that out the second time the two of you had met so many years ago. You didn’t remember Eddie, and he didn’t blame you too much for that. You had been in a rough state that time, shaken up and worried out of your mind. Hell, Eddie himself could barely remember the first meeting it had been so long ago. 

He couldn’t help himself though, not when you showed an interest in his band, his club, and (he was starting to hope) him. The back and forth between the two of you had excited him. He swore (lied) to himself that he was only flirting and chatting with you to annoy Harrington, and the last thing he had expected was for you to start flirting back. It was night and day compared to Sidequest Day. Eddie completely forgot about Steve the second you mentioned WASP as a favorite band. He probably could have stood there all night, asking you how you fell into the genre, what songs you add to your mix tapes, and bragging not-so-subtly about his band and guitar skills. 

But reality always shows up, and Eddie was needed to fix the amp again. It was old and beat to hell and back, but it was all he could afford to fix. A new amp would always be out of the question unless the Hideout decided to start paying the high schoolers for their performance every week. 

He made his way to the van to grab his toolbox (Wayne’s toolbox, but he insisted that Eddie keep it in his van) when he realized that he was an idiot. Shit, he’d offered you a ride home, and he was really hoping you’d take him up on that offer, intoxicated or not. 

The back of the van was gutted, making it far easier to transport Gareth’s drum set, the amp, and all of their other equipment to their weekly gig. There was even room for two of his friends to (very illegally) sit back there while one person sat up front with him. 

Would you even want a ride home like that? Eddie had no problem forcing everyone else to ride in the back while you rode shotgun. Then it was the long ride to Gareth’s place to drop everything off, then dropping off Jeff and Zack. 

He could drop you off first, but that would defeat the purpose of offering you a ride. 

Shit. 

Whatever, he’d wing it. He’d figure out the details later after the show. Right now he had to fix the amp again and focus on the music. 

There was a moment before every show, when the janky spotlights would turn on and temporarily blind Eddie, that transported him to another world. Any time he picked up his guitar, be it his electric one or the acoustic, he could feel a charge in the air. Music was as natural as breathing to him, something that just was. 

Someone once asked Eddie, why music? Why this music? 

Because it’s fucking badass. Because it’s an escape to a different world, a different dimension. 

When Eddie played, he didn’t have to be in Hawkins. He didn’t have to be a freak. When he felt the sharp strings press into his fingers he became a Rock God. His music made him feel badass, indestructible, a fucking hero in his mind. 

During a really good show, Eddie could lose himself completely. He could imagine that there was a large crowd cheating his name, his band. The sound of his guitar screeched like a demonic bat, and he could imagine that the audience was looking through a portal to another dimension, watching as Corroded Coffin used their music to kick ass and take names. 

Eddie never thought about what it would be like to look through the other side of the portal. To look back and see someone looking at him the way he imagined it. That was, until the first song started and his eyes met yours through the near empty bar. 

There was a smile on your face, and an intense look in your eyes as you watched him play. The excitement in your eyes couldn’t have been mistaken for anything else. It was the same look that Dustin had given Eddie the first time he made the kid a mix tape, it was the look that his bandmates had when they booked their first gig ever that wasn’t some talent show or open mic night. 

It was the look Eddie had when he held a guitar for the first time. 

Sure, Eddie had fans. At least 5 people would drunkenly cheer for him on Tuesdays. They were mostly older though, blue collar workers who were reliving their youth through Corroded Coffin. Occasionally he could even have a semi-coherent conversation with them about music after the set. Not often though. The sets usually ended with high fives from the band, maybe a pat on the back and a beer slipped over to Eddie. 

The way you were smiling up at him was different though. Even with the drink in your hand you were alert and paying attention to every song and every lyric. Eddie’s voice wasn’t the most well-trained but he let his guitar do most of the work. As they worked through their set, his eyes kept falling back to you. Of course it was easy, considering the fact that you were a cute girl sitting front and center, and most of his other ‘fans’ were by the actual bar on their fourth or fifth round for the night. 

Paige had once mentioned off-handedly that he had the look and the stage presence. She’d even said that he looked good once and that was a compliment that he had ridden the high of until everything came crashing down again. When that dream disappeared along with her, Eddie had gone back to just being the Freak of Hawkins. But, fuck, when you were looking at him like that he could almost believe it again.

When the echoes of the final chord faded into the air and the portal closed, Eddie was left smiling at the one person in the bar that bothered cheering like they meant it. You. 

He took his pick and tossed it to you, and you caught it between your hands like you had with the air hockey puck just a few days ago. Eddie felt a sense of pride as your cheeks darkened, and he hoped it was because of him and not the drink you had been nursing for the past hour. Your eyes darted between him and Steve- oh right. Harrington was here too. Right. 

Eddie turned away and started helping with packing up. The sooner they got the equipment to the van the more time they would have to hang out before curfews for everyone else hit.

During the summer they had gotten away with staying out a bit later, but it was now the school year. That meant they had about twenty minutes to mingle, pack, and head out. The last thing he needed was to piss off Gareth's parents (again) and lose their place to practice. 

Eddie was already on thin ice with the parents of his bandmates and club members, except for Zack’s. He wasn’t gonna push it. 

With everything tucked securely back in his van, Eddie made his way back inside to find you.One of his regulars gave him a clap on the back for a good show and handed him a beer which he gladly accepted. He should back off, stay away when every time he’s seen you in recent memory was with Steve Harrington. But when he caught a glimpse of you sitting at the table still fiddling with the pick between your fingers and finishing off your drink he couldn’t stay away. Steve was nowhere to be found. 

“So, did you enjoy the show?” Eddie asked, taking a seat next to you. You had been lost in thought and jumped slightly. When you realized he was there, you smiled at Eddie as if he was the one person you wanted to see in all of Hawkins. 

“Holy shit, you guys are good!” You said brightly. There was the tiniest slur to your words, made noticeable by how fast you were talking. “Your amp makes a weird sound with your guitar but I don’t think that’s a bad thing and you were going so fast! How’d you get your fingers to do that?!”

Eddie laughed and had you been in a more sober state of mind he might have made some sort of dirty joke about that. “I’ve been playing since I was a kid, and I practice so much it’s second nature to me.” 

You glanced at his calloused fingers and nodded, before looking back at your own. “I don’t have the finger dexterity for that.” you said, moving your fingers around. “See? My pinkie is kind of fucked up.” You gave your fingers a wiggle and your pinkie definitely moved in a more jerky fashion than the rest of your finders. 

“It’s because you don’t use it enough.” Eddie said, grabbing your pinkie and shaking your hand around, making you laugh. “Just start playing guitar for about four hours a day until your fingers bleed and I’m sure you could fix it.”

“That sounds like a lot of work that I don’t have the passion for, so I think I’ll leave all the fingering to you-” You closed your eyes and took a very deep breath as your brain caught up to your mouth. Eddie watched in amusement as you slumped your head to the table. “Can I get a do over?” 

Despite the embarrassment you were laughing, which Eddie took as a good sign. His next move was risky, but he was going to go for it. 

“If you had a g string I could show you how to finger it.” 

“Nooooo!” you groaned through your laughter as you sat back up. “Low hanging fruit, Eddie! That was too easy!” 

“You handed that one to me on a silver platter! I don’t think I’d be allowed to play guitar anymore if I didn’t go for that joke!” Eddie said in mock offense. 

“Eddie, did you know that when you order one drink here, they actually give you three drinks in one glass?” you asked, motioning to your empty cup. “Because I did not.”

He looked over at the bar, and then back to you. “Sam’s working. Yeah, he’s pretty heavy handed with his drinks. Are you good?” 

You gave a nod. “Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, I can’t drive probably but I’m not blackout wasted or anything.” There was still a slur to your words, but your eyes were still alert enough that he felt confident that you weren’t going to make any decisions that weren’t completely your own.

“So how come I’m the one who offered you a ride home and not your date?” Eddie didn’t want to bring up Harrington, but curiosity always got the better of him in one way or another. 

“Date?” You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion before realization dawned on your face. You looked at Eddie with such intensity that it made him feel nervous for a second. “I am not dating Steve Harrington.” There was firmness in your voice. “He’s dating every other girl in Hawkins.”

“Do you... want him to be dating you?” Eddie wasn’t sure where you were going with this and he took a sip of the beer that he’d been neglecting for the past few minutes. . 

“Ew.” 

That one word had him nearly choking on his beer as it went down the wrong pipe. He made a strained sound between a cough and a laugh and you smacked him on the back a few times with concern before he waved your hand off.

“‘Ew’?” He managed to finally choke out, looking at you in disbelief. “So you’re telling me that you and Steve Harrington just happen to hang out but you aren’t dating?” 

This had to be a joke, some sort of prank where Harrington would pop out of the bathroom, throw his arm around you, and laugh at Eddie for believing for even a second that someone as cool as you was single. 

“We’re just friends and we have a kind of deal going on.” you said, messing with the ice in your empty glass. “I help him and he uh...” Eddie watched as you hesitated and your mind looked for the words. “He helps me get out of the house.”

“I thought you said coming out was your idea?” Eddie tilted his head, watching as your expression changed to one of a kid who’s hand was caught in the cookie jar. 

“I lied.” You said bluntly. “I had no idea about you playing or that you had a band or even that the Hideout had any live music ever. It was Steve’s idea.”

Eddie watched your expression carefully for any sign that you didn’t actually have feelings for Steve. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, knew better than to get his hopes up. The Munson’s weren’t exactly known for being lucky in love, and he was no different. Eddie could count on one hand the amount of times he’d had any sort of romantic connection to a girl and most of those had crumbled to dust in his hands. 

“Harrington brought you here?” He said slowly. “To get you out of the house?”

“I pretty much live at work and home.” you shrugged, sucking the last bit of moisture that had melted in the bottom of your glass. “He’s a good friend. And that’s all he is.” 

Even Eddie wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the blatant flag that you were waving over your head. 

SMACK

Two drumsticks came crashing down on the table between the two of you. Eddie didn’t even realize how close you two were getting until Gareth managed to squeeze himself between the two of you, banging his sticks rhythmically on the table. 

“Eddie we gotta go.” Gareth said. “Mom’s gonna kill me if I’m late tonight. Grandma’s visiting.”

“Shit.” Eddie muttered to himself and then looked at you. “Do you still need a ride?” 

He hoped you’d say yes. He hoped you didn’t mind his band while they all drove home so illegally. 

“I think I can’t say no.” You glanced at the drink. “Because that was waaay stronger than I expected it to be and I can alway bully Steve into helping me get my car in the morning.”

“Why was Harrington even here?” Gareth asked, looking at you with confusion. He glanced at Eddie in a questioning manner and a sharp look from Eddie shut him right up. 

“He’s my friend. He left. Said he wasn’t feeling well.” You replied nonchalantly. 

Harrington just left you drunk at a bar?! Eddie looked at you with wide eyes and his mouth hung open. What kind of bullshit friend was that? Henderson had spent so long talking up Steve Harrington, and how he was a total badass and not a dick and he left a friend drunk at a bar? He had been willing to play nice for Dustin, but any chance of that was thrown out the window. 

Eddie stood up, the chair scraping behind him as he tried (badly) to hide his frustration. “We’re giving her a ride home. She gets shotgun.” 

“What?!” Gareth protested, looking at you like you’d personally offended him. “If my parents see me get out of the back-”

“They won’t unless you plan on telling them to wait up for you.” Eddie said firmly. “She’s shotgun.”

There was a look of guilt on your face as you sat there awkwardly. “Mom, Dad, I can sit in the back or I can just stick around her for another hour with some water and I’ll sober up.” 

Eddie grabbed you by the scruff of your jacket and hauled you up quickly. “Nope, you’ve already had one person ditch you tonight. I’m not leaving you drunk in a bar alone.”

He winced internally at how roughly he’d just handled you. Eddie was so used to handling and rough housing with his club that he forgot that he shouldn’t be doing that with other people. But it was so easy with you. The few conversations you’ve had made him feel like you should have been part of Hellfire to begin with. If he ever saw Chris Morrison again, he’d deck him in his smug little nose. 

There was no time for protesting from either you or Eddie as he pushed the two of you out the door and towards his van. It was chilly out, the autumn air biting his skin as he pushed Gareth towards the back of the van. He released your jacket and stepped to open the door of the van for you. 

“After you-” He did his best to give what he hoped was a charming smile as you hopped into the van. He heard Zack mutter something in the back of his van followed by a round of snickering between his bandmates before he closed the door and hopped into the driver side seat. 

Metal came blasting out of the speakers and he fumbled to turn it down so that it didn’t blow your eardrums. 

“Wait no, turn that back up!” you said, reaching for the knob to elevate the voice of Ozzy Ozbourn as it thrummed through the van. 

“So uh, this is my new friend.” Eddie said, hating how that sounded as he tried to break the ice. 

You turned around in your seat immediately and stuck your hand in the back, introducing your name. Eddie was amazed as you wasted no time launching into how great the set was and asking a million questions as to who they were, how they started playing music. 

You weren’t shy, that was for sure. Actually the buzz you had going on made you even more interested in talking to everyone. Soon there was a lively conversation happening, enthusiastically about the tape that was playing. 

“My mom hates Ozzie.” Jeff said. “Says that he’s an animal abuser because he bit the head off that bat.”

“Everyone wants to talk about that, but no one wants to talk about how that happened!” You threw in. 

“What do you mean?” shot back Gareth. “With his fucking teeth!” 

“That’s not what I meant, Dingus!” you snorted. “Where do you think the bat came from?” 

Eddie gave pause and slowed his driving down just a touch. He was already going slow to avoid any cops out, but you had asked a question that he’d never even considered. 

The question gave pause to everyone as they looked at each other with confused shrugs. 

“I thought he just pulled it out of his pants.” Said Zack 

“His pants?!” 

“Why would he keep a bat in his pants?!”

“To pull it out and bite the head off of it, duh!”

“Where else would he keep a bat?”

“I don’t know, a cage?!”

The conversation was delving into chaos and Eddie could see you grinning out of the corner of his eye as you watched them squabble amongst themselves. 

“Maybe it just flew in?” Eddie threw that out there, wishing that he didn’t have to be driving so that he could focus on the mischievous glint in your eyes. 

“It was a closed auditorium, actually.” You smiled at him. “I highly doubt that a bat is just gonna fly into a random building filled with screaming people.”

“Yeah, but it’s not just a random building. It’s a building where Black Sabbath was playing.” Eddie laughed, glancing between you and the road. “Maybe it was a metal fan.”

“Not anymore.” 

“Jesus, Zack” 

“Alright, I’ll bite-”

“The head off a bat?”

“No! Okay, so you clearly know what happened so just spit it out!”

“Like Ozzy did with the bat head?”

“ENOUGH!” Eddie yelled out, hitting the breaks just enough to make the van jerk and you all to have his attention. You laughed as he resumed normal driving, thankful that it was almost 10 pm on a Tuesday night and the roads were dead and empty. “Let her talk.”

The van went quiet after a few apologies and you reached over to turn down the radio. 

“Alright, so,” you started. “I’m just gonna start from the beginning and if you all hear me rant about this once, you’ll probably hear me rant about it a hundred times in the future because this is my go-to drunk rant.” 

You glance at Eddie, and he could see the excitement in your eyes that you got to talk about this with fresh people who would actually appreciate it. 

“So we’ve established that this was a closed auditorium that he was playing in, and this wasn’t planned at all.” you continued. “So the question everyone needs to ask is where the fuck this bat came from. Everyone always talks about it like he reached up and grabbed a random bat out of the air and ate it whole but that’s not what happened. What happened is that a fan threw the bat on stage- mind you, he has no reason to believe that it’s a real bat. He thinks it’s a rubber bat! Who in their right mind would think that someone would throw a real bat on stage?”

“Isn’t Ozzy on every drug ever?” Jeff asked from the back. 

You turned around in your seat to look at him, your finger extended. “You... are absolutely correct and make a very valid point. That aside though, let’s think about this. What kind of person managed to get a live bat, sneak it into a concert, and get close enough to the stage to throw it at Ozzy?”

They were pulling up into Gareth’s neighborhood now, and Eddie drove under the speed limit, stopping fully at every stop sign just to prolong this time together. He was fully invested in the excitement and passion in your voice as you told this story. 

“Who was it?” Eddie asked. 

“Get this- a seventeen year old high school girl.” You said. “A fucking junior in high school, managed to get a live bat, sneak it in, and throw it at Ozzy! That’s insane, right?!”

“What?!”

“How the hell did that happen?”

“I have absolutely no clue!” you laughed. “The two interviews I read about it didn’t talk about who she was or anything. They just talked about how Ozzy saw the bat and didn’t realize it was alive until he took a bite! It’s actually kind of fucked up, and Ozzy did not deserve that but holy shit right?”

Eddie pulled into Gareth’s parent’s driveway, and everyone in the back went into band mode as Gareth immediately hopped out of the back and hoped that his parents weren’t watching. You moved back in your set and glanced at Eddie who had to pretend he wasn’t staring a hole into the side of your head. 

“Need any help?” you offered. 

He shook his head, “Just hang tight while we unpack. It’ll only take a second.” 

The boys made quick work of unpacking the drum set and rearranging the back so that the remaining two club members could more comfortably fit for the final leg home. Thankfully Jeff and Zack didn’t live too far from each other. You stayed in the van, zoning out pleasantly to the end of the tape. 

In the garage, Eddie was getting roasted. 

“So now you’re taking home girls after shows, Eddie?” Jeff asked with a shit-eating grin. 

“Next time warn us so we can get a different ride.” grumbled Gareth. 

“She seems nice.” Zack added. 

“Look, it was a last minute thing and she was left alone and drunk in a bar.” Eddie tried to explain as they put up the drum kit. 

“So the only girl you can get is a drunk girl?” ribbed Jeff. 

“A drunk girl who was ditched by a jock- ow!” Gareth rubbed his arm where Eddie had socked him. 

“I told you, it was a last minute thing.” Eddie said more firmly, narrowing his eyes at Gareth. “I’m just making sure she gets home safe.” 

“Wasn’t she also at the arcade last Saturday?” Jeff asked. “Weird how she keeps showing up.”

“If it means we get someone else watching our band, who cares? She liked the set and we need the support.” Zack added. “Night Gareth”

“Night.” Gareth said before closing the garage door. 

They all made their way back into the van, just in time for the cassette to be spat back out for you to flip it over and push play again. The drive to drop off the remaining two members was quieter, as the school day plus the set caught up to them. Eddie was still wired, and he was looking forward to having a joint when he got home to calm himself after everything that had happened tonight. 

When the van was just the two of you, and you gave him directions to your small apartment, there was a comfortable silence between you. Eddie watched you from the corner of his eye at a red light, taking in the way your eyes were closed and your lips were upturned as you soundlessly mouthed the words to the song playing. 

“So, where’d you get your tattoos?” you asked after a few minutes. 

Eddie grinned. “Why? Are you looking to get some ink done?”

“Well, the last time I checked tattooing was illegal in Indiana.” you replied, glancing at the colony of bats flying up his arm. “So have you ever left the state or should I be concerned about whatever shady basement you visit to get those?”

He scrunched his face and blew a raspberry. “Don’t worry about the legalities, are you gonna tell Hopper on me?”

“Scratcher tattoos?” you frowned. “You are so lucky that those didn’t get infected.”

“She did it as a favor for me, she wasn’t some sketchy dude I met in a bar.” Eddie said defensively. “Her name’s Tara, she moved her from California where tattooing is legal, and she’s still technically licensed.” 

“Just not for Indiana.” 

“Not even a little.” he laughed. “But I helped her and she repaid me with these sweet ol’ tatties.”

You snorted into your hand at his verbiage. “How many you got?”

“Three on my arm and two on my chest. I got my first about three months after I turned eighteen when Tara moved in.” He explained. 

“Damn, and here I am looking at leaving the state to get something done legally like some sort of square.” You laughed. 

“So you are looking for some!” Eddie pulled into the parking lot you pointed to, right outside your building. 

“What can I say, I’m a rebel at heart. I shouldn’t be telling you this but I did jaywalk last week.” You smiled up at him, not bothering to move yet from the passenger side seat. 

“Jaywalking? Shit, and here I thought you were a quiet goody two shoes.” He shook his head. “I think you’re gonna be a terrible influence on me.”

“The worst.” you agreed. 

There was a silence that seemed to crackle with the old stereo. Eddie’s eyes met yours and he felt something that he hadn’t felt in almost two years. 

Oh.

Oh shit.

Flashes of his first senior year raced through his mind as he felt something begin again. He would have hoped that when he felt that jolt in his stomach again he’d be alright. Eddie looked at you, his mind racing a million miles per hour over what to do now. 

He had to get out of there. 

You were reaching out for him, shit- he wasn’t ready. Your hand was reaching across for his and gripped it, pulling it towards you. You were making a move and-

Pop

The sound of a maker’s cap reached his ears. Eddie felt the tip of the felt glide over the skin of his forearm, the temporary ink sinking into his skin and spelling out your name and phone number. 

Jesus Christ. What the fuck was that about?

“We should hang out again, on purpose.” you said, putting the marker back in your bag. 

Eddie’s shoulders relaxed and he nodded. Fuck, he needed a joint now. “Fifth time’s a charm.” he said. 

Without another word you gave him a wave and hopped out of the car, towards your unit. He watched to make sure you made it inside before smacking his head against the steering wheel as the night replayed in his mind. 

Sweet ol’ tatties?

Freaking out when he thought you might kiss him?

He knew that everything that happened two years ago would have an effect on him. Anyone who was close to Eddie knew the toll it took on him. He’d always been cynical, but ‘84 changed something deeper. 

Eddie didn’t want that to affect you. 

But he looked at the dried dark green ink on his arm with a sigh. “Dammit.” he muttered to himself before pulling out. 

He shouldn’t drag you into his problems. He should turn around and leave it at that- just four meetings between the two of you. Four odd, awkward, and admittedly nice meetings. 

The fifth meeting was inevitable. 

---

“So, I think you need to leave, Steve.” you said as you watched Corroded Coffin pack up their instruments. 

“Wait, what?” he looked at you with wide eyes, glancing down at the guitar pick that you were fiddling with between your thumb and forefinger. The smooth plastic and the slightly sharper edge had a nice contrasting feeling as you played with it. 

“Steve, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I do. But I think if you stick around I’m gonna lose this chance.” 

“You’re really gonna go for it? For him?”

“Yeah, I think I am.” You watched the man on stage and gulped down the last of your drink. It was a bit stronger than expected and you had a nice buzz happening, but nothing alarming. You could easily hang out for another hour with some water and some pretzels and be perfectly fine to drive home if needed. But playing it up just a little wouldn’t hurt, would it? It had definitely loosened you up and relaxed you enough that you were starting to feel excited about talking to Eddie again. 

“How sober are you?” Steve glanced at the drink and back at you. “I need to know that you’re of sound mind and body before I leave you alone with some guy we barely know.”

“Awww, look at you caring about me.” you teased and pinched his cheek as he swatted your hand away. “If Dustin vouches for him, I’ll trust the kid’s judgment. And I’m fine, the worst I’ll do is run my mouth worse than normal and rant about things you won’t understand.”

“How’s that different from normal?”

“Ha ha. Okay, seriously. I love you, but you’re cockblocking me.” 

“Okay, okay I’m going, sheesh.” he stood up. “This is the thanks I get for introducing you to a guy.”

“Did you, or did you not get laid at least four times since we started this?” 

“Don’t forget to use protection.”

“Thanks Mom.” 

---

You liked Eddie’s friends, you decided. They were just as weird and loud and rowdy as you expected a bunch of high school boys to be. Gareth kept challenging you every few sentences, but the conversation didn’t feel as awkward as you were worried it’d be after being manhandled to Eddie’s van. Maybe even if this didn’t work out, you could at least be friends with them. 

And when the band was dropped off, it was just you and Eddie in his van. Talking to him was easy, almost as easy as it was to talk to Steve. You never had anything to prove to the jock, and you wished that you could feel the same about Eddie. You wanted him to like you, you wanted him to like you so much. 

Eddie parked and there was a charge in the air that made your stomach flutter. For the past two months you’d actually avoided moving ahead with Steve’s end of the bargain. As much as you wanted companionship, putting yourself out there was scary. But when you were next to Eddie, making small talk, awkwardly flirting, and screaming about music it wasn’t as scary. 

You wanted to move forward. 

You wanted to know him, and get out of this damn rut of home and work and little else. You were tired of hearing about everyone else living while you just coasted. 

So you decided to go for it. You wished you had grabbed a napkin from the bar, but all you had in your bag was an old green sharpie that you were praying still worked. You reached for his arm and you jotted down your name and phone number, putting the ball firmly in his court. You’d made your move, and now it was his turn. 

“We should hang out. On purpose.” you said, releasing him. 

“Fifth time’s a charm.” Eddie said. 

You gave a wave and made your way back to your small one bedroom apartment. As you dropped your bag and kicked off your shoes, that’s when you realized something. 

Today. Saturday. That was-

You looked down at your hand and put down two fingers. 

“What did he mean, five?!”

--

Part 6

Dividers by @strangergraphics

A/n: Drop a comment of what you'd want to see Reader get as a tattoo and I might add it later. See you all on the other side of Flight of Icarus.

Tag List @k8loo @terrormonster55 @sp1dyb0y1008 @crocwork-clockodile @ali-r3n @mxcheese @josephquinnschesthair @gagasbee @peaches-roses-sins @witchwolflea @vintagehellfire @royale1083 @cumslutforaemond @prestinalove @browneyedgirly93 @perpetualmess @thebook-hobbit @mistook @cultish-corner @grishaversecaptivated @sortagaysortahigh @halialex1119

Please reblog 💜

[pretending-ican-write]

Cowboy Up - Pt.4

A/n: I think there will be another part after this before the show starts and they will be getting together! I'm currently going through episode by episode and pulling out all the scenes I want to be a part of this. No promises that this won't get abandoned or take forever to write but I do have a mental endgame for it in s5!

Pairing: Ryan (Yellowstone) x Dutton!reader

WC: 871

Previous part - Next part

---

The peace of a still sleeping bunkhouse was disturbed by Rip rushing in and the loud bang of the door against the wall.  

“Lloyd, have you seen y/n?  She didn’t answer the door and the trailer’s locked,” he asked hurriedly scanning the bunkhouse, “Ryan why the fuck are you on the couch?”

Rip looked at the hand under the blankets and connected dots as Lloyd stirred from his own bunk to ask what was going on.  The foreman stormed into the other room to find exactly what he expected, y/n just waking up in Ryan’s bunk.  She rolled over and looked over up at him confused.

Y/n pulled herself up in the bed, “why are you shouting at 4 in the fuckin’ morning Rip?”

In lieu of an answer, he turned back around to where Ryan was waking up and hauled him to his feet to shove against the wall.  Suddenly everyone in the bunkhouse was awake and aware of what was going on.  They all surrounded the pair but nobody was about to get in the middle of whatever was going on, except y/n who was being kept from getting in between them by Jake.

“What the fuck is she doing in your bunk,” he growled.

Y/n shook Jake off her, “the hell Rip!  There’s no heat in the trailer and I was freezing my ass off in the barn so he insisted I come in here.  Stop being such an overprotective asshole!”

“If you even think about laying a finger on her in any capacity I’ll have them,” Rip threatened before releasing him and turned to the rest of them, “that goes for every one of you fuckers.  She’s off limits.”

He didn’t wait for an answer and headed out of the bunkhouse leaving the crew speechless.  Y/n turned to Ryan and checked that he was okay before storming after the foreman.

“What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing Rip!” She yelled at him, “you have no right to do that.”

Rip turned to glare at her, “he’s taking advantage of you.”

“Oh give me a break.  He was being a gentlemen which is more than can be said for most people in there.  I’m not a little girl that needs your protection anymore.  I can make my own decisions and I’m big enough to own my mistakes and Ryan certainly wouldn’t be one.  But I don’t think you need to worry, I’m hardly his first pick,” she finished bitterly.

Y/n went back to the bunkhouse in search of coffee, leaving Rip to wonder what on earth she had meant.

-/-/-

A few years later (like 6 months before the show starts)

After a long day of working the cattle for the spring gather, everyone from the valley was settled around the corral enjoying Gator’s cooking and each other’s company.  Y/n was sat to the side of the crowd having finished her food, just taking in the atmosphere of her favourite day of the year.  Gentle country music filled the air from a speaker Jamie had set up by the grill and some of the hands were showing kids how to rope on the dummy steer.  A smile graced her face as she watched Ryan and one of the newer hands, Colby who had become fast friends with him, helping a young girl swing the lasso above her head.

John watched his daughter from his seat next to Lee and how at peace she seemed with her life back on the ranch.  He picked up his beer and went to join her on the straw bale she’d claimed.  Y/n smiled at her father sat next to her before turning her attention back to the scene in front of her.  They sat in a comfortable silence for a little while, a significant improvement on how they’d been when she returned years ago.

“I think it’s time that we have our annual conversation,” John started, “even if nothing has changed.”

She took her eyes off the wranglers to look at her dad, “everything and nothing has changed dad.  I belong here again.  I finally feel like I’m part of it again.  But Kayce still isn’t here and I don’t see that ever changing.  I love you but you’re a stubborn man and lord knows my brother is too.”

“You set the terms but being back under the roof is where you belong,” he pushed.

Y/n allowed the silence to envelop them again as she thought through what was being put in front of her.  The sun was just beginning to set, casting a golden glow over the valley.  The wranglers had left the kids to the roping in favour of beers by the fence and Ryan winked when they made eye contact.  

“I’ll come back,” she relented, “but you don’t get a say over what I do and when I’m there.  I’m still gonna spend time at the bunkhouse because at the end of the day I’m a wrangler and those are my friends.  It took long enough for them to see me as more than just your daughter and I don’t want them to see me differently again.”

John smiled at her, “I’m just happy you’ll be truly home.”

[sweetiepoison]

Famous Baby (blurb)

The Concert

Song: “Silent” by Ashley Kutcher

The amount of times Auston called you overrated was roughly the same amount of times you called him self centered. So you never expected him to use one of the tickets you gave him for your show on himself, but there he was, surrounded by the five other ticket holders.

“Hey.” You greeted as politely as possible knowing this was his family surrounding him.

“Hey, these are my sisters Alex and Bre.” Auston first introduced you to the two girls you’ve seen in pictures.

They both sent you a wave and a smile which you thought was as far as it was going to go, but the younger one pipped up.

“When Auston gave us the tickets and told us he was friends with you, we didn’t actually believe him at first.”

“Bre.” Auston’s tone came off as a warning.

“Oh did he?” You laughed looking over at Auston for an explanation.

“I never used the word friends.” Auston clarified.

“Yes you did!” Bre exclaimed, “He surprised us with the tickets at a family dinner and when our nana asked who you were he said you were friends and a really talented singer.”

Your smile only grew as you gently nudged Auston’s arm, “talented huh?”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“Sure it is.” You agreed sarcastically, but put an end to it by turning your attention to the younger girls who were the main reason for the invite.

“Hi!” You smiled brightly greeting the younger girls in front of you. They couldn’t be older than 10.

“This is Gracie and this is Paige.” Auston introduced the two girls.

“It’s so nice to meet you both, my name’s (y/n). I’m so exited that you could make it tonight.” Despite your best efforts the girls remained quiet and needed lots of prompting from there mom to talk. Nevertheless, you continued to talk about the show and asked them questions as well.

Auston would rather do skating drills before he ever admitted that he liked watching you interact with his family, but he did. The way you told his cousins the first song you were going to play but they had to promise to keep it a secret and how you included his sisters in choosing your outfit, those little things stuck with him.

Shortly after your introductions it was time for them to head to their seats and you to finish getting ready.

“Alright, popstar, let’s see what kind of overrated concert you put on.”

“It’ll be the best one you’ve ever been to, Matthews.” You reassured him.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Auston warned you.

“Sit back, relax,” you smiled “and most importantly, enjoy.”

“I’ll try.”

“Oh you will.” You sent him a playful wink as you watched him walk away.

As your opener finished up on stage you took the time to compose yourself as best as you could. Despite years of performing you still got nervous before every show.

With one last final look in the mirror and a self encouraging mantra you were swept up by a stage manager. He held your waist as he practically carried you while speed walking down the hall.

“(Y/n) on the move, we’ll be at the starting marker in T minus 20 seconds.” He talked into his walkie talkie as he guided you down the hall.

“Lights have went down and band is in place.” You heard come back through the walkie talkie.

“Dancers are moving onto the stage now.” Another voice informed.

“10 seconds, countdown has started on the screen.” You could hear the screaming from the crowd intensify as your arrival on stage was now imminent.

“(Y/n)’s standing by ready to go.” You looked toward your team one final time to ensure that everything was in place.

“Good luck kiddio, leave it all out there.”

You placed your inner ear in which allowed you to hear yourself while singing as well as cues from the stage managers. “5….4….3….2….1, let’s have a good show everyone.”

As you entered through the side stage the screaming reached a level you didn’t even think possible. You took a second to feel the energy and the crowd before standing in position. You smiled singing your intro song, before taking a pause to greet the crowd.

“Hi Glendale! How are you feeling?” You were met with an explosion of screams and cheering, “It’s so nice to be here with all of you tonight!”

The night continued with you performing all of your tops hits. Song after song left you feeling more excited and satisfied as you fed off the crowds energy. Maybe it was the warm weather or the outdoor stadium, or the summer evening, but this show felt better than the last few. The band was playing at their best, all of the dancers were sharp and purposeful and you could feel that the show was a success even before it ended.

Your favorite part of every show had to be interacting with the audience.

“Okay this next song is about cursing an entire generational line.” You laughed as everyone started screaming knowing what it was from previous shows you’ve done with the same intro.

“It is a tribute to all the boys,” you emphasized the word boys “Not men, boys, because a man wouldn’t act like this.”

“And I want…” you scanned the front row on the left side of the stage, “you,” you pointed at a girl who just about passed out once she realized you were looking at her, “to introduce this next song.” She immediately handed her phone to her friend. “You can talk about a boy who ruined your life or just say you hate men, whatever works.”

You extended the mic to the security guard in front of the stage to hold for her.

“This next song is for all the lame ass boys who fumbled (y/n), it’s your loss, this is ‘Tummy Hurts!’

You laughed as the mic was handed back to you and your band began playing the intro to the song.

Auston couldn’t help but move his head to the beat of your catchy songs and at times he even hummed along to the ones that were on repeat on the radio.

It wasn’t just your voice that was amazing, but the lighting, the backgrounds, the choreography it was all mesmerizing. Auston thought it was overall a really good show. Even during the songs he didn’t know your stage presence was enough to keep him locked in.

“I have a new song to play for y’all if that’s alright?” Your question received a wave of people screaming yes which made you laugh. “Okay, it’s one that I’ve been writing and working on since tour has started. And we won’t end on this song I promise because it’s kind of a slower one, but I’m excited to share it. This is called, Silent.

You felt a mix between anxiety and excitement. You knew they would like the song but this is the first time anyone outside of your band would be hearing it. The thought of being this vulnerable made you not want to perform it at all. But you knew if you didn’t do this now, you would never release the song and it would end up never seeing the light of day.

You sat down on the chair placed in the middle of the stage and began strumming the opening chords on your guitar. Taking a deep breath and closing your eyes you began singing.

‘It’s 6 a.m. and we’re in your bed

And you're just looking at me with everything unsaid

I should go to sleep or just up and leave

I should call a car before I say what I might mean’

Auston’s heart began thumping in his chest. It was just the beginning of the song, but these lyrics were hitting a little too close to home.

Early in the morning with only a few hours of sleep in your system, you smacked Auston in the arm complaining about his snoring and how it was keeping you awake. He quickly shot back with the fact that you stole all the covers. And despite the darkness and your fighting you both laid there facing each other, anger giving way to another feeling. No words were spoken, but there was also an understanding that things were somehow different between you two.

Or is it just a combination of this late intoxication?

And these thoughts won't quit, oh, is it worth the

Conversation of a hopeless situation?

And these thoughts, we're probably better off keeping it silent

The song was actually very easy for you to write, once you got the chorus done the rest flowed. You had a rough version recorded on your phone within two hours.

Nothing can go wrong when you keep it quiet

No one needs to know just where my mind's at

That's for you to guess, I'll keep it private (keep it)

Keep it (keep), keep it (keep)

You continued to sing refusing to open your eyes. You knew it was impossible, but you were scared if you opened them, you would make eye contact with him and that would make it all real.

You want to know, but I keep it close

Rather be the mystery than just the punchline of your joke

You can say the words, or I never will be yours

Rather be the one that got away than have to say it first

You were certain you didn’t have actual feelings for Auston. Whatever you were feeling from that night needed to come out or it would never stop bothering you, so you put it into a song.

My friends think you're no good but damn, I'm biased

But you don't need to know when I've been crying (crying)

I don't know how you keep it cool, I'm dying

Keeping this, you know me

No one knows what happened that night, you never told anyone and you assumed he didn’t either because when you saw each other again for the first time it was like it never happened. He made a comment about how he wished better music was playing when it was your song. To which you replied you wished he would stop talking.

But as time passed and the memories from that night replayed in your head over and over again it became unbearable to not talk about it.

So you confided in your mom. You kept the person and situation very vague, but even that was enough to make you burst into tears. Up until that point, your relationship with Auston was very clear, you didn’t like him and he didn’t like you, but that night made your very distinct relationship blurred.

You slowly faded into the end of the song finally allowing yourself to open your eyes and breathe. From the beginning of the song till now you forgot where you were, but the loud cheers and applause served as a reminder. You quickly wiped away the tears that began to flow and took a long drink from your water bottle. You needed the 3 seconds to compose yourself before speaking in the mic again.

Auston also felt like he was holding his breath during the whole song. At the end, while everyone around him began cheering he felt like he was going to throw up.

The morning after your night spent together, Auston woke up alone. He had the day off, but spent the rest of the day thinking about the night before. There was no denying the moment you two had, but he worked overtime convincing himself that whatever he felt for a split second wasn't real. However, in this moment, hearing you sing about it, it was more real than ever.

Auston's feet were moving before he knew what was going on. He recalled mumbling something to his sisters about waiting in the car, but he didn't wait for a response. The ringing in his ears and the pounding of his heart only intensified as he pushed through the crowd. He didn't look back as he walked away from the stage, the away from the stadium, away from you.

[apomaro-mellow]

Hot for Teacher(s) 4

Part 3 / AO3 Link

Steve nearly felt guilty over how excited he was. Robin had been right, it had been a while since he'd been out. He and Mr. Munson (no, it was Eddie whenever they weren't at school) had arranged for a date the day after Thanksgiving. And Steve was counting down the days. He was thinking of it as he put the turkey in the oven (just a breast, a whole thing was too much for just him and Shawn), he was thinking of it as they both said what they were grateful for, when they sat down for pie, ice cream, and Charlie Brown.

The only time Steve didn't really think about it was when Shawn fell asleep on the couch and had to be carried to bed. He tucked him in, scenting him and then kissing his forehead. It wasn't like they were lacking in quality time, since it was only the two of them, but having a whole day together like this felt special.

Still, the next evening he happily dropped Shawn off at one of his friend's house for a sleepover. Robin would have volunteered but she was still out of town with her family.

Once his pup was taken care of, Steve returned home to prepare. Getting ready for a date was like stepping into a well loved shirt, familiar, comfortable, and nostalgic. He had missed this. Styling his hair not just to be professional, but to turn heads. Picking out jeans that he knew showed off his round ass and thinking very hard about how much of his neck should he let show. How close should he let Eddie get tonight?

Then he remembered the scheduled activity and decided to wrap a scarf around his neck. He imagined a very tantalizing scene where he unwrapped it seductively and brought the alpha to his knees. Eddie picked him up at 8 o'clock on the dot.

"Your chariot awaits", Eddie said, holding out his arm.

It was all very cordial and Steve was smitten. Eddie led him to his van and opened the passenger side door for him. Now Steve got them started with small talk not just because it was comfortable and expected, but he also had the idea in his head that he shouldn't spend the night talking about his kids. Not his birth pup nor the ones he taught. He knew he was guilty of gushing and not everyone cared to the extent he did about the children he saw everyday.

The small talk got them all the way to the venue, during which Steve learned Eddie's closest family was his uncle, his favorite part of the meal had been mac and cheese, and that he also watched Charlie Brown for the holiday.

"Shawn's turkey came out looking really good", Steve complimented as they walked inside the skating rink. It had been hanging on their fridge since he brought it home.

"Thanks", Eddie said, genuinely appreciating the compliment. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm goin' through the instructions too fast or without enough detail for some of them but when most come out well, I figure hey, maybe I'm actually good at my job."

They went to the counter and got their ice skates, then sat down to lace them up. Steve hadn't gone in a few years, he wanted to take Shawn sometimes but wasn't sure if he was ready for it. "Ready?", he asked, holding out a hand.

"Y-yeah", Eddie wobbled a bit.

He took Steve's hand, panicking internally. When Steve had asked him to go ice skating, he'd accepted without a thought. It didn't matter that he'd never stepped foot on ice with purpose before. Steve's eyes were a deadly weapon. Eddie couldn't resist. He knew he was going to embarrass himself, stumbling and crumbling to his knees or falling to his ass.

And that happened. Each time, Steve kept a hold on his hand to keep him from falling too far and was smiling dearly the whole time. But Eddie knew he couldn't be having fun babysitting a grown man.

And then Eddie slipped in such a way that they tangled and he fell right on top of Steve. His horrible, traitorous brain wasn't thinking of how to pay for any broken bones. No, his inner alpha only noticed how good Steve smelled this close and how if he nudged that scarf down he could get a better whiff.

"Shit, fuck, sorry, are you hurt? I've never skated before, I shoulda told you that-"

"Eddie, hey, relax", Steve was still smiling and Eddie wondered if he'd hit his head in a dangerous way. Then Steve sat up and kissed his cheek. He got to his feet, pulling Eddie along. "I'm having fun, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah okay yeah", Eddie nodded.

"Let's see if this helps", Steve linked their arms together.

Eddie felt more steady, for sure. Yet at the same time he'd been knocked flat on his ass.

"You're probably pretty used to cleaning up bumps and scrapes, huh?"

"I am", Steve said. "Enough to know most of the time what they really need is a little attention, a quick kiss, and then they're off again."

"Don't I know it. Can't tell you how many times I see tears over the tiniest cuts, bless their little hearts", Eddie sighed.

They were able to go a couple rounds and Eddie slipped a few more times but didn't fall down again. The plan had only been to go skating but both were clearly ready to see where the night took them.

"I don't need to pick up Shawn until 10 tomorrow morning", Steve had said as they walked towards a food truck selling hot chocolate.

"So, it was just you two for Thanksgiving?", Eddie asked, starting to read between the lines of whatever Steve told him.

"Yeah, um", Steve cleared his throat and swirled his cup as they strolled through the twinkling lights of the town. Of course, everyone had already moved on from Turkey Day and was prepared for Christmas. "I'm not all that close to the rest of my family. Robin is like my sister. And honestly my students are almost like my kids, but besides that..."

"Is it okay if I ask about Shawn's sire?", Eddie asked timidly.

And maybe if this had been a couple of years ago, Steve would've bristled and told him it was none of his business. But now he could see it for what it was. Eddie wasn't trying to compete with some unknown alpha. He was interested in Steve, and was just trying to see if Steve was genuine in his own interest.

"His name was Billy, or is, I don't know why I said was, last I checked he's still alive. But I haven't checked since we split two years ago. Long story short, he was a grade A asshole. And he knew that, but it didn't stop him from getting worse. Our last big fight I kicked him out for good and he hasn't been back."

The day Steve realized that Billy's scent no longer lingered around them, that his pup only smelled like one of his parents, he finally felt free.

"I'm glad you and Shawn aren't around him anymore. I know a thing about messed up dads", Eddie admitted.

"Really?"

Eddie nodded. "My dad was a piece of shit. Nearly got killed and incarcerated because of him. My Uncle Wayne was the real man in my life to bring me up."

"You know that makes it all the more meaningful that you've taken such a nurturing job, right?", Steve beamed at him.

Eddie stopped on the sidewalk, Steve pausing with him.

"I really wanna kiss you right now."

"Then what's stopping you?", Steve grinned.

"Uhh, not sure what to do with my hands right now?", Eddie said.

"You're adorable", Steve took the half finished drink from his hand, set both of theirs on the sidewalk by their feet, then grabbed his hands and made Eddie hold him close. "Right here is perfect."

Eddie did his best to let his nerves go as he leaned in for a kiss. As far as first date kisses went, it was pretty perfect. They were only broken out of their own little world when someone walked by and whistled at them.

"I should probably be getting you home."

Just as he said that, snow began to lightly flurry down and Steve agreed. They walked hand in hand back to Eddie's van and he drove them back to Steve's neighborhood.

"-and he remembered what I said at the beginning of the year about classification and I kid you not, I almost cried", Steve said. "It was such an off the wall conversation, I never imagined he'd recall that."

"Just goes to show how great a teacher you are."

"You ever have moments like that with the little ones?"

Eddie smiled. "I think my favorites are when one of them has a question and another answers it for them. You can really tell who's listening. And it keeps me from havin' to repeat myself too much."

"God, I wish I could go a whole week without having to say 'no, you can't borrow materials from the Chem Lab'."

"You got a bunch of Dexters running around?", Eddie chuckled.

"Dexters, Jimmy Neutrons, and whoever that kid with his time traveling dog was."

"...Time traveling dog?", Eddie's face screwed in confusion. "Do you mean Mr. Peabody and Sherman?"

Steve snapped his fingers. "That's it! These three kids came in during lunch and held me hostage through this whole discussion about time travel and that's all I could think about."

"Don't say held hostage like you didn't enjoy it thoroughly." Sometimes Eddie longed for such in depth conversation with his students but there really wasn't much to discuss when you were reading things like Zak Wants a Yak.

"Sorry, I made myself promise I wouldn't talk about work this much", Steve said as they came up to his house.

"Funny, I made the same promise to myself, but here we are. I like hearing you talk about your students though. You light up the same way you talk about Shawn." Eddie grabbed Steve's hand and kissed his knuckles. "And we could keep talking if you'd like to invite me inside?"

"I'd love to, but-"

"Just to talk, I promise."

Steve bit his lip, thinking about how long it'd been since he'd been alone with an alpha he was interested in romantically. He thought about Eddie's scent lingering.

"Alright, to talk."

Steve made them both coffee, just to have something to sip on that wouldn't give Eddie an excuse to stay for too long, they settled on the couch, and they talked.

Steve about how he was disowned by his parents for getting with Billy and how he only started talking with them again when they split, able to see his ex for what he was.

"I just felt so stupid. My parents were actually right for once. You know he didn't even show up when Shawn was born?"

Eddie's jaw dropped. "He didn't show up for the birth of his kid? What was he doing?"

"Some bullshit. The hospital ended up using a volunteer alpha to keep me calm during it. And then he had the audacity to be upset when me and Shawn smelled like someone else."

"You're not stupid for not seeing it sooner. People like that are really good at keeping an attractive front."

Eddie talked about how he had dreams to be a musician, then a music teacher, before eventually finding his way to elementary.

"You always think you're gonna be the one to make it. But things just never worked out."

Steve gazed at him, taking in his profile. "I don't know. I'd say things worked out pretty well for both of us in the end."

As they talked, they got closer and closer on the couch, and checked the clock less and less. The last time Steve checked it was two in the morning and they were talking about how neither of them liked remote learning days. The last thing he remembered before his eyes closed was that Eddie liked watermelon but not watermelon candy.

He dreamt of the day Shawn was born. He saw the ceiling, felt the tiny pup in his arms, smelled blood but also an alpha who wasn't Billy.

Steve was awakened by his alarm. Eddie straight up jolted out of their embrace and collapsed onto the floor. Steve laughed softly as he rubbed his eyes.

"Who has an alarm set for the weekend? And on break of all things?", Eddie groaned.

"I don't like sleeping the day away", Steve yawned and stretched fully on the couch now that he alone was on it.

Then he remembered why he needed to be up this particular morning.

"Shit!", he sat up and checked his phone.

"Shit?", Eddie asked.

"Shawn", Steve answered as he rushed to get his shoes on.

"Shit..."

"I gotta go-" Eddie had grabbed his face and brought him in for a kiss, one that Steve needed.

"I know. And I know I shouldn't've overstayed my welcome last night."

Steve shook his head. "You didn't. I wanted you here. I haven't done anything like that in ages."

"What? Have a nerd talk your ear off? Well next time I can give you the entire synopsis of Star Trek.

"Promise?"

They kissed once more before Steve had to go and pick up Shawn. As much as Steve tried to play it cool, Shawn noticed something was up the moment he got home. The pup's nose picked up on the scent that someone else had been here. And Steve knew that he knew but as long as he didn't know who...

"It kinda smells like Mr. Munson in here."

"Does it?"

"Yeah."

"Hm, well, I started using the same cologne as him, that might be it", Steve said. "Ready for some leftovers?"

Part 5

Tag Team

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